OCR Text |
Show ML HRHV WRITES INTERESTING LETTER TO OGDEN "Vancouver Barracks, Wash., Aug. 9, 1918. "My Dear Sir: "Having been asked to write something some-thing about life in the army, I can think of nothing more Interesting than tho subject of feeding Uncle Sam's army. Most people have only a faint and hazy Idea of how soldiers are fed. Everybody kaows that tho American army 13 the bost fed and tho best clothed army in the world but that is about as far as tholr knowledge goes, Some general, Sherman, I think it was, has said, "An army fights on its stom- ach" and history has borne this out. Perhaps some of the "pep" the American Amer-ican troops have shown in their recent re-cent drives In Francq has been due to tho excellent food thoy are getting, i "Now in tho army there are kitchens and kitchens; there are kitchens on wheels, barracks kitchens, and stationary sta-tionary field ranges. Our .kitchen Is of this last typo. It is an open-air kitchen having only a canvas roof for protection. (Here I might add it is tho second largest outfit of its kind in this country.) "Tho ranges, storerooms, mess-halls and other outfits nre all located under canvas tents as you must remember that this kitchen is only a temporary one and, will be abandoned as soon as the draft is over. The range is located lo-cated In the center of the kichen while just back of it are tho feeding lines through which the men pass to receive re-ceive their food. A little below the lines is the big mess hall where the men sit while eating. Nearby is a large recinerator built like an old-fashioned old-fashioned furnace over which the potatoes po-tatoes and other vegetables are cooked and where the coffee is made. A "rookie" who saw the coffee boiling in the huge barrels one day inquired of the coffee -cook, "Why does the coffee cof-fee boil up around the outside of the barrel and not in the middle?" Assuming As-suming a knowing look the coffee-man replied, "That's easy. The coffee boils up around the outside for the men who get up early; then later it boils up in tho middle for the men who get up late." Just back of the range are the storeroom tents where all'the supplies are arranged in heat and systematic order. Of course, everything must bo clean and sanitary to Insure protection protec-tion against disease. Nearby is the officers mess hall where the officers are fed. There is also the K. P. hall (No, KP does not refer to Knights of Pythias but to kitchen police), where the kitchen police are fed. The KP's are privates who are detailed each day to help the cooks in their work such as peeling potatoes, washing pots, etc. "Running lengthwise through the kitchen is the long field range, or rather ra-ther set of ranges, some seventy-five feet in' length. This is made up of. nine complete ranges, each built on a brick foundation and having a separate sep-arate ovon and a top cooking surface of about eight square feet. The ovens can be made very hot and are used chiefly for baking and roasting. The range is fired from openings in the bricks just below and to the right of each oven. Wood being very plentiful here Is used for fuol and quite often it gives oft great clouds of smoke, much to the disgust of the cooks who feel that thoy are more in need of gas masks than are our men in Franco. At any rate they ought to be well trained for duty on the firing line. "Preparing a meal for three thousand thou-sand men is quite a task as you can imagine. Think of three thousand men standing in line waiting for their dinner, and you can get an idea of what our feeding line is like. Something Some-thing like SO'bushcls of potatoes, two average sized beeves, 250 pounds of beans, 200 pounds of dried apples, 250 loaves of bread and other quantities of food in proportion are used In, the preparation of an ordinary meal. The government allows just a little more than twelve and one -half cents per meal for each man. Upon first thought this seems a very small sum of money to buy a meal ftfr a hungry man. especially es-pecially in these days of high prices. But when you remember that Uncle Sam buys his foodstuffs in such enormous enor-mous quantities at the lowest wholesale whole-sale prices then you will easily understand under-stand how our soldiers are so well fed on less than forty cents a day. Consider Con-sider the following menu taken from an average dinner: roast beef with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, creamed cream-ed peas, sliced beets, watermelon, bread and butter, and cocoa, and you will see why our men are fed so well. "Let us watch the men as they come for their meals. They are called out from their quarters by the sound of the bugles blowing the mess calls and it is needless to say thoy need no second sec-ond invitation. Falling into line they I are marched directly to the mess hall by their drill sergeants. Here the food is placed in largo receptacles, all lined up on long tables along which the men pass. A KP officiates at each pan of food dishing it up cafeteria style as the men pass by. Each man has a mess kit consisting of one deep plate, one shallow cover, one large cup, and a knife, fork and spoon, which he holds before him to be filled as he inarches past the food. Officers standing near are always on the alert to see that everything ev-erything moves off smoothly and quite often they eat with their men to be certain that the food is properly cooked cook-ed and scrupulously clean. If the men, upon eating the first helping of food, find that there is still a vague feeling feel-ing of emptiness near the region of their stomachs, they may return for another helping of food, and so on until their hunger Is appeased and they are satisfied. After tho meal, who do you suppose washes the dishes? No, you are wrong. The KP's do not wash the dishes. Each man washes his own mess kit in scalding water provided nearby, and he is then ready to bo marched back to his company for duty and then for another meal. "Of course, there are a few mollycoddles molly-coddles in the army who were brought up in band boxes who at first complain com-plain about tho food, but they soon forget this and learn to live healthily on plain wholesome food. All the time the fact is kept before the men that Americans, the countryover are saving and Hooverizing0each day so that our soldiers may have more and better food. Realizing and appreciating appreciat-ing this the men waste but little food. Most men gain from five to fifteen pounds weight the first month they are here, and this is not all surplus fat; most of it is brawn and muscle. "Let me say In conclusion that the American soldier, ordinarily Is well fed, contented sort of a fellow, full of "pep", eager for action, and ready at all times to uphold the honor of his flag and his country, (Signed) "WM. C. BARRY." |