Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-24
THE REGIMENTAL BAKERY
How the Soldiers Can Now Be Furnished
With Fresh Bread.
Ovens With Capacity OF Two Hun
dred Loayes-Of Great Value
TO the Men.

LiGIt. Col. o. =. Wood in the Savannah News.
In the old days of the civil war soldiers
in the field seldom saw any fresh bread,
and the staple Of diet was bareback"
Happy was the man who could have plenty
of harItack. and when washed down with
copious draughts of hot coffee, and a slice
of fat pork or bacon, not only was the in
ner man comforted, but the outer man felt
that life was really worth living.
But in these luxurious days. after thirty
years In piping times Of peace. the army
cannot even indulge in war without being
provided with all the creature comforts. In
the history Of the world no army in the
held was ever before supplied with so many
articles Of food. and of such excellent quail
ty as the army of the United States at this
present time.
At the outbreak Of the war with Spain
Brigadier General Charles p. Eagan. the
commissary general of the United States
army realized that large camps of troops
would be established at many points in the
south. and, with a View 10 leaving nothing
undOne which would benefit the troops in
the way of proper food. had constructed by
a manufacturing firm in Vermont large
galvanized iron bake ovens, capable of
turning out Zt0 loaVeS Of fresh bread at
one baking. These ovens were of simple
construction and made especially for use i'll
the field. either under the cover of paulins
or OF rough btstIu SNsjt rs OF nstStllS -DiIll
houses. One Of the first Of these ovens was
sent TO the eth Army Corps at Jacksonville
to be experimental with, and proving sue
cesSful only a short time elapsed before
every regiment in the corps was supplied
with a field bake oven and .ater they Were
sent to the other army corps. both in the
United States and out of il: ten Of these
ovens being shipped from Jacksonville, via
San Francisco TO Manila.
Before this new era Of field bakeries. if
the troops wanted fresh bread. arrange
meuts Wer" occasionally made with city or
town bakeries to exchange -four for fresh
bread, but the gain was always on the side
of the bakeries and the loss on the side of
the troops 1t is well known that 100
pounds of flour. properly handled will pro-
tuCe from 100 To 80 pounds Of fresh bread,
but in the exchanges referred to that regi-
ment was lucky which obtained 100 pounds
of bread for loo pounds of flour. and it was
more often the case that they received but
eighty pounds of bread for loo pounds of
-four
II was the result of this knowledge which
led the Commissary general to institute the
field bakeries and give the soldiers The op
portunity of saving the flour and receiving
the benefit therefrom. Every soldier is en-
titled. as a part of his daily ration, to eigh-
teen ounces Of flour, and 1t Is easy to see
that if one pound of dough will produce
sufficient bread for one day there will be a
saving Of part of the flour. When 1t is con-
sidered that there are loo men in each COM
pany, the aggregate saving of flour for the
entire regiment for period of one month
viii be enormous, amounting to thousands
Of pounds, worth several hundred dollars.
The depot commissary recently paid to one
regiment in cash over SEn. the value of the
saving Of flour for that month.
The allowance Of -four. with the other
parts of the ration. for regiment, is drawn
from the cOmmlssary depot every ten DAYS
and issued 70 the bakery as required. At
the end of the month the saving of the
flour. that is, the difference between the al
lowance and the actual consumption. is
bought back by the subsistence depart
meuI. and paid for in cash to the onicer in
charge Of the bakery. From this is deduct
ed the expenses of the bakery. the pay of
the bakers. the purchase of lard yeast
matches, etc, and the remainder divided
proportionately among the companies of
the regiment, being paid to the company
commanders, who use il in buying extras
for their men This constitutes the COM
pany fund, every cent of which is expended
solely for the benefit of the enlisted men.
A regimental council of administration or
dered by the colonel. examines and audits
the accounts OF the officer in charge of the
bakery, and makes the appOrtionment of
the net profit TO the companies.
The building Of the rough shacks or
houses in each regiment is done entirely by
me troops usually being finished inside Of
tWenty-four hours, the large oven set in
place, the dough trOughs tables and proof
box established and they are ready for
business. The bakers are selected from the
s'-ultES OF the regiment, and thus the bak-
ing Is seH-sustatning- The bakers usually
work in TWO shifts, and can turn out 300
leaves Of bread each day if required.
As a result Of five months experience in
the camps at Jacksonville, every regiment
In the IJh Army Corps mad its bakery in
running order in eight days from the time
the first soldier arrived in Savannah and
Is II consumed six days for all The regi-
mentS 10 be brought here il is easy TO see
II was only the question of hours before
each reglmental bakery was established A
noticeable instance is the case of the 10Th
Iowa Regiment, which set up its bake oven
under paulin and produced some of the
fne=t bread ever seen in this city in fifty
hours after reaching Savannah.