Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-14
The Kind of Horses Killed.


be not only quite harmless, but perfectly neces-
sary, considering the kind of steeds which are
likely to be sacrificed to the needs of the hippo
phagists. The animals killed are simply aged
brutes unfit for work. younger ones which have
met with fatal accidents, OF the kind of worn
out and, II the inspectors are not all the more
active, diseased quadrupeds which are sold to
the knackers for their hides and bones. or to
the cats'-meat men for their flesh. This fact is
what renders hippophagy never likely to take
root in England. Even in countries where
horses are cheap, it is seldom that the
healthy and young are eaten. The wandering
kalmuks, no doubt, eat them chiefly because
horses form the principal portion of their
stock But in the Argentine Republic and
Uruguay, where they are sometimes so plenti-
ful that, in order to save the pastures, hun
dreds are DESTROYED, the Gauchos prefer the
stringy beef of the pampas; and the prairie In
dians never kill horse for food SO long as
there is buffalo to shoot, or settlers COW to
steal. 1t Is, therefore, extremely improbable
that, with the kind of stock accessible to any
one except millionaires, the very poorest of the
English people will ever take to horsefesh.
Ihe Briton likes to see what he is eating. He
must have his joint, and his own special cut
from 1t, and regards with well-founded suspi-
cion any attempt to deprive him of that costly
privilege by serving up nutriment in highly
seasoned steWs or sauSageS which defy analy-
SIS. ms expensive punctiliousness never
the contrary, he prefers his meat in any shape
except plain roast and boiled. And, remember
ing the quality of the Continental beef and
mutton when served au naturel this peculiar
fancy is not to be deplored.
A Regular Article of Diet.
In Paris and Vienna horsefesh has long
formed regular article of diet among the
poorer classes. 1t is publicly sold in the bouch-
cries, and served up in the cheaper restaurants,
sometimes with due acknowledgment, though
more frequently as beef. In Italy, people seem
absolutely Indifferent to what they eat, SO long
as it contains some nutriment. Those who
have seen foxes, offers, and snakes hanging up
in the markets Of Rome must have left in
amazement over the 'comestabili' with which
Roman will stay his appetite. The Berliner
is not much more particular. Hippophagy is,
nevertheless, an exotic taste in the Prussian
capital, and, openly at least, dates from 1870,
when the Germans returned victors over the
French, only in their turn to be conquered by
the fashion of Gaul. 1t is confirmed, in one Of
those statistical works so dear to the Teutonic
minds, that 1000 horses are every year slaugh-
tered in Berlin, the flesh of which is
partly sold as "Pferdefeisch." and part
1y manufactured into sausages. At one
time, it was rare, even in the .'75
pfennig restaurations," to be served with
avowed horsefesh. Nowadays there is no deli
cacy about 1t, and the poorer Prussian, even at
as Tien 9 ne
OF those extraordinary sauces which no stom-
ach but his can brook. As for the Braun
scweiger and Frankfurter sausages. they are
eaten by everybody. though their composition
is no secret; while the ''blutwurst," the "mett-
wurst" the '1eberwurst," and a host of arti-
cles OF like character are accepted without any
1nvidious research into the species of animal
which yielded their staple flesh. They are, at
all events, no worse than the Lyons sausage, or
that OF Bologna, which claims no loftier parent
age than the domestic donkey, and is rumored
TO be general receptacle for any bit of any
beast which may prove chopable.
What Different Races Eat.
In time, possibly, we also may get emanci-
pated from our old dietetic prejudices, and it
is certain that the Democratic favor accorded
to "polonies" ought to prove encouraging to
the reformer. By-and-by we may come to
horse-fesh, and even to the whales meat, of
which Norwegian has been extolling the
merits. Gipsies and Italians admire hedge
hogs, and the Virginia negro desires nothing
better than opossum. Roast cat is said TO be
far from despicable, though the North Ger
mans regard the man who will eat rabbit as
little better than a gastronomic outeast; and
while the negroes of the West Indies devour
baked snakes, and palm worms fried in their
own fat, nothing will induce them to dine on
rabbit. The Turks shudder at the thought of
eating oysters. The Chinese love rats and
black puppies, but draw the line at alligators
though bold experimentalist has declared
boa-constr1ctor to taste very like veal. The
Greenlander considers young burgomaster
gull as good as ptarmigan. In Mexico they eat
parrots, though they are trifte tough; but
Mr.. Darwin and the Cambridge Committee of
Taste found an old owl too much for their
palates. The Gaudhos of the Uruguayar
Pampas are in the habit of hunting and eating
skunks; and yet in the North the mere rumor
of one of these beasts being in camp has been
nouncement of the incursion of tribe of
Indians.
AVariety of New Dishes.
The Neapolitans love the sea urchin, but
despise the Calabrians for eating the relative,
the sea cucumber, one kind of which, the
beche de mer, is held in high esteem by the
Chinese. Cuttlefshes are in favor with most
Of the Mediterranean nations; but we are not
aware that any of them care for lizards or for
lizards eggs, which IN the West Inoies West
Africa and Polynesia constitute agreeable
dishes. Turtle eggs form the food of many
savage tribes, and last century turtle was eaten
only by the poor Of Jamaica. In Brazil, ants
eggs are served with resinous sauce, and in
Africa with grease or butter, while in Siam
there are people who consider a curry Of these
delicacies choice but costly luxury. The
BOsjesmen Of South Africa do not despise cat
erpillars and slugs, and roast spiders are re-
garded as a sort of dessert by the New Gale
domains. As for the late Prince Lucien Bona
parte, he declared that he could make com
Portable meal" of any animal, except an alli-
gator and turkey buzzard. Even the latter
he would not reject, though, so far as its vir-
tues we're concerned, he seems to have shared
the opinion of the backwoodsman. who was
free to confess that he could eat crow, but that
when seasoned with snuff 'he didn't banker
after it." This, we fancy, will be the verdict
re0ardinp horseflesh