Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-06-14
PRESERVING F00DlN CANS
An Industry That Has Grown to Vast
Proportions in This Country
Since The War.
The Food of The Future, How Will 1t
Re Prepared


An industry in this country which has
grown to enormous proportions is that
of preserving food products by canning
and bottling, says The New York Sun.
In 1907 M. Appert, q distinguished French
chemist, found that organic substances
remained fresh an indefinite time by
being kept from contact with the air
Comparatively little use was made of this
invention for many years except by
sailors. About the year 1885, however, a
snail local trade sprang up in this coun-
try in canned oysters and tomatoes. The
discovery of gold in California gave an
impetus to the trade, but the first great
expansion of it was during the civil war
Since that timo the canned goods trade
has advanced by leaps and bounds until
at present there is capital of Sll,000,-
600 invested here in fruit and vegetable
canning alone, giving EN- ploymeat to
80 600 persons, who earn yearly SO 000,
600, and turn out of goods $20,00O,000,
leaving a net profit of about 20 per cent
to the investors.
During the war advantage was taken
by the union commissar department
80 The economy in bulk and the ease in
"a. Importation of canned goods Canned
meat was found useful for rations in
forced marches canned milk was valu-
able substitute for fresh milk in the hos
pitfalls when the latter could not be had,
and the health of the army was
largely maintained by canned fruit and
vegetables.
A. rs IN,
ths manufacture of these goods turned
their attention to supplying the Euro
pean markets with salmon and lobster.
The lobster export trade had started ten
years previously in the New England
states. Soon after the Canadians began
the salmon-packing INDUSTRY, bat did
not meet with success. But the utiliz-
alton of the enormous run of salmon up
the Columbia and other rivers on the
Pacific coast put new life into the indus
try. Some idea of how much the trade
has grown may be gathered from the fact
that, while in 1900 the pack of salmon was
only 1000 cases, during the past four
years it has averaged 3,S00,O01.
The next great era IN trade was the
compression of corned beef. Chicago,
being a great cattle center, at once en-
barked heavily in this Enterprise. Foreign
governments at once recognized the
value of this system of preserving beef.
They ordered large quantities of it for
consumption by their war forces. Much
OF this was stored as a reserve in case of
war, but rs the supply was exhausted it
has been continually renewed TO the profit
of the American.
The success of the Americans in can
ming goods provoked the English and
French people TO emulation. Unable to
compete with the United States in what
had been already done, they turned their
attention TO the canning of jelieacies.
This trade was developed to q very large
extent in Europe, and extended TO this
country. Bit the importation of these
goods has fallen off III recent years, as
this country has gone into the manufao
ture of this class of goods. and produces
a much cheaper article, not at all inferior
TO the i'm ported.
The development of the canned goods
industry has been great, but the variety
of articles treated in this way has been
even greater. Beginning as it did with
ships beef, it has extended uuJil 1t en-
braces nearly all the desirable food pro-
ducts of the animal and vegetable king.
doms Lieut.. Greedy, after his famous
Arctic expedition said that canned apples,
peaches, pears, rhubarb, green peas, g een
corn, onions, potatoes aud tomatoes we're
all subjected to the tenn perature of go
degrees below zero. They were solid for
many months at Il time, the second sum
mer they thawed, and the following win
ter they we're frozen solid again. When
these articles were eaten they presented
the same appearance as though freshly
canned, and their flavor was AS good as
when the last can was opened
as during the first month.
Canned goods have proved great boon
to the Householder. In cities, at any
rate, the goods preserved are cheaper
than il bought in the fresh condition.
This arises from the fast that they are
always packed where the material is
cheapest AID most abundant. great
economy is exercised, too, by the whole
sale pre- paration of meat and fish.
The popular idea that canned goods
are injurious to the health Is mistake.
Tin, which forms the coating of the thin
iron plates of which the cans are llade, is
not acted on at all by any ordinary acids
or by the gases of decomposition. Ger
tain firms in this city have followed up
every case of alleged posing from can,
ned goods without finding single one
of them authentic. The ordinary pre-
cautions OF taste and smell as applied to
fresh goods are a sufficient protection
against danger in similar goods when
canned, and judging by the progress of
the past decade in this method of food
preservation, it seems likely TO have q
still larger future before it.
SQUlBS
There is nothing consolatoly for the