The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-18
Good and Plentiful Food Kept Soldiers in Fine Con-
 dition During War
By Associated Press

Washington, May 17.-"Soldiers who fought against Spain in 1898 lost in weight on an average of 2 pounds each; the average American soldier at the end of the fighting in 1918 weighed F pounds more than he did when the seIective ser vice act or his own voiition brought him into the army"
 Thus the success won by the army subsistence branch in the great war is epitomized in chapters or the official war material history made public today by the war department.
 The food problem Of an army of 3,70o.- 600 Americans is visualized in the history sby considering the force as a single man and the entire war period as one dinner hour. Articles comprised in the army ration assumed these tremendous totals:
 Roast beef, S0o000,0oo pounds. bacon. l5e, ,o0Oo0o pounds; flour toread), 1,ooo, 900 oo0 pounds; butter. +, 100000 pounds; oleomar- garine. 100000; baked beans, 150,0O0,000 pounds; potatoes &7,000,000 pounds; onions, 100000 pounds; corn, beans and peas, 150000,oo cans; tomatoes 100000 cans; prunes. peaches and apples (for desserb, 107,0oo0Oo cans; sugar. s5o,0o00o pounds; coffee 75.00oo0o pounds; evap- orated milk 200,000ooo cans.
 The bill for this ''meal' amounted to s727, ,0oo,ooo to December I. 1918, the per capita cost having risen from cents in 1897 to IS cents in 1918.
 A special ration was designed for the use of invalid soldiers including potted chicken, dried eggs. buildings. etc.
 Importance attached to the supply of fresh coffee for the men is evidenced by the decision to ship the bean in the green form and have It roasted near the front This led to the nyention of por- table coasters capable of handling several tons day.
 Noting that tobacco has established it's claim to recognized place in the sol- diers life the report says probably 95 per cent of the American -expeditionary force used the weed in one form or an- other. Monthly shipments averaged 20.- 00o,00 cigars and A25, ,00U,o00 cigarettes.
 The soldiers sweet eooth was satisfied by monthly shipments of S00,0O0 bounds of candy .during the early part of the war, but this increased in November. 191S to 1,S75S00 pounds, and in the fol- lowing month the war department made candy part of the regulation issue, 11z pounds being issued to each man every month A close companion in popularity was chewing gum mofe than 3,000Oo0 packages month being consumed.
 More than half of tne fifth Liberty Loan would be required to pay for the clothing and uniform equipage of the American army. One chapter of the re- port gives a short history of the events which led the government finally to take over the domestic wool clip and to com mandeer the output of practically every factory.
 Interesting statistics are given of econo- mics effected by changes in design For instance, elimination or Iacings and eye lets fin trousers saved $17.000,000 and re- designing of the coat cut the cost of these garments s5 0O0,000. Expert cutting reduced the consumption of cloth 2S-10O of yard and saved s,300,000 yards on the total order. Cotton textiles produced for the army would furnish a strip three feet wide and of sufficient length~to wrap IS layers around the equator.
 Innovations resulting from shortages in material included tho substitution of American dyes for the German product and the use of vegetable ivory in butt ton making.