Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 272, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1918 — Convert Breweries Into Dehydrating Plants in Various Parts of Country [ARTICLE]

Convert Breweries Into Dehydrating Plants in Various Parts of Country

By MISS LUTIE E. STEARNS,

Milwaukee, Wto

If the brewers want to perform a real patriotic service at this time they will at once convert their breweries into dehydrating plants. The problem of providing food for 1,500,000 American soldiers now in France and the millions more who are soon to go is a staggering one. Each soldier eats twice as much while on duty as he does at home. There is also the loss of food through the sinking of ships by submarines. Potatoes, carrots, turnips—practically all vegetables —can be dried and preserved indefinitely. They take up much less space and are easily and quickly prepared for . use and cannot be told from the fresh article. One hundred and eighty pounds of potatoes when dehydrated weigh onljr forty pounds. In this shape not only the loss from decay and freezing is prevented, but there is an immense saving in transportation. Germany has 2,0Q0 dehydrating plants and the United States has only twenty. This is one of the reasons why Germany has been able to hold out for So long in spite of the allied blockade. .The need for such plants in this country is urgent. Instead of building new plants the breweries, which will go out of use December 1, should be used. The buildings could be changed for this purpose easier than for many pther uses which have been suggested. Fans would have to be installed in place of the freezing apparatus. The same labor could be used and the plants could be put to an immediate patriotic use. -