Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-05-13
CANNED FOODS GOOD;
NEAR 100 YEARS OLD
Corned Beef and Pea Soup
Found Excellent After 81
Years In Container.

Tho fact that canned rood had bean |
found wholesome and palatable nearly |
century after II was canned has been !
brought to light In tho dScussion by
explorers and scientists which has fol-
lowed tho theory OF Professor Alan
w. c. Menzies of Princeton Universi-
ty. recently published in tho Times.
that tho disaster to Scott's Antarctic
expedition might have been duo TO the
mysterious "tin disease" or "tin
plague"
No evidence OF the ravages Of "tin
disease" In the case of other explora-
tions has been reported. and positive
proof has been brought forward by
Vilhjalmar Stefansson and others that
the "tin plague" which Is most active
at low temperature. had spared can
ned goods. in one case. through sixty
five Arctic winters.
Mr.. Stefansson in 1917 found canned
food in good condition which had been
left by Captains Kellett and McClin-
took in their Dealy Island Depot in
1853. date probably three or four
years later than that of the canning
He found preserved currants which
/
| five years OF seasoning. The Arctic
is virtually a rustless climate. because
OF It's drynees, and while the metal
covering remained intact, the canned
articles were not affected by the hot
Arctic Summers and the cold winters.
Even moro aged food, which had
been left on Fury Beach in the Arctic
by Captain Parry In 1925. was found
eatabe when 1t was taken from its
two huge tins more than eighty y-seven
years later. These relics were taken
from Fury Beach in 1891 by Sir John
Ross and were landed in England In
1888, being turned over to the Hull
Corporation. Thomas Sheppard, curator
of the Municipal Museum at Hull, in
n letter to Nature regarding the theory
OF Professor Menzies, wrote:
About ten years ago l was curious
10 know the contents of these two tins
and had them opened; one was found
to be full of corned beef in excellent
color and condition. and the other con-
tained pea soup. Both seemed TO be
quite fresh. and my attendant sampled
them and stated that they were quite
sweet and good. He still lives. The
soup and the meat are now exhibited
in glass jars and are still In good con.
d!tions
MY object in mentioning these facts
is TO show that after being left in III,
Arctic between 1925 and 1891, and ther
taken charge of for another two year.
by Captain Ross. which means tha
they We're more or less subject to Arc
tic conditions for eight years, and ther
having been in Hull for eighty years
the metal does not seem TO have de
Perforated In any way, and il had haC
no effect upon the contents. Possibly
this may be due to the fact that tn,
tins were painted with a thick coat O
yellow and green paint, respectively
which may have prevented an,
plague"
These experiences. however, do no
conflict with the "tin plague" theory
The so-called plague" is a change o
tin Git also occurs In other metals
from It's metallic to powdery state
due to an atomic rearrangement. IT.
spontaneous occurrence, according [,
Professor Menzies, is rare even at lov
temperatures, but the most curiou
!. feature about 1t is that, when tin 4
once inoculated with the plague" un
der the temperature of 60 degree
above zero Fahrenheit. the plague
spreads like disease and the lowe
the temperature the faster it spreads
Apparently whenever one atom of til
is reorganized into the plague" con
dition, 1t forces a similar reorganiza
} ton upon all adjoining atoms Whel
| the temperature is higher than so ale