The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-08-08
BUTTER FOR UNCLE SANS SNIP,



How It IL Obtaiusd--Kcpt In Good Condi-
tion For Two Years.
asked Paymnster 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 inen on
Uncle Sans ships at sea- 1--WE advertise
every spring In tho newspapers for butter,
just as we do for any other kind Of sup
plies" he replied, 'and then we send out
specifications to tho different 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 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 tho
date Of delivery"
How much do you usually buy, and
where does 1t come fromf"
I'VE usually call for about 90, 900
pounds and give the contract to the lowest
responsible bidder, but we are always
careful to ascertain IL the bidder is yespon-
sible and whether no 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 can Of butter has gone around
tho world and up and down the tropics,
from one temperature to another, and
melted and hardened three or four times,
you cannot expect ID 10 be ms good as 10
was when IL camc out of the dairy, but ID
seldom gets 60 bad that one cannot eat 10.
In fact under the circumstances, IL Is
usually very satisfactory"
Have you ever used the foreign butter
that which is packed In Holland and
Denhhhfk ior tne tSOplcai trhuef
"Yes, we have used q good deal Of 10,
but under the law we are compelled to
purchase all our supplies In the United
States, excep. In emergencies. The Dan
ish butter Is very fine. think I would
rather take my chances with IL for long
voyage than the American product They
put It up beautifully In glass jars, and
their method Of packing Is probably supe-
rior " that used In the United States, but
at the same time IL is much more sxpen-
sive. The Danish butter packed In glass
jars costs from 90 cents to 20 cents pound,
while ours packed In tin costs from -
cents to s5 cents BY tho quantity. I have
never used the Holland butter and know
very little about IT,"
"Do thp Danes and the Dutohmen uso q
good deskof our oleomargarine and cotton
seed oil TO sdulterate their buttert"
Il do not know. OF course have heard
Of such things, but have never made an
investigation and have no reliable infor-
nation on the subject. ."-Chissgo Record