The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-12-17
THE HAsKIN LETTER
Our Meat Supply Fish.
By Frederick J. Haskin.

The discovery that the meat sup.
Iply Of the United States is rapidly
Inwindling, and the rise in prices OF
meat have caused as great stir and
excited as much comment in the
press as though such a state Of az
fairs were quite unheard Of and un-
accountable. AS a matter OF tact. the
present experience OF the American
people has been that OF every coun-
TRY in the world with large and
lgrowing population. China, England,
Germany-in fact nearly all OF the
countries of Europe found out long
ago that neither by domestic -produc-
ton nor by importation could their
people be adequately supplied with
1 meat at a reasonable price. And all
h OF them have partially solved the
4 question in the quickest and easiest
way; namely, by turning to the sea
for the heterogeneous food that the land
was no longer able to produce in stif-
\ icient quantities.
H There is, a double economy in the
/ substitution of fish for meat in the
national bill Of fare Not only Is the
4 heterogeneous element in the diet thus
/ supplied more cheapiy and from a lit
orally inexhaustible source; but ey-
cry pound Of fish eaten In place II
meat means Just that much more lana
which may be devoted to the raising
iof vegetables. ~
/ This solution of the meat problem
seems to have been the last to be con-
siuered in the United States. Great
tplans are under way to increase the
national supply of beef, mutton and
pork, but little has been said and less
done to increase the production and
the consumption OF fish. And. in
truth, there is little that can be done
except to educate the people as to the
food value of the fish that swarm
near all of our coasts, and the best
methods of, preparing them for the
table.
OF the numerous and valuable var
lieties of fish obtainable in this coun-
TRY. only few are eaten at all, and
those instead Of being the piece de
resistance upon the bill of fare, al
lmost invariably are served as an en-
j tree. and appear rather In Difference
to the European customs which we
initiate than because we really APP
preciate their food value. And yet,
fish contains fully as much protein
Has meat, and is poorer only IN the
fats of which our rich diet supplies a
large amount in other forms. Roast
beef contains about 1871 per cent OF
protein. while cod steaks contain
about 1871 per cent; loin of beef is
I17.9 per cent protein. and black bass
20 per cent; ribs OF beef are about
| II per cent protein and blue fish near
/ 10 per cent.
No country in the world is richer
in fisheries than the United States.
Our long Atlantic and Pacific coasts,
the Gulf OF Mexico, and our great in
land rivers are capable Of supplying
our entire territory with an adequate
amount OF fish all the year around.
In Alaska alone, the fisheries are cap
able of enormous development 1t is
true that the shad and salmon which
run up the rivers to spawn in the
spring nave been greatly decimated
and in some sections have entirely
disappeared by reason Of the obstruc-
ton and poisoning of our rivers by
mills and factories; hut these losses
are inconsiderable by comparison
remains in the sea.
The fact that Americans do not eff
feet the great national economy which
a proper utilization of our fishery re-
sources would make possible can be
ascribed to no cause except that we
do not know the food value of the
fishes nor understand their prepara-
ton. Americans abroad praise the
English whitehall, the fillet of sole
served in Paris; the smoked salmon
sandwiches SO universally eaten In
Germany. Yet the sand dab of the
coast OF southern California Is Just as
good fish as the European sole and
the pompano OF the south, the white
fish of the Great Lakes and the mack
'erel and bluefsh of the Atlantic
coast are fully the equal Of the most
priced piscstorial delicacies of Eu-
rope The smoked salmon Of Germ
ANY is very likely from our own Pa
cific fisheries. In the five years be-
tween 1905 and 1910 We exported
over 81 100000 worth of fresh and
cured salmon to Germany. The SPLEEN
did steel head" salmon OF our Pa
ciic fisheries are frozen hard and
sent to Germany to be eaten fresh.
because there is no home market
where they command an adequate
price
Many varieties of fish eagerly
sought in Europe are not eaten at all
in this country except by our for
eign born population. A soup consld-
cred delicacy in Naples is made
from fish closely related to the
I''squid" of our waters, a creature SIM
liar to the octopus, and used in this
country chiefly for bait The "raie
au beurre noir'' of Paris is made from
part of the skate, or ray, which is,
abundant along the American coasts.
but not salable in the markets. Many
an American would pay stiff price
for his dish in Paris, and smack his
lips over 1t, but if he saw one of the
fish from which it is made in the
market he would not know what ii
was.
The American housewife not only
does not know how to prepare the diff
lferent varieties OF fish, so as to make
them attractive, and is entirely ignor-
ant Of the sauces and salads that
should accompany them, but she does
not even know the names OF more