The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-12-10

drawn from the commissary depart
ment and turned into the mess. Fresh
meat is dilivered by contra.t daily
whenevea II is possible, while the
bread is baked by soldier bakers in
the post bakery.
In addition to the food supplied in
the ration, many extras are purchased
by means Of funds furnished by the
post exchange. This exchange is the
successor of the old army sutler, who
rapidly became rich from the profits
on goods sold to the men. A few
years ago the sutler system was brok
en- up. and the government now runs
its own stores in the interest of the
enlisted men. Only small profit IS
made, and this profit is used to buy
better and more varied supply of
food for the men, There is pest
exchange at most forts. The follow
ing articles, bought at post exchange
in thlee months, will give an idea of
what the soldier boys have in the way
of extra diet: Six hundred and fifty
pounds of bologna sausage, 800 pounds
Of cheese, 225 pounds breakfast bacon,
/ 400 pounds fresh sausage, 700 pounds
mutton, and 800 pounds of liver.
There is consumed at a dinner in an
average army garrison, 50 gallons of
soup. $50 pounds roast beef, Z bushels
potatoes. barrels turnips, a gallons
| tomatoes, l barrel cold slaw, 80
pounds tapioca for pudding, and 100
| pounds Of bread. From one to two
barrels of syrup are eaten at an aver
age frontier garrison in a month, and
the average number of pounds of
sugar used daily is forty-three.
The following is a sample of the
menus at the three meals each day in
winter at a United States garrison in
the Western wilds:
Breakfast Cracked wheat with sugar, beef
hash bread. butter, syrup. and coffee.
Dinner-Roast pork and gravy, roast potatoes
succotash of lima beans and green corn, heete
tapioca pudding bread syrup and coffee.
Supper-Meat and gravy, fried potatoes, hash,
pndding, bread, syrup and TO tea.
Every man can have Just as much
as he desires provided he does not
waste by leaving much food on his
plate. This waste is not permitted,
and men are punished for wasting.
On holidays an extra dinner is served.
The dinner last Christmas Day was
as follows: Roast turkey, cranberry
sauce, celery, mashed potatoes, baked
sweet potatoes, pickles, aud cold siaw,
mince and pumpkin pie, pound cake,
jelly cake, apples, raisins, coffee,
cheese, bread and butter which for
a good meal compares most favorably
with holiday dinner at some of the
best hotels in the land.
For amusements the officers have a
club room, and SO have the soldiers.
too, for that matter. The post trader
supplies the luXuries, and in return
has the monopoly of what trade there
is in it. At the billiard or pool tables
of some of our frontier posts may be
seen men who are truly experts with
the cue The band at headquarters
forts is for the benefit of officers and
enlisted men alike. Light wines, beer
and cider are sold almost at cost
prices, but whisky is not allowed un-
der any pretonce to be within the
limits of the garrison. After many
years service in some particular regi
ment the soldier has the esprit du
corps. and he takes a certain pride in
his profession and what he is about
The bands of the military service, with
hardly an exception, are fine bodies
of musicians, and capable Of holding
their own against all comers, IN or out
of the army. At an isloated post this
luxury is most thoroughly appreciated.
Hops, concerts, dances, card parties,
dinners, theatricals, and various otner
| amusements are the order when they
are cut off from the outside world and
the rest of civilization by the icy fet-
ters of winter. A visitor at the post
is made much off He or she is dined
feted, and danced. In summer the
guest is driven or ridden across the
country to the Indian camp, over the
bluffs, or along the river bank, back
and forth, here and there and every
where, to his or her hearts content
In winter, on bobs and behind a merry
set of jingling sleigh bells, away he
goes spinning over the praire, in and
out among the sage brush, getting as
much enjoyment out of the square
inch as the air, country, and surround
ings are capable of offering. This is
a pleasant picture to contemplate, but
all these little diversions are dearly
bought, by isolation in a wild ,sparsely
settled country, without theatres,
operas, shopping, or any of the ordi-
nary enjoyments that people consider
a part and parcel of their existence,
In fair weather great attention is
given to target practice. There was
a time when the average soldier of
the line could not hit a flock of barns,
although he might have been armed
with a double barreled repeating
shotgun. 1t used to be said, too, that
during the late war a man with a gun
would have to shoot away his own
weight in lead before he could shoot
anybody All that Is changed now.
1t would surprise people to know to
what degree OF fine workmanship the
soldier has been brought by the most
excellent system of rifle instruction
now in vogue At fixed distances, OF
rather with single shots at an object
the soldiers of our lines can more than
hold their own against the line of any
other army on earth today. Euro
pean armies neglect craftsmanship as
an important adjunct of soldier:
life.
But the tendency of modern ward
fare is to fight no longer in solid bri
gade. with intervals of from one tc
five yards between individuals, and
backed mp by artillery. Were the
late war to be fought over. with al
the late improvements. there would
be no four or five years of long drawn
ont conflict. The unpleasant woulC
be settled in less than twelvemonth
4 skirmish line of any of our regi
ments today would do twenty time