New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-20

pounds canned tomatoes. = pounds roasted COT.
fee. H. pounds sugar. or. IL it can be purchased
by the commlssary officer. 900 pints Of liquid
coffee
But the rations Of men on a march," said an
officer connected with the Commssary Depart
ment 'or what is known as field rations. cannot
be designated exactly. Hard bread. bacon. cof
fee. sugar and salt are supposed to be in the
possession Of all the men. but | have known
many days when we had nothing with bad
water to live on. The bread. bacon and coffee
arc sometimes reduced 10 bread or bacon and.
on the whole, the supply depends on the prox-
unity Of the men to the base Of supply"
For bodies Of troops going away from the
Army proper to bc gone six or eight days. who
must depend for supplies on the country to
which they going. there are what is known
rs emergency rations. These are put UP in
compact form. in order To make them easy -
carry. In the German Army the emergency
ration which was used in tho Franco German
was in the shape 81 a sausage and con-
sisted Of hashed beef. peas and bread. all tight
ly pressed into a parchment casing. AMI known
in the army as "Erbswurst." This casing was
removed and the contents thrown into boiling
water. where it broke into fine particles ard
the amount Of water used. y similar article
was experimental with in this country. but was
found to he unsatisfactory bccaus" the climatic
changes had bad effect on thr mass. The
emergency ration for loo mon is at present 81
pounds OF bacon packed in paraline paper. 100
pounds hard bread in stout little bags - pounds
peameal in heavy paper. and IL pounds II '1f-
fee. also packed to occupy ;he least possible
space. Four pounds Of salt. I ounces " pepper.
Ii pennyweights II saccharre compound and )
pounds Of tobacco are also contained in the
emergency kit.
FOR SOLDIERS IN THE FIELD
Major Wells Willard. ct the United states
Commissary Department. said that tn" rations
Of soldiers in the field must vary in keeping with
the surroundings and the positions in relation
to the base Of supplies occupied 10y M m n,
but that the rations provided for by the r"gN-
la,ions could he looked upon the soldiers
regular bill ~ fare.
The transportation of supplies is one ~
the most important features in the problem "
how to feed the Army. and this rests with n,
Quartcrmaster's Department. The Department
is charged according to the regulations with he
duty Of providing means Of transportation u
every character either under contract " IN
Of troops and material OF war.
The railroads Of the United States the steam
ship and even the stage lines are all known
in the Quartermasters Department. md no
change in road rolling stock timetable or rate
for transportation takes place in any II these
corporations which is not carefully noted 80
that the Department may De fully posted IN
case of need No railroad corporation 'ieeps
records pertaining to the transportation iaoili-
ties of the various roads more closely than the
Quartermaster's Department. and the men who
are at its head drive close bargains for low
rates
As an example Of the expeditions methods Of
nr Department. an officer said:
"A shpoad OF general merchandise arrived
consigned to Major Amos = Kimba and AZ
it had on board a number Of reindeer for the
Klondike region the Major wanted ;he unload
ing, reloading and further transportation to be
accomplished as quickly as possible. y con-
tract had been made for the general freight as
soon as the ship was sighted. We're backed
no TO the wharf where they had To wait nearly
TWO hours until the animal inspectors had made
their examination. Then the unloading began.
and at q D. m the next day the whole cargo.
including III reindeer and thirteen box cars
full Of merchandise. started for Seattle where
they arrived in good condition just six lays
later That was a case IF hurry in the time OF
peace. and shows what the Department can DC
when it is pushed"