Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-05-27
"HARDTACKr of TODAY.
Old-Time Brand Which StOpped RuI-
lets Has Gone Forever.
~, a., I


lets Has Gone Forever.
From the Chicago Chronicle.
Nothing so delights the veteran of the
civil war just now as the relation of tales
of woe concerning ''hardtack" He will ex-
pound the miseries suffered by himself and
his comrades in their efforts at reducing
the hard commissary bread to such a de-
gree of softness would make it eatable
He can tell narrowing stories of the biscuit
1t pleases him to tell gaping crowds how
lives were saved because the men wore one
or more of these biscuits inside their
blouses. Bullets. according to the veteran,
were turned back in their fight by the food
This same veteran has been eating soft
bread ever since he left the army He
would feel that soup is not soup if crackers
were omitted from the bill. But when it
comes to bareback he grows positively elo-
qGent. He can tell more about it even than
he can of the mistakes made by the general
who commanded his brigade division or
corps during the war. If all the reports of
the bread be reliable-and there Is little
reason to doubt part of their truth-the
men did suffer to a considerable extent.
But the bareback of today the official
commissary hard bread now being issued to
the troops, is by no means such bugbear.
Men will eat bread soft and haky three
times day for all of their lives and never
complain. The bareback of today is really
very good article of food, made of the
best of materials. and, aside from the mo-
notony of such diet, is easily eaten 1t
has none of the bad features ascribed to
its predecessor, for it is nothing but a
cracker of fine wheat flour mixed with wa
ter. 1t is palatable and by no means so
hard that man will lose his teeth in eat
ing it.
BY courtesy of Major O. NJ Smith. COM
missary Of subsistence in charge of the de-
pot in Chicago reporter for the Chronicle
was able to obtain supply of the hard
bread, as it is officially designated Not
only did the reporter obtain the goods but
he also secured the official description of
the materials used and the manner of prep
arat1on Here Is the description as furnish
ed by the department at Washington:
Hard bread made from the very best
straight soft winter wheat flour, mixed
with water only, baked in crackers one inch
long by half an inch wide and about three
eighths of an inch thick, packed in air.
tight cartons made of strong strawboard
SO procesSed as to be grease proof. One end
of the carton to be closed with an easy
opening flap one and one-half inches wide.
Cases of forty cartons to be made of wood
that will not impart odor.
The foregoing is the official bareback pre-
pared for field use in times of peace or
when the commssaries are not crowded
with rush orders, as is the case at present.
But in such times those of today the
officers whose duty it Is to provide for the
subsistence Of the army have no time to be
particular about the rttlej pasteboard boxes.
The crackers now being furnished to Major
Smith are of the usual soda cracker size.
made according to the specifications as
set forth in the foregoing paragraph. They
each. y.
1T has been a long time" said Major
Smith, 'since we manufactured the old bis
cults which are popuiarly known as hard
tack. The regulations now specify the size
as well as materials, and the small cracker
is the official style.I Bub we are rushed
night and day to got field rations ready.
ipon tn 70,
packing. We are purchasing large quanti-
ties of the hard bread made in the usual
cracker size packed in lange boxes, so that
one box has one days 'rations for about
hfty men. One pound of the stuff is the
daily ration for one man. Ordinarily it
would come in the little cases in the boxes,
put now we are glad toAget enough with
out gong to the added trouble of putting
IL into the small rcases2J,,It Is not bad food,
and. aside fromnthe mpnotpny of contin-
uous cracker diet would never disturb
anybody . ~
The crackers, even. after they have been
packed for several months, do not become
SO hard as to wreck the teeth, although
they are so manufactured as to devotion
an the resisting power Of the wheat The
dough Is mixed with pure water only and
is absolutely devoid Of the Shortening"
which the ordinary cracker has Salt is not
mixed with the mass, another fact which
makes the food pail upon ones palate after
a time. But 1t Is of good materials and
clean, is well packed and presents few IL
any. OF the objections which the traditional
bareback is popularity supposed to offer.
The dough is made stiff enough to devel-
op all the gluten of the wheat, is rolled
out into thin sheets and cut into the re-
CURED size and form. Then it is baked un-
til 1t Is thoroughly cooked and well brown
ed. II it is used while fresh it crackles
readily under the teeth. After 1t has been
packed for time the gluten renders it
tough and Its friabfity Is much reduced.
Then the man who must eat IT has some of
the troubles of which he has heard for
thlrty years or more. But, all told, the
now lives on good wholesome food al
though the lack of salt may make it in a
measure unpalatable for steady diet