The times., 1898-08-10
FEEDING AN ARMY.
Some Interesting Figures From the
Commissary Department

SOmm1ssary Depurtment
The commissary department in a mill
| tary campaign is, if anything, more es-
sential than the ammunition division; for
| men must eat to fight Only those who
are familiar with military life realize
| what a task 1t is to provide for even
a regiment, of 1,2G0 men. When it comes
| to furnishing supplies for twenty times
| that number, or an army such as Gen.
| Shafter led into Santiago, the undertake
ing is gigantic in its proportions. The
| commissaTy department must provide
not only food but a variety, otherwise
| the hospital corps would have its hands
! full attending TO soldiers down with
diseases caused by eating too much salt
meat, for instance, or some other kinds
| of provisions. The variety should be
| such that a man can have two or three
soft bread along with his meat, and, If
possible. something in the way of sour
articles. such as onions and vinegar.
The staple articles of food provided in
the present war includes hardtack, beans,
peas rice. sugar, salt and canned veget-
| ables, coffee and tea, beef, fish,
| saited and smoked meats, salted
| or dried fish, corn meal, hominy, pota-
| toes and onion. Other articles of food
include groceries, such as sugar. molass-
es, syrup, vinegar, and salt. The above
are what make up the average rations
of a soldier The commissioned officers,
however. obt5sn other delicacies, such as
butter. canned lobster, macaroni, oat
meal, evaporated and canned fruits, also
pigs feet, clam chowder, fancy soups,
such as chicken, mock turtle and oxtail
as the Government is not stingy i'm its
rations.
The selection of the various articles is
one of the most difficult particulars of
the commissary's duties. During the
present war purchasing officers have been
stationed in most of the large cities of the
country. They have advertised for pro-
posals TO furnish the different articles and
| have made selections in the following
manner: Each firm offering TO supply the
| Government is required to furnish sam
| pies of the different grades desired If
| for bacon, for instance the firm must
| furnish samples, one or two of which are
carefully preserved, and If the order is
| respond in every particular to the sam
pies. Before any order is given the sue
cessful firm must give the comrnissary
| department a check for cer.ain amount
| of the order to guarantee the Govern
Tnent against loss in case IL fails to fulfill
| It's contract; the check varies from 10 to
20 and sometimes 25 per cent OF the order
Not only are samples of the food re-
quired, but samples of the packages VIII ch
inclose them. for Uncle Sam is very par
ticular as to the manner in which these
goods are packed. Much more care is
exercised than in the past, as the climate
of the West Indies and the long journey
to the Philippines require careful pack
ing In order to preserve the supplies in
good condition. The Office of The quarter
master in any of the large cities resem-
bles grocery and provision store more
than military sanctum. In determining
qualities of the goods most of the officers
are governed by the United States re-
quirements, which are based ON chemical
analyses of different foods. II has al
ready been shown in spite of various crit
icisGns that the Government is purchasing
superior quality of meats, breadstuns
and vegetables, and many a large firm
has failed to come up to its requirements
Of course. there is great opportunity
for the purchasing official Ito take care
of himself" as he must dispose OF from
$4,000 TO $500 900 in orders. CoflsAauently
he is the object of the most hattering at
tention from the wouid+be contractors,
and since the war many an officer mas
had the chance, had he cared ito avail
himself of 1t, of quietly making S15. 900 TO
$4,000 on contract by allowing this or
that concern 10 supply an inferior arti-
Gle, which is ostensibly sold as better
brand
Time is all essential in filling a Govern
ment order. A firm which has facilities
for shipping lo.000 barrels of hard tack
say, within thirty days is gwen the pref
erence over one slightly lower in price
but which could not fill the same order in
less than two months. The average man
will die of starvation in four or five DAYS.
and, to keep a body of troops in good
condition, the rations must be sent with
regularity. The commissary department
aims to distribute orders for provisions
and other articles in such manner that
as little time possible will elapse be-
fore the food is being delivered in proper
quantities to the different camps. and to
the seaport for transportation to the base
of operations. The quick transportation
OF the supplies is consequently a knotty
problem
Some of the orders are so large as to
require car loads and sometimes a train
OF fifteen or twenty cars TO transport
them. For example, al the beginning of
the campaign the order was given to a
firm in Maryland for 1,0000 600 pounds of
flour. This was packed In sacks and
actually required 90 cars to transport 1t
TO the various camps. Another was Civ
en- out in Baltimore for 256. 600 cans of to-
matoes alone This order filed a train of
thirty-five cars, which was hauled TO
Chickamauga by two locomotives The
packers in Kansas City, ST Louis and
other Western centerS have sent single
orders, which required twenty-five cars.
with such articles as smoked and fresh
meats alone. As most of the camps are
several miles distant from the railroad.
the job of hauling the provisions to the
distributing centerS is one which REQUIRES
large outlay and the use of many wag-
ons. Some of the vehicles are the regu-
lar government wagons with canvas tops,
drawn by teams of six mules They
can carry along anywhere from one to
three tons weight according to the char
acter of the roads The kinds of food
most in use, such as meats, flour and
hard tack, beans, canned vegetables, etc.
are packed in barrels and boxes, the most
convenient form for handling One of these
six mule teams will carry a wagon load
OF 10 barrels of pork, for instance a dis
tance of six miles an hour If the road is
fairly good. Mules are invariably used,
as wagon team of this size will haul
the camp, the supplies are taken in charge
by the quartermaster's department, and
the various packages opened, and requisi-
tionS from the cOmmiSSary ry serrea nj nf the