Arizona republican., 1901-09-27
FOR A BARBECUE.
The Requisites for Feeding Fifteen
 Thousand Persons.

 ! When man undertakes to feed 15,ooO to 20.000 persons at one neal it will be generally admitted that he has a con tract on his hands. One man is going to undertake that in Kansas City this week. His name is Atkinson-A Att kinson of the police department. He has done the same thing before. though not on, so large a scale; he is an expert barbecuer. and he knows his business from the ground up. On him will rest the burden Of feeding those who atteni the Missouri day celebration at Fair mount park next Saturday. Captain Atkinson learned to cook In the confederate army. He was in the Thirteenth North Carolina regiment in the early part of the war. and later He was a captain in the First regiment Of the same state. He was also for time in the confederate navy. and he fought in the battle of Hampton Roads. the first real naval enga cement of the war. The confederate was often brought to the necessity of cooking in untoward ways; his con-nissary was. as often as not. minus quantity, and when it failed to furnish provisions, there was nothing to do but acquire them in the fashion of the times. That would be called lifting" now: then 1. was foraging. And the cooking of q WTC4c SDetp NaS dl art lnal. II a soldier didn't know. he either learned starved.
 Hence, in the course of his services beneath the stars and bars, Captain Atkinson acquired some valuable iI:- formation. H. became expert at cook ing large lots of meats and other eat ables in the most primitive style. He has put that knowledge to good use since then; he has ofIiciated at many . l.s old T f,1 and he is naturally the one to whom the Jubilee association turned when it { talked of a barbecue the central fea- ture of its celebration next Saturday.
 Captain Atkinson has already begun preparations for his part in that event. He has selected his head cook. a husky negro. who has had much experience at this sort of thing. This cook will he the supervisor of a staff of twenty men, who will serve from Friday morning till Saturday afternoon without rest or ,n- termissicn. Ii is no small job to get up a barbecue; ii may seem easy to the man who goes out and sats, but he only 2 enjoys what others have done, hours before. for the comfort of his inner man. The captain TOW has this negro looking for camp ovens: If he can, he wants 10 get all the Third regiment has. He will. if he obtains these ovens, cook his pork in them.
 Pork is so much better baked than roasted over an open ire,'' said tIe captain yesterday. that I hope to cook all of ours that way. But if I can't get the ovens I will barbecue the pork with all the rest of it.
 The actual work on the barbecue. be- yond the securing of the meats. which began yesterday, will start at the park Tuesday. Then the force will begin If re-fx- ..a will be fifty feet in length: two and one-half feet deep and three feet wide. The force will also prepare from nick ory-if iron ones cannot be had-scores of spits or spears. These are to be run through the meat and from them it will swing while cooking.
 Il These preparations. with the gather . irg of the wood. will take till Thursday evening. At that time the forces will be put to work on barbecue bread. This article is made of corn meal. How . much will be prepared will depend upon the securing of the ovens. It is simply |. corn meal mixed with warm water. II is left, after mixing. to heat. As .s heats it fernents and makes it's own yeast. and thus Iises. When it begins to bubble nicely it is ready for the bal,- ing. It will be left all night Thursday. and as soon as ready the baking will
  it is not contemplated to supply all who . so to the affair with this bread. It would not be relished by every one. l, is a peculiar article; it's name, "sweer- and sour bread" indicates it's quality.
 Early F.,iday morning the fires will be made and lighted. For a barbecue hard wood is required. Hickory and pin oak make the best. Soft wood will not do it; it will not make coals. The lr.l lx- will he blaci1ened and scorched by the flames. It is figured that from eight to ten cords of wood will be needed While the fires are burning down to She proper conditions the cooks will be making the meats ready
 It is Captain Atkinsons plan to serve at this barbecue beef, mutton and pork. Of the beef he will use only light hind quarters. The figment of imagination which sees an OK cooked whole at q barbecue is faded nowadays He will ask for 100 light hind quarters, which will weigh about sixty pounds apiece. or coco pounds all told. He will also cook 100 mutton, or about 7,500 pounds, as they will weigh something like sev- enty-five or eighty pounds apiece. He wants forty to fifty pigs, weIghins $ about 5000 pounds. Through eacn hind quarter will be run two of the ebitS UT SPSSiAS- LhiOu5H cdth iidAl O1 sheep two will run, and the pigs will be treated the same way.
 After the sides or quarters of meat have been spitted they will be laid a, ross thc open trench, with the ends of the spits on the ground. Meanwhile the fire will have burned down to live coals, and will be ready for the cool.- ing. which. it is estimated. will begin on Friday noon.
 While the meat is preparing others Of the cooks will be making the basting This, Of which twenty gallons will be used, will be mixed in barrels. It has for body butter and real leaf lard, in the proportions of two of the former to nr he Inf is,S ,,.itt ],