HOT MEALS AT ALL HOURS.
By nrlRf.-Cen’l Henry O. Sliarpe, CoinmiHsary Kencral, IT. ». A.
The Commissary Department of the
Army of the United States has been
brought to perfection and the Ameri¬
can soldier to-day is better fed Jtnan
the man who bears arms under any
other flag on earth.
Veterans of the Civil War will re
■call the doggerel In which the fare
•of the boys who wore the blue was
designated. It was:
Beans for breakfast;
Tirana for dinner:
Beans for supper;
Beans, beans beans!
The men who followed the stars
•and bars were not so fortunate as to
have a regular diet of even beans.
They frequently subsisted for weeks
at a time on a few pounds of parched
corn, and they fought well under that
diet, too. But for years now the best
thought of the commissaries of the
army has been devoted to the Im¬
provement of tho food conditions,
and Brigadier-General Henry G.
Sharpe, Commissary-General of the
Army, has prepared the
article for the Illustrated Sunday
Magazine cm the food of the Army, in
which he gives soma interesting data
concerning the method of feeding
Undo Sam’s defenders.
While in garrison the enlisted man
In the United States Army is entitled
to draw each day twenty ounces of
fre.sk beef or mutton, or twelve
ounces of bacon. Should it be found
Impracticable to obtain fresh meat he
(has in lieu thereof sixteen ounces of
canned meat, or canned fish, four
tern ounces of dried fish or sixteen
ounces of pickled fish.' He may, on
occasion, draw from the commissary
a can of beef and vegetable stew con¬
taining twenty-eight and one-half
ounces. He is entitled each day to
eighteen ounces of flour or its equiva¬
lent in bread, or In lieu thereof twen¬
ty ounces of corn meal.
Of vegetable components he has
tils choice of beans, peas, rice and
hominy and a pound of potatoes, on¬
ions or canned tomatoes. Tn addition
thereto he Is supplied each day with
abont an ounce and a half of prunes,
■evaporated apples or peaches. An
■ounce and a third of roasted coffee or
a third of an ounce of tea is given to
each man as well as a little more than
three ounces of sugar, and a sufficient
quantity of vinegar, pepper and salt.
This is the ordinary garrison ra¬
tion. vVhen located at army posts
■convenient, to city markets the mess
may exchange any portion of its ra¬
tions for fresh vegetables, fruits or
other delicacies which strike the
fancy.
TJae field ration differs in Its essen¬
tial particulars only slightly from
that Issued In garrison. Jam takes
Ahe place of dried fruits and with
'•raaarh portion of flour is supplied bak¬
ing powder or yeast.
It has been the aim of the Depart
"Bient for some time past to improve
the method of feeding the troops in
tJif field. With this end in view a
school of cookery has been estab¬
lished at Fort Riley, Kansas, with
Xmanches at the Presidio of California
and at the Washington Barracks, Dis
itrkd of Columbia. The men at these
achnols are Instructed in the art. of
baking bread of various kinds and in
general plain cookery, the idea being
to wostjablish a corp of army cooks who
*ean take the ordinary rations issued
to each squad and prepare them in
much manner as to tempt the appetite
tot the enlisted men. The result of
HMs training is that the army cooks
to-day are able to prepare meals out
.of the supplies furnished to each
'nwsr.s which would do credit to an
•ordinary hotel. The receipts used in
ttJhese •cooking schools embrace a
Cozen different soups, five or six
methods of preparing fish and oys¬
ters, ten or twelve sauces and gra¬
vies. besides fifty or more ways of
stewing the various meats and vege
itnbles which are furnished as regu
'txr rations, to say nothing of the
numerous methods of making differ¬
ent kinds of breads, cakes, muffins,
puddings and pies. In short the men
of the army to-day, when in garrison,
are better served than the men in
.civil life in like conditions.
The army cooking schools will re
-snlt in the ultimate establishment of
a corps of cooks and bakers capable
of preparing appetizing meals at all
♦lines for the troops of the United
States and will assure to them better
and more varied food than the sol¬
diers of any other country can hope
to have. Still, we are, up to the
present time, behind the European
armies in the matter of movable
ovens. At the outbreak of the Span
ish War such contrivances were prac¬
tically unknown to the Army. Our
■soldiers were compelled to depend
largely upon hard tack for their
bread, although the German and
French armies had adopted the mov¬
able oven long before that time. And
even now we have few of these very
necessary adjuncts to the Commissary
.Department, although it is likely that
under new regulations, recently
adopted, these will soon be supplied.
One of tho longest steps forward in
tho way of providing for men of the
army on the march is now being per
fected by this department. That is
the construction of what is generally
known as “the flreleas cooker,” a
modification of the Norwegian hay
oven. For two or three years past
we have been experimenting with
various devices submitted by manu¬
facturers with a view to the adoption
of the best possible method for sup¬
plying hot meals to the troops in the
field in tho quickest possible time.
