The Washington times., 1917-11-17
Something On Cold Storage
By EARL GOODWIN.
|" Ii Not So Bed Thing After An; And II There COul
Hers Food Might Be Cheaper.

At recent meeting Of the Chamber of Commerce Of
the District OF Columbia that body adopted report advoca
ing the full use of the existing cold storage facilities Of
washington The report the result of invesga-
ton by committee of intelligent They found that
some OF the high prices here are the esct OF waste and
facilities could be used to their utmost The Chamber
of Commerce in adopting this report urged its members and
the newspapers to agtate this vital subject
Washingtons public cold storage warehouses have
capacity Of 250000 cubic feet The present unoccuped
space is million cubic feet of which half is Immediately
available for storing food The rest be made available
ninety days In the meantime this unmproved space
is said to be wen adapted for the storage of onions potatoes
and similar vegetables.
The cold storage warehouses here are not operated for
the benefit Of large dealers exclusively There is discrm
inaton shown against the small consgnor except that which
naturally arises when anyone deals In small quantities as
opposed to the man dealing in wholesale amounts.
Now the object Of the Chamber of Commerce recon-
mendaon is assist in the even distribution of food One
day SO much foosu may arrive here that the people can
not buy it all and dumped at rdicuousy low prices
disturbing the market and discouraging production.
little later there may be demand for the stuff with
in sight If the ideal sorehouse operation could be
conducted when there overflow the could be
stored properly against the day when the production ow
Recent pratcal acts the part Of cold storage oper
ators In big food distributing centers have added to the
already sinister reputation which the term cod storage
has obtained for itself There is small chance Of any cold
storage pirate operating in these parts and NO chance that
the Chamber Of Commerce would recommend anything not
thoroughly studied and known to be an honest and ec
tive and economical scheme Of distribution
"The ignorance Of the public concerning food produc
ton, handling and distribution, wrote Dr. Mary T. Pen
cling to the one term that is firmly fixed standard Of
condition namely Fresh Because little is known Of
the history of the foods all eat and OF the ingenuity and
the modern food industries in providing both quantity and
variety for the people, freshness is looked upon as func
ton of time rather than Of good handling Yet little re-
Election the part of will serve to show that milk
uncooed and dirty vessels is stale to point of unness
for food in very few hours while the milk we han
died. is considered fresh and desirable for several
The egg Just laid and placed the cool closet accepted as
fresh the most exactng housewife for weeks but
the same egg left in the for few hours 80
deterorated that it is justly designated old stale With
such horney illustrations all about it should not be I'M
possible for the educated mind realize that there may be
than the cool closet of the housewife that freshness may be
maintained for months instead of days"
If the cold storage facilities here not thoroughly
and properly used let get together again and further
agitate the subject.