The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-07-09

Special Correspondence of the Journal and Courier.)
 Fray Benitos, Uruguay, May 27. 1904.
 The Scriptures tell us of a wise man who, long ago, ate "the strength of an OK every day" We wondered how it was done-until this wild expedition up the Uruguay river made the matter clear. Leaving Montevideo very early in the morning we sailed up the Rio de la Plate half days journey in northwesterly direction-the shores in- visible on a cloudy day and the pillows yet so boisterous that it is hard to be- lieve they are not of the ocean wild and Wide;' turned suddenly into the Rio Uruguay and sailed due north sev- eral hours more. and toward sunset reached Fray Benitos, little town in the Uruguayan shore of the mighty stream, which is here several miles
 wide and with a very rapid current in it's hurried rush to the sea. Having passed more than a hundred miles of monotonous and apparently unoccupied country, with here and there an insig-
 nificant village whose inhabitants seem to be all dead or gone a-visiting, about the only signs of life being a few lean
 dogs blinking lazily in the sun-we were the more amazed to find that the journeys end in this remote interior a crowd of ships and steamers, floating the flags of England, Germany, France, Italy and various South American countries, anchored in front of this equally insignificant-looking village.
 In truth there is nothing of any conse-
 quence about Fray Benitos except some
 factories for the condensing of beef,
 and they are a mile away, on high,
 bold promontory jutting out into the river. But what an amount of business they do, apparently reaching to every
 part of the civilized world! As every
 body knows, the highly condensed prep aration called extract of beef, that
 comes put up in little white jars, was invented by Baron Jusbus Liebig, an
 eminent German chemist, and was for
 merly manufactured in Antwerp. It is not generally known that British
 company purchased the business which Herr Liebig founded more than half century ago, and transferred the works from Germany to distant Uruguay. It 1 still bears the Antwerp label, and
 above it.a puzzling English trademark.
 Some idea of the magnitude of the in dustry may be gained from the fact that the company claims to sell ten million jars of the extract every year, and that ninety ship loads of it are an nualIy sent from this manufactory to
 Europe. Each pound of extract is l guaranteed to contain enough sub stance to prepare two hundred portions of soup, equal in strength to that ob- tained by boiling fifty pounds of meat l for several hours. The factory grounds are surrounded by a lofty brick wall, entered through an imposing archWay; and within the walls are many build | lings, including machine shops, shops for tinslniths, carpenters and engineers, all on a complete scale so that necessa-
 " repairs can be made on the spot. A tramway runs from the works down to a fine iron pier where vessels are load ed with the extract. The workmen's cottages are clustered outside the walls, \ forming a considerable village as up-
 wards of a thousand men are employed,
 who reside on the spot with their wifes land children. Having come armed with letters of introduction from prom linent persons in Montevideo, we were treated with great consideration. First we were conducted to the private of lice of the manager, who insisted upon serving us with champagne biscuits, lin British parlance, and cheese from l the handsome sideboard that is topped l by a bust of Baron Liebig. There is an l extensive library in the room, contain ling books in German, Spanish, French I and English center-table laden with l English and American periodicals
 blooming plants and singing birds in the windows, and pet cats and dogs \ that appear to be on chummy terms with one another and the world in gen Ieral.
 I But business must be attended to and while waiting for clerk to show us over the works we gently drew out 1.-the genial manager and elicited the fol flowing facts: Work is carried on only seven months in year, but during that time a thousand oxen are slaugh- ltered every dayall good, sound ami lmals, none less than four years old Already, during the little more thar forty years the company has been es- Itablished here, upwards of five million lcattIe have been made into Extract Z lThe company own thousands of acres jof the richest pasture-lands in the world, in Uruguay and Argentina, aflc hundreds of thousands of cattle. The lextract leaves this place packed in tir leases. each case containing hundred pounds and the substance of fifteen an finals, and is worth two hundred anc fifty dollars. It is sent direct to Ant, J werp, where the conpany's general de
 pot is still located. There it is exam ined by a special chemist employed fal the purpose, and having received tha' lgentleman's approval and guarantee, i: then potted in the small white jar;
 with which we are familiar, packed 1T leases and sent out to the markets c 1.-the world Though thirty-four pound: of lean meat are required to make oR' hound of extract, the substance doe Sl not contain as much nutritive as stirn
 Iulating quality which excites the di
 Igestive organs and tends to repair ner
 vous waste and tone ? the dAbilitated
 IBeing entirely destitute of grease, al
 lbunen and gelatine, it cannot spoil TO
 Hose its flavor, however long it may b.