The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-08-07

II ShilohluS WIG
defense he will make nc
mistake by casting his
- lot with the men afoat
He may have a hankering for terra
firma, but it must not be forgotten
that the army is outdistanced by the
navy when it 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,
cially called a ration. This allowance
for the army costs Uncle Sam between
"a and 25 cents. but last year the aver
age cost Of subsisting one man for one
day in the navy was $0.366, Jacky be-
ing the higher liver by the purchasing
power of nearly twelve cents more
than his soldier fellow in the national
defense.
1t 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 indi-
rectly, to the generous and varied
provender which is now given them
whether the ship is in port or plow-
ing her way through stormy seas.
There was time. not long ago, when
timed foods were extensively served
on board our naval craft, but the feet
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 we'll under
stood and so well liked in the navy
that its use to a certain moderate
extent is not only welcome but most
welcome to the men-they like 1t.
Then canned tomatoes and few other
staples; canned fruits and some vege-
tables canned are very serviceable and
are used right along. But the great
majori'v 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 duff"
the latter not always able to boast
Of plums. The water, too, that our
seamen drank in those other days
was both scant in it's allowance when
on the open ocean and as likely as
not tainted and unpalatable.
Just IA years ago the navy depart
ment and the national legislators
awakened to the fact that our blue
jackets were the victims of official
blindness. Congress in 1861 put
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, IL the
sailor did not draw his ration 1t had
a communicative value Of 80 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 80.
That meant that If the men could
go into the open market. after CON-
muting the entire ration, they could
actually buy 80 cents worth of food