The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-24

yearly cost of subsistence per man per day, the whole army through, was less than 32 cents.
 These are the figures for these days of high prices, and they lead one to think that the food must be skimpy and poor. It is not. It is the best that can be bought in the markets, and the variety is grea ter than that fthe average fam ily the United States over. l have be- for me the bills of fare for one month as suggested by the commissary to ta army cooks. They consist of 31 typical breakfasts, 31 dinners and 31 suppers, no two of which are the same.
 Good Meals at Seven Cents Per
 I would like to give you housekeepers who are trying to make the ends meet some specimens of these rations. I 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 which are prepared by the students of Uncle Sam's 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 rations for the 60 men at the barracks. He has to keep the cost of each item of food, and on the average the days rations must not run over 22 1-3 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 I choose are those of one day last week, as selected and prepared 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 and svrup bread and butter, peaches and cream and coffee. A very good meal for cents! Is it not? The dinner com prised a vegetable soup, roast pork and gravy, tomatoes with salad dressing, apple sauce, chocolate layer cake, coffee and bread Not at all bad for z cents The supper included beef loaf with gravy. baked beans, German fried pota- toes, sliced cheese plain cake and doughnuts and coffee and bread An other good ' cent meal. I would say however, that the student has right to spend little more for breakfast, provided he cuts down on the supper or the dinner. Or he can add to the dinner and supper as he pleases. the only requirement. is that the days three meals do not cost more than Fl 2-3 cents per man. Such meals are served by every student cook and student baker. He has to keep all inside the
 
 Cooking Schools for the Army And this brings me to Uncle Sam's new school for army cooks and bakers. These have been established in the last two or three years, and they have al- ready graduated about 1900 cooks and over TOO bakers. The old cooks are be- ing brought in and given instruction and new men are appointed from the various divisions to come to these schools to learn cooking. so that with in short time the army will have several thousand graduated cooks and bakers. This education is being done In three schools, each of which has been built and equipped for the purpose. one of these is at the Presidio, near San Francisco; another at Fort Riley Kan. and third here at Washington. The Presidio school is expected to supply cooks. for the armies of the west; that at Fort Riley for those troops which are located in the central part of the United States and that here for the sol diers of the east. All have been in operation for some time and all are