The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-09
METHODS OF PRESERVING BEEF.



The preservation Of beef and other
meat in fresh state for government
use and for commercial purposes has
been subject of interest TO foreign
chemists for many years. The colonies
of Great Britain, for instance, require.
garrisons to be stationed at all points
on the globe on the far north to
places under the equator. To furnish
preserved food, such as beef and NUT
ton, in quantities to these garrisons, has
induced the English government to ex-
pend large sums Of money in determin-
ing the best processes.
Specimens of flesh treated by various
chemicals have been sent to the West
Indies frequently within the last quar-
ter of a century, but the conclusions of
the scientists under whom the tests
were made have been that nothing of
its character can be preserved even
few days in the climate of Jamaica. for
instance, without a continual surround
ing of atmosphere close to the freezing
point or below it. In short, only one
process except that of refrigeration has
been successful in preserving meat of
any kind. This is where the substance
has been thoroughly dried, or. as it is
termed in South America, converted
into ''jerked" beef.
In spite of the large sums of money
"iiiSii NAVE DCGH spent III pSAiN'Ii'o
processes in the United States for the
preservation of beef in its natural form.
nothing has yet been found which will
keep it more thanfa few hours after be-
ing exposed In the ordinary tempera-
ture of the tropics. Meats which have
been placed in cans have naturally
been kept longer period. but the diff
ference of temperature between the
western states and Cuba during the
Tod oil nf hn nlyl orc tn a
greater or less degree.
To keep meat which is to be sent to
points where it must be exposed to a
normal temperature, and where it may
be hung in the market for few hours
until sold, painting process is en-
ployed at times. This consists in cover
ing all cuts and other wounds on the
surface of the meat with a preparation
which, as it hardens, literally forms a
thin glass over them. rendering the
cuts alright. The composition is pro-
nounced by chemists ito be harmless,
and dissolves in the process of cooking.
When the beef is to be exposed a long
period, several processes have been
| used. One is to expose the various
pieces to the action of fumes of sui
phurous acid gas, and to a certain eX-
tent cooking it in this manner. AS the
painting process excludes the oxygen
prevents putrefaction temporarily, gas is
supposed to kill all parasitic germs and
to neutralize the effect of the oxygen in
decomposition. The latter operation is
performed on the halves, quarters and
other large portions of the animal. Still
another and much more common meth
cd is to utilize chemicals, both by in
jecting and by applying to the sur
face.
The chances of preserving beef chem
ically or otherwise treated in the trop-
les is a problem which has never been
solved. 1t was calculated, however,
| that meat sent to Cuba and Porto Rico
would be we'll preserved on shipboard,
| through cold storage, and that it would
be eaten almost within a few hours af-
| ter taken out of the cargo. This, how
| ever, was an error. AS is well known,
many of the transports We're delayed
off Santiago, for example in a temper
| AZURE which was very high. convertine
| the vessel holds into hot rooms, except
| in few instances where refrigerati ton
had been provided. After being kept in
| such a temperature and the close con-
| finement of the hold, it was no small
| wonder that the meat, in spite of all its
| treatment, had become literally putrid,
and that the canned beef was in as bad
| condition, If not worse. Even the trip
| from the Atlantic seaports to the Cuban
| ports in some cases required three Or
| four days, during which the thermome-
| ter on the vessels registered far above
| the summer heat of the United States.
| Consequently, the process Of putrefac-
ton was very rapid, and bacteria We're
no doubt present in large quantities in
what was offered as food for not only
| the men. but also the officers. The eX-
| perience of the English government
should have taught our own lesson In
the futiltay of sending beef to such a
| climate as the West Indies, except
thoroughly dried. But ii is evident that
the administration relied too much
upon the supposed safe processes OF
| preSerVation.-New York Sun.
| Got Her Moneys Worth.