Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-09-23
HUNGER IN WARTIME
hoWiT coMPELs EXPERIMENTS UPON
QUEER MEATS.

Dsss. Casa. Rass and Even VIVA Bsssss
q DsvoassA.
u 10 only In times Of Siege and famine
hat men discover how many different
kinds Of food there are besides those usual.
j. consumed. Hunger drives them TO ex.
'pefiments upon substances which they
would shrink from eating on ordinary o.
'oasions, and they frequently find that
thsee uncommon foods generally conid.
Ged unit for human beings, are not only
nourishing but agreeable In flavor onoe
The prejudice against them has been bro
ken and the palate accustomed to the new
taste.
ii 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 refOrma Most people
cling fondly to their old ideas about what
- good to eat and what IL not, and only
the prospect Of genuine famine con per-
sasde them to try ordinarily condemned
things.
When any town or district has been be-
selged for such, . length Of time that ito
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 DO preferred
to any other Of IN unusual nature when
the everyday beet, mutton and pork be-
come understandable. Tho eating Of horse
desh under such circumstances 10 . prao-
toe dating back to very early times, In
stances Of It being mentioned among the
Persians, the Greeks and other nations Of
antiquity.
Later IL is recorded that at the siego Of
Antioch, In the first crusade, the horses Of
the besiegers were eaten in such quantities
that In two months not more than 5000
Of the original 10000 were left. At the
Siege Of Nets $4,000 horses are said to
have been eaten.
But the famous diego Of Paris in the
Ffanoo-P russian 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 tho .Jardin
des Plantes disappeared gradually, and
neither doubt nor surprise was expressed
at its destination.
Of the horses o5, 600 were eaton during
the siege. This meat, however, was not
new to the Parisian taste-at least not to
the taste Of the working classes. Since
1855 it had been lawful to slaughter horses
for human food, and horse butcher shops
were comnon establishments in tho city.
But the entire number Of horses killed in
time OF peace was trifing compared to this
enormous total in wartime. Tho Pari.
slams, with their irrepressible levity and
disposition to smooth matters over, ever
under such circumstances az these, called
the horso meat "siege venison,'' and there
were few complaints regarding 1t.
According to the general testimony, not
only Of the French OF this time, but OF
scientists In different countries who have
tried the meat under many conditions,
horseflesh possesses q favor about halt
way between that Of beef and game and ID
variously compared to venison and to hare.
Il 10 coarser in grain than beef and in this
respect resembles bull beef more than any
other. 1t has q peculiar smell, which ID
ut first q trife disconcerting, but which
room becomes familiar, and q certain
sweetness OF taste. It is darker in color
and more moist than beet. Its fat, which
= moist and yellow, is not generally mix.
ed with the lean, and it soon melts and
becomes rancid. One authority says that
horse meat. being richer, is undoubtedly
superior to beef for soup, and he goes on
b declare that for roasting the best parts
Of young horse are finer than any beet.
The chief chemical difference between the
two 10 that horsefesh has the greater
quantity Of the nitrogenous substance
called creatine.
Besides the 65,0 900 horses eaten during
the siege. Of Paris 1000 asses and 5000
mules = said to have been consumed.
The flesh Of the latter was pronounced
delicious, exoelling horsefesh in its quail.
ity. The number Of rats and mice used ID
not computed, but of dogs there are said
10 have been !, 300 and OF cats 8, 900. From
the testimony Of many persons who have
eaten the flesh Of cats and dogs it IL said
to resemble that Of rabbits and when well
cooked to DO extremely palatable. t5.44
OF the animals In the menagerie Of thu
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.
osdiof the way in which the Parisians pre-.
pared their elephant meat it iswell known
that 1t can be made pleasant to the tasts