SOME ACHIEVEMENTS IN FOOD 



595 



through every conceivable 

 avenue for reaching the 

 people. In addition to this 

 wholesale distribution the 

 Commission has filled indi- 

 vidual orders averaging 

 25,000 a day, received as a 

 result of a persistent cam- 

 paign of publicity in 2000 

 newspapers in the United 



States. The aggregate has been staggering, and the de- 

 mand has taxed the capacity of the largest printing offices 

 in Washington. Baltimore and Philadelphia. 



Early in the campaign for canning and drying it de- 

 veloped that the government could not meet the demand 

 for literature on these two subjects. Because of the war 

 emergency the pressure on the government printing 

 office was so heavily increased that there was unavoid- 

 able delay in printing for all branches of the public 

 service. In one of the bulletins issued by the Commis- 

 sion it was stated that its Washington offices had re- 

 ceived numerous calls from Congressmen asking for 

 help. "One Congressman wanted 30,000 of our man- 

 uals," said this bulletin, "because he was swamped with 

 requests and the government printing office, he said, 

 could not fill the demand because of great tax upon it 

 from all departments." 



Through all of this activity the serious purpose of the 

 Commission has been given frequent touches of relief by 

 episodes incidental to the day's work. One of the most 

 startling incidents of the campaign was the receipt of a 

 telegram requesting that canning and drying manuals be 



NO CAMOUFLAGE OF FOOD 



While conceding the value of camouflage for the purpose 

 of deceiving the enemy the National Emergency Food Gar- 

 den Commission has taken a firm stand against trying to 

 practice camouflage on the human stomach. "You may 

 fool the enemy by masking your batteries and making the 

 battlefield look like a peaceful landscape," says a recent 

 bulletin; "but the stomach of a soldier is n3t so easily' 

 hoodwinked. The soldier must have real food." 





sent immediately to Inspir- 

 ation, Ariz., for use in con- 

 nection with "the biggest 

 war garden in the West." 

 The Commission's staff in- 

 cludes people from all over 

 the United States, but none 

 had ever heard of Inspira- 

 tion outside the fields of 

 poetry and the arts. As a 

 town it had no meaning for any of the staff. Nor could 

 it be located through consultation of maps or postal 

 guides. It was not until inquiry had been made at the 

 Postoffice Department that Inspiration was found, and 

 even then it was learned that the place had to depend on 

 a town two miles away for its mail facilities. 



This was a puzzle. That a commimity which did not 

 even boast a postoffice of its own should claim the big- 

 gest war garden, created a new situation and one not 

 lacking in dramatic value. The manuals were forwarded 

 by express without delay and the Commission then set 

 in motion machinery for procuring further information 

 about the big garden in the hidden community of the 

 Southwest. The results were amazing — not to say an 

 inspiration. From J. R. Sandige, the exj^ert in charge, 

 came the following statement of fact : 



"The gardens are two miles east of Miami, Gila 

 county. Arizona, at an elevation of 3,300 feet. The cli- 

 mate is semi-tropical, making it possible to grow some 

 vegetables throughout the year. A majority of the gar- 

 deners are employes of the Inspiration Consolidated 

 Copper Company, but quite a nimiber of residents of 



WHERE R.\CE .MEETS RACE IX GARDE.N WORK. 

 Not the least impressive feature of the war garden enterprise at Inspiration, Arizona, was the polyglot character of the workers. Perhaps no 

 other garden in the country was cultivated in as many different languages. The picture gives a comprehensive idea of the diversity of races. 

 Reading from left to right the men represented the following named races or nationalities: Apache Indian, Negro, Hungarian, Englisli, Mexican, 

 Irish, Chilean, Italian, American and Austrian The gardeners in this big garden were for the most part employes of the Inspiration Consoli- 

 dated Copper Company and the members of their families. 



