The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-03
IN EMBALMED BEEF HERE.
STORAGE MEN DENY CHARGES
TO THIS EFFECT.

That There Is Nothing Which
,,,ores with Cold Storage for
,-xing Meats-A Fortune
,oits the Wan Who Can Discover
Better PrOcess-Bqtchers Have
Tbetr suspicious, HOwever-Cheap-
Grades of Meat Said to Be Treat
81 with Preservatives.
,r., "smbalmed" beef investigation now
NC conducted by the war investigating
.,,,,7ission is of special interest to the
..,,ls of savannah Savannah furnished
Inv soldiers who, doubtless, ate of 'em-
ba,ned" beef, if any such was furnished.
Pt~des savannah is large consumer of
vr.stern beef, and if the epbalming bust
ress has been carried on to any extent in
furnishing meat to the army, the question
,o,ur,lIv occurs whether or not the same
thing is not done in furnishing the general
tra5e. particularly in the Southern states.
Tho agents of the large packing houses,
oil Of which have establishments here,
DENY most positively that SUCH is the
ease Some Of the local butchers, how
eysr have minated their belief rather
stronalv that such is the case. They do
NAT charge that preservative agents are
generally used They believe, however,
mar such preservatives are commonly
used upon the poorer grades of beef,
which. il is stated, do not keep SO well
after being removed from cold storage as
the well matured article.
With a view to investigating this mat
70, a, IF fIa
opirion Of the cold storage people on Gen.
Miles charges, a Morning News reporter
visited the packing house agencies on
West Broad street, and talked with the
agents As might have been expected,
they were unanimous in declaring not only
that Gen. Miles charges were unfounded,
but mat such a thing is the use of chemi-
Gals for the preservation of beef was abb
soutely unknown to the trade Cold stor-
age they declared, was the only process
known by which beef can be preserved for
an indefinite length of time
The best answer that can give you"
said Mr.. F. A. Todd representing Swift
& Co., lis that if there were any process
known by which beef could be preserved
better and cheaper than the cold storage
process Swift & Co. would have it. 1t IS
the very thing all the beef men are looking
for The best evidence that they have no
secret chemical preparation by which beef
can be preserved is the fact that cold
storage is altogether used by them in the
keeping and handling of their products.
fortune awaits the man who will discover
some sure and satisfactory means of pre-
serving beef in storage and in transit and
thus enable the packers to save the heavy
expense of cold storage. My firm alone
has 10000 refrtgerating cars in use handling
their products, besides several ships en-
gagged in transporting meats across the At
lantic ! have been connected with the
packing industry for years, and have seen
beef in all courses of preparation, from the
live steer to the finished product, and
have never known chemical substances
10 be used or anything else but cold storage
for the preservation of meats"
Mr. Fred NJ. Hull. Jr, of Nelson
Morris & Co., and Mr.. Steinhammer Of the
Armour Packing Company, both agreed
with Mr.. Todd that embalming was prac-
tee unknown to the trade. 1t was ridicu-
lous they said and no one at all familiar
with the beef industry would make such
charges. the cold storage rooms of the
packing houses were visited and the meth
DDS of handling and keeping the beef and
other fresh meats explained.
Nothing has ever been found" said
Mr. Steinhammer, 'to equal the cold stor-
age process for keeping and transporting
meats. The secret of the success of this
process is in taking the animal heat out
of The carcass shortly after the animal
has been killed. This is done by expos
ing the carcass to a temperature of 80
degrees for twentyfour to thirty-six
hours After the meat has been properly
cooled ii is kept at a Temperature of Sc
to 80 degrees constantly until the heat is
handed out to the butcher to be disposed of
TO his customers. Care is taken to reserve
the exact temperature as either a higher
or lower temperature would be injurious
10 the meat. Beef from which the animal
meat has been properly taken, will keep
much longer after being removed from
cola storage, than the native beef here
winch has not been deprived OF its animal
neat Wll keep after being slaughtered.
heei Killed at the slaughter pens here and
taken TO the market will become offensive
INSIDE OF twenty-four hours in warm
weather If not placed in cold storage. The
western beef will keep a much longer
uHe after being taken out of cold stora ge
1t also greatly improves the flavor of the
meat TO nave the animal heat taken from
Dy the cold storage process"
As an instance of the care which is taken
III handling the beef it was stated that il
- never exposed to different temperature.
al'er Detng cooled, than that in which it
=, - Aept' except when taken from the cars
~ u, De transferred TO the local storage rooms
me me cars which are especially constructed
ior me purpose, are iced before leaving the
PACKING houses, and are iced several times
en- route '-i''''
ho i'io Deer at the local cold storage ware
l., USES IN Savannah is undoubtedly kept
. ~ me best possible condition. A lady
~ VISIT any of the cold storage rooms
o ",,uout danger of soiling her dress. Not
is cu are the rooms kept clean, but the air
~, "eet and pure. The sight of the long |
10 Tvs ol heavy quarters ali neatly arranged |
g S, an interesting one. 1t Is evident thar |
aefcrs nan gets the best that the market |
tboso me fact that it requires four of |
sbov.- "atehouses to supply the local trade |
meats is consumed in Savannah.