The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-06-18
Growth Of Canning Industry
From the Kansas City Star.

From the Kansas City star.
It's tough problem to feed the mod
ern city as il is. New York always IL
on the ragged edge OF famine. A heavy
snow or q flood, and the city may go
hungry. without the tin can the white
lights OF Broadway would be q pale
pink. Thel New Yorker would be out
on the land scratching for living. but
his tomatoes, corn and peas would cost
him 10 times what he pays today. And
New York spends $3.50, 900, 900 q year on
canned goods Meat II the only other
item that exceeds this.
Hero is a tremendous industry that
has blossomed forth in recent years
without even kind word. The encyclo-
pedia says the hermetical sealing OF
food was invented by Nicholas Appert
at the time OF the French revolution,
and that Napoleon later awarded the
inventor $4,000 francs bounty. LAX
BE that as Ii may, canned food was
not on the American menu when / was
born. The first vegetables were canned
for the Kane Arctic expedition In 1S49,
and then as a matter OF necessity.
Canned food was one OF the hardships
OF polar exploration, but sensible folks
who did not so gallivanting around in
the Arctics stuck their home grown
fruits and vegetables in the cellar and
went without when that supply was
exhausted.
we had no fussy modern grocers with
their limitless array Of bottles, tins and
packages. Crackers, sugar, coffee,
pickles, tobacco, raisins, salt hsh and
everything else l recall stood around
in open barrels, and a few ounces OF
dust, more or less, disturbed no ones
We now eat $50 100000 cans OF to-
matoes every year. Yet your grand
mother will tell you that the tomato
was called the love apple, and was sup
posed to be poisonous and q blood rela-
tive of skunk cabbage and puffballs. A
young man named William Underwood
put up a pack Of love apples In bottles,
before the canister appeared. Folks
came out plainly and told him that, as
Americans, they never would eat their
dinners out OF bottle. That went for
cans, too. Bottled love apples great
Caesars ghostl So Underwood took
his alleged food TO foreign markets and
the firm still 10 doing business In Bes-
ton. -
The California gold rush in '4s gave
the industry its first great impetus, ana
the civil war put 1t on Its feet. Canned
food was necessity In both eases.
People ate il and survived and gave
Others courage to tackle It.
But up to 1872 the industry had not
produced even a can-opener. Chlsels,
pocket knives or some improvised In
strument did the work. And not until
1895 did the Gamers run to earth the
mites that were sending many OF them
to the bankruptcy courts.
Not Gamer knew chemical symbol
from a cheese knife. II q pack spoiled
they looked wise and blamed II on the
devil, II hadn't been 50 very long since
wonen's tongues were cut out because
they were witches. Less than q life
time had elapsed since manufacturing
In every line groveled In ignorance and
superstitution. Finally when all the
pea pack In Wisconsin spoiled In 1895
chemists came to the rescue and ex-
posed an appalling army Of destroying
bacteria. The Gamers learned that
sealing the food from the air was not
enough, and science told them what TO
do.
But the public continued to say and
think evil things OF canned goods. If
a man died OF anything resembling
ptonaine poisoning the tin can was In
dicted promptly. r. s. woodward.
young groceryman, died at Ohickasha,
Okla, two years ago. Canned sardines
were blamed in the death certificate.
The National Gamers association
called in the Pinkerton people. Within
month the widow had confessed 70
putting arsenic in the sardines. she
now is serving a life sentence at NC
Alester. -
An enterprising statistician an
nounces that we are now consuming
5000, 0o0, 900 cans OF food year. Look
ing at the grocery store shelves l am
ready to believe we arc consuming
5000, OOO, 900 varieties OF canned 1000
too. Certainly the well advertised "bI
a too modest an estimate. Small won
der our stomachs are pampered.