in chicago, mather started a wholesale business called alonzo c. mather and company. it was while mather was working here that he first developed a more humane stock car for the shipment of livestock by rail. mather's design amenities for the livestock included feeding and watering facilities that had previously been unapplied to railroad rolling stock. by 1881, he had started the mather stock car company to build stock cars based on his design. mather's stock car innovations were considered so valuable to livestock shipping that the american humane society awarded him a medal for the humane treatment of animals in 1883. soon, mather cars were in revenue service on a large number of railroads in north america.