The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-16

Washington, May IS Soldiers who fought against Spain In lssS lost in weight on an average ot'22 pounds each; the average American soldier at the end of the fighting in 1918 weigh ed 12 pounds more than he did when the selective service act or his own violition brought him into the army.
 Thus the success won by the army subsistence branch in the great war is epitomized in chapters of the offi- cial war material history made pup lie today by the War Department.
 The food problem of an army of 3TOO,OOO Americans is visualized in the history by considering the force as a single man and the entire war period as one dinner hour. Articles comprised in the army ration assum- ed these tremendous totals:
 Roast beef. s0O.o00.O00 pounds; bacon. 15O.O0O.oOO pounds; flour (bread) 100000. 900 pounds; butter, 17.5OO,0OO: oleomargarine, 11.0o0,- 900; baked beans, 15o.O0O,00O pounds potatoes, 4S7, 100000 pounds; onions, 40,00O,00O pounds; corn, beans and peas, 15O,o00,OOO cans; to- matoes. 1s0,000,00O cans; prunes, peaches and apples (for dessert) 107.- o0O.0OO cans: sugar, 350.O0O.0O0
 
 evaporated milk, 2O0,OO0,OOO cans.
 The bill for this meal" amounted to S727,ooO.0OO to December l, 1918, the per capita cost having risen from cents in 1897 to AS in 1919.
 At the time of the armistice, Amer ican soldiers in France were consum- ing 9.000,000 pounds of food daily. Moving this stupendous quantity over the 3,OOO-mile line of communication was the principal obstacle to be over come. This and necessity for con serving cargo space led directly in the later months to the shipment of dehydrnted vegetables to the Ameri- can Expeditionary Forces.
 The problems were solved only by the assistance of the American food industry the report says. and while instances were found of food speci- fications being violated, these Bs de- clared to have been very few and in most instances not intentional.
 The emergency ration of the Amer ican soldier. designed to be used only in cases of extremity, was perfected during the war to consist of cakes of beef. prepared with a bread-com- pound of cooked wheat, each cake weighing ounces; three 1-ounce cakes of chocolate; three-fourth ounces fine salt and 1 dram b1ac k pepper.
 A special ration was designed for the use of invalid soldiers, including g potted chicken, dried eggs, pudding. etc.
 Importance attached to the supply of fresh coffee for the men is evil denced by the decision to ship ths bean in the green form and have it roasted near the front This led to the invention of portable coasters capable of handling several tons d day.
 Noting that tobacco has establish ed Its claim to a recognized place in the soldiers life.' the report says
 probably 95 per cent. of the Ameri- can Expeditionary force used the weed in one form or another. Month ly shipments averaged 20,00o,000
 cigars and 5.oOo,0OO cigarettes
 The soldiers sweet tooth was sat- isfied by a monthly shipment of 3O0.- 900 pounds of candy during the early part of the war but this increased. in November. 1918. to 1,373.300 pounds.
 and in the following month the War Department made candy a part Of the regulation issue, 1 1-2 pounds be- ing issued to each and every month. A close companion in popu- larity was chewing gum, more than
 3.00o.0O0 packages a month being consumed
 More than half of the Fifth LAb- erty Loan would be required to, pay for the clothing and uniform equip
 age of the American army. One
 chapter of the report gives a short history of the events which led the government finally to take over the domestic wool clip and to comman- deer the output of practically every factory.
 Interesting statistics are given oi economies effected by changes in de- sign. For instance elimination o1 lacings and eyelets in trousers saved $17.000.0o0 and re-designing of the coat cut the cost of these garments ss.0o0,000- Expert cutting reduced | the consumption of cloth 23-10O of q
 yard and saved 2.3O0.o0O yards or | the total order. Cotton textiles pro- duced for the army would furnish 6 | strip 3 feet wide and of sufficient length to wrap IS layers around the l equator.
 Innovations resulting from short ages in material included the substi tuition of American dye for the Ger man product and the use of vegetabl, Ivory in button making.
 The activities of the quartermastel corps Afterwards taken over largely by the Bureau of Purchase, Storag. and Supply. included also the fur nishing of hats. shoes, boots, fuel, oil paints. tools. harpess and harness equipment and even music. Promi nent composers volunteered for th. work of selecting a balanced ra ton" of jazz and more restrained orchestrations for the army bands. To give the American aviator tn. surest> fuel possible. the department