Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-25
THE DEMAND FOR CAvI.RE.
American Product Sent Abroad for
Treatment and Then Returned

From the New York Sun.
one of the many small restaurants which
fourished ten years ago within a radius of
two blocks of the Academy of Music owed
its popularity to the excellent quality of
the caviare which it served. 1t was filed
after the theater hours with a cosmopol-
itan crowd, which usually included some of
the foreign singers and actors who happen-
ed to be playing in New York at that time.
1t was Russian-German restaurant and
in its details it did not differ from the or
binary table d'hOte. Strangers were al
ways advised by the walters to try its Rus
sian caviare, and its regular patrons went
there especially for it. When the theater
district jumped uptown twenty blocks or
more this restaurant lost its patrons gradu-
ally and finally went out of business.
NO other restaurant that makes a spe-
cialty of caviare has been opened since its
failure CaViare is included on the bills of
all frst-class restaurants and the demand
for it has grown slowly. Much of the cav
iare, however, which is sold as the import
ed article, is of domestic production and
fCfelen packing. a man who is an author
ity on the subject said:
II 1t We're not for the prejudice against
domestic delicacies for the table we might
have the very best caviare in the world
As II is we export ali of our sturgeon roe
Tor treatment abroad and then import ii
PACK again in foreign packages, thus al
lowing II to get stale and hard. To be good
caviare should be fresh. The price of cav
iare has more than doubled in the past
three years because of the increased de-
mand and the decreased supply. The prod
uCt of the sturgeon fisheries of Europe and
America has been unusually small
The first American sturgeon roe which
was placed IN the caviare market was taken
II ON the rivers which flow into the north
In t.r Ia ~
IL was not then believed that roe taken
from sturgeon caught further south would
make good caViare. Since the development
Oh sturgeon fisheries. however, it has been
IcuHd mat excellent roe is obtained in
Delaware and the middle Atlantic BAYS and
Oh thc racine coast The American waters
now produce only 10000 pounds of cayiare
as against more than 300, 600 pounds pro-
doced four OF five years ago. The Russian
ana European catches have been smaller
even In proportion Hamburg is the main
distributing center for caviare, and there
we send nearly all of our domestic roe for
treatment. Our proportion of the worlds
supply OF caviare is small but l believe
that our domestic demand for 1t is stin
smaller, so that the balance of trade is
signify IN our favor.
The taste for cayiare is undoubtedly ac-
CURED, and l know people who eat it, not
because they enjoy it, but because they
tnlhk II proper to affect liking for it.
w men the Russian men-ofWar Were in our
harbor "a few years ago l was one of a
party of New Workers who We're entertain
ed at breakfast on board one of them. The
Russian officers were a fine-looking body of
men, Dig, strong, clear-Skinned chaps, and
they We're anxious to give us the best that
they had. Our party from shore included
1--WE or six men who had lived much of their
lives in clubs and who prided themselves on
Knowing just how much they could drink
with safety. Very rich caviare was served
and the Russians were the only ones who
ate much of it. Then they offered us liquid
refreshment in large quantities and we did
not refuse. We drank with them as often
as they invited us and the result was de-
noralizing to several -old-timers in our
party. One of the shore guests was lower
cess baggage The Russians were ali an
parently as sober as judges. One of them
told us later that it was due to the fact
that they had eaten a. good deal of caviare
before drinking. Others have told me that
they have had theJ5same experience with
Russians" n