Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-05
ON WHAT MEAT
CAESARS FEED
Uncle Sans Fighting Men Live
Better Than Those of Any
Other Nation-Tea /
and War |

ANYBODY who has been one Of party
IA Of four men at dinner in a restaur-
ant should have good notion OF one Of
the fundamental problems of victualing
an army. If there Is one item in the menu
they will agree upon that four should be
set down as most exceptional men. The
incredible length Of our menus is at once
tribute and repfoach to the fastidious-
ness of men. That of women is nothing
compared with it. In fact It might be
said that it is one of the chief bases Of
the charm of women that they are mot
particular" about food. Nevertheless IL
will be good news to women hereabouts
just now that the American soldier is the
best fed soldier in the world. Here is the
list of his daily rations in garrison-that
is, in permanent quarters:
Fresh beef, twenty ounces; flour, eigh-
teen ounces; beans, two and four.tenths
ounces; potatoes, twenty ounces; prunes,
one and twenty-eight hundredths ounces;
coffee, one and twelve hundredths ounces;
sugar, three and two-tenths ounces; salt
sixty.four hundredths of an ounce; bak-
ing powder, one and eight hundredths
ounces; milk, evaporated and unsweet-
ened one and flve.tenths ounces; vinegar,
sixteen.hundredths of gill; pepper, four.
hundredths of an ounce; cinnamon, four
teen thousandths, Of an ounce; sirup,
thirty hundredths of an ounce; fiavorins
extract-lemon-fourt thousandths Of
an ounce.
This is not, of course calculated to ex-
citeaan exalted sense of gratitude to the
four average men whom we found so hard
to please with the menu, and If handed
that diet on a take-it.or.leave-it basis IL
would be no consolation to them to learn
that garrison fare Is better than that
served ION travel, in reserve (the haver-
sack ration) or in the field But If they
are not grateful when they learn that
these provisions are superior to those
served to the armies of any other nation
well, they are simply not in an heroic
mood, and that's all there is to it.
Science and Food
The good (and bad thing about modern
victualing is that 1t is scientific. Science
in food is all right when 1t is negative.
When it says mo" to injurious foods it is
on safe ground. Man is so far above ami
IllulS anu llOW anu IllSii SO bShi bAiS
gels that there is no telling what he
Should" eat. Sometimes he thrives bet
ter on cream puffs and cigarettes than on
beef and bread. 1t is a wellestablished
principle that what appeals to the ap-
petite is best digested.
What science really does for armies Is
to determine how cheaply and quickly
and cleanly enough food can be gotten to
them to keep the fighting machine fight
ing. The only foods that are common to
all armies are bread. msat and salt. These
are supplied in varying quantities. Tho
British soldier gets a daily allowance Of
one and quarter pounds Of meat and one
and a quarter pounds of bread; the
French, one pound of meat and one and
pounds of bread; the Rus
sian, three-quar- -ers of pound of meat
and two and three.quarters pounds OF
Bread the Belgian three Quarters of a
pound of meat and one and three-quar-
ters of pound of bread. The Briton thus
gets more meat than any of the others
and less bread; but that is simply in the
true tradition Of carnivorous merry Eng
land The fact that wheat is the Russian
staple and bread the chief diet Of the
Russian. peasantry accounts for the large
bread allowance of the Cars men.
Two factors play large part in modern
field diet-soup and canned beef-canned
beef stews in the British army-and 1t
is likely that If our troops have to en-
gage in prolonged field activities in Mex.
leo they will be part of the American
regime as well. There is good
reason for their prominence. Soup can be
made quickly in large quantities and Is
highly nutritive Canned goods are easily
keep well, and are readily
prepared for eating. The art of canning,
by the way, was originally designed to
meet military needs. When the French
Republic went in for war on a large scale
near the end of the eighteenth century,
the Government offered a bounty Of $240o
for an improved method Of preserving
foods. In 1904 Nicholas Appert, an expert
chef, succeeded in heating the product
and then Theoretically sealing the con-
.aIner. When the process was later per-
'ected 1t became one of the arts of peace,
but canning was first thought of as war
measure.
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