Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1913 — Food for Five Million a Day [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Food for Five Million a Day

EVERY day London’s five million residents consume’ 430 tons of mutton, 300 tons of beef, 70 tons of bacon and ham, besides great quantities of pork, rabbits and poultsye' On that head alone the daily bill is >200,000. Every twen-ty-four hours fruit to the value of >60,000 passes from the market and store to the home. In the same time London consumes 160 tons of butter, 162 tons of cheese, 1,700 tons of sugar, 912,000 pounds of tea, 14,000 tons of meal, rice and sago, 2,600 tons of wheat, 60 tons of coffee and 114,000 pounds of cocoa. At a time when New York and other great cities are considering the reform of their means of food distribution an outline of how London manages to supply five million hungry mouths will be of more than usual interest. Visitors to London are often surprised to find how small a space in reality is covered by the corporation of the city of London —that portion of the the bricks and mortar ruled by the lord mayor. Roughly speaking “The City” proper is but a square mile, from Temple Bar in Fleet street to Aidgate in the east. Beyond that lies a great expanse of urban area administered by the London county council, whose authority extends- over 115 square miles, while outside that agaiq1s the irregular belt of Greater London, consisting of rapidly-growing suburban areas, extending from 25 to 30 miles into the county and forming the outer dormitory of London's business population.

City Controls Market. The corporation controls the live cattle market at Islington, the foreign cattle market at Deptford, by the Thames side, the great wholesale central meat markets at Smithfield, the retail meat, fish, game and fruit markets at Farringdon street and Leadenhalf, the vegetable market at Spitalflelds and the famous fish market at Billingsgate. Of these the most important is the Central meat market, covering ten acres of historic ground that was formerly part of a vast open space just outside the city walls. Smithfield was the scene in those days of many tournaments and feasts, fairs and archery contests. In 1381 the lord mayor, Sir William Walworth, killed the rebel Wat Tyler there. The time came when a live cattle market in the heart Of London could no longer be tolerated. So the dead meat markets were established at Smithfield, and the present buildings were erected in 1860 at a cost of $10,000,000. All rentings in the market are weekkly, the charge averaging four cehts per square foot for ground floor space—including complete fittings and a supply of water. Besides that, a further charge of a cent for every forty-two pounds of meat, poultry or provisions is made on all that enters the market The- scene here between six and eleven in the morning is impressive in its stir and activity. Compared to the quieter doings of the great fruit and vegetable market of Covent Garden, London’s meat emporium is a throbbing hive—and a cleanly one, too; for the inspection of the market and the meat is very stringent. There are 622 stalls, or shops, of which 400 are wholesale, and over 10,000 men are employed in the markets. Nearly half the imported meat consumed in the whole of the United Kingdom is dealt with at Smithfield. Last year 435,316 tons of meat were thus handled, on which toils were paid to the tune of over 3733,560. Of this the fresh-killed supplies totaled 154,041, including the live stock imported and killed at the Deptford slaughter houses. Really English supplies were only 86,870 tons. Nowadays the cold storage com panics handle most of the supplies, and South America, New Zealand and Australia are the lands of origin of the greater part of IL. Not less than eighty per cant, of the supplies are brought In ’ refrigerated chambers from over sea, and the last official report gives the startling fact that the whole supply of foreign imports, "London’s mainstay as regards meat, depends upon open, unobstructed sea passages ranging up to voyages of six weeks* duration.** The United States up to ten years ago produced forty-one per cent, of these supplied, but "the population and requirements appear to

have overtaken that country’s surplus meat production, and it may safely be said that the United States of America, in particular for domestic needs, is, within measurable distance of becoming a competitor with ourselves tor the output of South America." It was not further back than 1880 that the first consignment of frozen meat was imported—about thirty tons in all. The London corporation did not grasp the importance of the new development, with the result that they let. private companies step in with cold storage accommodation and today a rich reward is being reaped by these concerns, for there are now over two hundred specially-fitted steamships-en-gaged in the trade, capable of carrying 13,000,000 carcases. To accommodate this huge bulk of frozen meat there are thirty large cold stores within the city area, able to accommodate over three million carcases; but the strike in the early summer demonstrated the need of more, and it is being urged that the corporation should provide them. ’ . Famous Covent Garden. Besides the eentr&l meat markets, the corporation has public slaughter houses and chill rooms at Islington, built at a cost of >300,000, designed to secure the most cleanly and hygienic methods. In these 37,670 cattle, 101,646 sheep, 11,722 calves and 34,981 pigs were slaughtered last year. So much for London’s enormous meat bill. As to fruit and vegetables, the markets are more widespread. Cbvent Garden is, of course, the most famous and most important, and as an early looming spectacle draws every visitor to London, who can rise early enough. But it is by no means the only market. There are others at Spitalfields and Stratford in the East end, the Borough, south of the Thames, and at Kew, on the west. But these are mainly for the jougher supplies—potatoes, cabbages and the like, that are brought in by wagon from farms in Essex, Kent and Middlesex.

Covent Garden was once attached to Westminster abbey and was then known as Convent Garden, but on the dissolution of the monasteries this garden, together with a neighboring field known as Seven Acres, now called Longacre, was given by Edward VI. to Edward, duke of Somerset; and, when that dignitary was condemned in 1562, they were transferred I>y the monarch to John, earl of Bedford, who built a house at the bottom of what is now Southampton street, leading from Covent Garden to the Strand. Ever since that time the Bedford family have held the place, and today the present duke of Bedford draws a huge income from this and the adjacent neighborhood, amounting some say—though no definite figures are available —to close on ten million dollars a year. In the market Itself he not only draws rents from standholders, but exacts a toll on everything sold there; and as he owns all the property round about be' can enforce his rule of having no competing interest within half a mile of the market » Every wagon sent to Covent Garden with produce is charged not less than 26 cents, while the stands on which the growers display their samples are charged 25 cents a day. The regular tenants of stands on the market pay not only 25 cents per square foot of space, but a varying charge on the produce, of which a few samples will suffice: Carrots, 36 cents per score dozen bunches; potatoes, four cents a sack, and garden fruits, 28 cents a bushel. Thus does the duke of Bedford take toll on every dinner plate in London. Canada is regarded as the most trustworthy source of wheat supply, and last year the Dominion sent abroad more wheat than any other country in the world. England took 38 per cent.

BANK OF ENGLAND