Milford chronicle., 1931-04-10
FIRST PEMICAN
TAKEN TO THE
ARCTIC Zone
Probably Made In Milford
DR.. Grier Tells Inter-
eStiRg Story.

many long years ago Wnen Amer
lea was an unexplored wilderness,
inhabited only by Indians, pemican
was in use. The Indian women were
probably the first to know the i'm
pOrtance and value of fruits, vege-
tables, and meats, and they made
pemican. When buffalo or venison
meat was brought to her by the
braves she cut it in strips and dried
it in the sun. She would mix ber-
ries, tallow, or suet with the meat
while pounding it, and then she'd
mould it into cakes. Through long,
hard winters, on tiresOme journeys,
in times of war these cakes were
welcome foods.
In following up the story of penn
ican we see that picture fade, and
are brought back to Milford as it
was in the spring of 1884. Our at
tention is Immediately called to the
evaporator business run by the ia
ther of the present DR.. G. Layton
Grier, president of the L. D. Caulk
Company. This man built excellent
machines for the evaporation of
fruit, and they were used in many
different places. One Friday morn
ing, a Mr.. Sydney Thursby, presi-
dent of the Kemp, Day and Com
pany of New York, came to see Mr..
Grier. He had the contract for sup
plying with food the rescue ship of
Commander Winfield Scott Schley,
U. S. ~, who had been ordered to go
to the rescue of Capt. Adolphus
Greell, lost for three years at the
North Pole. Mr.. Thursby, knowing
the utility of the evaporating ma
chimes, explained that he wanted
meat dried, mixed with talloW and
raisins, and pressed into cakes. This
mixture he called pemican, and he
wanted it at once. Let DR.. Layton
Grier tell the story from here:
"Mr. Thursby didn't want to lose
a minutes time. so he sent me out
to buy all the beefsteaks in Milford. |
| believe beef was then selling at ten |
cents per pound. / offered fifteen |
cents to get all of it in town. I'm
agine the surprise of the butchers
upon being offered nearly twice the /
regular price for their meat; but .
imagine more the surprise of their
customers when they learned they
couldn't have any beefsteak over the |
weekend. This was probably the
first meatless day in Milford.
ITO save time we all pitched in to
put the evaporator to work. We had
seven hundred pounds of steak to
dry. My job, after 1 bought the
meat, was to put up the smoke
stack and stoke the fire. 1t was a
smoky job, but l felt l was really
loing my bit for Commander Sch
ey's rescue ship"
We are told that Mr.. Thursby re-
NAMED in Milford until the work
vas finished. When it was done he
seemed very we'll satisfied with the
lemican cakes. He ordered one of
he evaportors sent to New York,
md Mr.. James P. Pierce went along
With it. His job was to erect the
machine and help in making more
Demican. 1t is interesting to note at
his time that Commander Schley
vas successful in his quest, and
hat the rescued Captain Greedy is
t present living in Washington, D.
=, man of eighty-nine years.
The pemican made that day in
lilford is believed to be the first
yer used in Arctic expeditions, for
efore that time seal and walrus
neat was the principal food for
uch trips.
Personally, DR.. Layton Grier says
e doesn't like pemican, but it is
cry useful in preventing scurvy,
nd he is glad he had a part in the
Experimental work in Milford.
DR.. Grier has helped prepare for
lree Arctic ventures, the Greedy
escue Expedition, the Byrd Expe-
ition, and the Wilkins Expedition,
bout which we now hear so much.
n the first two, pemican was used
nd now Sir Hubert will take some
18th him. But even better than
emican is a healthy mouth and
Ound teeth and the l.. D. Caulk
provides for that also. Ad-
Iiral Byrd said, Modern Dentistry
layed a conspicuous part in the
lccess of my Antarctic Expedition"
r. Layton Grier feels sure that Sir
ubert will have had the same sue
sss and the same satisfaction when
2 returns from the north in his
lbmarine, The Nautilus.
Alice Breme