Omaha daily bee., 1911-12-24

ptSidiig inuSe III luC west, mas lLS peculiar !
supplies, In the main, however, the |
Christmas dinner will be made up from |
the same markets as yours or mine, and |
the government has written its menu to |
suit Here Is Christmas dinner sug-
gested by the commissary general. 1t
comes from a manual which has been
recently prepared for the cooks OF the
army;
Oyster Soup and Crackers.
Roast Turkey and Dressing, Cranberry
Sauce.
Cold Boiled Ham.
Mashed Potatoes. Candied Sweet Potatoes,
Brown Gravy.
Bread and Butter.
Shrimp Salad. Celery. olives.
Loaf Cake.
Chocolate Layer Cake. Fruit Cake
Jelly Roll
Mince Pie. Lemon Meringue Pie.
Cheese and Crackers.
Mixed Nuts. Assorted Candies.
Apples. Oranges. Bananas.
Grapes.
Chocolate. Coffee.
Cigars.
How do you like it? 1t is fit for a king,
and it seems a costly feast for Uncle Sam
TO supply to $1,000 Of his children. Upon
investigation, however, l find that a dim
ner like this can be served for less tAlan
20 cents That Is the price the commits
sary general allows for the soldiers on
transports, where the meals cost more
than on land
Twenty-Threc Cents a Day.
Indeed, the cost Of feeding the army is
one of the most important things con-
nected with the commissary. The gov
ernment has to know just what it is
spending and at present the army ra-
tions cost only little more than 100000
a year This sum supplies the food for
all tq0ldferg al nd nOe 80 ap faaa
lated that the cooks have TO market and
serve otts-the rations at so much meal.
The average price now paid is less than
cents 1t Is 22i5 cents per ration and
a ration means three meals Last year
the soldiers in the Philippines averaged
less than nickel meal, and the yearly
cost of subsistence per man per day, the
whole. army through, was less than 81
cents. ~ g..
Thesh are the figures for these days of
high prices, and they lead one 10 think
that the food must be skinny and poor.
1t is mot, 1t is the best that can be
bought In the markets, and the variety
is greater than that of the average family
the United States over. 1 have before me
the bills OF fare for one month az sug-
gested by the commissary to the army
cooks. They consist of thirty-one typical
breakfasts, thirty-one dinners and thirty
one suppers, no two of which are the
same.
Good Meals Mt Seven Cents Per.
would like to give you housekeepers
who are trying 10 make the ends meet
some specimens of these rations. l ven
ture that any one of you would consider
the average menu good enough for your
family. They are practically the same as
those supplied to the soldiers at the
Washington barracks, the meals for
whicht are prepared by the students OF
Uncle Sans School for Army Bakers and
Cooks. This school describe farther on
in this letter. In it each student has
from time to time to plan out, prepare
and be responsible for one days ratlons
for the sixty men at the barracks. He
has to keep the cost of each item of food
and on the average the days ratlons
must not run over 22i5 cents per man
This means a little more than cents
per meal, which is close to the average
cost that Uncle Sam pays the whole army
through.
The bills of fare l choose are those OF
one day last week, as selected and pre-
pared by one of the student cooks. The
penmanship is crude and the man is
probably uneducated.
His breakfast consisted of pork chops
fried potatoes, hot griddle cakes ano
sirup, bread and butter, peaches and
cream and coffee. \ very good meal FOL
cents. Is II not? The dinner comprised
vegetable soup, roast pork ana gravy
tomatoes with salad dressing, appl,
sauce, chocolate layer cake. coffee ant
bread. Not at all bad Cor cents. Tn,
supper included beef loaf with gravy
baked beans, German fried potatoes
sliced cheese. plain cake and doughnut
and coffee and breed. Another goo,
7-cenS meal 1 would say, however
that the student has a right to spend
little more for breakfast. provided h
cuts down on the supper or tho dinner
Or he can add TO, the dinner and suppe
as he pleases; the only requirement i
that the days three meals do not cos
more than 2l25 cents per man. Sue
meals are served by every student COO
and student baker. He has to keep al
inside the allowance OF p cents for thrc
meals.
Cooking schools for the Army.
And this brings me to Uncle SANS ne'
schools tor army cooks and bakers. Thes
have been established in the last two Q
three years, and they have already grad
uated about fifteen hundred cooks an
over seven hundred bakers. The oil
cooks are being brought in and given ir
structon and new men are appointo
fIom the various divisions 10 come
these schools to learn cooking SO ths
within short time tne army Will hay
several thousand graduated cooks an
bakers. This education IS being done
three schools. each OF which has pee
built and equipped for the purpose or
OF thess is at the Preside near Sa
Francisco; another at Fort Riley, Kan
and a third here at Washington. tt
cooks for the armies OF the west, that
Fort Riley for those troops which are 4
Gated In the central part OF the Unite
StaJes. and that here for the soldiers