Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 81.djvu/168

162 pounds. If a storm or some other calamity should prevent the shipment of fresh meat the cold storage supply would last but a short time and a meat famine would follow.

It seems clear that cold storage is a great boon to man at present and will be of greater value in the future. Not many years ago, before cold storage facilities were generally available, it was not an uncommon occurrence to buy tainted meat from recently slaughtered animals. The animals had to be killed in places where flies were common and the meat offered favorable breeding places for the pests. Modern sanitary slaughtering houses with the addition of cold storage facilities have conquered many evils of similar nature. The cold storage industry should receive the hearty support of the public and it should be the aim of legislators to protect legitimate cold storage by appropriate regulations. This can not be brought about until the great problems involved have been thoroughly investigated both from a scientific and commercial point of view.