The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-06-17
Canned Goods.

The canned goods packers have just
closed the first session Of their national as
ISOLATION in Philadelphia, having arrived at
an amicable agreement, which will be It'd
ings as important to the culinary depart
ment Of the country as a like honorable
adjustment of difficulties between railroad
capitalists would be to its financial inter
ests. The packing and sealing Of those
little papered tin cans which stare at us
out of every grocer window, or on top of
every ash.cart, has rapidly grown to be
one Of the large manufacturing industries
of the country, employing a working CAPT
tai of $20,000,000. From one to two hun
bred millions Of these cans are annually
packed with every variety of fish, flesh,
"fowl, fruit and vegetable to be found from
MAINE to oregon" and scattered over the
country.
The growth of this particular industry
has an odd bearing on our social and do
mestic life worth attention for a moment.
Forty years ago, the time and thought of
the heads of household were required,
not only as now to find money to buy food,
but literally to find the food. During the
summer months the markets were laden
with cheap and plentiful provisions. Dur
ing the winter and early spring, especially
in the country, there would have been Il
famine equal to that prefgured by Pha-
raoh's lean kline, if the mother of the fam
lily had not given at least two-thirds Of her
time to the sailing down CT meat, making
of lard, pickles, preserves, and drying of
vegetables and fruits. Rank or wealth
gave no immunity from this heavy annual
duty. Martha Washington and Dolly
Madison we're forced to look as we'll to
the ways of their households" in this re
gard as did the wise woman of Solomon S
days whose worth was beyond rubies. or
else they found themselves with lean lar
ders in the days of need. There are few
OF our middle-aged readers born outside
of the large cities who have not an irksome
remembrance of how much of the time
and the talk of the household went to the
pork in the brine or the beef drying over
hickory smoke, or the long glistening rows
of jars filed with ruby or amber jelhes.
If women did not then live to eat, they lived
in great measure to make ready for men
to eat. Certain shrewd old houskeepers
used even then to grope after air tight
methods OF preserving food; they Tipped
the stems OF grapes with wax. swathet
theul in cotton, sealed bottles of berries
and buried them under ground. TheI
ties, When for two months of the yea
every kitchen was full OF boilers of h.
water and boilers of steaming vegetables
soldering irons, and unskiled wIkwouer
agonizug over scalded fngcrs,u or spiintereC
glass, or fermenting jars going off hk
salvOs of artillery in the cellar. These
were the pioneers who bore the burden
and heat OF the day. The canned good
packers at last took the field, and tn,
housekeeper's tolls were at an end. Sh,
need not take off her glove to write he
orders in September, and pres. o her pantr,
shelves are filled with little cans ready /,
melt into DELICIOUS soups, or meat, or al
the wealth of the fields or garden. Gu
packers have the work of magiciaus to do
and would be paid like magicians but fo
the fact that our housekeeper still declare
that their cans are not as her own cans
they lack a certain honesty of favor, weight
and substance. Neither do they as We
compete with the French canned goods
Hence came the necessity for the presen
conventional the packers finding it expedien