The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1908-12-17


can soldier to-day is better fed than
the man who bears arms under any
other flag on earth,
Veterans of the Civil War will re-
call the doggerel in which the fare
of the boys who wore the blue was
designated. It was:
Beans for breakfast;
Beans for dinner;
Beans for supper;
Beans, beans beans,
Tho men who followed the stars
and bars we're not so fortunate as to
have a regular diet C even beans,
They frequently subsisted for weeks
at time on few pounds Of parched
corn, and they fought well under that
diet, too. But for years now the best
thought of the commissaries of the
army has been devoted to the i'm
proyement of the food conditions,
and Brigadier- General Henry G.
Sharpe, Commissary-Gene Of the
Army, has prepared the following
article for the Illustrated Sunday
Magazine on the food of the Army, in
which he gives some interesting data
concerning the method of feeding
Uncle Sans defenders.
While in garrison the enlisted man
IN the United States Army Is entitled
TO draw each day twenty ounces Of
fresh beef or mutton. or twelve
ounces Of bacon. Should it be found
impracticable to obtain fresh meat he
has in lien thereof sixteen ounces of
canned meat, or canned fish, four
teen ounces Of dried fish or sixteen
ounces of picklod fish. lie may, on
occasion, draw from the commissary
q can of beef and vegetable stew con- !
tanning twenty-oight and one-half !
ounces. He is entitled each day to !
eighteen ounces of -four or its eqUiva- !
lent in bread, or in lien thereof TWEEN |
ty ounces of corn meal.
Of vegetable components ne has |
his choice of beans, peas rice and |
hominy and pound of potatoes, on
ions or canned tomatoes. In addition |
thereto he is supplied each day with |
about an ounce and q half of prunes, !
evaporated apples or peaches. An
ounce and third of roasted coffee or
a third Of an ounce of tea is given TO
each man as well as a little more than
three ounces of sugar and a sufficient
quantity of vinegar, pepper and salt.
This is the ordinary garrison Ta-
ton. when located at army posts
convenient to city markets the mess
may exchange any portion of its ra-
tions for fresh vegetables, fruits or
L Ill til. !
fancy.
The field ration differs in its essen
tial particulars only slightly from
that issued in garrison. Jam takes
the place of dried fruits and with
each portion of -four is supplied bak-
ing powder or yeast.
It has been the aim of the Depart
ment for some time past to improve
the method of feeding the troops in
the field. With this end in view a
school Of cookery has been estab-
lishcd at Fort Riley, Kansas, with
branches at the Preside of California
and at the Washington Barracks, Dis
trict of Columbia. The men at these
schools are instructed in the art of
baking bread of various kinds and in
general plain cookery, the idea being |
to establish a corp of army cooks who |
can take the ordinary rations issued |
to each squad and prepare them in
such manner as to tempt the appetite |
of the enlisted men. The result of |
this training is that the army cooks |
to-day are able to prepare meals out |
of the supplies furnished TO each |
mess which would do credit to an |
ordinary hotel. The receipts used in |
these cooking schools embrace a |
dozen different soups, five or six !
methods Of preparing fish and oys-
tiers, ten or twelve sauces and gra-
vies. besides fifty or more ways of |
serving the various meats and vege-
tables which are furnished as regU-
lar rations, to say nothing of the |
~aumerous methods of making differ
emit kinds of breads, cakes, mullins,
puddings and pies. In short the men
OF the army to-day, when in garrison,
are better served than the men in
civil life in like conditions.
al The army cooking schools will re-
eult in the ultimate establishment Of
a corps of cooks and bakers capable
OF preparing appcti-ing meals at all
times for the troops Of the United
States and will assure to them better
and more varied food than the SOL
diers OF any other country can hope
to have. SHll, we are, up to the
present time. behind the European
armies in the matter Of movable
ovens. At the outbreak Of the Span