
RECREATION. 
XXVIi 

CONDENSED RATIONS. 
RECREATION has had a great deal to say 
at different times on the subject of con- 
densed foods for soldiers, sportsmen, 
yachtsmen, prospectors, etc., and I have 
made repeated efforts to induce the various 
»manufacturers of these goods to advertise 
them in order that the thousands of readers 
of this magazine who are interested in this 
question might know where to buy goods. 
I have finally been successful in one in- 
stance, and take pleasure in calling the at- 
tention of my readers to the ad. of the 
American Compressed Food Co. 
This company has furnished me some 
samples of these goods, which I have care- 
fully tested in various ways and which I 
have found entirely as represented by the 
makers. The emergency ration proper is 
put up in a can measuring 27 cubic inches, 
and weighing 20 ounces, containing an 
- equivalent to 3% pounds of the best known 
food products, measuring about 125 cubic 
inches. 
The ration in question is composed of 
evaporated fresh beef, cereals and vegeta- 
- bles, in a perfectly dry state, compressed 
under 60 tons hydraulic pressure and her- 
metically sealed, so that it may be car- 
ried in a pack anywhere and under any 
conditions where a pound of shot could 
be carried. 
At the direction of the Secretary of War 
this food has been subjected to 5 exacting 
tests by regular army officers, and bodies 
oi troops have made several marches of 
5 days’ duration during the past year, liv- 
ing on nothing but this ration. Not only 
were the men maintained in splendid 
physical condition, but they averaged a gain 
in weight and strength, as shown by the 
reports of the surgeons in charge of the 
tests. So favorable were the results ob- 
tained that such officers as General 
Brooke, General Wood, General Lee, Gen- 
eral Davis, General Wilson, 6 chief com- 
missaries and 24 surgeons, in addition to 
over 200 regular line and staff officers, have 
certified to the merits of the food and 
recommended its adoption for the use of 
the troops. On these wonderfully favor- 
able reports the Secretary of War has sup- 
plied a quantity of this food for the use 
of the troops in the Philippines. The food 
cannot spoil, and is always ready; can be 
eaten without cooking if necessary, and is 
palatable and nutritious. 
The package in which the tood is con- 
tained is air tight and water tight. The 
- man supplied with it may expose his pack 
to rain, snow or cold weather, and it will 
not be damaged. Even if his boat should 
- capsize and the pack go to the bottom 
of the lake or the river it will be as good 
as ever, if he can recover it a week or a 
month later. 
Contained in each can with the food is 
a package of high grade, sweetened tea, 
which, when boiled in 2 quarts of water, 
instantly makes a palatable and wholesome 
adjunct to the food. 
The company also puts up pea soup and 
bean soup in compressed tablets weighing 
5 1-3 ounces each. A tablet boiled in 2 
quarts of water for 3 minutes makes a de- 
licious soup from which, in the absence 
of other food, a man may make a meal 
that would sustain him for half a day of 
hard work. 
I have frequently seen the time when I 
would give $10 for one can of this emer- 
gency ration and one package of pea or 
bean soup. I have seen the time when I 
would give $25 for enough of this food 
to last me on a 10 days’ trip, all of which 
I could readily have carried in my pack. 
Thousands of other men have been simi- 
larly situated. For example, the following 
estimate shows the sportsmen or tourist 
how much time, labor and trouble he may 
save by the use of this food. 
For a Io days’ trip the usual provisions 
carried would probably weigh 50 pounds, 
consisting of rice, flour, bacon, coffee, 
beans, dried fruits, etc., all liable to de- 
terioration by climatic influences, particu- 
larl, rain. On the other hand 10 cans of. 
Standard Emergency Ration, supplemented 
by, say, 10 soup tablets, would weigh, all 
told, 12%4 pounds. 
This food is as great an improvement 
over the old methods of subsistence sup- 
ply as the breech loader is superior to the 
muzzle loader, or as the small bore, high 
power rifle of to-day excels the old 45 
calibre guns of our forefathers. 
I predict that hereafter no hunter, fisher- 
man, explorer, prospector or miner will 
start on a long trip, where transportation 
facilities are limited, without a supply of 
this food. 
As a cowboy friend of mine once said, 
this stuff is multum in plurio plurius. It is 
a pleasure to commend so valuable an 
adjunct to the camping outfit as this, and 
every reader of RECREATION interested in 
any such proposition should write the 
American Compressed Food Co., Passaic, 
N. J., for circulars describing these goods 
in full. 
Mrs. Crimsonbeak: ‘Has Mr. Crimson- 
beak got home for dinner yet, Bridget?” 
Bridget: “No, mum.” 
“T thought I heard him down stairs.” 
“Sure that was the dog you heard 
growlin’, mum.’—Yonkers Statesman. 
“That new ladies’ magazine proved a 
complete failure.” 
“Did it? What was the cause?” 
“Why, it was called the Age of Woman, 
and, of course, that’s something the wo- 
men don’t want mentioned,”—Philadelphia 
Bulletin. 
