Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-09-01
HUNGER In WARTIME
HoWIT coMPELS EXPERIMENTS UPOu
QUEER MEATS.


The "siege venison" of Paris Is Usually
the First Resource-Then the Flesh of
Dogs. Cats. Rats and Even wild Beasts
Is Devoured.
1t is only in times of siege and famine
that men discover how many different
kinds of food there are besides those usual
ly consumed. Hunger drives them to ex-
reriments upon substances which they
would shrink from eating on ordinary oc-
casions, and they frequently find that
these uncommon foods, generally consid-
cred unfit for human beings, are not only
nourishing but agreeable in flavor once
the prejudice against them has been bro
ken and the palate accustomed to the new
taste
There have been at times in different
countries associations of persons who made
trials of odd foods for the purpose of ascer-
tanning their fitness for consumption, but
they have never succeeded in accomplish
ing their projected reforms. Most people
cling fondly to their old ideas about what
is good to eat and what is not, and only
the prospect of genuine famine can per-
suade them to try ordinarily condemned
things.
When any town or district has been be-
seiged for such length of time that it's
food supply runs short, the first proceed
ing usually resorted to IN order to procure
food for the inhabitants is the killing Of
horses. This meat seems to be preferred
to any other of an unusual nature when
the everyday beef, mutton and pork be-
come understandable The eating of horse
flesh under such circumstances is prac-
tice dating back to very early times, in
stances of it being mentioned among the
Persians, the Greeks and other nations of
antiquity
Later it is recorded that at the siege of
Antioch, in the first crusade, the horses of
the besiegers were eaten in such quantities
that in two months not more than 1900
of the original 10000 were left At the
siege of Metz $4,000 horses are said to
have been eaten.
But the famous siege of Paris in the
Franco-Prussian war furnishes the most
interesting example of the variety of
meats which may be used in great straits
During that terrible winter of 1901,
while the German army outside prevented
supplies of any kind from being brought
into the unfortunate French capital, not
only such familiar animals as horses,
mules, dogs, cats, rats and mice supplied
the tables of rich and poor alike, but even
the menagerie of wild beasts in the .Iardin
des Plantes disappeared gradually, and
neither doubt nor surprise was expressed
at its destination.
OF the horses $4,000 were eaten during
the siege. This meat, however, was not
new to the Partisan taste-at least not to
the taste of the working classes. Since
1866 it had been lawful to slaughter horses
for human food, and horse butcher shops
were common establishments in the city
But the entire number of horses killed in
time of peace was trifiing compared to this
enormous total in wartime. The Pari-
slams, with their irrepressble levity and
disposition to smooth matters over, even
under such circumstances as these, called
the horse meat siege venison," and there
were few complaints regarding it.
According to the general testimony, not
only of the French at this time, but of
scientists in different countries who have
tried the meat under many conditions,
horsehesh possesses a flavor about half
way between that of beef and game and is
COlHlJdTOO W NG4lSOtl anu W AdI0.
1t is eoarser in grain than beef and in this
respect resembles bull beef more than any
other. 1t has peculiar smell, which is
at first trife disconcerting, but which
soon becomes familiar, and certain
sweetness of taste 1t is darker in color
and more moist than beef Its fat, which
is moist and yellow, is not generally mix
ed with the lean, and it soon melts and
horse meat, being richer, is undoubtedly
superior to beef for soup, and he goes on
to declare that for roasting the best parts
of young horse are finer than any beef.
The chief chemical difference between the
two is that horseflesh has the greater
quantity of the nitrogenous substance
called creatine.
Besides the 65, 600 horses eaten during
the siege of Paris 1000 asses and 1000
mules are said to have been consumed
The flesh of the latter was pronounced
delicious, excelling horsefiesh in it's quail
ity. The number of rats and mice used is
not computed, but of dogs there are said
to have been 1000 and OF cats ., 200 From
the testimony of many persons who have
eaten tho flesh of cats and dogs it is said
to resemble that of rabbits and when well
cooked to be extremely palatable.
OF the animals in the menagerie of the
Jardin des Plantes the flesh of two bears
which were eaten was likened to pork,
both in texture and taste. Three elephants
were consumed, and while there is no rec
ord of the way in which the Parisans pre-
pared their elephant meat it is we'll known
that it can be made pleasant to the taste
when cooked in the proper way. African