The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-10
THE NEW coRPoRAL-CooKs.
Regulations to Govern Their Days
ROutine-NO Picnic.


If our brave fighters at the front this sum
mer do not enjoy better cooking than is af-
forded any other soldier boys in the world
1t VIII be due 10 no fault of the subsistence
department of the army. Interesting inStruc
tons are being framed for the hundreds of
new corporal-cooks soon to be attached to
companies, troops and batteries. Men expert
in the culinary art and willing to brave the
noncombatant dangers of war for love of
country and SIS a month are being carefully
selected. Each will carry under his apron
string a compact and leather-bound volume
OF dietary tactics to be about the size of
and quite as valuable as the manual of mill
tary lore to be seen beneath the belt OF the
instructor at arms.
In each company of infantry or its equiv
ale1t in the artillery or cavalry the corporal
cook will be given two assistants. selected
from the ranks, one to be known as assist
ant cook" the other as cooks police" Be
sides helping his direct superior, as directed.
the assistant cooks prescribed duty will be
to see that all pots, pans and other cooking
utensils are polished and shined as bright
as new dollars. regular duty of the cook S
police will be to cut wood and act as fire.
tender. The cook will be required to travel
with or handy TO the wagons or pack train
on the march, and be always ready to un-
load rations and utensils sufficient for
Indeed the new functionaries of each
companys culinary staff will have no sine
cure. 'Twould be we'll could housewives
demand OF their cooks what army offlcers
Will require these military chefs and their
interiors to perform. They must be able
when necessary to unpack the required ra-
tons and prepare meal, both within
half hour after reaching a new camping
place. Before leaving, fresh coffee must
be roasted to supply any demand along the
route, while during march articles sufficient
for a hasty lunch must be always at fingers
ends.
The regulations will require that all avail
able men shall aid the cooks on reaching a
camp. site. At the first sergeants call,
"All hands out for fuel and water!' they
will hurry about for wood and springs in
the immediate vicinity. Meanwhile the
cook will be unloading rations and utensils
ant cook and cooks police will at the same
time be digging the fire-trench, adjusting
the kettles and getting the camp fire ready.
Everything will be arranged to reduce the
wait for meals to a minimum.
Just one day of the new army cooks pre-
scribed routine as sample: He, will be
awakened two hours before reveille each
morning, and his assistants will rejuvenate
the cook-fire kept burning all night by the
guard. Breakfast must Immediately follow
the early morning formation. Immediately
after preparations for dinner must be be-
gun. The soldier gets his dinner in the mid
of baking must follow in the afternoon.
Even after the evening meal the provisions
necessary for breakfast must me prepared.
the folks at home need no longer add the
qualm that the brave boy in the field is not
getting good things to eat like mother
luxurious than these items jotted down
from the list of recipes to be furnishe9 each
turbot little-pigs in blankets, beef bouilli,
Turkish pillou, Crimean kebobs, Creole
sauce, pemmican, rice, panada, Jerusalem
roly, poly, estufado. frijoles, tortillas and
jambalaya. "BOmbshells," cannon balls
and artillery pie" sound trifle more mill
tary. But what .unpatriotic censor of Off
cial cookery and scullery literature could
have allowed his blue pencil to spare such
as these Spanish nar fried dtI rice Spanish
The new army cooks only periods of rest
If rest can be enjoyed amid such dangers
will occur during manoeuvre marches in
the presence of the Spaniards. Then the
troops will carry in their haversacks, packs
or saddle-bags three rations including cold
bacon or cooked beef hard bread, coffee,
sugar, salt, pepper and. possibly some con-
densed soups.
Instructions to be placed in the hands
of the new cooks will contain many little
hints which will prove invaluable if cut out
and pasted upon any housewives kitchen
wall. They are fruits of years and years
Of experience in all fields of the culinary
art. especially military cookery. 1t is en-
phasized, for instance, that frying is the
least wholesome of all methods of cooking.
Fish are fresh only when eyes are clear,
fins stiff and gills red and hard to open.
Frozen meat of any kind must be thawed
in cold water before cooking. Before being
put in refrigerator meat must be covered
with clean cloth, never with paper. 1t
must never be in direct contact with the
ice. Vinegar added to water for boiling
makes tough meat tender Poultry should
never be cooked until twelve or fourteen
hours after killing Peas and beans are
the most nutritious of vegetables, contain
ing much carbon as wheat and almost
double the amount of muscle-forming food.
Spinach and dandelion leaves are excellent
for the kidneys. Asparagus purgeS the blood.
Celery strengthens the nervous system and
is a cure for rheumatism and neuralgia.
Tomatoes act upon the liver Reets and tur-
nips are excellent appetiZers. Lettuce and
cucumberS cool the system in hot weather.
Onions, garlic, leekS, olives and ShallotS
stimulate the circulation, increase the SALIVA:
and gastric juices and promote digestion.
Red onions are excellent diuretics. Raw
white onions cure insomnia.
They will also be taught that oniols
peeled under water do not disturb the eye.
That small pinch Of carbonate of ammo
MIA in the water for boiling preserves the
OF cabbage. A little baking soda similarly
used freshens vegetables and makes them
more tender Summer vegetables should be
cooked the same day as gathered The
smaller the eye the better the potato. Eggs
are best twelve hours after laid. They can
be kept for months packed without touch
ing in salt, small ends down. Canned goods
are wholesome If ends of cans are sunk in;
If bulged out the contents are fermented.
Hundreds of such facts are given, though
these are the more interesting. 1t is also
added that the less soldiers be given to
drink on q march the better. That they
suffer less in the end If made to control
their desire to drink. That they should not
undertaking. That the nervous power is
drawn by food toward the stomach and,
therefore, from the brain and muscles,
where it is needed during a battle or diff
cult operation of any kind