The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-22
Our Kms''ean 3o1a'er
and Hjs food.
o0o~~o~~o~o~o @
BY J. E. J Q n k s.

no longer depend upon the uncertain
ties of the forage, us did so often his
predecessor of the Civil War, and he
will be so much better fed tran his fell
low of the foreign armies that he can
appreciate why the officers of the Eu-
ropean commands OF the allied forces
in China on that memorable march 10
Pekin were anxious to buy the Amer
ican army ration of our subsistence
officers and satisfy the cravings of
soldierly hunger.
The militiaman. along with the re:u.
lar, will go into the field when the call
for action comes unhampered by any
burden of food. save that bountiful
repast of indigestiblcs with which he
is certain to be laden when he leaves
home. lie may. IL lie choose. save from
his camp meals or from the contribu-
tiors of sympathetic citizens such food
rs he wishes to carry OH his person,
but on the ordinary march and in camp
his haversack, the successor OF the
cumbersome knapsack. need contain TO
food. for his ration on the road will
be transported by one OF the numerous
means of transportation. Difficulties
Of travel, however. such as We're en-
countered by our soldiers in Cuba,
should he taken into account.
The soldier OF the Civil War usually
had hard time of it. He was fire.
quently forced to carry his own food,
and was lucky when he did not find
himself on ten-day march with only
Il four-day supply. In those days and
ever since the trooper found fat bacon
and the succulent baked bean his staple
articles when there was the opportun-
ity Of cooking them. If any article of
food is Il national chara cteristic of our
army it is the bean. which is so popu-
lar that no military meal in the field
or in camp is considered wholly COM
plete without it. The soldier of to-day
need not regard his gastronomic situa-
tlon as perilous. He will not find his
officers offering $40 for a pitiful
cracker, as was sometimes the case in
the South in the sixties, and he will
not he so hard pressed fr food as to
be grateful for young alligator tails, as
were our soldiers in Florida during the
war with the Seminole Indians. An.
other food on that occasion was a
species Of cabbage which grew ut the
top OF the palmetto-trcc. This pre-
served the men from starvation. which
Is not likely to confront the soldier who
goes into action nowadays, for lie will
find the railroad or the wagon train
penetrating into the businesses close
upon his heels.
The service on the Western plains
has been made comparatively COM
Portable, now that the troops do not
have TO depend upon the bull teams,
capable of making no more than ten
miles q day. Time was when the men
sailed forth with the prospect of go
ing without, oftener than getting, their
dinners, and they were happy with n
piece of fat bacon, Il hard biscuit, and
a tin dish of blackest coffee. They had
on those occasions -four fresh from the
bag, and We're glad OF the resultant
"hapjack" when they could find
enough wood or other fuel on the arid
prairie to make Il fire. If their bacon
gave out, as it sometimes did in the
Southern swamps, they ate cooked
horse, and it is on record that General
Harncy's trusty animal served that
beneticent office.
The soldier of to-day goes forth with
the assurance that he will get his
three meals day served for him. and
that he will not be obliged to carry his
food except upon the rare occasions
of emergency. wien he may be re-
, quired to take not more than five days
rations. at such times he would find
awaiting him an emergency ration"
consisting OF sixteen ounces of hard
bread, ten ounces OF bacon, four
ounces Of pea-meal, two ounces of
coffee, roasted and ground, with four
grains of saccharn Tor one-half ounce
Of ten with four grains of saccharin),
n little salt and pepper, and n half
ounce of tobacco. or Il little more than
thlrty-three ounces in all. In the ra-
tion package he would find the COM
ponents separately wrapped, the bacon
In tough parafiin paper,.the hard bread
in grease-proof coverings, and the pea
meal in cylindrical packages. and the
othe- articles in small waterproof pack
cts.
When the militiaman joins the regu-
lar in garrison he may find himself In
the company mess, which Is the most
popular OF the forms of army sub
sisteIce under peaceful conditions. or
he may live In the consolidated mess. |
where all the troops of the biggest
garrison eat IL the common mess-hall, /
where the liquids are measured by gal |
Ions and the solids by bushels. The
ration in garrison Is bountiful and
varied; in the company mess In time
Of peace the regular or his friend from
the militia will sit down TO n meal as /
hearty and wholesome rs he would !
dId ut home. He breakfasts at $50 a. |
m,, dimes Mt noon, and has his supper ut |
0 or . O'clock. While On the march |
only wo meals are prepared-an early !
breakfast and an early dinner two o..
three hours before sunset In the gar
rison. as in the field, The ration has
been scientifically devised. It takes |
into account the climatic situation With |
such variation in the bill of affair as
would give him the proper kind OF food |
at the tropical station as well as ut a |
sta ton In Alaska. for the ration Is OF |
such an elastic composition as TO offer |
T.. Ion. l.