Tombstone epitaph., 1915-08-15

mlstake oy casting nls - lot with the men afioat. He may have a hankering for terra firma. but it must not be forgotten that the army is outdistanced by the navy when 1t comes to the matter of dietary. The daily issue of food either to the soldier or the sailor. out Of which three meals are made. is off, ciaily called a ration This allowance for the army costs Uncle Sam betweel 2i and 25 cents but last year the aver age cost of subsisting one man for one day in the navy was s0.366, Jacky be- ing the higher liver by the purchasing power of nearly twelve cents more than his soldier fellow in the national defense.
 It is not overstating the case to say that the major part of the fleets efficiency and the contentment of the men Is due. either directly or tndi- rectly. to the generous and varied provender which is now given them whether the ship is in port or blow ing her way through stormy seas. There was a time. not long ago. when timed foods were extensively served on board our naval craft. but the fleet is using less and less of these all the while.
 Upon this point Admiral McGowan, chief of the bureau of supplies and accounts. has recently said: There are certain things that it Is almost necessary to use as a part of a ra- ton. For instance. there is canned corned beef. which is so well under stood and so well liked in the navy that it's use to certain moderate extent is not only welcome but most welcome to the men-they like it. Then canned tomatoes and a few other staples: canned fruits and some vege- tables canned are very serviceable and are used right along. But the great majority Of all the food furnished to the men now. at least in the battle ship fleet. is fresh food-fresh vege- tables. fresh meats, fresh bread. etc. "
 Surely this Is enough to make our old sea dogs rise in protest from their graves. They could remind their young followers of today of the try ing times of wooden ships and canvas when salt horse." "sowbelly." hard. tack" and the like constituted the main elements of the sailors ration. Timed foods, as we know them now. would indeed have been a delicacy in the decades gone. but the fighting jacky of those days had to be con- tent with such delectables as "scouse, -lobscouse." soft tack" soft tommy" "skillagalee," "burgoo. "doughboys." dogs body" and dun. the latter not always able to boast of plums. The water. too. that our seamen drank in those other days was both scant in its allowance when on the open ocean and as likely as not tainted and unpalatable.
 Just l4 years ago the navy depart. awakened to the fact that our blue jackets were the victims of Qfacial blindness. Congress in 1861 put a daily limit of the measure of food to be allowed in a ration. and nine years later it established the value of the ration at 30 cents. That is, if the sailor did not draw his ration 1t had A communicative value of 30 cents.
 That sum then rightly represented the cost of the food supplied by Uncle Sam to the enlisted men of the navy But as the years grew following the Civil war the items of that dietary be. came generally cheaper. and in 1901 the food supplied under the terms of the ration cost the navy department on an average IS cents instead of 30.
 That meant that if the men could 20 into the open market. after com. muting the entire gation, they could actually buy 90 cents worth of food