Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-07-13
euTTER Eoa. uNcLE SANS SHIPS.
How 1t Is ObtaIned-Kept In Good Cond
ton For Two Years.

How 1t Is Obtained-Kept In Good Condi-
ton For Two Years.
asked Paymaster General Stewart Of
the United States navy, who is the com
missary general for that branch Of the
public service, where he gets the butter
that is used by the officers and men on
Uncle Sans ships at sea- 1--WE advertise
every spring in the newspapers for butter,
Just as we do for any other kind of sup
plies, he replied, and then we send OUT
specifications to the different manufacture
ers throughout the country for the infor-
nation Of bidder These specifications
stipulate that we shall be furnished with
extra creamery butter, made in June or
October, put up in tins a2d packed direct
ly into the tins at the place of manufac-
ture. The tins must be made of the best
charcoal tin, redipped before soldering
each tin to contain three pounds, the
weight Of the tins not included. The tins
must be packed in sawdust, in substantial
wooden boxes, two dozen in each, with
two hoop iron straps around each box, one
at each end. Each tin must be carefully
wrapped in paper, the tops Of the boxes
fastened with screws, and the tins and
boxes marked with contents, the name Of
contractor and the date of packing. Di-
rections for opening must also be placed
on each package, and an instrument for
opening the tins must be furnished with
each 500 pounds of butter Contractors
must guarantee that the butter shall keep
in good condition for two years from the
date of delivery"
'How much do you usually buy, and
where does it come fromP''
I'VE usually call for about 5000
pounds and give the contract to tho lowest
responsible bidder, but we are always
careful to ascertain If the bidder is respon-
sible and whether he knows how to do the
business, because we do not want to send
our boys to sea with bad butter and no
prospect of getting better.
docs the butter keep well for two
yearsi"
AFTER a can Of butter has gone around
the world and up and down the tropics,
from one temperature to another, and
melted and hardened three or four times,
you cannot expect it to be as good as it
was when it came out of the dairy, but it
seldom gets SO bad that one cannot eat it.
In fact, under the circumstances, it is
usually very satisfactory"
''Have you ever used the foreign butter
that which is packed in Holland and
Denmark for the tropical trade"
Eyes, we have used good deal Of it,
but under the law we are compelled to
purchase all our supplies in the United
States, except in emergencies The Dan
ish butter is very fine. l think 1 would
rather take my chances with it for long
voyage than the American product. They
put it up beautifully in glass jars, and
their method of packing is probably supe-
rior to that used in the United States, but
at the same time it is much more expen-
sive. The Danish butter packed in glass
jars costs from 60 cents to 70 cents pound,
while ours packed in tin costs from %
cents to % cents by the quantity. have
never used the Holland butter and know
very little about 1t.
"Do the Danes and the Dutchmen use a
good deal of our oleomargarine and cotton
seed oil to adulterate their butter?"
II do not know. OF course have heard
Of such things, but 1 have never made an
investigation and have no reliable infor-
nation on the subject. Chicago Record.