The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-10-25

as was proved by cruel experiment once
tried at GobelinS upon some criminals,
would under ordinary circumsta ncea
prove fatal In the course Of o few days.
II we apply these considerations 70 the
ordinary dietary Of English families, II
will be seen that our common practice Is
TO waste animal food by consuming far
too much Of 1t, and 10 waste vegetable
food by not avAilipg ourselves Of It's in.
exhaustable abundance and infinite vAri-
ETY.. We get our supplies OF sacchrine
and starchy substances chiefly from
bread, potatoes and sugar, and we eat
pulse and other vegetables more as q luz.
ury or relish than as possible man.stay
oil existence. Rice Is scarcely employed
for any purpose but chilren's puddings;
and yet, with the addition OF some form
OF animal fat, and occasionally rendered
savory by a morsel OF curry, 1t consti.
tutes the chief sustenance Of millions OF
people. Our Continental neighbors, and
our Hindoo fellow subjects, might each
give US o useful lesson in the simple art
Of economizing our meat supplies by
making them go further than we do, and
In the art also, less simple. though even
more important, Of using all the availa.
BILE forms Of vegetable food for their
proper and legitimate purposes. But an.
other source Of waste equally to be re.
GREETED ls to be found In the absence Of
any trade organization for bringing tenn
porary abundance ofsome particular kind
to the doors Of those who might consume
it. Heads OF families who visit Bill
lingsgate In the early morning often tell
their wondering friends that on such and
such day fish was iabulously cheap, and
recount their purchases to envious ears.
The people generally cannot go to Bill
lingsgate, and the ordinary fate Of q glut
OF fish there Is to perish and ultimately to
be condemned by an inspector Of markets
as unfit lor human food. The retail sellers
OF fish are supposed to be greatly averse
from any occasional cheapening Of the
commodity in which they deal, and to
consider 1t their interest to keep it as a
luxury for the tastes Of the wealthy. Fish,
however, is as rich in albuminous mate.
rial as flesh, and will fulfill all the pur-
poses Of flesh in the physical economy.
The waste consequent upon cheap day
at Billingsgate, or which occurs when
great haul Of some description of fish Is
used mainly for manure, is such as would
stOrtle those who wrote 1t down In pounds,
either OF weight or value. The waste Is
little less serious which follows upon the
want of any organization for bringing the
supetfluous garden stuff Of the country to
the crowded populations Of towns, or
which Is produced by the owners Of gar
dens being themselves frequently igno-
rant OF tho nutritive value OF the
products those gardens yield. The
remedy Tor these evils lies, to a
considerable extent, In the hands Of
those who control the education of the
country, and especially the education Of
the great mass Of the people. The defects
in our arrangements for supply them
selves are trsceable primarily TO the alb
sence OF rational demand. It Is proba-
bly, hopeless to expect the adult peasant
or artisan 10 tolerate any change in his
mode Of lie, or TO arrive at the percep.
ton that he now despises-and by de-
spising loses-cheap, palatable, and
abundant supplies Of food. Even the
middle class father Of q family, and not
less his wife, may be regarded as beyond
the reach OF conviction. To eat beef is
the traditional practice Of Englishmen,
and Is held to be the only custom worthy
of their name and race. But we have the
children, and with them something might
be done Is it hopeless that school boards
may some day order rational cookery to
be taught to girls! If this could be &C.
complished some of the existing super
stitions about meateating might be sap.
ped at their foundation; and generation
might grow up prepared to use, health
fully and wisely, all the good gifts which
Providence has bestowed for the grOtifica
ton and the sustenance Of mankind.