Norwich bulletin., 1916-02-26

! Especially Written for The Bulletin0 Probably about the last thing one would pick up for light reading would be a census report. Statistics or any sort, when they are merely Arab1c figures marshalled in formal columns or arrayed in solid ruled-off tables, are hardly classed as hammock reading But then, these are not really nam mock days. And some of the facts which 8 patient investigator can dig slowly out of the census tables and other government statistics are rather , interesting. I confess that l haven't all this information at my elbow; con- fess further to a grave doubt whether my patience would hold out to blow and harrow through 1t, even if 1t were But William Joseph ShoWalter has done it for me and for others in The National Geographic magazine, and 1 have found some of his results so ex- tremely fascinating that I wonder if they won't prove so to others, as well.
 For instance, did you know that the world eats about 47,00O,000,O00 pounds : of meat every year? Well, what if 1t . does you say; that's not very thrill ing news. But a little figuring will show that this means an average of about 39 pounds to every man, woman and enid on the globe. A little more, and we discover that we of the United States eat on an average 172 pounds year of what is called butchers meat, which is about four and half times the world average. Australians eat still more. They lead the world in meat consumption, per capita. But no other country consumes so much as America Where we make way with TYP pounds per head, Englishmen eat 119 pounds: Germans 113 pounds (this was before the war: they're eating less now); Frenchmen and Belgians 80 pounds; AustrianS 64 pounds; Rus sians 50 pounds; Spaniards 49 pounds. We divide up our meat-eating between 80 pounds of beef; IS pounds of pork; 1-2 pounds of veal and 1-2 pounds of mutton. The average Englishman eats 56 pounds of beef to our 80, but gets away with 26 pounds of mutton to our 1-2. From which it might be contended that 'the roast beef of Old England" isn't 50 supreme there as here The Germans come nearest to us in pork-eating, taking 67 pounds per head to our IS, while EnglishTnen eat only 33 pounds apiece of pork, in- cludfng lard, etc.
 In this connection, it is curious to note that the meat-packing industry, which isn't yet half a century old, is the biggest single business in the Uni ted States, it's products being valued in 1910 at s1,370 900, 900, which is $140,- OOO, 900 more than the entire value of
 
 for that year, the one line that came nearest to it.
 Practically all of this is for home consumption, too. Once we exported a good deal Of meat. Now, we export mighty little, outside of lard which is a meat product but hardly a meat The Argentine republic has practically taken our beef export right away from us. Where, in 1901 we exported, i. e. shipped abroad 51,748, 900 pounds of beef andArgentina only 5o4,OOO quar- ters, in 1913 we sent abroad only 7,- S62,00 pounds while Argentina ship ped 4,093,00o quarters. That same Ar gentina manages to keep 70 sheep to the square mile, too, while the United States can't raise but IT.
 While we're on the subject of meat it may be interesting to note that the price of the best porterhouse steaks in 1858 ran about 15 1-2 cents a pound, and cattle on the hoof were selling around cents. There was a differ ence at that time of just about cents a pound between the price of beef on the hoof and the dressed carcass. Now,