El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-23
FRANK q. CARPENTERS LETTER.

Another good Z cent meal. would say.
however, that the student has a right
TO spend a little more Tor 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 p % cents
per man. Such meals are served by
every student cook and student baker.
He has to keep all inside the allowance
Of p cents for three meals.
Cooking schools for the Army.
And this brings me 10 Uncle Sans
new schools 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 700 bakers The old cooks are
brought in and given instructions and
new men are appointed from the vari-
Gus divisions to come to these schools
to learn cooking, so that within a short
time the army viii have several thou
sand 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 Preside, near San Fran
cisco, another at Fort Riley. Kan, and
a third here at Washington The Pre-
sidiO school is expected to supply cooks
for armies Of the west; that at Fort
Riley for those troops which are 10
Gated in the central part of the United
States, and that here for the soldiers
Of the east. All have been in opera
ton for some time and all are gradual
ing a number of cooks and bakers
every year. The Washington sclool
was established in 1906. 1t is now IN
der the charge of Capt. Elliott, and its
chief is a sergeant who is famous for
his cooking, as was his father before
him.
Armed with a letter from the COM
missary general I visited the school
this afternoon, and saw about 20 bare
armed, White-cappped husky young
men, with their sleeves rolled to the
elbows, kneading dough, putting bread
in and out OF ovens, and presiding
over a large number of ranges where
food of all kinds was being cooked
for the troops at the Washington. bar
racks. In one room 1 was shown
chemical laboratory, where the student
cooks are taught how to test flour and
to know whether it is pure or not.
They ascertain the amount of moisture
IN the flour, and also its feeding value.
They learn something Of arithmetic and
Of the keeping Of accounts, and each
must know Just what goes into the
dishes he prepares and how much they
cost when given to the soldiers. Every
thing is done by weights and measures,
and II takes a man Of more than 0rdi-
nary Intelligence TO pass through the
school and become a graduate.
Kitchen as Big as a Barn.
The kitchen Of the school is an in
teresting place 1t is about IS feet
square with high roof the whole Gov
er1ng the most of the one story build
ing which has been built for it, The
walls are Of white tiles, and the floor
Is cement There are long tables run
ming through the center, and near them
a great dough trough of iron.
At the back are two huge bake ovens.
one Of which is permanent and is faced
with white tiles, and another made Of
iron coated with porcelain The lat
ter can be taken down and moved at a
moments notice.
A part of the education of the stu
dents is connected with this oven. They
are made to take it apart and put il
together, and upon graduation any one
of them could go with it TO the Philip
pines or anywhere else and start
bakery there The oven is u feet wide
and about IS feet long and higher than
a mans head. II viii cook 400 loaves
at once and can bake thousands Of
lOaves in a day.
Could supply Bread for 100000 Men.
In addition to this the students are
taught to bake in field ovens, which
can be put up and knocked down and
carried from one place to another on
wagons. A full bakery of that kind
and all of its equipment can be put in
q two horse wagon and there are
enough of them here to turn out 10000
loaves Of bread a day. Each Of the
other baking schools has similar
equipment so that Uncle Sam could
put into the field bakeries and the
men to run them sufficient to supply
$4,000 pounds OF bread day to his SOL
diers- He has in addition, so the com
missary general tells me, a. sufficient
equipment for 10 other divisions. so
that upon occasion he can now supply
enough bread for 260. 900 men, giving
each a pound loaf per day.
Uncle Sans Army Bread.
During my stay at the bakery 7
looked at some of the bread. The leaves
are larger than those sold in the pri-
vate bakeries. They are white and
crisp, and the crust is delicious. They