Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-06-06
'qRoN GRUB" FOR THE SOLDIERS
EMERGENCY nArioxs TO m usrp
ny THE ARMY.
h'"'" Packages Fitted win Powerful,
food-Ainminum to NJ snbstitut.
ed for Heavier W.tnt. In
Military Acroutrrmcuts,

Aluminium amp utensils arc 10 ne sur.
Piled for the use Of tho soldiers of ~,
United states army. For som. time past
me war department. has been making eS.
ssr'mehts IN ihis direction. and before long
we troops VIII be provided with canteens.
meat cans and various other articles OF
that metal Its great advautago for such
Iurposes lies IN It's remarkable lightness,
LOT aluminium u only about as heavy as
chalk. EVERYBODY who knows anything
ebout military matters IL aware of the Inn
por,ancc q making the equipment OF the
COLLIER In tho Held as Hight as possible: the
Hshiing man must NOT carry an unneces-
eary ounce. The very buckle. that fasten
The belts OF the German soldiers to-day are
OF aluminium.
The new aluminium can,eens to he car
RED by the boys In blue weigh only half as
muen as those now IN use. They are made
that II Is impossible for them to leak.
liernetrally corked. they would hold
water for 1000 years without the evnpora-
uon OF a drop, II dertcd, they can he cas-
ny, .rcshaped. while under no circumstance
VIII they rust, inasmuch ns this white met
ais proof AGAINST corrosion.
like n large whisky flask. with one side
convex and the other side c~oncave, SO that
II may ~ the side Of the horse or the hip
that any Kind OF hollow receptacle formed
Of Il may be knocked about TO any extent
and bent Into all sorts OF shapes without
But the new aluminium meat can weisha
one-half as much AS the present style OF
meat cans. and Is shaped like "a huge watch.
o.ne-hhlf serves as u plate and the other
half as a frylngpan II desired. Otherwise
both halves may be used as plates. for In
The military service In the United States
there is very little Individual cooking. or
dinartly one man Is chosen from each de-
tachment to cook for the rest. and at mess
cup and meat can to receive his allowance
OF coffee, beef. beans. etc. The meat can Is
further useful for carrying lunch that has
been cooked at breakfast time.
Only a dozen OF the aluminium meat cans
have been made up TO date, by way of eN-
pertinent. They were turned out at the
government factory in Rock Island, where
the army meat cans row in use are manu-:
featured. The latter are of heavy timed
Iron. An objection offered to the new style
Of utensil is that the fryingpan half would
melt II carelessly put on the fire without
anything in ii. The timed iron Will do the
same. however. though not SO quickly. per
haps. ON great advantage of aluminium Is
that 1t is not affected by the acids develop
ed In cooking. Only a few mineral acids
are able to eat 1t. 1t Is not acted upon by
organic secrctions, and hence II is most
serviceable for surgical Instruments and for
wires to sew up wounds received In battle.
The war department Is now experiment.
Ing with an aluminium horseshoe. for the
cavalry arm Of the service. It is forged In
q peculiar manner, with particles of highly
tempered steel, pressed into II to make Il
harder. Trials have shown that shoes OF
this kind will outlast the ordinary ones by
double. and there is no need OF fire in put
ting them on the hoof.
they are said to preserve the feet OF horses
remarkably. The only objection 10 them
Is that they are very Sxpen Tl costing q 2
weight is of Importance here. inasinuch as
every cavalryman is obliged to carry IN his
saddlebaEs one fore shoe and one hind shoe
for use in case of accident.
The board appointed to consider the
merits of various condensed foods AS emer-
.raraa,- & fnr ha nrrnN hnu fnnHa iQ
Tenort. one point promptly decided by the
hoard was that 1t was not worth while to
consider the VARIOUS G1,fses and 1eas put
solutions. The emergency ration Is not in
tended, for everyday use: II Is dtstilGtivsly
soldier happens to be cut Off from ordinary
sources of food supply.
\ typical ration OF TINS sort y me erbs,
wurst, or pea sausage. used In the German
cracker, and is composed OF peamea1. bits
Tor a long time, and is highly. nutritious;
peas contain more nttriment than beef or
shE E Is bis s4lk r fSr b%lk, TIE By k Inc b OF sau-
Another article highly approved by the
board IS condensed pea soup. This is put
and Inc contents Of one OF, them will make
three pints OF rich soup; The stun is com
EGse4 m of pee ot s eTnr a 1Ss, S wss f sN,re Years T oidl
and 1t was quite edible. though II little
stale. one advantage that L possesses Is
lHdt u Nls''nuS .'Ht SloNih.H' ~ - w
sufficient to put into n mans stomach so
much nutTiment; the organ needs to be dis
tended. Four ounces of this material, with
water added and a little boiling. Will sat-
.sfy a soldiers appetite for a day..
Various kinds of crackers have been or
fcred as substitutes for the long-familiar
BAREBACK. but the latter Is hardly to be
improved upon. II is to be made in small
er shape. however, for the. army. Many
Of the substitutes contained fatty. mater
!al of one kind or another, but II does not
do to put fat into, a military biscuit. be-
cause 1t will not keep. Only plain -four
and water can be used.
Approval was expressed by the board of
@ British emergency ration, which is con-
tained in two little cans held together by a
foldered strip, In one can are four ounces
OF concentrated beef, and In the other an
equal quantity of honey and cocoa. Direc-
ticns on the outside say that the receptacle
T. not to be opened except by order of an
officer or In extremity. Soup is to be made
gu. of the concentrated beef, or the latter
may he eaten dry. The mixture of honey
AMI cocoa is very nutritious. OF course. The
n mans strength for thirty-six hours. If
eaten in small quantities at Il time.
The board thought favorably of Il prepa-
ration Of saccharine put up In pills of one
grain each. Saccharine Is 300 times as
sweet as sugar, and four grains of II will
fwesten three quarts OF cofiee. one prep
aration of coffee was in the shape OF but
tons coated with sugar, which was supi
posed to retain the aroma, Not much was
thought of the ~''croquettcs de marche'
supplied to the soldiers of the French army
and one part OF so-called beef peptone,
-bInb lie mn rtlv diQestel beef prenared ar-