Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-17
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T:ai1Y eagle
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
SEA FOOD rAS BECOME POPULAR IN
AMERICA.

Fales-Curtis Holds That the Example of
the Chinese Has Been Followed in This
Matter and Gives Some Interesting In
formation.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, July The American peo-
pie seem to be rapidly following in the foot
steps of the Chinese, who for at least twenty
centuries have given fish the first place In
gastronomy and hygiene. Economy has
much to do with this ever increasing demand
for sea food, for the increasing number OF
persons who make a careful study OF gas
tronomy have for some time been calling at
tention to the numerous advantages of fish
over meat In the numerous works Of Ed
ward Atkinson on the subject of food he
dwells on this point at great length, explain
ing that the waste portions of meat are much
larger In proportion than those Of fish. In
purchasing meat the consumer has 70 pay for
a large percentage Of bone, gristle, super
fous fat, and even skin, while in buying fish
there is very little but solid food TO be paid
for Moreover, fish, of what may be called
equal grades with the various kinds of meat
in the market, may be purchased for con-
siderably less per poune
The reasons are obvte-Sl reat. excepting
what is called game" q O. Expensive thing
to produce and has 70 ~ Seated from the
time of birth to the nlUaS fnt Of slaughter,
each day Of care adding - is cost. Fish, on
the other hand, simply ~TDws" like Topsy
All that man has to do n g. reach forth his
hand with net or o rod and lne) and take
In the food which nature provides in abund-
ance In all Der streams and bodies Of water.
Just now Is the fisherman's harvest day.
Not only Is the time of year the pleasantest
for going down to the sea In ships or boats,
but now the finny tribes are In their best con-
dition, and, as If realizing this fact, they are
coming, after the annual custom, up towards
the shores 70 be caught. Wherefore thou
sands Of professional fishermen are at work
and hundreds of amateurs are at play around
New York Just now. 4
Owing 10 the constantly Increasing demAnd
Just mentioned, the business of catching fish
by wholesale is constantly charging When
few years ago comparatively small feet
Of schooners was ample to supply the New
York market with what fish could be sold,
there are now many scores of large steamers
fitted out for long cruises and large catches.
OF equal Importance are the increased ia
cilities for keeping and preserving all forms
of animal tissue, whether fish, flesh or fowl.
In every city are now cold storages, on every
railroad refrigerator cars, and even at points
of production, such as the salmon, trout and
pompano districts, are ice houses where the
largest denizen Of the deep can be frozen
solid In Il half hour. On this account the trio
of great fishes mentioned are to be had in
every first class restaurant of the country
This business Of congelation is not always a
success, however. Last week Henry Guy
Carlton, who Is an epicure as well as an au-
thor, gave dinner to Bill Nye in which the
leading dish was large pompano, brought
by rail from New Orleans Through soma
mistake the ice gave out on the journey and
the fish arrived in New York in very bad
condition. The cook was a stranger to the
southern delicacy, and imagining that it was
a game fish in both senses, cooked and served
it. Each guest took one bite and became
horribly silent. Carlton, who had not tasted
it, asked the company;
''How do you think that was brought on
here9" intending probably to explain the re-
frigerator service between the gulf and the
metropolis
Nye looked up very solemnly and answer
ed, Il think you brought it in on q hearsel"
The New Yorker has learned a new trick,
which was taught by the Monaghan colony
in Mott street four years ago At that time
there was a phenomenally large catch OF
mackerel, over seventeen million coming to
Fulton fish market alone The price fell
from twelve to one cent a pound and then
dropped TO two fishes for cent. Even upon
this basis nearly a million Were thrown away
into the East river TO relieve the market.
The moment the Chinese merchants heard OF
the affair they began buying mackerel and
in two days had purchased two million mack
erel These they carted to the Chinese quar-
ter and preserved In various ways. What
with smoking, drying, sailing, picking, sous
ing and deslccating, they converted their
neighborhood for a fortnight into veritable
Billingsgate They stored the preserved fish
for few weeks, during which time prices
went back to their normal figure. Then
what they had bought for less than a cent a
pound, they sold at wholesale for eight and
nine up to fifteen cents pound
Altogether they cleared over sixty thou
sand dollars upon the speculation. The sue
cess of this experiment opened the eyes of
American business men. From that time on
they have kept the fish market carefully in
view. When prices fall below certain
limit, they buy large quantities and keep
them until the market has risen again. With
such fishes as salmon, trout, Spanish macke-
rel, red snapper and pompano there is good
margin of profit, which grows larger day by
day with the increase of facilities for preser-
walton This process has gone so far that on
several occasions when there has been a heavy
run of Goldfish in the lower bay of New York
in December and January and of bluefish
and bass in the early summer, spectators
have realized handsomely by buying Large
amounts of fish and keeping them for a few
weeks at a time.
The influence OF the foreign upon the ma
live population is well shown in the change of
popular taste regarding fishes, Ten years
ago the ray, raie or skate, as l. is variously
called, was seldom If ever used as food
When caught by the angler it was used as
bait or fertilizer, or else thrown overheard in
disgust. The French, and in fact all the Latin
races, have long esteemed it as an article Of
diet. aud in such dishes as bouillahaisse an