Evening star., 1918-08-04
Copyright, 1918. by Frank G. Carpentcr)
DORCHESTER, Mass.

TINE luxuries of peace are the
necessities of war. This is
especially true Of our boys in
the trenches. Under other
? conditions many of them could get
along without tobacco and sweets.
On the battlefields they are almost as
important as food and munitions. I
write today of one kind of sweets
which goes over the ocean by the mil
lions of pieces. It is the chocolate
made from cacao beans. favored with
sugar.
Brig. Gen. L. W. Waller of the
United States Marine Corps says:
Men can fight like the devil on choc-
olate, and fighting men should take
1t on the march with them" In 1915
there was an examination of certain
foods for Army use, and Mr. George
Stubbs. the government chemist. then
estimated that one pound OF choco-
late is equal to four pounds of lean
beef. as, far as heat-giving power Is
concerned. He said it is twice as
valuable as so much white bread. and
fitted for the provisioning of large
bodies of men.
n
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Chocolate Is well known among tho
armies Of Europe. The Germans
were using it as regular ration at
the time the war broke out. and the
Austrians had served it to their army
Tor hve years before that. Just now
neither country has enough to con-
tinue the ration. The CHEZ chocolate
producing regions lie outside Europe,
and Germany's former supply came
from tropical regions. which belonged
to the allies. She imported ninety-six
million pounds of the beans Of which
chocolate is made in 1919. She has
been second among the chocolate eat
ing nations. but her sweet tooth is
starving today.
The British troops have long ap-
preciated the value of chocolate.
from England to the troops during
the Crimean war. and when the Eng
lish soldiers were fighting the Beers
In South Africa Queen Victoria sent
each OF them gift box Of chocolate,
SO that it arrived about the 1st Of
January. The wrapper Of the box
bore q picture Of the queen and her
signature. above which were the
words: Il wish you happy new
year."
In normal times the French eat
something like 6o.0o0,0o0 pounds OF
chocolate 2 year. They make an ex-
cellent- article and much of 1t is sup
piled to: the soldiers. Napolion bought
It for his army. and he and his officers
are said to have ridden for days on
horseback without any other food than
tablets Of chocolate. Fernando Cor.
brought some Of the first cacao beans
to Europe. said that man who drank
cup Of chocolate could march all
day without further nourishment. He
reported that the drink was made
from the ground-up seeds OF q fruit
that grew on tree.
.Montezuma was so fond of chocolate
that he had about 1000 jars made for.
his household. He took the drink
smoking hot from a golden goblet,
slipping it with. q spoon Of fner tor.
toiss shell. The seeds Of the cacao
that they used them as money. and in
some localities a double handful was
the price Of a slave. Pizarro found
the Incas using the same drink In
Peru. His soldiers carried the seeds
back to Spain. and from there the
until 1t became known throughout
Europe. Charles II of England was
fond of it. In his time it was q
luxury to be enjoyed only by the
kings and the wealthy, the seeds
costing what in the money Of the
present would equal IS pound.
4 y
Chocolate is now used as a food and
drink all over the world. The cacao
trees which produce the chocolate
beans are cultivated throughout the
tropics. Something like 500.o00.o00
pounds of them are shipped to the
markets and consumed in one year.
We rank first among the consumers,
taking almost one-fourth of the
product. Our importation amounts to
more than a hundred million OF
pounds, or more than five pounds per
annum for every family In the United
States. The British use almost as
much per capita as we do, and until
the war broke out the Germans were
using more than the British. Their
total imports amounted to more than
. hundred million pounds. one-tenth
Of which came from the German
colonies of Samoa, Togo and the
Kamerun. The balance was from re-
gfons now at war with the Germans.
and their whole supply has been cut