El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-25
WAR MAY SOLVE
FOOD PROBLEMS
Through the Blockade Napo-
leon Evolved Canning and
Beet Sugar Industries.

Washington, D. G, Feb. 2J.-War
always brings food questions to the
front. investing the larder with poIit-
ical and strategical dignity seldom adj
mitted in times of peace when three
sufficient meals a day belong to the
FroSy routine Of life, and some of the
most important stimuli toward the in
creased production and better conser-
vation Of foods have been born i'm the
stress of war necessities. The can
ming industries have become such an
all important feature Of our modern
existence that it is almost impossible
to imagine time when their innumer-
able products were not, and yet, in a
study prepared for the National Geo
graphic society at Washington by Will
liam Joseph Showalter. it is pointed
out that the greatest Of history's gen.
erals called the canning industry into
being as one of the imperative elements
in his magnificent military projects.
The present war gives evidence of
bringing in its train of horrors and
desolations it's contributions toward
the progressive solution of feeding all
the peoples Of the earth Some of these
peculiar reactions of the cannon. the
rifle and the sword upon the larder
and the kitchen are given in the Ma
tional Geographic society's bulletin as
follows:
Frances Problem 100 Years Ago.
IF we go back one hundred years
IL III ne ulNtUNtIt1 that Il ante WAS
facing the same problems then that
Germany is facing today. England's
fleet blockaded Frances ports then
Just as they blockade Germany's to-
day. and oversee foodstuffs had little
chance TO reach the French.
How far this went and how great
an effect ii had on conditions in Ma
poleon's empire. is revealed by the fact
that sugar sold for two dollars a pound.
And that the world is not sugar hungry
today iu flma the stems nLpn nv No
DOleOn to overcome the effect Of the
blockade on sugar Years before. some
Prussian scientists had been trying to
set sugar from the beet. and. under
the patronage Of the king of Prussia,
Frederick William III, succeeded in
their task.
Napoleon Makes Beet Sugar.
Napoleon borrowed their ideas. set
up beet sugar factories around Lille,
and gave to the beet sugar industry
that impetus which has resulted in its
development to a point where il yields
half of the worlds supply of sugar.
The, Little Corporal saw himself
seriously embarrassed in the matter Of
food supplies for his army He
wanted something for his men besides
things that were dried .oh smoked
desire that was enhanced by his
Knowledge that millions Of dollars in
valuable but perishable foods were
waited because Of the lack of adequate
means of preserving them.
Evolves Canning Method.
He therefore offered a prize OF
twelve thousand francs to any one who
would devise a practicable method OF
preserving such foOdstuffs. Such a
method was quickly evolved, and out
of it has grown the worlds canning
industry-One Of the important steps
that civilization has taken in the di-
rection of insuring mankind against
famine.
Tt is not improbable that the pres
ent war Will bring to mankind new
methods in the feeding Of the race that
viii prove as important as those
brought out by the NapOlenic wars
Germans Produce Protein.
1T has been announced lately that
the Germans have devised a new
method Of producing protein. It is
said that they feed yeast with a COM
bindtiOn of sugar and nitrogen from
the air and thus, secure that most i'm
portant of all elements that enter into
the worlds diet-protein. Examples Of
protein are the whites of eggs. the
muscles Of meats, the casein of milk.
The gluten of flour and the heterogeneous
fats
1T may also happen that as a result
OF the war viii come the utilization Of
other plant products than those now
entering into direct use as human
rood, There are approximately half
a million species Of plants in the world,
and vet only a few thousand of them
are used at all for food while only n
few hundred OF these are used to any
important extent"