The tireless cooker, or hay-oven, is
no now thing. It has been used in
Europe for a great many years. The
main idea is to partially cook a meal
and then to place the food in a re¬
ceptacle which will retain the heat,
with as little loss as possible, and to
permit the retained heat to finish the
cooking operation. Everybody knows
that water bolls at two hundred and
twelve degrees Fahrenheit, but very
few people realize that water never
gets any hotter than that and few
seem to know that it is unnecessary
to bring food up to even the degree
, of temperature required to boil water
[ provided the heat can bo retained, to
insure perfect cooking.
Experiments have shown that par¬
tially cooked food can be thoroughly
cooked if kept at a temperature any
where above 170 for a certain period
of time and that is wliat is being
done with the fireless cooker, which
we hope to be able to perfect so as
to make it available for the army.
There are in the market to-day a
great many such appliances, ranging
from wooden boxes, packed with as¬
bestos or mineral wool, up to elab¬
orate metallic contrivances, several
inches thick in the rim packed with
some sort of non-cond lector of heat,
such as wood fibre or asbestos. What
the army wants is a contrivance of
this character in which partially
cooked foods may be placed which
will retain the heat for many hours
and to this end our experiments are
being made with a fair degree of suc¬
cess thus far. Not long ago a squad
of men started on a march from Fort
Riley, Kansas, followed by a wagon
containing a partially cooked meal,
sufficient for the entire squad. After
a march of six hours the fireless
cooker In which this meal was con¬
tained was opened and it was found
that the meat, vegetables and mac¬
aroni, contained therein, was per¬
fectly prepared and ready for dinner.
The theory is a simple one. It is
that heat retained by a non-conductor
and prevented from escaping will
complete the operation of cooking
food. The hay-box of Norway has
been used for a generation or more
and we want to adopt the idea into
the army of the United States; when
this is done a squad of troops started
out on a day’s march can be followed
b- supply wagons with fireless cook¬
ers, that have been packed when
camp is broken in the morning, and
which will have a nutritious hot meal
ready to serve to them immediately
when camp is made again at night.
Heretofore it has been found neces¬
sary in order to give our soldiers hot
food on a march to carry a supply of
fuel from camp to camp. And even
then a great deal of time is consumed
in building the fires and in cooking
the meals. It will be readily under¬
stood that any method which prom¬
ises the elimination of the necessity
of hauling large quantities of fuel
and at the same time eliminate the
loss of time will be of enormous ad¬
vantage and that the result will be
highly appreciated by the men to be
fed.
Manufacturers have in many in
stances prepared devices which are
entirely satisfactory in a small way
and and which which annpar appear to to be be excellent excellent for tor
domestic purposes, hut up to the
present time none of them has do
signed a “tireless cooker” satisfactory
for the needs of such a number of
men as the Subsistence Department
must provide for. We are looking
for lightness in weight, combined
with absolute stability in construe
tion. We want a cooker which will
stand long travel over all sorts of
roads and assure the perfection of
the contents at the end of the jour
ney. Each receptacle containing
foods must be absolutely air tight,
easily cleaned and readily adjusted.
We have secured, through our own 1
officers, several devices which seem I
to fill the bill, and I am confident that i
before long It will be possible to start I
out a regiment of soldiers from camp \ -
in the morning with a wagon contain
ing fireless cookers supplied with a
full ration of partially cooked food
which will be fit to serve in the form
of a palatable well-cooked meal by
the time camp is reached at the end
of the day.—New Orleans Picayune.
A champagne bottle's toilet em¬
ploys the hands of forty-five work*
[ ruei».
SIGN or RETURNING CONEIDENCE
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\ :cn *3 cleveroSu cartoon by Davenport, in the New York Mail,
PROSPERITY WAVE FELT IN COUNTRY’S INDUSTRIES.
Railroads Pl3n Gigantic Improvements Costing Millions of
Dollars—National Prosperity Association, Having
No More Work to Do, Disbands. X
'
The certain return of prosperity is eloquently indicated in items
in the news of the past week.
From all over the country have come reports of the reopening of
factories after ten months of cessation. Whirring machinery tells of
the employment of thousands of men and women who have had noth¬
ing to do.
While only a short while ago mills were running on half time,
to-day they are rushed with work and are giving employment to all
who apply.
Railroads are feeling the Aladdin-like touch of prosperity and are
planning to expend millions of dollars upon improvements. There has
been a loosening up of the money market so that funds to carry on the
gigantic projects contemplated are to bo had readily.
Correspondents send in glowing reports of conditions in all the
manufacturing centres. In the Northwest, the South, the East—
everywhere there are signs of better times.
