There is over a square mile of space in the yards, and
more than half of it is occupied by cattle-pens; north and
south as far as the eye can reach there stretches a sea of
pens. And they were all filled -- so many cattle no one
had ever dreamed existed in the world. Red cattle, black,
white, and yellow cattle; old cattle and young cattle; great
bellowing bulls and little calves not an hour born; meek-
eyed milch cows and fierce, long-horned Texas steers. The
sound of them here was as of all the barnyards of the uni~
verse; and as for counting them -- it would have taken all
day simply to count the pens. Here and there ran long
alleys, blocked at intervals by gates; and Jokubas told
them that the number of these gates was twenty-five thou~
sand. Jokubas had recently been reading a newspaper
article which was full of statistics such as that, and he
was very proud as he repeated them and made his guests
cry out with wonder. Jurgis too had a little of this sense
of pride. Had he not just gotten a job, and become a
sharer in all this activity, a cog in this marvelous machine?

Here and there about the alleys galloped men upon
horseback, booted, and carrying long whips; they were
very busy, calling to each other, and to those who were
driving the cattle. They were drovers and stock-raisers,
who had come from far states, and brokers and commission-
merchants, and buyers for all the big packing-houses.
Here and there they would stop to inspect a bunch of
cattle, and there would be a parley, brief and business~
like. The buyer would nod or drop his whip, and that
would mean a bargain; and he would note it in his little
book, along with hundreds of others he had made that
morning. Then Jokubas pointed out the place where the
cattle were driven to be weighed, upon a great scale that
would weigh a hundred thousand pounds at once and
record it automatically. It was near to the east entrance
that they stood, and all along this east side of the yards
ran the railroad tracks, into which the cars were run,
loaded with cattle. All night long this had been going
on, and now the pens were full; by tonight they would
all be empty, and the same thing would be done again.

[[37]]

p036 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p037w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p038

v?