Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-23

companies lived much better than they do
now. The reason of this was because a
very large profit was derived from the sale
NJ this beer. the profit each month being
iivided up among the different companies
All money received from the exchange goes
into the company fund. so that when the
sale OF beer was prohibited 1t proved a d.
rect loss to the men. IL cut down their
money allowances for food.
Now when the soldier wants to buy
glass of beer, instead of gong to the post
exchange to get it, he goes of the
Tour or five saloons that stand Just across
the border from every military post in the
country. The result Is that the man run
ming the saloon. and not the post exchange,
gets the profit from the sale of the beer.
This profit amounts to about ~ per cent
on all money expended. with the result
that IS per cent of his money goes where
the soldier never sees it again. while in
days when beer was sold at the post ex-
change this % per cent on every dollar
spent for beer came back to the soldier In
the form of the food upon his table. 1t
now goes into the pockets of those men
VINO keep the low dens that entice the
soldier to leave the borders of the post
and enjoy his beer.
Company Kitchen.
If you We're to step into the kitchen OF
any of Uncle Sans barracks You would
see a wide, long room, so clean and or
derby that you might mistake it for any
would see two huge army cook ranges.
with cook and two assistants, in white
aprons and hats, leaning over them, stir
ring great pots of boiling potatoes and
apples They will swing the oven doors
open for you and let you the great
pans of roasting beef or mutton On a
small, white table man is cutting into
many slices great loaves of sweet white
bread.
The company quartermaster sergeant Is
the non-commissioned officer in charge of
the rations and the kitchen and the din
Ing room. found him in the kitchen and
told him l wanted to see his pantres and
the root cellar. Getting a lantern. he led
the way down the steps into dark cell
lar. Here stood barrels of sauerkraut
and bins of potatoes and onions and other
roots. After inspecting the cellar we
came upstairs again. and the sergeant
showed me his huge ice box. which con-
tanned cold meat. hash, pickles and many
other things. Then we went over to the
pantries. These pantries the size of
an ordinary room and contain everything
that one can imagine.
When the 18th Infantry was in China In
1900 these pantries were the wonder and
admiration Of the British officers, who
used to buy supplies for their own mess
from our soldiers. During the days when
beer was sold in the canteen these pam
tries contained fruit, all sorts of canned
goods, such as oysters, Holsters, chicken,
peas and corn, glass jars of olives, tea,
cans of sardines and prints of butter.
Nowadays the pantries do not contain
half many good things in the old
days, but they still hold more than the
pantrieS of any other army in the world.
In the English army the sergeants have
a mess of their own, but in our army they
eat with the privates, and all fare alike.
The tables from which the men eat are
of the cleanest and whitest. and after
each meal is over the dishes are placed in
the wash room. beside the kitchen, and
carefully washed and wiped. Then they
are put away, and once each day are in
spected by an officer If Il Speck is discoy-
cred upon a glass or bit of grease found
on dish 1t means sharp reprinand for
the men in the kitchen.
General Weston's Joke.
The feeding of army is of the greatest
Importance, because the soldier who is fed
well will be able to stand the hardships of
the long marches and go into action fresh
and eager. In this way wars are won.
There is story told of General John F.
Weston, who Is commssary general of the
army that is quite to the point when 1t
comes to a matter of feeding armies. The
German minister in Washington one day
called on General Weston and asked him to
explain how the government managed to
feed its soldiers well.
81 could tell you" said General Weston.
but we would have to go into great
many details and II would take too much
time Besides il wouldn't do you any good