midnight
It divided the country into districts , and fixed the price of meat in all of them ; and it owned all the refrigerator cars , and levied an enormous tribute upon all poultry and eggs and fruit and vegetables . With the millions of dollars a week that poured in upon it , it was reaching out for the control of other interests , railroads and trolley lines , gas and electric light franchises -- it already owned the leather and the grain business of the country . The people were tremendously stirred up over its encroachments , but nobody had any remedy to suggest ; it was the task of Socialists to teach and organize them , and prepare them for the time when they were to seize the huge machine called the Beef Trust , and use it to produce food for human beings and not to heap up fortunes for a band of pirates . It was long after midnight when Jurgis lay down upon the floor of Ostrinski 's kitchen ; and yet it was an hour before he could get to sleep , for the glory of that joyful vision of the people of Packingtown marching in and taking possession of the Union Stockyards ! Jurgis had breakfast with Ostrinski and his family , and then he went home to Elzbieta . He was no longer shy about it -- when he went in , instead of saying all the things he had been planning to say , he started to tell Elzbieta about the revolution ! At first she thought he was out of his mind , and it was hours before she could really feel certain that he was himself .