The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-06-22

specting the method of determir ms
/ food that should be used which wQulo
convince anybody that ample food Il
| prepared. The president of the board
/ of managers of soldiers homes is Mr.
| Wadsworth. who for number Of
years was a member of this house. lie
served in the war; is man or very
wide experience and very large capac-
ity and. 1 think, of very warm ano
sympathetic heart. He has given very
| careful personal attention to all OF
! these matters. In view of the state
ments that have been made in the paSt
a bout the insufffciency of the food and
the character of it the committee
made inquiries concerning it, and he
assured the committee from his own
personal investigation and his own
statements that there was no question
that the food was ample
Mr.. Anthony asked MI. Fitzgerald
if he would recommend diet of oleo-
margarine for old men of rs years OF
age who are suffering from indiges-
ton.
Fitzgerald on Oleomargarine.
Mr.. Fitzgerald answered by saying
that oleomargarine was more whole
some than butter, and, furthermore,
that anyone eating 1t could not tell the
difference of the two.
Let me make a statement here in
regard to the use of oleOmargarine,
said Mr.. Anthony. ut is not only serv-
ed three times a day i'll most of the
homes, Out II is USED as TdNOTl1S lOT
cooking. They flavor the potatoes
with it in the big steam kettle where
they are cooked. 1t is put in their
muSh and in everything until every
article of food has a flavor of rancid
beef fat when 1t is cooked. / have
been there and tasted it and 1 know. /
know it makes those old soldiers sick al
the stomach to have to go up against
oleomargarine three times a day, and
want to make an effort here, and
Mt fn oh To mt a
imitation of pure food and give those
old men as good food to eat as every
American workingman has on his
board three times a day, especially a
good article of pure butter. I am in
formed that at some of the homes they
get pure butter, they do not get oleo-
margarine. Tt is only at certain homes
that it is served, and I think it ought
to be cut out entirely"
Others Get Into Debate.
This argument precipitated a gem
eral debate among many members as
to the value of oleomargarine as a sub
stitute for butter, some favoring and
some disputing its value from a
healthful standpoint Finally Mr.
Anthonys amendment providing for a
change of food for the soldiers homes,
including the elimination of oleomar-
garine, was put, and lost, first by an
aye and no vote and then by a vote
by tellerS.
When the item providing for the
purchase of fuel oil for the Leaven-
worth home was reached. Mr.. Anthony
said he would like to make a state
ment. He said:
upon the bill (to purchase fuel oil at
the western branch when the cost of
the oil equivalent of coal is greater
than the cost of coaD is that few
years ago the board of managers at
Leavenworth commenced to use fuel
oil instead of coal. The statement was
made at that time that by the installa
ton of oil for fuel it was costing the
government good many thousands of
dollars more each year than it would
if they had used coal for fuel. Since
the last contracts were made, especial
ly in the last two months, the price of
fuel oil has trebled, so that now it will
be an absolute impossjbility for the
board of managers to use oil for fuel
there unless they deliberately squan-
der not less than $4,000 per amman
of the public funds. I desire that
Limitation placed upon this paragraph
in order to protect the treasury to that
He was asked by Congressman Mann
and others if coal and oil were not pro-
duced in the immediate vicinity of the
soldiers home.
What of ii % replied Mr.. Anthony.
at is very significant when it is the
Standard Oil Co., and when it would
take over $4,000 more money out of
the treasury 10 use lI11S DN-pTOQuCI O1
the Standard Oil Co. than to use coal,
the product of the labor of the miners
near by who go down into the bowels
of the earth to produce this coal"
what the gentleman from Kansas
states can not be done and has not
been DONE declared Mr.. Fitzgerald.
They Do Not Wait for Law.
Nevertheless it has," insisted Mr..
Anthony, land I fear it will be done
again" Mr.. Fitzgerald said that UNI
der the law they could not do it.
Nevertheless they are going to do
on the ground that it will compel some
kind of change in the steam plant.
They expended $4,000 three years
ago when they changed the boilers
from steam to oil, and now they claim
that it will offset the increase in the
price of oil if they have to spend a few
hundred dollars to change it back. 1
have a statement from the board OF
managers here showing that it is. their
intention to use oil at the Leavenworth
branch for the coming year in spite
of the fact that oil costs $13, 900 more
than COAL The statement which Mr..
Anthony referred to was furnished
him by Captain Pearsal1, quartermas-
ter of the home 1t was produced and
read to the house.
Here is what Mr.. Anthony said re-
garding it: 81 have made charge
on the floor of the house that repre-
sentatives of the Standard Oil COM
pany originally induced the change
from coal to oil in the Leavenworth
home 1 want to read the statemen
from the man who was the engineer
at the home at the time that change
was made. That gentleman says:
Oil Company Caused Change.
"'In 1892 we put stokers under the
boilers at the home, and these same
stokers worked with good results up
to about 1908, when from constant
use and hard service they became
worn out and burnt, which caused
loss of coal through the CRATE bars.
g In making up my estimate of sup
plies for 1904. included in it castings
to renew the CRATES, etc. but either
the uuartermaster or the governor cut
it down to mere nothing, and had to