The Washington times., 1911-03-17

ChC3S SdIl 3 army DOWN IN the SOuSSl-
west is going to be we'll fed in the ex
listing emergency along the border.
The commlssary department of the
army. OF which Gen. Henry G. Sharpe
is the head, has well-defined plans per-
fected to that end.
When the present mobilization Is over
IT Will probably be found that the feed
ing of the army has been done in bet
ter fashion than ever before when the
troops have been called on to take the
field. To be sure, they haven't actually
taken the field yet, but they are mobii-
lied for any eventuality and nobody
knows what day the orders to cross the
border may be given. Anyhow, the
commissary branch of the service is not
asleep, II the army has to move across
the Rio Grande it won't have to go
hungry.
War is costly business, so is mobili-
cation or anything of that nature
preliminary to the game of war.
But there is no economy in curtailing
the allowance Of food below certain
pofHt, and the commissary plans are
organized on the theory that the men
must have enough to eat to keep them
in the best of health and strength.
Commissary Improved.
Since 1898, when the Spanish war
broke on the American army and found
II in a state of unpreparedness that be-
spoke grave incompetency, there have
been many improvements in the COM
missary. For one thing an admirable
emergency ration has been perfected.
The War Department has arrangements
made whereby 1t can obtain emergency
rations on short notice If necessary.
They would be put up in cans by a
New York manufacturer. The perfected
emergency ration is packed in a tin box,
and the allowance for one day weighs
a half-pound. It consists of chocolate,
sugar, desiccated egg, and a substance
known as nucleo-casein, which is really
the proteid of milk. 1t is rich in food
value. OF course, a half-pound emer-
gency ration is not a nine-courSe dinner
at fashionable hotel. 1t is not even
intended to be the sustenance that troops
shall have for any considerable length
of time. 1t is simply an insurance
against starvation. If a regiment of
cavalry, for instance. sets out On a raid
that will require thirty-siX to forty
eight hours or more, and at the same
time has to travel as lightly equipped
as possible, 1t would be provided with
emergency rations.
These would weigh little and the men
would be able to carry enough to last
them until their return or until means
could be found of getting supplies to
them. The troops could not subsist in
comfort on the emergency ration for
any length of time. but they could
rations without impairing their eff
cheney. One of the best things about
the emergency ration is that 1t will
keep wholesome for weeks and months.
dc f1Il
only when there is actual service to be
done, and hard service at that. The
problem of feeding the army its daily
rations is a much harder one than to
provide the emergency ration. The COM
missary department has big task on
its hands to provide food supplies for
the division CT troops at San Antonio,
the brigade al Galveston, and the other
forces in the border region. Yet it is all
managed with simplicity. Major Harry
E. wilkins. one of the best commissary
officers in the army. is in charge at San
Antonio. He was sent to San Antonio
under orders giving him full authority
to purchase supplies and take the neceS-
sary steps to feed the division of troops
there.
Commissary officers are detailed to
the forces at the other mobilization
points They purchase such supplies as
are needed to provide the men in the
maneuver camps the regular army ra-
tiOn. None but responsible and trusted
men are sent 10 perform SUCH d uuly dS
Major wilkins Is called on to perform.
And by having such a man at San An
tonic, clothed with requisite authority,
prompt obtaining Of supplies is made
possible without going through lot OF
red tape at this end of the line.
OF course, there is thorough system
of accounting back to the War Depart
mcnt for every cent expended.
Field Bakeries.
One of the big improvements in the
commissary system consists in the use
of field bakeries. In recent years the
Commissary department has established
schools for cooks and bakers at Wash
ington Barracks, at Fort Riley, and at
the Presidio, San Francisco. The field
bakery appliances were tested and found
excellent in the camps last summer.
Now they have been sent to Texas,
and for the first time since the civil
war the troops in service are supplied
with bread made through the instru-
mentalities of the Government itself.
The bakeries have been shipped to San
Antonio, Galveston, and San Diego,
with competent men to operate them,
and they are already turning out bread |
for the troops. Back in 1898, il was two |
or three months before the troops in |
the camps got anything but hard tack |
OF course, hard tack is highly valuable |
at times, but ordinary soft bread is |
more healthful.
cooker and this has been found useful, |
none has been taken to Texas. 1t Is too |
heavy to transport in addition to the
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