The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-06
LADYsMITHs BILL OF FARE.
What the Besieged We're Reduced to
just Before the Relief.

/ Colonel Ward issues every day .9l7
I raticns, which are distributed thus Euro
+ peans, 1898; Kaffirs. 2,i40, Indians. PA.
On February 3 the rations for officers and
I men were: Preserved meat. one half pound.
OF fresh meat. horse or mule. one pound
| biscuits or bread. one-half pound or bread.
one-quartef pound and four ounces of
meaie meal. an occasional horse sausage,
one pint Of chevril. or horse soup, one
sixth of an ounce Of coffee or tea one
ounce of sugar. one siXty-fOUTth OF an
! ounce Of pepper. one-twentieth OF an ounce
! Of mustard, and tenth Of a gill Of
vinegar. Kaffirs receive one pound OF fresh
meat. three-Quarters of a pound Of mealie
meal. and one-half ounce Of salt To In
dams are given four ounces Of alta. eight
ounces Of rice. nine ounces of mealie meal,
onehalf ounce of salt one and oue-quarter
ounces Of goor, and one-quarter ounce OF
amchur
On paper the bill Of fare for Europeans
looks generous. il not choice but on the
table, Now and then the horse or mule is
tender. or can be made into a watery
soup; the sausage and chevril few people
will venture to eat a second time; the
bread is Of mealie meal held together With
starch, and has the appearance and con-
sistency OF baked sawdust This bread
was finally condemned by the doctors as
some men had been carried to hospital
wrthing in the agonies Of collie. Milk and
eggs are for invalids, and stringent regu-
latiOns are in force to ensure their proper
distribution. Many people are constrained
to live on biscuits. OF which two and one
half are issued daily Ia lieu of bread.
mealies. or Indian corn. which make eX-
cellent pOrridge. Fruit was exhausted be-
fore it had time to ripen, and as neither
vegetables nor jam is to be had, small
doses of vinegar are swallowed to correct
any tendency to scuryy
Several ingenious Injuries have been in
vented out Of most uupromising material.
Violet powder. for example. makes ad-
mirable blanc Notwithstanding the
favor-and is in high favor among men
who would be the first to denounce its
deleterious qualities as a cosmetic. Starch,
Of which large quantities are used for the
sick has also attained a certain degree OF
popularity as an article Of food even
though colored with indigo.
On Wednesday the 21st Sir George
White increased the ration Of bread or
biscuit to one pound. This addition re-
vived our energies and our hopes. We &C
cepted il as a proof that our deliverance
was at hand. for the general is not the
man to throw away any chance Of avoiding
a surrender that would be nothing short
Of an imperial disaster. He felt justified
in making this inroad on the stock Of food
by the message he had received from Sir
Redyers Butler. viii be in Ladysmith
tomorrow" 1t is now the 27th-the an
niversary Of Majuba-and relief seems as
far of it was three months ago. The
ration Of bread or biscuit-the bread has
been discontinued as unfit for food-has
been reduced TO half pound.
Tho pgevg bagar, nv ss4r inv ,ff mr. -,rs 4a-
supply from the storage reservoir and
compelled us to draw from the river al
point where il was impossible to avoid all
danger Of contamination. The muddy wa
ter. never very wholesome. was quickly
tainted with the fetid dust and foulness Of
thousands Of horses. mules. oxen and
men. Even the floods brought down by
heavy rains gave but temporary relief.
From November Il to December 10 a daily
supply Of 5000 gallons of river water was
filtered after having been cleared with
alum.
on December II the alum was cy-
hausted, and. owing to the muddy state
Of the river. only $500 gallons could Doe
filtered in one day. This was supple
meuted with 800 gallons OF condensed
water from machinery constructed by the
railway authorities under the direction OF
Engineer Sheen. of the Naval Brigade A
second condenser was ready on December
"a. when the supply was increased to
$500 from filters and $500 from the con-
deusers. On the first day of the new wear
a third condenser was at work. and the
output from this source was raised TO g. 200
gallons. making the full supply of pure
water Q 500 gallons a day. The coudensers
were made out Of corrugated iron maalia
tanks. iron piping which had 10 be bent
by hand and boilers from a fitting shop
an armOred trdiu-for which al last a safe
and beneficial use had been found and a
locomotive. This filtered and condensed
water was issued at the rate of three
quarters of a gallon q day a man while
each hospital in town received an addi-
tiOnal 500 gallons daily. Lieut. II b.
Abadie. OF the Eleventh Hussars. was
placed in charge of this important public /
works department to which he devoted /
great skill and energy.