St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-13
PARIS READY FOR A SIEGE,
The City Could Not Again Ba
Starved Into "a Surrender.

The City Could Not Again Da
Starved Into "a Surrender.
Philadelphia Record.
Should the fortunes of war ever
again expose the city of Paris to
the hardships of a siege the besieger
would find the reduction of the
French capital to be a far more dit
ficult undertaking than did the Ger
man armies in the winter of 1901.
1t may, indeed, be doubted whether
the city could ever again be COM
PEELED to capitulate. The fall Of
Paris, as is we'll known, was not
accomplished by the German siege
batteries, but the city was starved
into submission. A recurrence of
such an emergency is supposed to
have been made practically impos-
Sible by the development of the art
of preserving and COMPRISING a
great variety of nutritious foods in
to the smallest possible space.
Thus, for example, 10000 rations
of preserved vegetables can be
placed in a cubic space measuring
only forty inches each way, and mill
lions of these rationS, together witt
solid soups and preserved meats.
are constantly kept ready for the
eventful necessity Of the military
provisioning of Paris. An enormous
stock of flour and biscuits is al
ways maintained by the war de-
partment, while the introduction Of
compressed fodder and the silo SyS-
tenn have facilitated the storage of
sufficient food for the horses re-
quired by the cavalry as we'll as by
the omnibus and street railway
companies. One of the gravest
causes of distess during the last
siege of Paris was the scarcity and
poor quality of milk. Such guam
titles of this Indispensable article
as could then be procured were
worth their weight in gold, and
the mortality among infants result
ing from their deprivation of this
necessary food reached a frightful
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 government, and by which
milk can be preserved almost in
definitely absolutely pure and unal-
tered.
Twenty years ago the art of pre-.
serving meat by means of cold stor-
age was in its infancy; but the
French government has fully
availed itself to every improvement
that has been made in this direction,
and at the first sign of impending
danger the authorities would be pre-
pared to store hundreds of thou
sands of carcasses of beeves and
ri oa
are always kept filed; but at the
approach of war the numerous
warehouses and buildings 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 its careful prepara-
ton for the dire emergency of hos
tile attack the French government
seems to have overlooked nothing;
even coal, wood, petroleum, chem
icals. and thousand other things
have been provided in ample guam
titles. 1t seems almost impossible
to believe that any future siege of
Paris could be prolonged until the
war department should have eX-
hausted it's fabulous accommodations
of provisions, which are constantly
maintained at their proper level by
renewals of stock as fast as they are
used up 1.-THE best laid plans o
mice and men," however, gang aft
a-gley."