The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-03-20
PREPARED FOR A SIEGE.
The City of Paris Could Not Be Starv
Into IL Surrender.

Into Surrender.
Should the fortunes of war ever again
expose the city of Paris to the hardship
of SIEGE the besieger would find the re-
duction of the French capital to be a far
more difficult undertaking than did the
German armies in the winter of 1S70-7L 1t
may, in deed, be doubted whether the city
could ever again be compelled to capitulate.
The fall of Paris, is well known, was
not accomplished by the German siege bat
teres, but the city was starved into sub
mission A recurrence of such an emer-
gency is supposed to have been made prac-
tically impossible by the development of
the art Of preserving and COMPRISING a
great variety of nutritious foods into the
smallest possible space.
Thus, for example, 10000 rations of pre-
served vegetables can be placed in a cubic
space measuring only 40 inches each way,
and millions of these rations, together with
solid sops and preserved meats, are con-
stantly kept ready for the eventual neceS-
sity of the military provisioning of Paris
An enormous stock of flour and biscuits is
always maintained by the war department.
while the introduction of compressed fod-
der and the silo system have facilitated the
storage of sufficient food for the horses re-
quired by the cavalry well as by the ON
nibus and street railway companies. One
of the graveSt causes of distress during
the last siege of Paris the scarcity
and poor quality of milk. Such quantities
Oh tnlS indispensable article as cOulu IneH
be procured were worth their weight in
gold, and the mortality among infants
Sulting from their deprivation of this nee
eSSary food reached a frghtful rate. In
the next siege, however, milk will not only
be plentiful, but very good thanks to DR..
Autefage's process of "PaSteuriZing' milk,
which has been adopted by the French gov
eminent, and by which milk can be pre-
served almost indefinitely absolutely pure
and unaltered.
Twenty years ago the art of preserving
meat by means of cold storage was in it's
infancy; but the French government has
fully availed itself of every Improvement
that has been made in this direction, and
at the first sign of impending danger, the
authorities would be prepared to store hun
dreds of thousands of cercasses of beeves
and mutton. The military magazines are
always kept filled; but at the approach of
war the numerous warehouses and build
ings which have been indicated for the
purpose and prepared for the storage of
provisions would be Immediately brought
into requisition. BY means of the Fixary
process, dressed beef and other meats can
be kept sweet and fresh for many months;
and by new chemical methods, the storage
rooms can be kept cool without the use of
ice. In it's careful preparation for the
dire emergency of hostile attack the French
government seems to have overlooked moth
ing; even coal, wood, petroleum, chemicals,
and a thousand other things have been
provided in ample quantities. 1t seems al
most impossible to believe that any future
siege of Paris could be prolonged until the
war department should have exhausted it's
fabulous accumula tons of provisions which
are constantly maintained at their proper
level by renewing stocks fast as they
are used up. 1.-THE best laid schemes O.
mice and men,, however gang aft
olo