The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-02-07
interesting DiscOvery-The Preserva,
ton of Fruits, oysters and Meats in
their Fresh State

Interesting Discovery-The Preserva-
ton of Fruits, oysters and Meats in
their Fresh State.
Mr.. Frances Il. Stabler, of this city, after
long and patient series of experiments, has
finally succeeded in discovering a process
whereby oysters, meats and fruits may be
preserved III fresh state for an indefinite Pc
Rod and In any climate. A patent has been
obtained, and an Incorporated company is al
ready in process of organization under the
style of "The Food Preserving Company" for
the purpose Of bringing this discovery into
general use among the many business firms
who are engaged In putting up Theoretically
sealed oysters, meats, fruits and vegetables for
home consumption and for expectation. The
new method of preserving these articles in a
fresh state and without the application of
neat has already been subjected to the severest
tests which are known to chemists as produce
tive of rapid decomposition and has withstood
them all--the articles so treated turning out
as fresh as if they had been scaled up but the
day before.
The importance of this discovery consists in
its apparently perfect adaptation of the means
to the end sought to be attained, and in the
economy and simplicity of the process itself
So far as we have witnessed the operation in
question, and partaken of the food thus pre-
served we have no hesitation in saying that
the one is easy of management, there being
no intricacy abou. it whilst the meat after
being kept for some SIX weeks at tempera-
ture of from ninety to one hundred and ten
degrees, was perfectly sweet and palatable,
thoughless juicy,than steak taken immediate
| y from the butchers block and cooked. The
oysters which had passed through the same
ordeal, and which for the sake of comparison
were placed alongside of dozen Of the finest
8" bivalves" newly taken from the SHE'LL stood
the test 50 remarkably we'll that it was diff
cult to discover any difference in flavor be-
tween them. We are told that the same pro-
cess with slight variation, can be applied to
the preservation of fresh fruits.
/ The modus operandi is easily described
The meats and oysters are first sprinkled with
a small quantity of salt to draw out the su-
perfuous moisture-a few minutes sufficing
with respect to the oyster and twenty -four
hours with fresh meat. They are then put
into tin cans Ct any portable size, and these
cans, when filled, are placed in an ar-tight
box. The lid is then fastened down, the air
exhausted from the box and carbonic acid gas
forced in until it fills up the vacuum. This
gas which is rather heavier than common air,
| floats on the top of the canned oysters and
meats, and effectualy preserves them from
deterioration. The gas, moreover, is perfect
| ly harmless, and, as the initiated well know,
is the same that give piquancy to effervescing
soda water, and that sparkles in and foams
over the glass that is newly filled with cham
payne As soon as the gas has been forced
| into the caus the lid of the box is removed
and the cans taken out and sealed up in the
| r.
| fruits sugar is substituted for the salt used in
the preservation of oysters and meats, and
this is the whole of the process.
Ii subsequent trials on a larger scale should
confirm the correctness of the theory upon
which the new process of preserving food in
perfectly fresh state is based, it is destined to
create an entire revolution in the packing
| trade, and to enlarge, to an enormous extent,
| its operations. The demand for fresh meat in
England has been SO great that it has led to
the introduction of the sun-dried meats Of
South America; but, cheap as they are, they
are so vapd and tough and tasteless as to be
| only fit for soups, and are rejected by all but
the very poorest classes of the population. If,
however, the meats put up by Mr.. Stablers
process can be brought into general Use
abroad, heavy demand would at once spring
up for the cattle of Texas and of the South
American Pampas, where they can be bouG ht
at this time, by the herd, at price not ex-
ceeding six dollars a head in Texas, and for
even a lesser sum In Central America.
| But in the matter o. oysters alone, the pack
| ing of which constitutes of itse.f an immense
trade, and is carried on by a large number of
firms in this city, the demand would inevitably
be enhanced to an extraordinary degree
| With the exception of small quantities OF
fresh oysters put up in the winter and sent
away for immediate use, the. greater portion
of the oysters packed here, as well as else
where are subjected to the operation OF cook
ing before they are sealed mp; this being the
ouly means which has been found effectual
hitherto in preserving them for any length Of
time. Such cooked oysters could not, how
ever, be used by the purchasers except i'll
stews; whereas, by the new preserving pro-
cess, they can either be eaten fresh as they
came from the SHE'LL Or can be fried at pleasure.
1t will thus be seen that the new preserving
process, as applicable to fruits, meats and oys-
tiers, covers a large field of enterprise into
which the old mode of packing could not en-
ter, and promises to aid immensely IN de-
veopng a branch of business which, even at
this time, is but in its infancy Baltimore
1 Gazette.
A MARRIED MAN SENDS THE WRONG LET
TER TO HIS WIFE.-We understand that we'll
known business man of this city, who has
wife and family, has given rise to good deal
of talk by his attentions to a fair and frai
damsel The gentemau is in New York. and
wrote an affectiOnate letter to fine object of his