The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-15 00:00:00

ARMY GOOK IN GI:

That military affairs are passing through a
" peri:4l of transition," and that the transit is
attended with considerable denrind on the pubrip
purse, are truths which we need hardly be at the
pains of repeating. The Army Estimate's have
impressed the facts very forcibly on the public
mind, and a bill of X 15,000,000 for a single yer r
tarnishes a characteristic monument of the crisis.
Among the sundry notable inventions, however,
which have contributed to the efficiency of the
umy, there is one which deserves- especial
notice, for its object is not the destruction,
but the preservation of life, and its operation
will be, not to absorb money, but to coon,
rnise it. To the ingenuity of Capt. Grant the Soldier
is indebted for a new system of cooking. Those
who know what kind of practices were superseded
by the discovery Will be able of themselves to ap-
preciate the magnitude of the reform, but ordinary
readers will probably be the better for a little in-
'brmation on this curious subject.
When the health of our troops was taken into
arnest consideration by the authorities a short
time ago it came out that the soldier, among
other gratuitous privations, was debarred froth.
those salutary changes of diet which instinct
no less than experience is found to suggest.
Regiments lived exclusively upon boiled meat.
Even at home stations, in their own barracks, and
with all the appliances of civilised life around them
our soldiers were confined to the same sodden ratio,
day after day till the stomach revolted from tn.!
unnatural monotony. There was a good deal spec t
,upon the army, to be sure, but not enough to give
"We soldier the benefit of an oven or a fryingpan.
Here and there the men would club their pence
together to get a little indulgence by way of pri-
vate subscription. At Woolwich, for instance, the
town baker would do a bit of cooking for the garri-
son, but the annual cost to a body of 400 men was
£lso—a considerable tax to be paid for an occasion a
escape from the everlasting " soup and bouilli." All
this while, too, the expense of the established
system was really very large, and the regulation
" boilers" consumed ccal enough in their dreary
work to turn out a good Lord Mayor's dinner.
This was the system on which Captain Grant pro-
ceeded to operate, and, after the usual difficulties,
he succeeded not only in devising, but in intro-
ducing, a scheme of great merit.
His invention consisted 'of a simple cooking
ipparatus, or "battery," by means of which the
men, with about a quarter of the usual fuel, could
dress their victuals in the manner most conform-
able to their tastes. His " kitchen" would not
only boil, but would bake, stew, steam, or fry.
It would turn out meat puddings, suet dumplings,
hot pork, and roast potatoes. It would make good
soup or Irish stew, and connoisseurs even remarked
that its baking was done particularly well, being
wended with a flavour equal to the best " roasts.
As to its economy, we learn from an official report,-
dated at Woolwich on the Gth of March, 1858, that
the saving of coals accomplished by Captain Grant's
ipparatus would amount to no 1e53 than 297 tons
per year for every 1,000 men. Testimony was
riven also to the excellence of the system in all
ither respects, and' the summary of the results
was perfectly surprising. The saving in fuel, not
only for cooking, but for kindling, was exceedingly
large. The new methods of dressing placed at the
soldier's discretion were acceptable in the extreme.
['he action of the machine allowed of a regular
rotation being established, so that roast, stewed,
boiled, or fried meats, varied with vegetables and
puddings to suit, might be served to the different
rooms in due succession. The men themselves
escaped the tax of the town oven, and the facility
with which the apparatus was managed and regu-
lated produced a material economy of labour and
trouble.

After this description of Captain Grant's inven-
tion, it is almost unnecessary to add that it forced
its way into favour. An apparatus was first eon-
itructed to cook for 1,000 men, and when the plan
biad been found perfectly unobjectionable it was in-
troduced at Aldershott, which encampment is
served, we believe, upon Captain Grant's system to
the present day. In October, 1858, the Secretary
of War pronounced the system to be better than
my of those submitted to him for such purposes,
And he proposed to adopt it generally in barracks
as circumstances allowed. Altogether, " kitchens"
have been established on this plan sufficient for the
wants of 60,000 men, and it is clear that the inven-
-ion holds its position still, inasmuch as Captain
Grant was requested to prepare his apparatus for
the use of the expedition to China. What the re-
iults of the discovery must have been in respect to
economy and comfort we need not attempt to com-
pute, but it can hardly be too much to ascribe to
this cause some of that singular improvement in
the health of the troops which Mr. Sidney He-
bert himself hardly know how to explain. The
men have now wholesome victuals and appetizing
food. They are, somehow or other, in far better
condition than formerly ; and common sense, we
think, suggests that these two facts must havo
some connexion with each other.

