The evening times., 1898-11-29
A Work of Genius.


The Brooklyn Eagle has made an i'm
portant discovery. 1t may be remark
1 ed. in passing, that when a Brooklyn pa
| per really does go at a thing in dead
| earnest and a thorough state of excite
ment il sometimes produces really re-
markable results. The Eagle has be-
come excited over Secretary Alger, and
this is praiseworthy state of mind. in
I deed. But the discovery which it has
made is that the Secretary of War. per-
sonally, wrote the Army Cook Book.
This volume has thus far appeared
! TO be something of a myth to the ma
| jority OF the American people. a great
| deal was said about ii in some of the
newspapers. at the beginning of the
war. and some extracts from il were
printed, but few people have ever seen
the book. Now. the members of the War
Commission, deprived of other support,
have staggered back on the theory that
the scarcity of these cook-books was
what was the matter with the army all
through the war
This book was printed it is said, on
Allt DlNSSSS. WI NSIt
kept running night and day. 1t was
put on the presses as soon as Stern
berg's instructions to soldiers were fin
ished. IL will be remembered that in
these instructions soldiers We're enioined
from drinking water unless it was boil
| ed-the inference being that they were
TO boil il in their hats-and told TO
change their clothing and shoes when
ever they were caught out in the rain
regardless Of the fact that in ordinary
civilized communities a man is required
to wear clothes in public 1t is said
! that Secretary Alger, during this storm
and stress period. sat up all of one
night looking over the proofs of this
cook book and making additions of de-
licious dishes. And if the soldiers had
only possessed and studied these pages
it is thought that all would have been
we'll
A discharged soldier in Brooklyn was
asked if he had ever seen one of the
books He said that he had. He thought
that some of them were used by the
barber TO shave the men, that the Off
GERS lighted their cigars with others,
and that still others were used for kind
ling fires. But he had kept his for what
he called a ''sooyeneer," as if il were
valentine from Secretary Alger. Here
are some Of the recipes which ne read
from it:
Chestnut Soup Peel and scEape the nuts; boil
them in water with saIt and pepper till quite
pass them through a sieve; put the puree into
saucepan containing large sliced onion prev
iou,ly Drowned in butter OF cottolene till tender;
add the necessary amount OF water. When fin
i-hed, must not he too thick, and serve with
toast tried crisp in eottolene. The Medical De
partment VIII supply the ohestnuts.
Sandwiches made IRON cold canned beef
Chop cold cooked beef very fine; to each pint
add a teaspoonful Of salt, tablespoonful of
capers teispoonful OF chopped mint, a dash of
pepper and tablespoonful OF lemon juice Spread
this whole over buttered whole wheat bread
or hardtack. Cover with another slice, trim off
the cTusts and serve in a bed of lettuce leaves.
II YOU can't get all the articles required write
to the Secretary OF War
French chicken sandwiches-Chop the meat of
one boiled Chicken very nne; pound it 10 a
paste, adding half teaspoonful OF salt and
a dash of red pepper. Soak a tablespoonful OF
gela;ine in tablespoonful of cold water
for fifteen minutes; then add six tablespoonfuls
OF thick cream; stand this over the camp kettle
for a moment to dissolve the gelatine and beat
il slowly into the chicken. Stand il aside 10
cool. When cool cut in squares; cut these
squares into very thin slices; arrange them neat.
ly over buttered army crackers and cut into fancy
shapes. Serve in lettuce leaves TO keep the
sandwiches moist. The colonel is expected to
supply all leaves.
Beans-Boat with tenpin until outer she'll
IS removed. then plunge in boiling water Boil
many hours possible. Drink the liquid and
throw the beans away
To cook bacon-Wash shave and disinfect if.
Have ready a large kettle. throw in the bacon.
sprinkle with teasFoonful of chloride of lime.
and not more than gallon of water Stand the
kettle over a brisk fire, boil for six hours then
press il through colander, chop it fine Put in
a saucepan, add two tablespoonfus of calisaya.
dash of salt. handful of hardtack Then throw
II way II you can get anything else 10 eat II it
must be used, eat quickly. MUL
This will go far to dissipate the cloud
which has gathered about the office of
Secretary Alger. If he wrote cook
book like that for use in the American
army he Is genius 1t is literature
food, drink, recreation and delirium tre-
mems combined. The only sorrowful
thing about il is that it was not given
to the public sooner. President McKin-
ley is reported TO have said that if he
had known there was going to be a war
he would never have appointed AIger
Secretary of it, and it is certain that if
he had known what cook book Alger
could write he would have relieved him
from all care of the army and allowed
him to devote his time to literature
The Eagle, of Brooklyn, has done a
great thing.
1t is still impossible to tell how many
lives have been lost and how much prop
erty destroyed by the great storm tina.