Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1915 — UNCLE SAM'S SAILORS BEST FED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UNCLE SAM'S SAILORS BEST FED

UR bluejackets are the f(| | best fed fighting men in I|| I j the world, and if a boy XxZx has any leanings toward enlisting in the nation’s defense he will make no mistake by casting his lot with the men afloat He may have a hankering for terra firma, but it must not be forgotten that the army is outdistanced by the navy when it comes to the matter of dietary. The dally issue of food either to the soldier or the sailor, out of which three meals are made, is officially called a ration. This allowance for the army costs Uncle Sam between 24 and 25 cents, but last year the average cost of subsisting one man for one day in the navy was >0.366, Jacky being the higher liver by the purchasing power of nearly twelve cents more than his soldier fellow in the national defense. It is not overstating the case to say that the major part of the fleet’s efficiency and the contentment of the men is due, either directly or indirectly, to the generous and varied provender which is now given them whether the ship is in port or plowing her way through stormy seas. There was a time, not long ago. when tinned foods were extensively served on board our naval craft, but the fleet is using less and less of these all the while. Upon this point Admiral McGowan, chief of the bureau of supplies and accounts, has recently said: “There are certain things that it is almost necessary to use as a part of a ration. For instance, there is canned corned beef, which is so well understood and so well liked in the navy that its use to a certain moderate extent is not only welcome but most welcome to the men —they like it Then canned tomatoes and a few other staples; canned fruits and some vegetables canned are very serviceable and are used right along. But the great majority of all the food furnished to the men now, at least in the battleship fleet, is fresh food—fresh vegetables, fresh meats, fresh bread, etc.” Surely this is enough to make our old sea dogs rise in protest from their graves. They could remind their young followers of today of the trying times of wooden ships and canvas when “salt horse,’’ “sowbelly,” “hardtack” and the like constituted the main elements of the sailor’s ration. Tinned foods, as we know them now, would indeed have been a delicacy in the decades gone, but the fighting jacky of those days had to be content with such delectables as “scouse,” “lobscouse,” “soft tack,” “soft tommy,” “skillagalee,” “burgoo.” "doughboys,” "dog’s body” and “duff,” the latter not always able to boast of plums. The water, too, that our seamen drank in those other days was both scant in its allowance when on the open ocean and as likely as not tainted and unpalatable. Just 14 years ago the navy department and the national legislators awakened to the fact that our bluejackets were the victims of official blindness. Congress in 1861 put a daily limit of the measure of food to be allowed in a ration, and nine years later it established the value of the ration at 30 cents. That is, if the sailor did not draw his ration it had a commutative value of 30 cents. That sum then rightly represented the cost of the food supplied by Uncle Sam to the enlisted men of the navy But as the years grew following the Civil war the items of that dietary became generally cheaper, and in 1901 the food supplied under the terms of the ration cost the navy department ton an average 18 cents instead of 30. ’ That meant that if the men could go into the open market, after commuting the entire ration, they could actually buy 30 cents worth of food

in place of that costing 18 cents, which the government ration represented. The navy department then set about rearranging the constituents of the ration so that the men would have a wide variety to draw upon while getting the body building or fuel values needful. This was where the authorities reduced the dietary scale to a matter of calories or nutrient units. Such was the state of affairs eight years ago. Since then the medical authorities of the service have found that some of the allowances for certain provisions were in excess of those desired or consumed, and accordingly they are now shifting things so that better results in the way of satisfying the men can be obtained without adding to the total cost. The public little realizes what nice figuring must be done In order to keep expenditures within bounds. With a total enlisted force of approximately 55,000 men, Uncle Sam has to pay more than >7,400,000 annually to make the “inner man” happy. The prize ship of the navy is the dreadnaught Wyoming. The men behind her guns have scored the highest marks at target practice and their husky mates below the protective deck have outclassed their rivals In engineering efficiency. The Wyoming Is a “happy ship.” There are no hungry or dyspeptic mischief makers or malcontents aboard of her. One might wonder at this were it not possible to give a week’s bill of fare for the general mess. This will show the part the chief commissary steward plays in making this a fact. MONDAY. Breakfast —Baked corned beef hash, fried hominy, oranges. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Split pea soup, boiled cabbage, boiled corned beef, boiled potatoes, raisin pie. Bread and coffee. „ Supper—Fried liver, fried onions, fried potatoes, rice blanc mange. Bread, butter, tea. TUESDAY. Breakfast —Fried eggs, fried bologna, fried potatoes, bananas. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Grilled sirloin steak, fried onions, mashed potatoes, cocoanut custard. Bread and coffee. Supper —Beef a la mode, hashed brown potatoes, com fritters. Bread, butter, tea. WEDNESDAY. Breakfast —Boston baked beans, to-, mato catchup, hot com bread, oranges. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Vermicelli soup, prime roast beef, onions, gravy, boiled potatoes, fruit tapioca. Bread, butter, coffee. Supper —Oyster stew with crackers, cold beans, doughnuts, fruit jam. Bread and tea.

THURSDAY. Breakfast —Fried pork sausage, onions, gravy, German fried potatoes, preserved fruit. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Tomato soup, spiced ham, German browned potatoes, dried peach pie. Bread, butter, coffee. Supper —Baked veal pie, biscuits, sweet corn. Bread, butter, cocoa. FRIDAY. Breakfast —Scrambled eggs, fried bacon, force with milk and sugar. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —New England clam chowder, fried trout, baked potatoes, mince pie. Bread and coffee. Supper—Beef croquettes, tomato catchup, fruit jam. Bread and tea. SATURDAY. Breakfast —Railroad hash, tomato catchup, currant buns. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Bean soup, boiled bacon, boiled cabbage, potatoes and turnips, boiled potatoes, pickles. Bread, butter, coffee. Supper —Steamed frankfurters with mustard, string bean salad, boiled potatoes, jam turnovers. Bread, butter.

LOADING PROVISIONS ON A BATTLESHIP