The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-04
FOOD FOR FIGHTERS.
How Uncle Sam Provides for the West
 Point Cadets.

How Uncle Sam Provides for the West
 Point Cadets.
 The cadet mess at West Point, where the appetites of five hundred young men are daily looked after, is per- haps one of the most interesting show places of the post. In hygienis obsery- ance, quality, cooking and serving of the foodstuff Uncle Sam has a mod el kitchen and dining room, which are not surpassed by any in the coun- try. Nutritious, wholesome and ab- solutely pure are all viands, fluids and solids, served.
 The cadet mess is in Grant Hall, a little to the rear of the academic build ing. The cadets march to the mess by companies, after first lining up in front of the barracks. The entire corps is accompanied by the commandant of cadets, who, after seeing them seated, dimes on the same fare in an adjoin- ing room. The time allowed for eating is, for breakfast and supper, twenty five minutes; dinner, thirty-fiVe.
 The spacious mess hall when filled with its rows of straight, athletic fig ures in gray coats with glittering but tons andTsnowy white trousers, enliven ed by the hum of half a thousand voices, presents q most animated scene. Ten cadets are seated at a table, and no time is lost in waiting for preliminaries. A signal bell from the chef sets the head waiter and liis trained assistants in motion, and in d few moments after soup is served every table has it's allotted platters of meat, ready sliced, several vegetble dishes, desert, fruit, etc., in readiness on the cloth.
 The sittings are not permanent, as each man is shifted several times a year, being matched in height. A sil- yer engraved napkin ring, bearing the name and year of graduation, follows
 the cadet in his numerous changes Incidentally, in the intervals of meal hours, especially around graduation time, some inquisitive feminine friends and acquaintances saunter into Grant Hall, to enjoy the privilege of looking for the seat and inspecting the napkin ring of favorite, and perhaps slipping a short message into the same. Captain Thomas Franklin, treasurer of the Military Academy, and consid- cred one of the most efficient commits sary experts in the army, has charge of the cadet mess. He has introduced many labor saving appliances, and has brought the mess up to the highest state of hygienic and economic experts lection. The army commissary experts have by experiments determined the most wholesome kinds of food, the re- lative amounts of waste materials in different sorts, the amount and com position of the waste products and l.their, relation to food and work per- I formed the amount of work possible l one a given ration, and, in short the best and most economical food for maintaining the body machine in per- feet condition and enabling 1t to per- form the necessary amount of physical and mental work.
 Notwithstanding the amount of de- tailed labor spent in examining, pre- pairing and cooking the food of the | highest class, it costs the government only 63 cents a day to serve meals to cadet. His board bill for year foots up to about $220. which is paid out of his government allowance. For the whole corps, averaging about five hun dred yearly, $115,00O is expended.
 Here is a typical sample of the ex- cellent 21-cent meals which Uncle Sam serves out to his cadets: Dinner Noodle soup, lettuce salad, broiled lshad, mashed potoes, baked macaroni band cheese, sliced pineapple, bread and butter. Supper-Welsh rarebit, Sarato- ga chips, drop cake, strawberries, milk coffee, tea and bread. Breakfast Oatmeal porridge, toasted wheat, soft boiled eggs, fried bacon, hot corn bread, cococa, coffee, milk, butter and bread.
 l For the graduation dinner of June + Chef Schemmel prepared special menu, as follows: Soup, cream of peas; radishes, ripe olives, broiled spring chicken, brown mashed pota- toes, green peas, milk, strawberry ice cream and chocolate layer cake.
 The kitchen is equipped with ali the latest culinary devices. The flooring is of whit tile. The ceiling is high and the room well lighted and ventilated Linning the sides are large broilers,