The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1942-01-16
Costs Millions
To Feed Army
S,OOO,0OO a Month Spent to
Provide Sustenance for
100000 Men.


CHICAGO. - Dedicated TO IT,,
Proposition that an army travels or.
rs stomach, the Chicago quarter
master depot has begun to spend
more than S5,OOO,OOO a month on
,ctuals
SINCE the beginning of the defense
emergency two years ago'it has be-
ONE the principal pantry of the
y 3 army, shopping for a family
approximately 500 900.
i buys 100000 pounds of fresh
tIozen beef every week and places
. order for 10000, 900 pounds of
1cur four times year, Last month
p; vas on the market for IS, 1863, 300
1"nS of tomatoes. 5000, 900 cans of
corn, 22,l3l 900 cans of peas and
. E44.4O0 cans of spinach.
Col. Henry B. Barry, commanding
'''lcer Of the depot, believes that it
developing into the largest single
JrchaSer of meats and groceries
? the country.
Supplies piled up at the depot are
g uVereo to military posts through
II the United States. It's loading
: .atfOrms, all under roof, can &C
immediate y freight cars a day and
- motor trucks at one time.
Buys Many Items.
Inc principal duties of the quar-
master corps, Colonel Barry ex-
a.ned, are to feed, clothe, house
,'3 transport the army Here and
eight other original depOts in each
10y corps area the ONO handles
40 supplies common to two or more
7archeS OF the service
although its chief job is the pro-
cement of food. the Chicago depot
50 buys all the coal and coke used
- The army, most of the beds and
,';s, and about 2,l00 other items
anging from moth balls TO esnow-
>oCCS. =
;, keeps fires going under three
ccFc roaSters capable of turning out
900 pounds of aromatic coffee
every 20 minutes. The depot buys
IS coffee green and sees to it that
100000 pounds are on hand at all
times, so that the beans can be
roasted just before shipment.
All this activity goes on in three
great buildings stretching for more
iran block along Pershing road
IN the South Side. One of them was
Quilt in 1918 and saw service in the
World war The others we're fin
shed shortly afterward, so that now
The ONO. has almost 1000. 900
square feet of floor space to work on.
Railroad sidings running into the
building connect with rs trunk lines
operated out of Chicago.
staff Up 500 Per Cent.
The depot's staff has increased
about 500 per cent in the last two
years, bringing the total number of
civilians employed there 10 l,5OO,
with about 100 army officers super
V.Sing them.
Purchases shot up even greater
degree. For the fiscal year ended
June 80. 1899, the depot ordered only
1914, 87747 worth of goods. 1t in
creased this figure to S9,O25,5lO.77
during the next year, while for the
wear ended June 30, l94l, expendi-
lures totaled S38, 275, 67O48 June
purchases alone reached SlO,452,
33O26.
The army's subsistence research
laboratory, only one of its kind in
the country, is situated at the Chi
cago depot, devoting its full effort
70 providing soldiers with proper,
hcalthful diet.
Hundreds of food experiments are
conducted in the laboratory every
month, with its Chemist-officers
serving as guinea pigs when the
time arrives for the food to be con-
Sumed.
This laboratory has licked the
problem of retaining vitamins in
cooked vegetables to such an extent
that its methods are incorporated IN
the Army Cooks Manual.