The Portland daily press., 1894-06-21
BUTTER Oh UNCLE SANS SHIPS.
How 1t LIZ Ohtained-Kept In Good ContIi
tion For Two Years.

How 1t IL Ohtained-Kept In Good Condi-
tion For Two Years.
asked Paymaster General Stewart of
the United States navy, who is the com
nissary 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 differe Mt manufacture
ers throughout the country for the infor-
nation OF bidders. These specifications
stipulate that we shall be furnished with
extra creamery butter, made in June or
October, put up in tins and packed direct
ly into the tins at tho 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 tho 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, tho 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 1t come from?''
I'VE usually call for about so, o00
pounds and give the contract to the 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.
Does the butter keep well for two
yearss''
After a can of butter has gone around
the world and up and down the tropics,
from ono 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 gots SO bad that one cannot cat it.
In fact, under the circumstances, it is
usually very satisfactory"
Have you ever used the foreign butter
--eiioo which Is piGhSu III f1Ot1aQQt ana
Denmark for tho tropical trade?'
YES, we have used a 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. / think would
rather take my chances with it for long
voyage than tho American product. They
put it up beautifully in glass jars, and
their method of packing is probably supe-
rior to that used in tho United States, but
at the same tirse it is much more expen-
sive, The Danish butter packed In glass
jars costs from co cents to 70 cents pound,
while ours packed in tin costs from %
cents to rs cents by the quantity. have
never used tho Holland butter and know
very little about it. -
do the Danes and the Dutchmen use
good deal of our eieomargarine and cotton
seed Oil to adultcrate their butterP''
II do not know. Of course have heard
of such things, but have never made all
investigation and have no reliable infor
nation on tho subject. Chicago Record