PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
367 
The use of these intricate forms of shipping packages was abandoned several years 
ago, and at present the trade tlironghout the country uses ordinary package-tubs in 
various sizes, ranging in capacity from 1 to 10 gallons, the tubs being returned to the 
wholesalers as soon as the oysters are sold. The covers are loosely fitted on top and 
fastened by tacking small tin clasps to the tops and sides. Handles are provided at 
the sides of the tubs for convenience in transfer. The oysters are chilled with chunks 
of ice before being packed for shipment, and when placed in the shipping-tub a block 
of suitable size to last through the journey is added. During cold weather ice is some- 
times omitted, but it is poor economy to stint in its use. The size of the tubs should 
be adapted to the quantity of oysters shii)ped, so that each tub may be quite full, to 
prevent the agitation or slushing of the oysters. In order to prevent the cutting and 
bruising of the oysters by the block of ice while the tub is being handled and iu 
transit, a tlexible pocket of cotton cloth, muslin, or other cheap texture is occasionally 
used by some shippers, the block of ice, of a size suited to the oyster package, being 
placed in this pocket and the whole suspended rigidly from the sides of the tub.* 
The oyster tubs are generally shipped in refrigerator cars, these leaving the prin- 
cipal oyster markets regularly during certain days of the week. When the weather 
is very cold, the refrigerator car is a protection against the oysters freezing. Fat 
oysters will not freeze as quickly as thin ones, as the latter contain more water. But 
freezing does not greatly injure shucked oysters when mixed with their own liquor, 
provided they are consumed soon after thawing. 
In many localities, especially along the Gulf coast and through the West, a prac- 
tice prevails of shipping opened oysters in hermetically sealed square cans, containing 
from 25 to 100 oysters, these cans being then placed in boxes with the tops and sometimes 
the sides in contact with crushed ice. This method is not so general as it was several 
years ago, on account of the extra expense incurred, and the condition of the oysters 
shipped in bulk is generally about as satisfactory. 
REFRIGERATOR CARS. 
The hirge inland trade in fresh fish and the liability of frozen fish to rapid decay 
when subjected to a higher temperature have resulted in an extensive use of refrig- 
erator cars for transportation purposes. The refrigerator car is little more than 30 years 
old, the first American patent being issued on November 26, 1867, to J. B. Sutherland. 
His claim covered a car with double walls, roof, and floor, with ice chests at each 
extremity, closed by hanging flaps, and having spaces so arranged as to produce a 
constant circulation of air in the car. The air was admitted at the top of the car and 
passed down through the ice chamber, and entered the room near the bottom at a low 
temperature. In Mai ch, 1868, George K. Wood, of Morristown, N. J., brought out a car 
with a plurality of metallic chambers for the respective reception of way and through 
freight, with an ice chamber above; while the car of A. L. McCrea, of Chicago (March, 
1869), had interior movable sections. Numerous other patents followed in quick 
succession, scarcely any of which embody the features of those now in extensive use. 
The following description of one of the most practical of the forms of refrigerator 
car in general use at present gives an idea of their construction: 
The ice and salt receptacles are four galvauized-iron cans strongly jacketed at each end of the 
car, extending from the roof to within 6 or 8 inches of the lloor, and under them is a pan to catch 
the drip, the overflow escaping through an air-tight trap. The walls, roof, and bottom are 7 inches 
* See Letters Patent No. 438391, dated October 14, 1890. 
