Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-02
Last Resort"
Army Ratlons

| There ,s, however, one event IN which
| A soldier may eat tho contents of the
| box without danger Of breaking tow
| Of the articles of war, and that ~ 10
preserve life if he in in danger of star
| yation Even then, he ~ supposed,
| il possible 10 secure permission from a
| commissioned officer, or ut least from
a non-com. before breaking the seal.
| The solemn instructions regarding the
| emergency, or starvation ration have
| caused the soldiers 10 regard IT. with
awful and careful respect II has been
| impressed upon them that the starvation
ration is not to be eaten because dinror
| Is DELAYED for an hour or by an mex
pectcd shell i'm the kitchen.
So far. few Of our men can boast 0f
| having eaten the emergency ration. Hot
| cooked food is regularly served 70 the
| aoldiers NJ the front, and even IN the
| trenches during attacks the army cook
on duty Mt his rolling kitchen lnsures
meal under the most adverse conditions.
| Yet, with the vnriotIa ingenious devices
| for getting hot food to out-of-thc-way
| places, provision must be made IN case
| of accidents which cut of supplies. Sol
| dicrs detached, or sent out on exploring
| trips are supplied with extra rati0ns,
| but a prolonged stay or q lost route may
| result in a dangerous situation,
WHAT 1T fs.
The American emergency ration con
| sists of compressed cake Of ground
meat and wheat and a block of sweet
| chocolate Where heat and water arc
available, Soup can be- made If the meat
| and bread by boiling II for five minutes
IN three pints OF water. or porridge can be
made Ivy lesacning the amount Of winter.
| This pOrridge Is sometimes fred an slices
| If fat or grease can be procured Where
| there are no means nf cooking the cake,
| II may hc aoftencd with cold water, or
even eaten dry The chocolate is either
eaten dry or made into cocoa.
Tint the American soldier Is the best
| fed soltlio in the world has become n
sort of slogan in the tluarternastcr
Corps. 1t is Hed rs the explanation
| Of al the culinary wonders accomplished
| hv the corps. and also as a standard n
which the corps must measure up on
| All occasions Therefore, even with re-
gard 10 the composition Of the starvation
| ration, 1t is possible to repeat the slogan
! without exaggcratlon.
All the nutriment that can possibly
| be crammed into one-pound package
nv scientific experiment is the two cakes.
| They will sustain life Mt normal strength
| for one ny. Further, the result ~ SAID
bv those who know tn be highly paia-
| table even To one only ordinarily hungry.
Only materials of the highest quality
are used IN order that the greatest food
value may be obtained.
The idea of an emergency ration -
not of American. nor even modern.
| origin. Warriors throughout the cen
turtles have doubtless tucked snack
/ INTO their war kits Ia case Of need. The
modern example, on which our highly
| scientific starvation ration Is based,
| II the weIl-known iron ration used by
| the British army
PACKING An I IMPORTANT THING.
The packing OF the emergency ration
| il q matter If ls much Importance as
the ration itself 4 tin box, air-tIght
and gas proof, has been devised IS a
necessary precaution against vermn.
rain and gas attacks Each container
! is tested against air and water pressure
before being packed and herneucslly
sealed with paraffine 30 successful are
these small sealed ration cases that
their Use has been extended 10 carrying
food prepared behind the lines TO the
trenches Because Of the large number
OF these cases needed, waxed paper is
being considered As q substitute for
metal Tin Is greatly needed for other
purposes.
Individual emergency ratlons are sup
plcmeuted by g special reserve ration
I07 pound packag which contains
one days food supply for twenty-five
men Like the emergency ration, tins
package Is equipped only with non
perishable food, and is sealed into box
of galvanized iron or tin. 1t IS kept
N the front line trenches for use in case
N n ar cut off from the usual bases
OF food su y Y gas or d rage ire.
The Use of tie reSeTv ration IN not 81
strictly limited As in the ease OF the emer-
gencv ration. 1t Is not, owcver. TO be
opened when hot foo Is available.
The contents the reserve ration
case are hard bread, corned eef, corned
beef has s. salmon, solu j coffee. sugar,
alt md can ncrS. Al time when re-
serve ratIons are needed, hot water Is
not at hand, 81 that ground Office
cannot b boiled Soluble coffee. pre-
AIRED for trench use. can be dissolved
In cold water from a canteen with sur
prisingly satisfactory results.
LIKE CHEWING GUN srIcK.
Conn., resssDn OF materials INTO small
| space Is SO important that soluble coffee
/ put ND III new itl2 gum SlttA tC II nov
| being planned In this form It can be
carried about by the troops for Use III
| isolated sections. The value OF coffee
thai an { made With cold water Is seen
in front line trenches where hot coffee
cannot always be brought from the rear
lust " en- needed and fire for cooking
attracts The shells OF the enemy Coffee
IS the nam drink in the American trenches.
Rum IS sometimes given to British troo $
as 4 II ded stlmulant elore they 70 mt
an attack Iot coffee is the American
prescription for the same purpose and
the cold mix IRE i authorized only when
OF AHA L.
Hard bread is heavy item Of the
reserve ration supply Three hundred
thousand pounds of hard bread put up
IN wax paper cations, and one million
tins Of hard bread arc being sent out
daily for use of the army under actual
fighting conditions.
In the reserve ration can. when packed,
there are extra spaces which are now
being filled with excelsior, but which
may. if so authorized, be filed with
ktwcntv tive rations Of tobacco This
tobacco. it IS argued, would be especially
appreciated by the men when cut oil
from communication with rear line sup
Plies
QUESTION or MATER.
When communication ls made nm
possible during attacks, a water supply
/ tsrlx r,g.k Egr