Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-28
IN THE BAMNG SCHOOL

each company. Since each chest holds
pair of nine-gallon kettles and since there
will be pair of chests, each company
will thus carry along with it seve nty-two
gallons of food. remaining hot from >
I'm. until pm. or over any other equal
stretch of time.
Got Idea From Scandinavian Peas
ants.
This invention was suggested by the
Scandinavian "hay~box'' used by the peas
ants of Sweden and Norway to keep food
hot in the harvest fields or while travel
ing long distances over the country.
These people simply put their kettles in a
box. packing them around with hay. which
insulation retains the heat from one meal
time to the next The Swedish and Nor
wegian armies have improved on the
idea. but no other, except ours. has taken
the matter up. and ours brings the scheme
nearest perfection. Gen. Sharpe Showed
me one of the devices now used by the
I Norwegian army. 1t is a five-gallon ket-
tie inside a larger kettle, with clamped lid
and insulated lining. 1t is not only much
smaller than our new device. but retains
the heat only twelve hours The Russians
serve their marching soldiers soups and
stews. kept hot in soup carts'-boilers
with fire under them. the whole mounted
on wheels. But this sort Of prOVender
would not satisfy the prodigal appetitcs
of our soldiers, who Spurn soups and
stews and cry necessarily for beef-roasts
or steaks. The Yankee soldier is quite as
deserving of the title beef eater" as his
cousin, Tommy Atkins.
The fireless cooker will not only save
time. space and fuel, but will greatly add
to he favor of the food of the fighting
man. BY the present method of cooking
in open vessels the aroma escapes, but by
the fireless method the vessels must be
kept closed. and thus the aroma of the
meat and vegetables is retained and both
made much more pa!atable. The new
cookers will possess considerable strategic
value in time of war, when an army
hating at night on a march can, if nee
essary, be served a hot meal without
their campfires revealing their position
Kitchen Cars to Be Built.
A Kitchen car" is another novelty now
being planned by Gen. Sharpe and his as
I'sistants. They are at work upon the plans
and specifications. according to which the
railroads are to be asked to build eight or
ten such cars and rent them to the army
for the accommodation of the trainloads
of troops which are being continually
hauled across the continent, en- route to
or from the Philippines. These long trips
by rail are hardship to the soldier who
the while must subsist on his travel
ration of canned food. which under pres
eut circumstances has to be eaten cold.
The only provision made for his obtain
ing anything hot at this time is small
allowance for coffee. to be bought at the
lunchrooms of stations along the way.
But this he seldom has time to buy. Gen.
Sharpe some time ago purchased FOR these
troop trains a number of coffee ma
chimes invented by an ex-soldier They
consist of a boiler about the size and
shape of a large water cooler and having
a small charcoal stove underneath These
I h., he
ends of sleepers. but the railroads have
recently objected to them on the ground
that they are unsafe. But 81 Kitchen car"
in the center of each troop train, whence
meals could be most conveniently served
to the cars on each end would solve the
problem not only of hot coffee, but of the