Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1915 — SUNDAY. [ARTICLE]

SUNDAY.

Breakfast —Baked pork and beans, tomato catchup, coffee cake. Bread, butter, coffee. Dinner —Rice and tomato soup, breaded pork chops, tomato catsup, green peas, mashed potatoes, ice cream and cake. Bread and coffee. Supper —Italian macaroni, sliced bologna, potato salad, peaches and cream. Bread, butter, tea. One might wonder how it is possible to supply all of these fresh and good things on a man-o’-war if one did not know that each battleship has great cold-storage compartments in which these things can be tucked away and kept. Years ago the butter served to our sailors was of a character properly termed forceful, and even the most hardened sea dog had to hold his breath when he ate it. Today the butter supplied our bluejackets comes from the best of the creameries and has the most rigid specifications and undergoes exacting inspection before it is accepted for the service. In the same way all beef and other meats are examined by experts, and jacky knows that he will have only the best and juiciest of joints. The following proportion of fresh meats is issued: In any one month there will be 50 per cent of beef, 20 per cent of pork loin, 10 per cent of sausage, 5 per cent veal, 5 per cent mutton and 5 per cent fowl. During the Christmas holidays and at Thanksgiving a more generous allowance of fowl is permitted, for then prime plump turkeys figure frequently on the bill of fare. In the old days the nearest approach to a fresh vegetable when at sea was the Irish potato, and lemon or lime juice helped further to guard the men from scurvy. Now our sailors have a variety of fresh vegetables and a daily issue of fruit is considered necessary from a health standpoint. The medical men of the navy have found that life aboard ship is of necessity more or less sedentary, and for that reason bodily functions are prone to become sluggish. Fruits in ample quantities have a great corrective and curative value in this respect and the allowance is now increased on going to sea.

Formerly the crew of a ship were divided into messes containing from 14 to 20 men, and the food for each mess was, within some limits, subject to qualifications or change to suit the desires of the group. By commuting some of the rations and taking the money equivalent it was possible to buy supplies ashore that could not be obtained from the ship’* stores. This added to the difficulties of the cooks and bred discontent through the disparity of diet existing between a bad and a well run mess. Now, this objection has been over come by placing all of the enlisted men in what is known as a general mess and all have to fare alike. The chief commissary steward and his assistants, the chief cook and his subordinates, together ivith the system of purchase and the wide range of the dietary allowed under the ration s£ale now make it possible to provide, to prepare and to serve to our sailors food that cannot be equaled anywhere else for several times the price. The question of water is quite a» vital in the official mind as solid food for our sailors. Now ev’ery drop drunk on shipboard is distilled and the men commonly drink from sanitary fountains placed at convenient points. The medical experts of the service have found that this water is of peculiar value in cases where the jackies are predisposed toward rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, abnormal blood pressure and kindred conditions. In short, this distilled water will contribute to longer life under such circumstances, and this fact should be of general interest.