In the morning before Jurgis had finished his breakfast, “Pat” Murphy ordered him to one of the superintendents, who questioned him as to his experience in the work of the killing-room. His heart began to thump with excitement, for he divined instantly that his hour had come⁠—that he was to be a boss!

Some of the foremen were union members, and many who were not had gone out with the men. It was in the killing department that the packers had been left most in the lurch, and precisely here that they could least afford it; the smoking and canning and salting of meat might wait, and all the byproducts might be wasted⁠—but fresh meats must be had, or the restaurants and hotels and brownstone houses would feel the pinch, and then “public opinion” would take a startling turn.