The Washington times., 1916-01-01
Steak Sir?
Yessir, h1n1ejut, Sir
New Year Menu in New York Gives Chance for Hip
pophagist to Enjoy Favo rite Dish Without Fear
of Legal inhibition.

This is an epocBal day In the history
of New York city, marking as it does
the dawn of hippophagy, or horse eat
ing, in the metropolis.
On the stroke Of IL last night the
cruel regulations restraining New York.
ers from eating horse meat in steaks,
stews. hash and in other styles were
removed. and lovers of equine flesh
may now give their appetites free rein
In that direction.
While hippophagy will be something
novel In New York. If any horse meat
is eaten there. the broken bones of
horses In all the historical caves of Eu-
rope leave no doubt, according to Will
liam Boyd Dawkfns, a noted writer on
foods. that horse, meat was in use as a
food material in ancient times.
Change of Taste.
The Christian church issued a pro-
hibitive decree against 1t for the rea-
son that horse meat was sacrificed and
eaten by the Germans in honor OF
Odin, the god OF war and victory, and
Freya, a goddess, supposed to be en-
titled to half the men slain in battle
The present prejudice against the
consumption of horse meat is a remark
'h''N ~N"hipiO VI lhc CHdD6e VI IdSte
brought about by church order
against a belief which has been for
gotten" says one food expert.
Among nomadic peoples, hippophagy
has continued to the present day, ac-
cording to authorities. Likewise. in
China, the consumption OF horse meat
is an old custom. For many centuries
In that country special Fat horse"
has been bred for this particular pur-
pose. breed which is characterized by
delicate bone structure. savory meat,
and great fattening powers.
Early Danes Horse Eaters.
The first civilized peoples to return
to the consumption OF horse meat were
the Danes. The Danish government,
during the siege of Copenhagen. in
1907, permitted the sale OF horse meat.
and from Denmark hippophagy grad
ually spread throughout Europe.
Great quantities of horse f1esh were
in 1847. during the hard times when
the people could not afford beef. Prof.
Spinola, of the Berlin Veterinary
School, and Blume. the opera singer.
OF horse meat into countless homes,
and more than 5000 horses were
slaughtered and eaten in Berlin in 1S47.
In 1899, 63S01 horses were slaughtered
ana edItIl III anu iV,VOt III Del
lin.
Under the management OF an army
veterinarian, 9O2 horses were slaugh-
tered and cooked in France IN 1856. and
so popular was the meat and its price
that in three years 2,75S horses were
killed to meet the demand. In 1872 the
number Of horses eaten increased TO
5.732 and five years later mounted to
16,446.
Popular In Paris.
Speaking OF the consumption OF horse
flesh in Paris. a food expert who in
vestigated the subject recently wrote:
During the siege and regime OF the
commune in Paris not less than S. 0o1
horses were eaten. In 1894 total OF
q, 1856 horses. 3S3 Jackasses. and thirty
three mules were sold for food purposes
slaughtered and eaten. Early in the
nineties 10000 of the 6oo.ooo or TOO ooN
inha bitants of Paris were eating horse
flesh"
DR.. Harvey w. Wiley. while connected
with the Department OF Agriculture. in
vestigated the use OF horse meat as
human food in Europe. and wrote a
number OF articles on It. At the de-
partment today. however. It was said