The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-08-24
ABOUT FROGS LEGS.

MOI IL % A000 UO01000 ~ T0OY WDxD
Years Ago.
"Where do you get the frogs' legs which
you cook7" asked . reporter Of the Boston
Globe Of an old trader in Faneuil Hall mar
ket.
II don't know" was the hal1-laughing
reply. II guess they most all como Of the
hind legs Of Frogs" This was eaid, not
sneeringly, but just simply to explain that
the speaker did mot know, and therefore
could not toll how or where they were OBJ
tanned. Here and there marketman gets
an invoice from Canada or Northern New
England, but by far the larger part ia OBJ
tanned in New York, whittier they are sent
by the frog-raisers Of New jersey and Vir-
ginia.
ITO tell the truth" said another market
man, 'sthe hotel and restaurant people In
form me there is very little demand for
1p sve e% on the bs .fs bur
man were to 20 in and ask for them no
would be very apt to be informed that we
are Just out Of frogs legs, am sorry to
say The French people are called frog
eaters, but very few of them even know the
taste of batrachian meat, much less making
it a part of their regular diet"
Frogs meat was fad ton or twenty
years ago. was the assertion of cook in
one Of the big hotels, land mostly every
caterer made it q point to supply the de-
mand. 20 to New York pretty often, and
find frogs on the bills Of fare there much
'oftener than here in Boston. It is 80 in
Washington. too. New ENGLAND raises
not pay for the catching and dress
ing. Now, here at this hotel we feed
200 or 800 people every day, but single bar
rel of frogs legs would last us whole year.
They are no longer popular with u.s."
stead?" was asked.
II don't know; baked beans, guess"
Several other old hands at the marketing
and cooking business were seen, and all
united in saying that the rage for frogs had
seen its day, and was now an exploded fad.
In short, they believed the frogs had
"About twenty five years ago." said an
old attendant in the big Washington mar
ket, several men made fortunes at CATCH
ing frogs and sending them to market.
The hind legs were cut of, skinned,
washed, and, after being mildly salted,
range from SO cents to Is cents for q dozen
pairs of legs, and, as sales were quick,
there was pile of money in the oocupa-
tioc.''
Zone old fellow, blacksmith by the
name of Weld, down IN Greenbush. Me-.
6Uppll0U al Oh NEW GNkAAuU AOI years. 4AO
lived by the side Of very extensive swa mps
that were filled with wigglers and cattails.
The former furnished food for the frogs,
while the latter gave them shade. have
seen bull-frog legs that were nearly as big
as the legs of an ordinary chicken.
'Old man Weld used to hire boys to kill
the frogs for him, giving them cents or s
cents dozen. The frogs were SO plenty
that many of the children earned good
wages, even at that small price. Weld
dressed the frogs. corned them and shipped
them to Boston in barrels. like behring's. He
kept up the business for years and, though
he slew hundreds of thousands every year,
the supply did not diminish at all.
"By and by the prices went away down,
and as the old man had cleared about $780,
600 out of the scheme, he retired, built him
self fine mansion and lived at his ease.
He is the only man know of who got rich
by catching frogs, but I have heard of seve-
raj others.
4 "Of late the frogs are shipped to the mar
ket alive and kicking. in cool, moist grass,
and killed as they are wanted. This involves
more expense. They bring higher prices
than those that are shipped ready dressed.
But the demand is not enough to make the
business pay much. wish people would
eat more frogs, for there are ten times as
many frogs in the United States to-day as
there are people, and as fast as they die
new pollywogs grow up to fill the vacan-
cies."