Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-10
NEWS FROM GOTHAM
Effect of the Packing House
Revelations.
FIGHTING SHY OF SAUSAGE
The "Hot Dog" at Coney Island is
Being Passed By
SOME MORE CHEERFUL VIEWS
When People Feel Assured Meats
and Canned Products Are More
Carefully Put Up.
SOME MORE CHEERFUL VIEWS
Special Correspondence of The Star.


as to the effect of the packing house revela-
lions are widely divergent, and today no
two hotel keepers, restaurant proprietors
or marketmen are of precisely the same
mind on the subject. The general under
current of thought. however, tends to the
belief that the present slump in the sales
OF meat and meat products is but a mo-
mentary setback and that soon the people
will have forgotten all about the exposures
in Chicago.
The proprietor of big German restaurant,
which were hardest hit by the sausage dis
closures declared today that the sales of
frankfurters which last week dropped near
~ to zero had almost reached normal
figures against. I'm a few weeks" he
confidently added. we will never know
there was meat inquiry. People who have
been used to eating meats are not going to
change their habits of life so easily. The
sausages they buy, for instance, look good
and taste good-the average customer
wants nothing more. It's just variation
of the old saying that what the eye doesn't
see the heart doesn't long for In this case
what the eye doesn't see the meat eater
doesn't think about"
Fighting Shy of Pork.
There is no question however, that just
now anu lbI SOtlIt lliilS W COiilS the ptOpiS
are lighting shy of pork, the general run
of sausages and canned meats There is no
city in the world where so much thought
and attention is paid to food here in
New York 1t is above everything else
a city of restaurants, and eating In one of
the higher class of cafes is one Of the most
enjoyable features of life to the mind of the
New Yorker. There is no place where home
cooking and home dinners are held SO
cheaply as here. Give New Yorker a
good meal downtown and you can talk to
him of anything but never tackle one on a
business proposition anything else until
you have taken him out to luncheon or
dinner. As a food barometer therefore.
New York has no equal
Managers of the big restaurants about
town confirm the view taken by the German
proprietor quoted above. For some days
they say their customers have treated the
meat portion of the menu card in a de-
cidedIy gingerly fashion. Before order
ing anything with meat in it they usually
summon the head waiter, ask him where
the meat halls from and all about 1t. But
the days go by there is less and less of
this feeling of uneaSineSS, and the sales or
meat climbing rapidly upward again.
The general impression that there IS abso-
lutely nothing wrong with fresh meat has
had reassuring effect for all the products.
The sausage eaters have been clamorlng for
the imported varieties, and whether they
really are imported or not the quality is
not questioned II the restauranteur claims
his supply came from any other town than
the Windy City on Lake Michigan.
One amusing feature of the meat up
heaval is the rush that has been made upon
the vegetarian restaurants about town,
where one can get some of the most won
derful food combinations imaginable. With
fruits nuts and grain these emporiums
set before their customers a bill of fare
as varied and prolific as almost any
of the big restaurants.
We are simply swamped with business"
said one of the health food purveyors today
"and can hardly handle the crowds. Lots
of people have curious notions about vege-
tartan dishes and have often thought of
making an experimental meal on them. The
meat furry has given them the opportunity
to do so, and we are looking for a lasting
benefit al the expense Of the packers and
their agents. We have made many con-
verts to the anu-meat diet. There will
be many backsliders, of course, just as
soon as the inquiry ends and something else
turns up to talk about, but people who have
found they can exist without meat will
often be tempted to pass the butcher by
on the trip to market"
A Cheerful View.
The men who might be presumed to be
the most annoyed by the beef expose-the
butchers. the dellcatessens, the groceries
and other concerns which sell fresh meat
however. to take cheerful view of the
situation
This is one of the best things that could
have happened" said one of the big mar
ket men today when things are cleaned
UP and the people feel assured they are
getting meats and canned products more
carefully handled and put up than ever
before they will consume more meat than
ever. They believe the present Inquiry will
work lasting good We are putting the CHI
cago products in the background for the
present, but II will not be long before the
market is running along normal lines
again"
Poor old Coney Island Is the greatest suf-
ferer, In way. of almost any community
affected by the meat investigation. A trip
to Coney without a hot dog sandwich
on rare occasions ordered by the name of
''frankfurter at the city by the seals no
trip at all. The dog industry is one of
the most hourishing at this great amuse-
ment resort. but the barkers-the men who
sell the sausage, not the ingredients--call
in vain for purchasers. The people look at
the frankfurters sizzling and popping in
tempting style over the charcoal griddle,
but they pass them by with some sort of
joke at the expense of the once tempting
Wand.
mo more hot dog for mine" said a
Coney Island regular today. 1T was all
right when the frankfurter was called dog
as a Joke. but when you get wise and find
that there is no dream about 1t then IL Is
| time for me to pass the animal up. The
| hot dog has got new tag and Its number
| Is twenty-three."
But. seriously, the disclosures will not
| have lasting effect upon the New York
| beef market. according TO those closest in
| touch with the situation. The praise given
| to the New York packing houses in the
| Neill-Reynolds reports has had the effect
| of reassuring the New York people, and
| within a short while there win be nothing
| to Indicate that there was an upheaval.
| The American people are quick to forget.
| The instances In support of this statement
| are too numerous to even be limited at.
1 There is so much going on in this big, old
/ country that the people cannot give their
| attention to any one subject for a great
| length of time.
| There have been runors at the Brooklyn
| navy yard that the sailors on the cruisers
| and battleships of the Atlantic feet will re-
fuse TO eat the canned meats that are
/ served out to them three times a week
1 when the vessels are at sea. When In port
/ the men have fresh beef daily. 1t Is not
| possible to carry a sufficient supply OF
/ fresh beef In the cold-storage rooms of
/ the vessels to serve II every day at sea- and
| so the canned variety must be resorted to.
| The naval supplies consist OF canned roast
| beef. corned beef and other products, and
heretofore the men have eaten these with
| out grumbling. What the effect of SO much