Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-09-23

- n HL load
There is no legal restriction ~
country on the subject. and tba
centage Of lead in the cans Il
times as grea Is T. per cent NJ
people imagine that they render 49,
selves secure against these OWL,
purchasing such foods IN BOTTLES
paying double the price. U-nfortnra.,ll
the percentage OF lead in the bottle
often greater than in the cans M
tops of the bottles are common1n
Id or of rubber, which holds s.1nt..
OF lead. On their voyage across ~
ocean the r~eceptacleS are as ant
70 be turned upside down, 50 that n,
lead comes directly in contact with III.
contents. With the exception of l,sT
tin is, Of all metals. The worst n,
II Is decidedly the most commop ~
every sample Of canned goods Will
has been put up for any length Of ,.,-
tin is found dissolved.
On the whole it would seam .
poor people should congratulate tbar.
selves that they are unable to ann,
to buy canned foods. which are ~,
only dangerous 10 health. but Of smeu
value rs autriment. This latter nofn+
Particularly refers to such ~vcgat3br,s
as string beans, asparagus. etc I'm
canned beans the actual ~
food material is less than one-tv-ertiatb
In buying 100 pounds of such nro
vender the consumer purchases more
than 95 pounds Of water He really
pays over 50 a pound for the food. The
water being subtracted. Thus il is seen
how enormously costly canned prodncrs
are. They must be regarded I'm tra
light OF luxuries or condiments ra;ner
than as nutriments to support IeaIrby
people. These facts may prove useful
10 tie poor man by suggesting nm
economical avoidance of vegetables nut
up in this way. An expenditure Of 10
or - cents in flour or meal viii nro.
cure as much nourishncnt for a fam.
lily as 50 or 81 spent in canned goods
The process Of preserving food hv
canning dates back TO a patent taken
out by Pierre Antoine ARgilbert in
1893, His method did not differ es.
sentiallr from that in use at present
The food with some water was placed
in a tin can and a lid with a small hole
in it was fastened ON. Heat was then
applied, and when the liquid in the
can boiled briskly and all air was OK.
PEELED the hole was closed with a drop
of solder. Preserving foods in bottles
is an OLD invention, but the method
adopted for that purpose was the same
in principle, the filled bottles beirg ey,
posed to the action Of boiling water.
Peas and beans were put into bottles
raw. This process was devised by a
Frenchman named Appert in 1910. He
received a prize Of 1900 francs for
it from his government.
For a long time it was supposed that
the food thus treated was preserved
because air was excluded from it.
This was a mistake. Some of the
bacteria Of putrefactiou can live entire
ly without air. But no bacteria can
survive the action of boiling water for
more than a few minutes. All SUN
germs III the can or bottle having been
destroyed, and the receptacle being her
medically sealed, preservation Of Sic
contents is assured. The exposure u
the bottles to the boiling water is. in
fact, equivalent 10 the modern priuci-
PIE OF stcrilizing.
The preservation Of foods by canning
has become one OF the worlds great
industries. Canneries dot every COun
try Of the earth and their products are
found on every table. All manner Of
food is canned and sold at prices which
bring it within each of tue humblest
pockets. Vegetables out of season are
no longer a luxury OF the rich. The
common laborer may today have q
greater variety Of food than Queen
Elizabeth could have enjoyed with all
the resources and wealth of England
at her command. In the American
grocery ~pineapples from Singapore, sal
from British Columbia, fruit from
California. PEAS from France, o6ra
from Louisiana, sweet corn from New
York, string beans fom Scotland, NUT
ton from Australia, sardiues from Italy,
stand side by side OF the shelves. In
the United States the canning trade
has kept full pace with the wonderful
development of the country. Its eX-
tent may be judged 10y taking the
statistics for one single product
green corn. In 1885, the pack reached
The enormous total of S4,Iuu,U0o cans.
To certain vegetables il is not practi-
able to apply the processes described,
because the high temperature injur"s
appearance. Accordingly, to xiii
the bacterial gems, certain chemical
agents are introduced into the cllls ."
bottles. such as boric acid AMI stc-
charine, bud most of al salicyl!c acid
These presentations are considered III
furious to health when repeated doses
Of them are taken. Furthermore the
qualities which enable them 10
prevent the action of Heterogeneous
also hinder the normal functions OF
the digestive ferments in the stomach
II the person who ats the foods con