One positive evidence of the improvement in conditions is given
in the disbandment of the National Prosperity Association, of St. Louis.
Its chairman, E. C. Simmons, explained that now that prosperity is
swiftly returning, there is no more work for the organization to do.
News of a Week That Shows ■4 VI
Evidence of Better Times
Washington, D. C. — Reports re¬
ceived by the International Brother¬
hood of Operative Potters during the
week indicated a general opening up
of work everywhere in that industry.
The force at the Riverside Pottery at
Wheeling, W. Va., ha3 been greatly
increased, and the firm is getting or¬
ders in a steady stream.
The Dresden Pottery is working at
full force. The Klondike Pottery will
have no slack time thi3 winter, its
employes having all they can do. The
Sebring Pottery, at Searing, O., has
had the busiest November it has
known in years. It is expected that
the American China Comneny, of To¬
ronto, ’ will operate steadily to the
year’s end. of
The Union Buffalo Cotton Mills,
Union, S. C.. which is said to operate
more looms than any other textile
corporation in the South, i-eeeived
such a rush of orders that it will be
obliged to run all of its three im¬
mense plants to their fullest capacity.
This sets going 17,000 spindles and
S00 looms, which were idle during
the summer. The mills employ 2000
men and women.
The Fales & Jenks Machine Corn
pany, of Pawtucket, R. I., employing
five-bour-a-week 400 hands, began schedule. working on Tne a fijty- iac
torv had bgen runm - ng on half time.
The Easton & Burnham Machine
Oompany, of Pawtucket, R. I., started
jt s factory on full time, after running
on short time during the summer. It
em cloys 100 men.
Lumbermen of Tifton. Ga., report
that all the mills are booked with
enough orders to keep them going
full ° e !?i“ Hit in J° for r three r J " months.^ : Tobwro" . ome are
,: e ri C n company
B/ pad to take seventy-five ner cent,
of tne 60,000,000 pounds of tobacco
C f the Burley Leaf Tobacco Society,
The deal involves $10,000,000.
After a shut-down of six months.
Illinois of its plants bteel Company at South. reopened Chicago,
four
700 men being put to work, Several
additional furnaces, requiring 5 00
men. will be blown at once.
Prominent railroad men, including
Donald G. Reid, of the Rock Island,
and E. C. Converse,- of the Baldwin
Locomotive Works, and the United
States Steel Corporation started the
organization of a $2,000,000 corpora¬ of
tion to manufacture steel. Most
the bends have been subscribed. The
works will be located near Gary. Ind.
Contracts were awarded by the
Crescent Steel and Wire Company to
construct a new plant at New Cor
nerstown. Ohio. ■
The United States Steel Corpora¬
tion decided to erect a $3,000,000
plant at Monessen, Pa., in the Mo
nougahela Valley.
The Schoen Steel Company, of
Pittsburg, announced that it would
take on 300 more men and spend $1,-
500,000 in improvements.
The National Tube Works, of Mc¬
Keesport, Pa., placed its plant on full
time.
The WestinghouseElectric Company
put all its departments on full time.
The Republic Iron and Steel Com¬
pany, of Pittsburg, ordered every ons
of its furnaces run to full capacity.
Every spindle in the cotton mills of
Midham and New London counties.
Conn., has been started up, and the
mills are rushed with orders.
The American Woolen Company’s
mills at Moosup, Conn., are prepar¬
ing to run full time, after a had pe¬
riod in which less than half time was
worked.
The Michigan Lake Superior Power
Company, of Chicago, which suspend¬
ed because of the financial conditions,
started to reorganize, and it Is expect¬
ed to resume within a few weeks.
Mills of the International Paper
Company, at Berlin, N. H., idle for
three months, reopened with a re
dU ed D° r
j FarreH, of Seattle. Wash..
representative of E. H. Harriman, in
the Pacific Northwest, has been called
to New York. Financiers and con
tractors say that railroad construe
tion work on a scale heretofore un
known is about to be inaugurated in
the Pacific Northwest. The North
Coast CWcago. Milwaukee and St.
Paul and Harriman system are the
three factors in the spending of mill
ions for a dominant position in Pu
get Sound and Northwest Coast.
Officiais of the Lackawanna Rail
road announced that improvements
costing $25,000,000 will be begun
soon. Plans have been drawn for the
extension of the road to Chicago. The
SUbUlban lmeS 18
Generally, the shipment of curren
cy, gold and silver to financial Insti-1 J
tutions in rural districts begins to de
eline in November, in accord with the
slackening of trade and the receipt of
money from abroad on grain and cot
ton exportations. But confidential re
ports of the St. Louis reserve agents
show that the shipments to all cen
tres in the South and West are al¬
most as large as last month. To the
growing trade and invigorating in¬
dustry is attributed the activity.
