CONDENSED RATIONS FOR SOLDIERS AND SPORTS- 

 MEN. 



Old Timer. 



The question of food supply for sports- 

 men and prospectors, as for soldiers, is one 

 of great importance; yet wholesomeness, 

 palatibility, nutritive value and good keep- 

 ing qualities must also be considered. 



In this paper I shall mention no article 

 that has not been successfully tested by dis- 

 interested parties, and shall make no state- 

 ments that are not based on the reports of 

 competent authorities, or on actual ex- 

 perience. 



The Emergency Ration of the United 

 States Army comprises: 



Hard bread 16 ounces. 



Bacon 10 



Pea meal 4 



Coffee, roasted and ground, with 4 

 grains saccharin (or tea, % ounce, 



with 4 grains saccharin) 2 



Salt 64 



Pepper .. 04 " 



Tobacco 5 " 



Net weight, with coffee 33. 18 " 



The final Board which established it (as- 

 sisted by the experiments and opinions of 8 

 other Boards), said it was intended for 

 " occasions on which, from any cause the 

 troops are mainly dependent on food, car- 

 ried on the person," and decided that the 

 " emergency ration should contain as much 

 of the proximate principles of food as is 

 necessary to sustain the soldier under the 

 minimum of physical strain." 



This Board also decided that " in the 

 direst emergency rations for 5 days might 

 be made to last 10." ' 



This was put to a thorough test and 2 

 members of the Board, with 42 enlisted 

 men, mounted, marched an average of 20 

 miles a day, for 10 consecutive days, on 

 one-half rations, in a country where there 

 was no game and no opportunity to pro- 

 cure other supplies. During this period 

 the men lost, on an average, 3 pounds per 

 man. Another detachment, under similar 

 circumstances, except that they were sup- 

 plied with the full field ration, lost 1 1-3 

 pounds; but a dynamometer, used daily to 

 test the strength of the men in the detach- 

 ment living on half rations, showed that 

 their strength increased from day to day. 

 On the tenth day, " the detachment as a 

 whole, was able to lift a ton more than it 

 was when it started." 



The total net weight of food consumed in 

 10 days, per man, was only 10 pounds and 

 6 ounces. 



This probably represents the best pos- 

 sible minimum weight ration that could be 

 devised to keep a man in good physical 



condition while performing fairly active 

 work. 



This Board stated these articles, whether 

 full or half rations were used, were " not in- 

 tended for continuous use," but " only oc- 

 casionally and for short periods/' fully 

 recognizing the fact that fresh bread, meat, 

 vegetables and fruit, or a first-class canned 

 or evaporated supply of the last 2, are 

 necessary to keep men in good health, for 

 a protracted diet. 



Bacon is of prime importance. It is very 

 nutritious (nearly double the food value of 

 flour or hard bread and nearly 3 times that 

 of fresh beef), portable, wholesome, keeps 

 well, is easily cooked (or can be eaten raw), 

 and is almost indispensable in field cook- 

 ing. Bacon should not be fried or broiled 

 unless the fat is caught and used with soup, 

 bread or vegetables. 



If pea meal is browned occasionally, be- 

 fore making the soup, it renders less boil- 

 ing necessary and gives variety to the soup. 



Hard bread is useful as it is always ready: 

 baking is often inconvenient and hard 

 bread is less liable to derange the bowels 

 than poorly cooked bread. 



COMPLETE TABLE OF FOOD FOR ONE MAN, 

 ONE YEAR. 



In this it is presumed that no fresh fish, 

 meat or vegetables are obtainable and this 

 is suitable for a permanent camp or for 

 travelling. A respectable diet, from a san- 

 itary and gastronomic point of view, can be 

 prepared from this and the amount is 

 ample. 



75 pounds hard bread. 

 400 pounds flour. 

 150 pounds bacon. 



30 pounds ham. 



12 i : pound cans deviled ham. 



48 2-pound cans corned beef. 



48 2-pound cans roast beef. 



20 pounds dried beef. 



20 pounds codfish. 



24 2-pound cans salmon. 



24 2-pound cans oysters. 



24 2-pound packages Quaker Oats. 



48 2,^-pound cans "Army ration," Armour's of 

 Fairbanks. 



48 i%-pound cans Concentrated Military Soup." 



48 2-pound cans soups, assorted. 



30 pounds pea meal. 



40 pounds beans. 



10 pounds desiccated or evaporated onions. 



20 pounds desiccated or evaporated potatoes. 



5 pounds bouillon capsules. 



30 pounds coffee (if roasted, should be in air-tight 

 cans). 

 5 pounds tea. 



10 pounds chocolate. 



60 pounds sugar. 



x /\ pound saccharin tablets. 



48 cans condensed milk, part sweetened, part un- 

 sweetened. 



150 



