The farmer and mechanic., 1912-07-30
Uncle Sam Hotels
.SerUe Great Meals
In the Panama Canal Zone One May Get Meal Costing
From Nine Cents to a Dollar-The Ration That
DIGS the Canal

such meals. The decimais run out
to the hundredths OF cent. Here
is how the 80 cents is divided.
Meat and fish. fresh. 1886 cents;
eggs 800 cents; fresh fruits and
vegetables 1856 cents; fruits and
vegetables canned. 236 cents: butter.
2O3 cents: cured meats, cured fish
and lard. 16o cents: miscellaneous.
1.36 cents; ice cream. 1.2O cents;
sugar and syrups. 1.19 cents; ice. .92
cent: bread and cake, .82 cent:
coffee, tea and cocoa. So cent; milk.
evaporated, .83 cent: flour. As cent:
cleaning material (Sapolio. etc., 81;
cent: canned meats and fish. ~ cent;
dried fruits and vegetables, .1S cent.
If you will add those items you will
find the total is not 80 cents. 1t is
only 28.11 cents. and this is cut on
the cost Of the same meal about
year ago. The government is fur
nishing as good food today as 1T did
then at one and half cents less per
meal. and similar saving has been
made in some Of the other depart
ments Of the feeding supply.
AT the Hotel Kitchens.
Now let us go to the kitchens
where the silver laborers get their
daily bread. The most of them are
West Indian negroes and they have
tastes of their own. They want GER
tain kinds Of food. and the govern
ment gives them cooks from Jamaica
and others Of the islands because
they are better fitted to supply the
dishes which the men like.
At these kitchens the men receive
three meals for 27 cents or one meal
for cents. They do not eat in the
kitchen. but they bring their own
buckets. plates and other dishes and
carry the food away smoking hot to
MA hoc
bucket Of rice. great ladle OF meat
and soup and in addition to that a
banana Or so He has a pint Of
coffee and plenty Of vegetables. He
receives one loaf Of bread per day.
and the menu is varied from meal
to meal.
l have eaten at some OF these
spoon. and l can tell you the food is
not bad. The cooking is done in
great copper tubs on long ranges.
| which run from one side Of the
kitchen to the other. and the soup is
served from pots which will hold as
much as cider barrel.
have eaten also with the silver
These are Spaniards and Italians
They demanded little better meal:
than the negroes. and they like tc
sit down at the table. Many OF
their dining rooms are connected
with the kitchens They are much
palmer than those Of the line hotels
the meals being served without cloth:
and in dishes Of tin or enamel The
food is brought to the table on tht
plates used for eating, and the cOffe.
is served in tin cups. In thes,
dining rooms the men are fed for II
cents a day, or 13 Ia cents per meal
For this they have a dish of soup.
| a 70 nf OF or oot
and a half loaf Of bread. A com
mon dish is a stew Of rice with mea
Or macaroni as a base. I remembe
dinner 1 had yesterday with a 10
of Spaniards. I was given a quar-
Of soup which alone was enough fo
a meal. and in addition was serve
with a great chunk Of roast Chicag
: beef and potatoes. I had also q hal
I pound OF bread and a full tumbler .
l wine, the latter equal to that you pa
!. a dollar quart for at any hotel.
The Ration Which Digs the Canal.
have talked with Colonel Wilso
, about the ration of the silver labor
of potatoes. one-sixth Of pound c
flour. one-half pound Of rice an
four-tenths Of pound Of sugar. Th
food is varied from day to day. Th
:, staple diet Of the West Indian {
home is Goldfish. rice and suga
During the past year Uncle sam ne
sold eighteen hundred thousan
pounds of Goldfish. almost all Of " hic
has been bought by the West Ind
negroes. At the same time we al
teaching them to eat beef. and whe
the government finds q man who do,
= not seem strong enough for his wor
he is asked as to his food. II he
not living at a government kitche
he is given tickets and told that l
must do so. Within-a short time