South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-06
EXPLORING UNCLE
SAMUEL s LARDER
First Year-End inventory
Proves Vast Undertaking
and Full of Interest.

How much food has Uncle sam
/ in his national larder with which
: 10 start the new year? How ade-
I quately can he feed until harvest
time his many millions of civilians
and soldiers Will il be necessary
/ during the coming u months for
/ his citizens 10 eat war bread Can
he furnish the share which ne
/ ought Of the daily ration needed by
the fighting men of the allies? And
7 can he supplement- somewhat, per-
haps, the meager fare of the friend
/ IS neutrals 10 whom the war has
\ brought the pinch Of hunger?
These are the big and vital ques-
/ tons so important TO the conduct Of
the war. which the bureau Of mar
kets of the United States department
of agriculture is seeking 10 answer
| by carrying out the war emergency
food survey provided for by the
last congress. All over the country
today first steps are being taken TO
| answer these questions Hundreds
I OF thousands Of persons in control
| of food supplies, large and small.
are filling out schedules mailed TO
/ them by the army of employees
which the bureau of markets has
assembled in Washington TO conduct
| the big year-end food inventory
These schedules Will show the guam
titles of more than one hundred
| different foods on hand Dec 81,
1917, quantities on hand Dec. 81,
H9l6. for comparison. and the guam
I Oh rI,~
/ press that have not been delivered
TO the consignee. To the totals of
| these figures will be added quanti-
ties held by retail food dealers in
! certain counties where store-to-
store canvasses are being made. The
latter intensive surveys Will be
made in order that the figures for
the entire country can be checked
In addition, about 10000 selected
families Will report on special
schedules regarding the stocks of
food on hand, and the ways in
| which they utilize certain food prod
ucts. These figures will be used as
a. basis upon which to estimate the
amount of food in the more than
20 million homes of the country.
When all this information has been
tabulated, Uncle Sam will have
| available for the first time, sOrely
needed data upon which to formu-
late plans for efficient production
and wise use of the munition which
/ is of greatest Importance in win
ming the war-food.
On the Trail of the Food Supply.
The trail of the country's food
supply is a winding and many
| branched one, the bureau Of mar
kets has found. A surprising variety
of dealers and "holders" go to make
up the vast army of individuals and
concerns that have in their hands
the potential breakfasts. dinners,
and suppers of the nation. Among
the most important custodians of
this vast food supply are owners of
grain elevators, common and cold
storage concerns, meat packers,
carriers, exporters, wholesale and
retail grOcers, bakers. confectioners,
butchers, and other dealers. Schools,
hospitals asylums and other insti-
tutions, it has been found, are much
larger holders of food than had
been supposed, while another i'm
portant group which carries con-
siderable quantities of fOOdstuffs in
its pantries is made up of hotels
restaurants. commissaries. etc.
Uncle Sam himself holds large
stores of edibles. These are not
alone at army and navy bases, but
also at immigration stations. in
hospitals. on reclamation and other
engineering projects Large guam
| es
purchasing agencies in this country
of foreign governments.
To every dealer and holder of
food, the bureau of markets has at
tempted 10 mail a schedule on
which the official returns of hold
ings is TO be made This has in
volved a vast amount of preliminary
work, for before a blank was sent
out, the most complete list ever
made of handlers and holders of
food had 10 be built up from vari-
Gus sources and checked and re-
checked. This list now contains be-
, tween a half and three-quarters Of
a million names, and covers con-
Germs from the vast packing plants
of Chicago and the great flour
mills of Minneapolis, to the "hOle-
, in-the-walT' shops of New York's
east side and the crossroads stores
of the OzarkS.
Food Survey Act Has Teeth.
To guard against any food hand
lers being missed by failure TO in
clude them in the mailing list. the
bureau of markets has sent sup
: plies of schedules TO its agents
throughout the country for distribu-
ton. and at the same time has an
nounced that ali individuals and
concerns handling foods who do
not receive schedules through the
mails by Jan. ., viii be expected TO
= apply 10 the local agencies for
: copies CONGRESS put teeth in the
act authorizing the making of a
food survey by providing that per
sons wilfully failing TO MAKE re-
turns when called upon. or wilfully
making incorrect returns. viii be
subjected 10 a fine of not more than
$1,000. or imprisonment for not
more than one year The bureau OF
markets. however. is counting on