The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-20
Washington. D. c.

lHl story V of no how the the 'G Japanese
 conquered the Russians? They did it with fish. The Russians were meat eaters and their supplies in Manchuria had to be brought for more than 5000 miles over the Transsiberian railroad. The cars were taxed to their utmost capacity and still the soldiers went hungry. The Japanese did their lighting or fish ani they brought their food in by the boasload, smoked, salted and fresh. They lived upon fish and rice. They had an emergency fish ra- ticn about as big. as Q good sized ba- mana and of much the same shape. It was a gigantic tabloid of brain and nerve food, and with a few handfuls of rice 1t made a meal for three or four men. The soldiers could take 1t along In their knapsacks or pockets and It was always ready for use. This ration , Was the bonito one Of the most com mon fish of Japan. Tn curing it the bones were first taken out and the flesh then could be shaped with the hands. It was cooked and smoked after which it was as hard as stone and so dry that it would last for an indefinite time It was eaten with rice or shaved off in thin slices and made into a soup. The Japanese used it in all their campaigns and it formed large part of their food supply.
 
 We shall send vast quantities of dried, smoked and canned fish to Eu- rope, but we can do even more good by increasing our fish diet here and send ing more meat to the soldiers. With view to this end, the food administra- ton is advising everyone to eat more fish, and thereby to let loose more of the beef, mutton and pork so much needed The bureau of fisheries is sending our $ o s calls to the people, advising them what our fish supplies are and offering recipes and direc- tions as to how they may be used to advantage. In connection with this 1t is Investigating many of the fishes found in our waters and is adding enormously to our seafood possibili- ties. During the past week I have had long talk with Dr. Hugh M. Smith, the United States commission CT of fisheries about these new fishes and how they will affect the food supply of the nation. I have before me as I write a can of whale beef and l have just gotten up from a lunch in which the meat dish was whale stew.
 
 gave the packers something like five tons of sea food, enough, at a quarter of pound to tie person, to supply 10000 people with a meat meal
 Whale meat is not like fish meat The whale is not a fish, although 1t lives in the sea. It is q mammal and 1t belongs more to such animals as cattle and other beasts which suckle their young. Its young are born alive and they get their meals from their mother, in the shape of milk, until they are old enough to forage about for themselves.
 Whale meat, when cut from the car cass. is red, just like beef. The fat is white and on the butchers block you could hardly distinguish whale steak from a beefsteak. When cooked and canned it looks like boiled beef, and that I have just eaten tastes much like beef stew or boeuf a Ia mode.
 I am told that fresh whale tastes much like beefsteak. It has been served at some of the hotels and restaurants of the PacifiC coast cities and in the markets there has had a ready sale at 10 cents per pound.
 I have before me six special ways of cooking this meat. They are furnished hy a a4whaling company of Bay City, Ore. One Is for whale steak, another for whale stew, and others for praised whale and for curried whale on toast There are also recipes for whale cro- quettes to be made of the leftover roast whale anu for pot roast which requires four pounds of whale meat and should be simmered slowly five hours. Planlxed whale steak was re- gently served at one of the leading hotels of New York city It resembled young pig in texture and taste, and those who ate it said it was palat- able.
 The Japanese have been whale eat CTS for years, and the EslSimos for generations. Shortly before the war broke out the Germans began to con- slider whale meat as a food for their soldiers, and they have also imported porpoises from Norway.
 The porpose is the little cousin of the whale. and it's meat is said to be of much the same nature. It is a warm bIooded animal which is found all along our coasts It goes about in great schools and feeds upon other food fishes. A big school of porpoises will eat as much sea food as the whole population of New York city. and that of the very fish we like best. When we eat the porpoise we have not only the amount of meat his flesh displaces but also the sea food he is likely to consume. Canned porpoise has been recently sent to the fish bureau and