St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-09-21

rations are stored at Woolrich. A firm
| OF provision contractors in England
have for some years been experiment.
consider their work very successful
The ration is put up in a tin and con
tains sufficient meat and drink to keep
soldier in fighting condition 70.
twenty-four hours The top OF the tin
may be removed by the finger, withou,
the need of a can-opener. All that i.
needed is little cold water, and the
ration is ready to be eaten. The con.
tractors say of this ration: "As to the
quality of the contents it is excellent
The meat is nicely cooked and favored
mixed with biscuit. and forms a very
appetizing and satisfactory dish. The
| soup is first rate, and the cocoa and
milk will be found pleasant and re
freshing."
The ordinary ration for our soldier.
is the best in the world. The daily al
lowance for one man is as follows:
Twelve ounces of pork or bacon. OF
canned beef or 20 ounces Of fresh beef,
or a2 ounces of salt beef; IS ounces oil
soft bread or -four, or l6 ounces of hard
bread, or 20 ounces of corn meal; ID
ounces of fresh vegetables, and to every
100 rations Is pounds of beans or peas
or 10 pounds of rice or hominy; II
pounds of green or of roasted coffee
or pounds of tea; Is pounds of sugar
quarts of vinegar, 4 pounds of salt. 4
ounces of pepper, and to troops in the
field pounds of baking powder.
The abundance of food is readily
seen from this list. Its variety nigh,
be questioned were it not for two fac
tors which have not been mentioned
Company commanders may sell any
part of the rations, or receive their
value in cash by leaving them un.
drawn. The money SO procured may
then be used for purchasing other eat.
ables. Again, the profits of the can.
teen, with trifling exceptions, are di.
vided among the companies for the
same purpose. The amount thus d.
vided averages $50. 900 per year.
The best praise of the army ration Is
the fact that nearly every recruit be-
gins to increase in weight as soon as
he is enlisted. Regular habits and
healthful exercise contribute their
share toward this result, but there can
be no doubt that good food is the prir-
cipal factor. The writer once had an
applicant for enlistment who was very
desirable, but seven pounds under
weight. He was kept in barracks q
week, ostensibly ION probation" but
really to fatten him up At the end Of
the time he passed the doctor in tri-
umph, with a pound to spare.
In garrison we have two systems of
messing our men. One is by company,
each having about sixty men. The
other is to mess the whole garrison to-
gether. A mess of the latter kind,
called general" mess, will frequent
ly have 500 men. The general mess is
an innovation of recent date, and finds
favor only with the higher officials.
Officers commanding companies and
the soldiers themselves are a unit in
favor of company messing. Under this
system the cooking is done by an or
binary coal or wood fire, the men eat
under their own roof and company
officers and non-commissioned officers
have the experience of providing for
their men. Trained cooks for CAM
paign are available, moreover, for in
the field companies always mess BY
themselves.
Our field cooking and eating ap-
paratus is well nigh perfect. 1t has
often been favorably commented upon
by foreign officers. Each soldier car
ries haversack, in which are placed
his eating utensils, and rations when
needed. The utensils consist of
heavy metal knife. fork, spoon, tin
cup and meat can. The last is in two
pieces, both shallow and of oval form.
and one with q handle attached. When
open the piece with handle serves for
; frying pan, and the other for plate.
When used to contain meat the two
parts are placed together like saucers,
and the hinged handles bent over to
bind them together. Experiment is
being made with aluminium for the
metal of these utensils
The efficiency of our commissarv
department was a marvel during the
yreat civil war. With mauy hum
ireds Of thousands of men in the field.
md operating over a vast territory.
where in many cases railroads did not
.xist, 1T was rare indeed that any SOL |
lier went hungry. This is all tho
more wonderful when it Is remembered
nat the art Of putting meat, soups |
md vegetables into tins was almost
Unknown. At the present day, with |
increased facilities for transporting |
GOD. and an emergency ration for NE |
shen the army cuts loose from its base,
'e may expect to see the mobility Of |
mr. troops largely increased They1
ugkt to make marches that would /
stohish the veterans of the last war. |
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