The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-01
HORSE MEAT AS FOOD.

Comparison with Other Meats.
wherein the Difference Lies and
How to Distinguish One From the
Other.
New York World: Recent expert
ments have been made by the bureau
of chemistry OF the agricultural depart
ment at Washington, which apparently
decide the ultimate fate Of the horse,
His epltaph will be eventually In
scribed on the menu Of the automobile
century. The American public will eat
him boiled, baked AND fried. Equine
steak with mushrooms, chop a la
Maude s., roast of mustang, and Ken
lucky thoroughbred sausage win vary
the monotony of meats on the up-to-
date hotel bill Of fare. In this day Of
hOrseless transportation old Dobbin
will be deprived Of his prerogative OF
furnishing motive power, and be used
only as fuel for the human engine.
Prof. w. n. Wiley, head chemist Of
the agricultural department, has been
making the experiments.
The edible and culinary fitness OF the
equine flesh was chemically and NIL
croscopIcally proven. Scientific inves-
tlgatiun robbed the Kimberley diet Of
half its terrors. The federal govern
mant found the horse good to eat, He
was found to taste like lobster. HIS
flesh contains per cent more sugar
than either beaf or pork, II is no less
nutritious, and In roasts or steaks. II
presents as palatable an appearance.
Uncle Sam files no objection to the
sale OF horse meat over the butchers
block so long as 1t Is labeled. It Is TO
prevent a masqueraded disposal Of It
for culinary purposes that government
meat inspectors have been Officially ia
miiiar!zed with the horse In the var
ious gulses of his Acknowledgement.
A horse was purchased-a dead one.
For the first lesson they were to make
ocular appraisement OF the edible mer-
its and dement's OF his hutchered
phases.
The carcass was handled exactly as
skilled butcher cuts up newly-slaugh-
tered beef. II was carved into tender
loin. slrloln and rump steaks. shoulder
and flank roasts. In these shapes de-
ceIt as to its origin Is practically i'm
possible. The merest tyrO In anatomy,
whether the knowledge be gained at
housewives dlssectlng board on her
kitchen table. could not be deceived In
to huying horse meat for beef. The
crts show a marked difference in the
shapes OF the bones OF the roast, the
character of the fat OF the steaks and
the grain of the meat in toto. that Of
the horseflesh being exceedingly coarse.
The sausage into which the ment
was next transferred was less easily
distinguished from the legitimate mix
ture OF pork. The identity Of the COM
position. however, was readily discIos.
ed by microscopic observation.
In the second lesson the government
meat inspectors were taught TO deter
mine the difference in taste between a
tenderloln OF horse and its counterpart
OF beef. Combinations with other
meats were also made. A sound and
healthy horse was slaughtered Ninety
per cent OF horse meat was mixed with
10 DER cent Of bsef or pork, so per cent
OF tho former with 20 per cent Of the
latter. and so on down the scale of pro-
portion. Up to so per cent the presence
Of horse meat is easily determined eiths
er by taste or mlscrogcopic obserVa-
lions. UnCnr that 1t Is more difficult,
and when the proportion equine flssh
reaches per cent Its detection Ia prac-
ticnlly impossible: but as such nm
adulteratlon is commercially profitless
the American consumer may continue
TO eat his Hamburg steak in peaceful
security as to Its origin.