Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-02-21
PONY SAUSAGES."
The Use of Horses Flesh for
Human Food
French Experts Consider 1t of
Great Value.

SO >-A'' NY uiu ar OK C1lCcr
oil the French army, says the New York
Star. lie has had much experience in
the use OF 'pony sausagcs' while in
service i'll France. While dining in ono
OF those curious little Partisan rcstau.
rants which arc SO common in the mid
dli quarter of New York. he gave the
following interesting experience abou,
horse meat IL Il food:
"Thc use Of horse meat" he so,d
Sin our country aad Csc where is much
older than is usually believed. 1t has
been food among many tribes of Tar
tars, Cossac&s and other eastern races
from time immcmorial. It's use in
France is at least 30 years old. In
105O-G) both our government and that
oil Prussia made u series of very
thorough and scientific experiment s
upon the subject of foods, with refer.
encc to provisioning large bodies of
inca. The conclusions reached by the
scientists employed we're the same in
almost every experiment. With one re-
suit Americans arc already very familiar,
anu that Is the manufacture of artificial
butter (plcomargarinc) directly from ami
mai TAT. With the other two cxpcri.
mch's you have some familiarity in this
country. They are The manufacture of
liquors from raw spirits. or as VIC call
1t industrial alcohol, and the making
OF cheap wines from raisin', dried cur
rants and cldcrbcrrics.
In regard to horse meat, our OK
pcrts declared that, although it wa,
tougher and coaricr than beef it was
moro nutritious and wholesome, cspc.
ciaI!y when cut up into pulp. The
report, at the time it was published,
aroused some interest aud created any
amount of fun. The numerous papers
invented no end of such phrases as q
outlet OF colt, n fricassccd fctlock'
and the like. a number of seekers
after novelty tricl various dishes prc-
pared from horse meat, and n horse
citing club was formed carly in the
sixties. The siege of Paris and the
bitter civil war of the Commune made
what had before been matter of Curl
oslty one of absolute necessity. In
those sad days l do not know how
many thousand horses were killed and
eaten, and how many millions tasted
equine flesh. After the first surprise
was over We found it very good food.
Roasted, broiIed or fricl it was touch
and s.ringy, excepting where a young
animal was killed. Boiled, stcwcd or
steamed, it was tender, juicy and very
easily digcsted.
alt was during those times that it
was first cut up, seasoned and made in
the loim of sausages. These became
popular. and are used to-day in all
parts OF France in vast quantities, and
in smaller quantities in Belgium, IIol
land. Germany, Switzerland, Italy and
Spain. a horse sausage in color is
brighter than beef one, such MS an
everyday Frankfort, and looks very
much like those made from pork. Be-
ing cut very fine, it loses all its tourh-
ness, just as a Hamburg steak does
which has been ma ic from the shank
OF beef. While our authorities NAV
be mistaken, they are Of the opinion
that horse sausage digcsts in onc-half
the time required by pork in the same
operation.
"A still more cogcnt fact lies in the
economy OF the article. Horses are
very healthy animals, and much more
robust than most of those animals used
for food. They seldom break down
from disease, but almost always from
accident Of some kinl. Our present
practice is to kill the animal if he is
severely injured, and to render the fat
cut Of her carcass. Every dag horse,
weighing from seven hundred to twelve
hundred pounds are sold from So up.
wards, or less than one ccnt pound.
Beef, on the other hand, brings aim ost
live times as much. 1t would be great
saving, therefore, to utilize horses for
food purposes whcn they can no longer
be utilized for draught purposes and
are healthy. 1t would afford the poor
an incxhaus:ible supply of cheap and
Wholesome nourishment and by rcduc-
ing the demand for beef would tend to
cheaper that article