The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-26
kept by some soldier who is hired by
the officer to take care of his animals.

kept by some soldier who is hired by
the officer to take care of his animals.
THE SHOPS.
The blacksmith, carpenter. wheel
wright AID paint shops are all under
the charge of the quartermaster. There
is q regular corps Of men hired to do
Ill the work IN the post These men are
usually civilian employees, but there
arc always plenty of skilled painters,
4 carpenters, ETC.. IL the regiment to do
I any kind of work that may be required
I Nothing can be done by any of these
Workmen without an order from the
1 quartermaster. Being paid for their la
! Dor by the government, none of these
4 employees are allowed to charge for
/ any OF their work.
1 THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT.
/ There is an officer appointed by the
+ commanding officer as ordnance officer
I of the post He has under his charge
| all the cannons, ammunition, targets,
! etc, that are used by the soldiers. Near
! the guard house is situated the store
( house Cor the cannOns and such a-ti-
i cles. At Fort Douglas there are several
1 field pieces, including gatling guns.
/ small mountain Hotchkiss, two-inch
rifles, etc. These. with the targets, eX-
| ira firearms, and all the stores, with
the exception Of explosives, are kept in
this store-nouse. At a distance of a
| couple OF hundred yards from the
guard house, stands a little stone build
ing which is used for a magazine. In
this is kept all the powder and ammu-
milton that is required to supply the
soldiers. These are all taken care of
by the ordnance sergeant, who is I'M
der the command of the ordnance Of
| ficer.
POST EXCHANGE.
A few years ago it was the custom to
have Q little store on the reservation,
which was run by some civilian, merely
for the profit there was in it. These men
We're known as post traders" and they
kept q small stock of goods, generally
| of the poorest quality. There was al
ways q bar connected with the store,
and many a bloody fracas has been the
outcome of pay day spent in buying
and drinking the bad liquor sold by
these traders. But this was not to en-
dure forever. Uncle Sam saw chance
| for lettering the condition of his men
| by taking away the privileges of the
post traders.
Accordingly, the system of canteens
was inaugurated, and from the first ii
proved a success. 1t is "a blessing to
the soldier. for it has made his life
more what it should be, by helping him
to have better food upon his table, and
more comforts in his quarters. The
canteen at Fort Douglas is a model one,
and is run on a plan that is most salts
| factory. One of the large barracks has
! been transformed into the post ex-
| change, and makes a roomy, cheerful
one. AT one end of the building is the
| bar room. where fresh beer is always
on tap. Light wines are also for sale
| here, as are soda waters, elders and
other beverages, but whisky is not al
lowed to be sold
| Adjoining the bar room is the billiard
and pool room. Here there are several
fine billiard and pool tables arranged
about the room for the use of the sol
dierS. In a little room apart from the
bar and billiard room is the store.
Here is kept all manner of goods, con-
slsting of candies, fruits, jewerly cloth
| ing, toys, shoes, tobacco and almost
! anything n the way of notions Then
there is the restaurant, where short or
! ders can be had at all hours. and where
fish, flesh and fowl, butter, eggs, bread,
etc, can be purchased for the use of the
families
The principle of the post exchange is
to buy the best articles and sell them
to the soldiers at figure very near
the cost price. In this way a small
profit is made. on each article and en-
ables the canteen to pay it's attend
ants and declare a dividend each
month. These dividends amount to
about 5000 per month, and represent the
net proceeds of the months business.
The. dividends are made to the com
panies at a certain rate usually 81 per
man. The sum raised is turned over to
the company commanders who see that
it is used to improve the general well
fare of the men and have a better va
riety of food for their consumption The
canteen is a pleasant place for the SOL
diers to pass away the long winter
evenings, and they can obtain almost
anything they may want there without
going to the city. There is never any
fights in the exchange. as strict orders
are made and enforced as to their con-
duet while in the building, and the
place is most orderly.
THE POST BAKERY.
The post bakery is another most
necessary institution. 1t is situated
near the southwestern corner of the pa
rade ground at the post, and is under
the direction of the commissary officer.
Instead of the companies drawing all
their ration of -four it is turned over
to the post bakers. They make the
bread and return the company pound
for pound In this manner Il saving is
made on flour, for pound of bread
does not contain a pound of -four At
the end Of the month it is found that
there are several hundred pounds of
flour which has been saved from the
companies rations. Accordingly. this
flour is sold back to the commissary