Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-22
FEEDING THE ARMY
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE sUBSIsT.
ENCE DEPARTMENT.
Supplying Fresh Beef to the Troops
on the Firing Line-COOks and
Bakers commended.

The report Of Acting Commissary General
John F. Weston, made public by the War
Department today, covers the operations OF
the subsistence department up to June 80
Of the present year. 1t shows that the task
Of feeding the United States army OF
100000 men has been reduced to a system,
and is now proceeding satisfactorily
throughout the worldwide area over which
the American troops scattered Most
attention is directed to the difficulties which
have been satisfactorily surmounted in sup
plying the troops in the Philippines with
fresh beef. This has been accomplished by
drawing on Australia for frozen beef and
! mutton, which Is reported to be of the best
quality, and keeps sufficiently well to be
furnished to practically all of the posts in
the Islands of Luzon, Cebu, lloilo and Jolo.
Since the completion of the present report
a great cold storage plant has been con-
structed at Manila, and arrangements have
been made for shipping the fresh meat, still
frozen, in cars constructed by the quarter
masters department, all along the line of
the acknowledgement railway, and to the
islands south of Luzon.
Praised by Foreigner.
The impression made upon foreign officers
by the efficient system of fresh meat pres
ervation and distribution is indicated by the
following statement of Lieut.. WHALE of the
Italian army, who went to Manila with
United States troops. He says in an article
which appeared in the Royal United Service
Institution Journal of last July:
What pleased me probably more than
anything else was the sight of serving hot
roast beef to the soldiers on the firing line
out in the Philippine Islands, miles and
miles away from the military depots. The
commssary department of your war office
has been criticised very harshly, but when
| you consider what it means to feed soldiers
| on the firing line with hot roast beef you
| will agree with me that it is feat which
| few armies can boast of. All the time L
| have spent in the Philippine Islands l have
| lived and messed with the officers, have
| watched closely how the troops Jared and
| l must say that the commissary department
| did splendid work.
Revising the Army Ration.
| The revision Of the regular army ration
| is a subject which has been seriously con-
| sidered during the past two years, and
special board, consisting of Lieut.. Col.
Dempsey, LIST Infantry; Capt. Fountain, sth
Cavalry, and Capt. Foster, 9Th Cavalry,
convened last December to make, if pos
sible, a final disposition of that subject. The
board decided against a reduction of the
meat ration in the tropical service, and de-
| cided upon small additions to the coffee and
| sugar ration, an addition of some dried
| fruits, and the substitution of cucumber
pickles in lieu of one-half the present vim
| egar ration. The final action on this sub
| ject has not yet been taken by the depart
| ment. That Is also true of the emergency
| ration, which is still being experimental
| with, in hopes of finding some extremely
| light and compact form of subsistence
| which will be available for troops for pc
| RODS not exceeding ten days, when they
! may be cut off from transportation facil-
| ties and It IS !mpracticable to supply them
| with the standard ration.
The question of canned roast beef, which
nllch discussion ipripp he
| ish war. has been satisfactorily settled, it
| is thought, by the preparation of COM
! bined beef and vegetable stew, which is
both wholesome and palatable, and will
| take the place of fresh beef or mutton
when the latter are not obtainable Some
small quantities of this have already been
| purchased. and have been used with con-
| siderable satisfaction.
| Bakers and Cooks.
A recommendation of considerable I'M
portance is the enlistment with some extra
compensation of competent men as bakers
and the institution of field bakery col
umn, modelled upon those now authorized
| in all foreign armies.
| Recommendation is also made for reg
| ular training school for army cooks, to be
| established at one of the large military
posts in this country. Provision has also
| been made in the estimates for the coming
| year to furnish the army in the tropics
with ice at the rate of 100 pounds at 30
! cents per hundred, per day for each COM
pany, troops or battery in our insular pos
sessions, wherever it is possible for the ice
to be obtained This ice is required to
cool drinking water, which must be boiled
for sanitary reasons.
More Officers.
The repot calls attention to the paucity
in number of officers in the subsistence de-
partment, considering the immense amount
of work entailed by present conditions and
recommends an increase in force of sixty
two officers, against the twenty-five now
on the regular roster, it being contem-
plated to dispense with the services of the
volunteer officers now in the department.
Losses of Subsistence Stores.
Considerable losses of subsistence stores
occurred during the calendar year 1899 in
shipments made from San Francisco to
Manila. Upon urgent presentation of the
facts to the appropriate authorities the
proper remedies were applied and causes
of complaints of this character thereafter
ceased to a marked degree.
The subsistence stores and property re-
ported as damaged and lost from natural
and other causes on vessels of the entire
transport service during the fiscal year
1900 amounted in value to S1S4 800 OF. There
has been collected from persons responsible
for the preventable losses and from the
sales of damaged stores the sum of $22,-
| 23O.5O.
In addition to the above, a great loss of
subsistence stores occurred by marine dis
aster to the steamer Morgan City, which
sailed from San Francisco August 10. 1899.
for Nagasaki. Japan. The vessel struck on
a rock in the Inland sea on September 8,
1899, and it and the cargo became a total
loss. The subsistence stores aboard
amounted to sos tons in weight Upon
Geographic information of the loss these
stores were ordered to be duplicated from
New York and San Francisco on September
1894