The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-07-11
THE HISTORIC KsRDTACK.
Can he Broken Without the Aid OF
iiluc K smith.

once more the historic bareback be-
comes an army staple. For more than
thirty years Uncle Sans soldiers have
been eating the soft bread of peace Now
they are making the acquaintance Of the
har3tack of war
The volunteer regiments that have gone
to Chickamauga or Tampa were the first
TO know what ii is TO make a meal of
hardtack alone. for in many instances this
ration was the only one the commissary
department could furnish them on short
notice. The men OF the Seventy-first New
York regiment were glad TO get even hard
tack recently. for while stii in sight Of
their homes they were cooped up on "A
transport without any provisions for near
ly twenty-four hours.
The bareback OF today is a far different
article from that which was supplied to
the boys Of 1861. Instead of being a great
round disc half an inch thick and almost
as impenetrable a armor plate. it is fur
nished In thin squares the size of an or
binary cracker. II Is somewhat thicker
and not so brittle as the soda cracker. be-
ing palatabie and easily eaten
The bareback Of the civil war was made
from inferior flour mixed. with little skill
and so thick that it required stout teeth to
bite it, The old campaigners used To say
they could use a bareback as a plate on
which 10 cut their meat, and that when
they wanted to break IL they took 1t to
the company blacksmith. What they real
~ did was 10 soak IT In coffee. and many
an old soldier will tell you that In this
way he has made many welcome meal.
Hardtack is intended only fer field use
when the army il making long marches
and is in camp for too short u time to en-
able the army cooks to mix and bake
bread. It is convenient to carry A hard
tackled soldier fights well. But the chief
virtue of the bareback IL that II IS affect
ed by neither time nor temperature It
farO faxs u t.
always ready for use.
Atlanta Is the great harqtack center Just
as IL was in the days of the civil war
There are several big bareback factories
In that city. Not long ago. when IL was
expected that the invasion OF Cuba would
begin within day or two. rush order
was distributed among these factories, and
inside Of forty-eight hours they turned out
over l@.aa pounds OF bareback. This
seems lot, hut II would not last the
troops assembled at Tampa recently more
than two days.
Uncle Sam would need army Of bakers
We'll an army of soldiers. But ma
chinery has made ii possible for a small
squad OF bakers ~ turn out enough hard
tack - supply m army corps,
Flour lard. salt. soda and water are the
ingredients OF the bareback The process
Of mixing the -four and baking the hard
tack IS very interesting The first thing
done Is Ia pour six barrels Of -four into
a huge mixer. several pounds of lard,
with the salt and soda Is then pat In and
the big machine begins To- Yevoive and in
a few moments the -four is made into
dough II is taken from the mixer and
slightly kneaa@a by hand; then il is put
into brake which kneads the tough
dough out nat
The dough after being kneadsd TO the
right consistency. is put into tho machine
which rattea- II out and cuts II into the
size 81 the crackers. ard also makes the
perforattonz iu the crackers. This ma
chine rolls the fiatteuef dough cat as fast
"a two men can move il away on huge
pIatters and shove II into the baking
ovens
The ovens are twelve in number and are
hung upou "A large revolving wheel. like
she Ferris wheel. The dcgga ls placed
upon tae shelves ~ the oven and by the
tlr1e i; makes oue revolution the dough -
cookea into u lard. crisp cracker. TIE
crackers ars then caught up BY belt and
carried ups airs 20 -he parking room.
where Trey sre neatly paked irto the big
boxes ard seat away 20 the soldiers
In the permanent camps little or no hard
tack Will ~ uSesi. but saon as the boys
"a brown are landed on Cuhan sotl they
will 5exlu to consume bareback BY the
ton. Most 81 y wili he made ia Atlanta.
Aut at least one btg contract. slatz*s
pounds has been let TT ~. Loa.S. TIE
pa er IT, that city has already begun 10
turn out bareback II is 81 the regulation
s4ye ana thickness bat on ou= side bears
ia large letters me familiar battle cry.
.-fserT1emb@~ the Maine" Samples 81 ta~se
zouga crackers wtll BE eagerly sought fer
- souvenirs