Evening star., 1917-10-26
.U.S. SOLD|ERSEAT
| HUGE LOT Of FOOD
Prescribed Rations for a Mil
lion Men Mount Into Stag
Z gering Figures.
COST LOT OF MONEY, TOO

Already Uncle Sam is placing stag
Sering orders with his meat man. gro
Ger and clothier. and by the time the
first American contingent of the new
National Army goes to Franco these
orders will reach proportions hitherto
unknown on this side of the water.
If you call on your market man for
q few pounds of meat. sugar or flour,
and he informs you there is shortage,
consider the size OF the orders the gov
ernment now is calling upon food pro-
6ucers and distributors to fill
The War Department has ascertained
how much food wills be needed to fill
the ration requirements of any given
unit 10 a man. Now it is not to be
published how many troops are In
France, nor how many are going.
Neither Is the exact composition OF
ffeld army TO he stated exactly. But II
may be approNimated. Take as such an
approximation ten field armies for serN-
ice abroad. and allow for $4,000 officers,
IOIS.27O enlisted men aud 9S6 civilians
Rations Matter of Record.
The rations for these men are i mat
ter of public record, and by little
calculation it IS not hard to reach the
conclusion that such contingent
would require &c, 81, ,03o pounds OF
Sresh beef for ninety days, or "lt,oSb,-
1s0 pounds for a year. Other 1000 sup
plies, from sugar to prunes, from presaa
TO jam. may be figured on Inc same
vast scale.
Such calculation has been made by
the supplies bureau of the office OF the
quartermaster general, and the results
indicate what sort of a purchasing
problem the government now faces.
Add to this the need for transporta-
tion, which will aggregate in cost more
than the food itself when the army
clothing, hospitals. construction, horses,
horseshoes, forage. fuel and light, and
sou get come conception, II You can
think IN millions, of the tremendous
ping the American expeditiondry force.
Provisions for Ninety Days.
For ninety days there would be need
ed for the force mentioned 6S,375.6l0
pounds of flour, 607,7S2 pounds of bak-
Ing powder, 4,55S,374 pounds of beans
3,o3s,916 pounds of rice, e3,1sl.o3o
pounds of potatoes. 15,1s4,5s0 pounds of
onions and ASSISTS pounds of prunes.
In like proportion calculation has
been made of the amount needed OF
Jams, sugar. lard, butter and soap: and
in the clothing list are 4,163,945 blan-
kets, 2,291,19s wooden coats, 2,1e1,109
pairs of wooden gloves and 2,191,10s
hats for the first year.
In this is. contained a hint for the
wise housewife, for the government
has worked out the most economical
means of buying. and 1t will be noted
that the foods are bought by the pound.
Uncle Sam, it is generally realized.
feeds his soldiers mighty well. The
days ration of an American enlisted
man has been the surprise and envy ef
the men in the trenches in Europe.
Take a glance at the daily garrison
ration OF the enlisted man in the
United States Army. He Is allowed 20
ounces of fresh beef. Is ounces of
potatoes, 1.2S ounces of prunes, 112
ounces OF coffee. 80 ounces of sugar, a
half ounce of milk, half ounce of
butter, and provision is made for vine
gar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, sirup. fla
voring extracts and lard to be used in
cooking.