This was the case introduced to the House of
Commons by Colonel Lindsay on Friday last. The
fact is that, line most inventors, Captain Grant has
taken little by his discovery. He has been suc-
cessful, no doubt, and has probably been paid
for his kitchens and kept harmless for his dis-
bursements; but' he has received little beyond.
His invention, which really amounts to a public
benefaction' was prosecuted at his own risk, and
established from his own funds. Had it failed to
to approve itself to the authorities the loss would
have been all his own, and, as the result has been
successful, it does appear as if something beyond
mere purchase-money and reimbursement might
have been conceded to his claims. There is
a 'curious antithesis in the two " batteries "
which are supplied to the Chinese expedition,
as representing the latest discoveries of modern
science. One is warranted to mangle and destroy
at distances before unheard of ; the other is
expected to keep men in good condition, and to
mitigate by its wonderful efficiency the hardships
and privations of life on a campaign. It is some-
thing like the old contrast between Congreve
rockets and vaccination. Unhappily, we depend as
much on one develoyment of science as on the other,
and nobody ?grudges Sir William Armstrong his
rewards ; but poor Captain Grant is naturally of
opinion that his more peaceful invention might also
have been acknowledged by some substantial kind
of compliment.

We doubt if the public will consider Mr. Sidney
Herbert's explanation in the matter as quite
satisfactory. No doubt, the new kitchens have
been duly preferred, bought, and paid for ; but,
besides all this, there is surely some obligation re-
maining? No doubt, too, other inventors have
deserved well of the State likewise, but Captain
Grant has certainly enabled us to improve the sol-
dier's condition, not only without fresh expense,
but with a positive saving. He has done for us
at no charge at all what we must needs have done
somehow at a considerable charge. He has
been practically successful in a public en-
terprise involving considerable risk, and has
proved himself a true benefactor to the British
army. Are such services sufficiently rewarded by
a gratuity of £5OO ? We think not, and we arc
moreover of opinion that, while we are so uncom-
monly liberal in every other department we might
well afford a trifle on the score of national gratitude.

FREEDOM OF TIIE CITY TO CAPTAIN ITCLIN-
TOCK, R.N.—The Lord Mayor has fixed Saturday, the 19th,
at one o'clock, for the presentation of the freedom of the
City to Sir Lecpold M'Clintock, at the Guildhall. His lord-
ship has invited a large and distinguished company to the
Mansion-house on the evening of that day to meet Lady
Franklin, Captain M.Clintock, and his gallant comradss of
the yacht Fox.—City Tress.
AN ADVENTUROUS PADDLE STEAMER.—Advices
from Fernando Po state that the Littleton, of London, a
small paddle wheel steamer of not more than 80 tons
la6tt I
St.o of lualr e
dol
March
Loando and at the Cape of Good Hope fot:iu,thor supplies.
bur-
den, had put in there, in distress, on her voyage to New
Zealand. She had been five months from England, at-
tempting to make the passage by sail, although a perfectly
flunatdebrotsttoemam.
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tootout
n theh
At a meeting of the creditors of John and
se rilwd e: err Horn,
given wereof P
Anthony Blaikie, advocates, held last week at Aberdeen,
iitnm namedeb dudt enanso,
the
approxi-
mation and de 0 W.
corn
Mr. Archibald Borthwick, C.A., Edinburgh, was app
pointed trustee upon the sequestrated estate. Messrs.
rnANidesawsmiaolsnlocn7srhnasertee,vberarodaieocrciaaAtiemb,
was made as to the actual state of affairs.

EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE.—On Friday'
last, whilst the workmen employed at the Rainhill Asylum
were pulling down some walls in order to carry out the
improvements going on they found a living toad embedded
in the solid masonry. From the position in which it was
found it is quite evident it must have been built in the wall
at the time the building :was erected, now some 15 years
ago. It is alive at th present time, and, indeed, quite
lively.—Liverpool Post.
SNAKES FROM AUSTRALIA.—Tn company with a
few black swans, wild duck, pied crows, &c , which have
arrived in Liverpool by the Lightning and Great Britain
from Melbourne, a cane of some of ths principal snakes from
Australia has been received by Mr. Edward Wilson, for
presentation to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's-park.
They have been placed there in the society's splendid eel-
lection of serpents, having arrived in first-rate health and
condition and are interesting as the first Australian snak(
ever introduced into England.—Australian and Xew Zea-
land Gazette.

DISEASE AMONG CATTLE IN SCOTLAND.-
-Within the last few weeks a disease of a fatal description
has broken out among cattle in the neighbourhood of
Auchterarder, which has deprived several farmers of nearly
all their stock. The epidemic appears to be spreading to
neighbouring parishes, where several animals have already
died after a few days' illness. The malady seems to be
new. After becoming affected Ant
die in a short time.
The epidemic is ascribed to the Ant of sufficient fodder air),
to feeding the animals on rotten and diseased turnips, &-,e