The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-27
FEEDING OF INDIANA POLLS
INVOLVES MANY IND USTRIES
Large Number of People Are Occupied Catering TO Their
Fel07C-Cftfsens' EU1 ActfUe Abpetie5


like Indiana polls is a thing that involves
great amount OF work and a great number
OF people 1t includes a number Of differ
emit kinds OF business concerns which have
no similarity. but which in the end accom-
pIish the same purpose. 1t begins with
what nature produces from the soil and
what men make by hand and also by ma
chInery The problem OF feeding city is
not at all simple one. but on the con-
trary is very complicated. The harvest
Ing Of grains. the raising OF livestock and
poultry. the hunting OF game and fish. the
transportation OF food, its preservation, its
distribution. and then the work of cook
ing and serving IL to the people, are all
necessary branches. To do all Of these
requires the services Of large number of
men and women laboring in various ca
pacities- To describe the process of feed
ing a city like this one is to tell how a
considerable portion of its inhabitants are
engaged and the growing OF food prod
ucts Is the occupation Of a majority of
.nose who live in the country
Among these lines OF employment are
great industries, such as beef killing. pork
pacxing. meat canning, ETC. One thing pc
culiar 10 the retail meat markets of this
city Is that most of them are connected
with the corner groceries. There are not
more than seventy-five Independent meat
markets in town, while the number with
grocery stores Is something like 500. The
retail grocery in Indianapolis covers a
much larger scope OF business than it does
In most cities. It IS the grocery meat
market. bakery. and in many instances
the creamery all combined in one establish
ment Most cities have these different
branches of the business separate. The
groceries here number 200. There are about
nifty confectioners and delicatessen stores.
and the number of clearinghouse. res
taurants and hotels is 300. In a large num-
Der OF saloons lunch is set, and this largely
Increases the number of what are called
eating places. With all of these 1t can
easily be seen that il takes large number
or people to prepare the food for the table.
This city has another advantage over the
residents of other places of similar SIZE
and that is the method in which milk is
distributed. Most of the milk. instead of
being shipped here on early morning trains
and then delivered to the customers from
q milk depot, Is brought direct from the
farm to the customer. The diaries sur
rounding this city are much above the av-
erage, and the milk furnished is considered
very good. This is due largely 10 the ef-
forts OF the Board of Health. which starts
on an inspecting to1r every little while and
Analyses the milk There are about 200
diaries and creameries that furnish milk,
20. slqBlIqBquI 9ql OF I91lnq puE uB9Io
this city.
FROM ALL THE WORLD.
The provisions consumed in Indianapolis
represent almost the entire world and it is
this class of trade that greatly increases
the income of railroads. because if it were
not for the ready means of transportation
that we have our varieties of food would
be very limited. In the matter of bread
stuffs, which among the importants and
one of the essentials of life a large
amount is raised in this State, but there
also thousands of bushels of wheat.
some of which is already ground up into
hour, shipped here from the Mississippi
valley. where are located the great wheat
raising States of Minnesota, North Dakota,
Missouri, Nebraska Kansas, South Dakota,
OHIO. Indiana and Illinois; oat meal from
oats grown in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Nebraska, and corn from
the seven great corn States of Illinois. Iowa,
Missouri, Nebraska. Kansas, Indiana and
Ohio. Buckwheat brought here chiefly
from New York and Pennsylvania, and
navy beans from California. Rice, which
Is an important factor I'm the line OF grains,
comes from the longest distance, and is
nearly all imported from the great rice fields
OF Burmah. China and India There are
however. large rice plantations in this
country They are located in South Caro-
Ina. Texas and Louisiana. The rice raised
IN these States is of a very superior quality
aud Is improving every year.
Years ago this time of year was what
was known as the dull season among COM
mission men who handle vegetables, but
this dizziness Is gradually getting to be a
thing or the past OF course everything
I'm this line during the winter months has
10 be imported 10 the local market from the
south. or IS obtained from hothouses by
aruncial culture The gardeners who live
IN the vicinity Of indianapolis do not come
TO town from the time frost sets in until
sprfng opens because transportation from
the South is so much quicker than il used
TO be that 1T hardly pays them To build hot
houses and go into the cultivation of early
vegetables The demand for early vegeta-
no Ri
who can enjoy such luxuries, and the people
or the poorer class feel that they cannot
afford to pay more than such things are
worth at their seasonable time. To take a
walk through South Delaware street to the
railroad, and then come back to Maryland
street and go east, one would wonder if
this were really the middle of winter. For
there, In front of the commission houses,
are great quantities of all the various kinds
OF green stuns, which, to the ordinary OBJ
server. look very much the same as that
which is out there in the summer time. A
well-known commission man, in explaining
1t. said:
green vegetables that we get are, Of course.
shipped from the South. and the variety of
them Is not as large as we get when de-
pending on home production, but this is
gradually being overcome and | predict
that in the near future the sale for winter
vegetables will almost equal that of the
ones raised in warm weather"
DISTRIBUTION POINT.
Locally the great place for the distribu-
ton Of green vegetables to the consumer.
and. in fact, not only green vegetables, but
all kinds of food. is the East market, which
every one in the city is more or less familiar
with. There are rs stalls rented TO people
In this place who dispose Of various kinds
Of foods, and Of these 1s6 are not under
cover and are occupied during the summer
months by the hucksters. In the early
morning, when the weather is warm, farm
ers may be seen driving into the city with
wagons loaded with caulifiower. beets cab
bage. tomatoes. melons. lettuce. cucumbers
string beans, etc. which they sell from the
market In the early hours this place as
we'll as South Delaware street, is the rem
devious for peddlers, who load their
wagons with fruit and fresh vegetables
which they sell throughout the city
Another important FOOD, OF course, is
meat. This is supplied TO the people OF
this city from the local slaughter houses
and there are also some OF the large Chica-
go firms which belong 10 the Packingtown
district in that city that nave branch houses
here and ship beef ana pork 10 the local
trade. About 20 per cent. of all the meat
that Is sold in this city, however. is killed
by home butchers. AS Indiana is a great
hog-raising State, the pork that is put OF
fha rLxaf no. 81 ~