Evening star., 1897-03-05
GIVING OUT THE POTATOES.
An Old Soldiers "Reminiscences of an
Event in Army Life.

From the New York Sun.
Sometimes" said the old soldier, I'VE
got considerable many potatoes, and then
again we wouldn't have any at all 10"
weeks; very likely nothing but hard bread
and coffee and pork and may be corned
beef. and perhaps beans; but whether we
got them often or seldom. potatoes were
always more or less of a luxury.
ut was likely to be known in the conf
pany when We had potatoes. When We
had something the men didn't care any
thing about, something that we had
been having right along, it might be that
not more than half the men would get into
line al the cooks tent or at the hre wneh
the call sounded; there was sure to be
enough-tbere might be some men who
wouldn't want their ration at all; and you
would see men struggling across the COM
pany street toward the fire singly, later.
carrying their tin plates and moving leis-
urely. No hurry: they were quite willing
to take their place at the end Of the line,
and. i'll fact, they didn't try to get there
served. so that they wouldn't have to wait
long, and they wouldn't have cared much
II 1t had been all gone when they got there
But on days when we had potat atoes 1t was
different; then the whole company turned
out promptly, and formed in line, single
file. the right resting on the cooks tent
and the whole line moving forward as the
men got their rations.
missary. when We came to draw our ra-
tions, we would Of course get a certain
quantity, propOrtioned to the number of
men we had on duty in the company. If
We had forty men the potatoes we got
when we came to count them out, might
number sixty. II there were sixty potatoes
for forty, men obviously some of them
would have to be cut In two, or else they
would have to be given out two to some
men and one to Others and that Is what
was done; man got two small potatoes
or one big one. For myself preferred two
small ones; but OF course I took whatever
was given to me, and said nothing; but
liked it better to get two potatoes, so as
to not risk everything in one package.
have known a big. handsome potato that a
man had carried gravely to his tent, filled
with delightful anticipations as he went
along. to turn out bad inside.
There was no greater test of a cooks
management than the way in which he
gave out potatoes. and the man WHO could
do this to the satisfaction of everybody
was good deal of a man. 1t was impossi-
BILE to give everybody exactly the same
this as possible. a spirit Of fairness was
recognized Instantly. and nobody expected
more. The potato he got might not be so
big by quarter as the one he saw put on
said nothing; somebody had got to have
the other potato. and it might just as like
ly have come to him.
But something more than fairness was
required to give out the potatoes success
fully; man had got to keep the run Of
what he had given out and the number of
men supplied, and have some idea of the
number of potatoes left and of the number
of men to come. He could give himself
some margin by issuing the big potatoes
generally first; on a pinch. along at the
end, he could give out to three or four men
single one of the biggest of the smaller
potatoes. instead OF two. But he must
know whether there were any men who
had not come yet and whether they were