Conditions in the whole South shdw
.remarkable improvement.
< V HK«t I'll.K W B Y V1INOH PTIOX
TiUiKK KF.D CROSS P1LK A FISTULA CURE
X 1 and hook by mail II i)i-*‘i>a5rt. Minneapolis
REA CO.. Deyt. - 4 , . Minn.
A poor lover indeed i3 that man^vho
‘is engrossed in business.
nicks' Capudlne Cures Women's
and Monthly Headache. Pains, It's Backache, Liquid. Effect* Nervousnes* iinmo-'
diulely. results. 10c., Prescribed 25c„ by physicians 50c.. at drua with i»eot
ana store*
To be extiavagant at the expense of
other peonio j« criminal.
KEKP YOU It !>KIN HEALTHY.
Tettkrixk has done wondors for suffer¬
ers from eezetna, tetter, head, ground ihaps, itch, ery
sipelas, Infant sore chafes and
Other forms of skin diseases. In aggravat¬
ed cases of eczema its cures have boen mar¬
velous and thousands of people sing its
praises. 5oe. at druggists or by mail from
J. T. Shuptbine, Dept. A, Savannah, Ga.
A man isn t necessarily a fisher¬
man just because he is a liar.
SEKMKl) WORSE EVERY DAY.
A Dangerous Case of Kidney Trouble
and How It Was Checked.
Mrs. Lucy Quebeck, Mechanic St.,
Hope Valley, It. says: "Eight
years ago I contract¬
ed severe kidney
trouble and my back
-- began to ache con¬
V**L. w v*- tinually. Every day
it seemed vjorse.
The least pressure
lOav . on giy back tortured
1 sap me, and I could not
Hr twinge. stoop without The kidney a bad
secretions passed irregularly with
pain, and I bloated badly. My head
swam and spots flitted before my
eyes. One doctor said I was incurable.
However, I found prompt relief when
I started using Doan’s Kidney Pills,
and the troubles 1 have related grad¬
ually disappeared."
Sold by all dealers. 50c. a box.
Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y.
Not a Safe Place.
Old Aunt Hepsy Garside never had
seen a moving picture show before.
She gazed in speechless wender at
the magic contrivance by which mes¬
senger boys v/ere made to move with
breakneck speed, barbers to shave
their customers in less than a min¬
ute and heavy policemen to dash
along the street at a rate never at¬
tained by a living specimen, either
on or off duty.
It was all real to her. She could
not doubt the evidence of her senses.
All those things were taking place
exactly as depicted.
Presently an automobile came in
sight in the far background, moving
directly toward the audience at the
rate of at least a mile a minute. Just
as a catastrophe seemed inevitable
it swerved aside, passed on and dis¬
appeared.
Aunt Hepsy could not stand it no
longer. Hastily grasping the hand of
her little niece she rose and started
swiftly for the door.
Come along, Minervy! »» she said.
‘‘It ain’t safe to stay here any longer!
That thing didn’t miss me more than
two feet! Youth’s Companion.
OBLIGING.
Mrs. Chinnon—“Tell Marie I want
her to come up and take my hair
down.”
Rose (the new maid)—“Can’t 1
take it down to her, ma’am?”—Har¬
per’s Bazar.
LIVING ADVERTISEMENT.
Glow of Health Speaks For Postum.
It requires no scientific training to
Siscover whether coffee disagrees or
hot.
Simply stop it for a time and use
Postum in place of It, then note the
beneficial effects. The truth will ap¬
pear.
“Six years ago I was in a very bad
condition,” writes a Tenn. lady, “I
suffered from indigestion, nervous¬
ness and insomnia.
“I was then an inveterate coffee
drinker, but it was long before I could
be persuaded that it was coffee that
hurt me. Finally I decided to leave
it off a few days and find out the
truth.
“The first morning I ieft off coffee
had a ra « in S headache, so I decided
* niust have something to take the
P la ce of coffee.” (The headache was
caused by the reaction of the coffee
drug—caffeine).
“Having heard of Postum through
a friend who used it, I bought a pack
age and tried , t { did not like it at
?/ st : ! ? ut after T 1 learned , , . how to . make „, tn
^ n £ht, according to directions o
I ,k S-. I would not change back to cof
fe e f °r anything,
“When I began to use Postum I
weighed only 117 lbs. Now I weigh
170, and as I have not taken any
tonic in that time I can only attribute
tny recovery of good health to the use
.^ > ° stam y husband * n P' aCR I coffee, a living au
says am
v crtisement . for Postum. 1 am glad
to be the means of inducing my many
friends to use Postum, too.”
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich Read “The Road to
Wellvllle Jin ’ ’’ in nkas P § “There’s a Rea
f i
Ever read the above letter? A
new one appears from time to time.
They are genuine, true and full of ha*
man interest.
