The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-08-07
THE CORN KITCHEN.
Col. Carr Tells of the Success 1t Has
Been at the Fair.

Canton, Ohio, Aug. 2-Prominent
among the callers at the Mckinley home
during the past week was Col. Clark e.
Carr of Galesburg, Ill, former United
States Minister to Denmark, but more
recently serving the government in the
American corn kitchen at the Paris Ex-
position. He probably more than any
other one man is responsible for the es-
tablishment of that kitchen, and there is
no limit to his enthusiasm when he
talks about the venture or about corn
in general. With Col Carr corn is in
deed king, although he does not raise
corn and has no personal pecuniary in
terest in the industry.
'The average corn crop in this country
is two thousand million bushels a year, -
said he. "Now suppose that by 1noreas-
ing the use of and extending the
markets for corn we can increase the
price just one cent bushel; that means
$50 600, 900 more every year for the people
who produce corn. Suppose we can In
crease the price five cents a busheI; that
means S1OO, 600, 300 year more for the
producers. When one thinks of these
figures he need inquire no further why
the government gives substantial aid to
plans for extending the use OF corn
II first became interested in this sub
ject when L was Minister to Denmark. /
wanted some Indian corn for my own
family use. 1 looked in vain in all of the
stores and market places for 1t. Not a
pound in any form for human use could
be found. L sent to consuls in other
places with the same result. There was
no corn in all Scandinavia. In the course
of time the Agricultural Department at
Washington was induced to take up the
matter AMI under Secretary of AgricuI-
ture Rusk, B. W. Snow was sent to Den
mark as special agent to Introduce
corn as an article of diet He took with
him a stock in the various forms In which
it is put on the market and left small
quantities at the market places with in
structions to sell or give it away. Then
we began working among those who have
large numbers of people to feed to inter-
est them in corn. Mr.. Snow had the
cook at the hotel experiment on the vari-
Gus dishes that can be prepared from
corn and serve them to himself and
family for two weeks. BY that time the
cook was able to make the dishes palata-
bic and we gave q Cdnner to which were
invited the cOlnrnissaries of the army and
navy, several prison keepers and others
who purchase food for q large number
of people, together with the merchants
and business men of Copenhagen Nearly
every dish at that dinner was made from
American CORD, and the variety as well |
as the dalDtiness was a revelation. The |
guests were all highly pleased We made
a few speeches with the vale of corn as |
food for text, and the result was a new
market for corn. 1t did not start with a /
rush; couple of hundred barrels the |
first year and double the quantity the
next, with constant increases ever since.
until now our trade in corn with Scandi- /
navia has grown to Important proper
tiOns.
90 had always believed that corn was
a great food for the masses and especially
adapted to the poorer classes because it
provides great nOurlshment at small cost
and the experience in Denmark convinced
mo that 1t could be successfully intro.
duced In ali the thic5ly populated coun-
tries of Europe. But how to accomplish
it was she question. Early in our ais-l
cussiOn Of the matter we decided that it
would not do to proclaim it the Door
man food, the cheap food OF the world
or In any similar manner. 10 have called
1t cheap or poor mans food would
have been sufficient to cause the very
ones to whom 1t can be most valuable to
turn from it as from a scOurge The
thing 20 do was to interest first the good
livers-the people with incomes to buy