The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-05-08
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

We have many expressive sayings in
America Among them is the familiar
one, lie is getting down to his ra-
tons"
In feeding soldiers, the army reckons
a ration? A ration, according to Uncle
Sam is the allowance of food for the
subsistence of one person one day.
It's this same ration question which
brought the much apused MIR. Hoover
from Belgium, where he had big job
OF feeding the starving ones made by
to tackle a still greater problem, that of
helping to feed the allied armies.
If you go deep enough into the ration
ing business you will find that Napoleon
knew what he was talking about when
he said an army marches on it's stom-
ach It was but French way of saying
the commissary end of war was mighty
big part Of the game.
Now, war in these days is no longer
mere matter of brute strength, where
everything is left to chance, but it has
been reduced to science and pre-
paredness' is its watchword. The SOL
in order that he may have the food val
ues necessary to make him a fit fight
ing unit
In the army there are four sorts OF
rations; the garrison ration. the field
ration, the travel ration and the emer-
gency ration, the latter consisting OF
Few people outside of the army experts
have any adequate conception of what
it means to provide for our soldier boys
in the various environments, or the more
difficult duty of supplying them in the
trenches, or when the battle RACES.
Hero is little sum in arithmetic
The weight of the garrison ration is ap-
proximately four and one-half pounds
To feed that army of 100000 men which
Secretary Baker permits is to say we
have available, we must provide each
day no less than 6750,00O pounds of food.
In other words, our soldier boys can get
on the outside of S37b tons of food in a
day.
Now, Perhaps you will begin to ses
why that man Hoover is continually
crying to the civilian population. you
must eat less, waste less. and make
more" for be it understood, as fool
administrator, he has not only to watch
out for the mouths of our own Sam
mics, but the English Tommies and tho
French Poilus have to be filled.
How would you like to be grocer to
the American army? / started to say
that even if you had sufficient stock in
hand TO supply it. how many teams or
trucks or carloads, or trains do you sup
pose it would require to deliver one day 8
rations? But at this point | dismiss
the arithmetic class, for not knowing
the answer, L am MOI III q poSitloh ~
work it myself. I'll just let your imagi-
nation run riot, and if you want to get
wool gathered for keeps, just imagine
100000 boys having to pass through
a "Piggly Wiggly'' outfit and reach for
their own wants and then wait to have
them wrapped.
Be it understood that each day This
army will eat 100000 pounds of beef.
But as this means nothing to the aver
age reader, l will put 1t in different
way. Try and think of the greatest num-
Der OF cattle you ever saw in a herd.
went down to see my friend John
Dunnaway at the Dallas farms and he
had 100 Hercfords, and it seemed to
me they Just covered acres. They would
have gone just half round for dinner. 1t
takes 600 carcasses per day to satisfy
our army. This may be one reason why
l had to pay 40 cents pound for steak
before ] cut out beef
But / failed to mention the bacon, fol
be 1t known that the American army
likes and is true to the porker and for
its breakfast requires 1900 pounds OF