PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



149 



kettles, and helps himself to what he 

 wants. He retires and allows another to 

 take his turn. After supplying themselves 

 they all sit a short distance from the fire 

 in a picturesque group on the ground and 

 partake of their morning meal. That is 

 the only regular meal of the day, as they 

 come in from the range at all hours until 

 sometimes late in the evening. The cook 

 replenishes his pots and kettles and, as the 

 cheap restaurant man says, gives 'meals at 

 all hours.' 



"Fresh, hot coffee is kept constantly on 

 tap, and is largely indulged in by the tired 

 cowboys as they come in from a long, 

 hard gallop. No cheap grade of coffee is 

 furnished, either, but the best the market 

 will afford. This is the only stimulant 

 permitted on the round-up, save in case 

 of sickness. 



"Occasionally the bill of fare is varied 

 by the addition of some kind of wild fowl 

 or by jack rabbits which the cowboys shoot 

 while out on the range. The mining pros- 

 pector in the mountains has a much better 

 opportunity to indulge in the luxury of 

 wild game and fish. He may shoot deer, 

 elk, bear, mountain sheep, rabbits, grouse, 

 sage hens, etc. The streams are also filled 

 with trout, so that the mountain bill of 

 fare may be made superior to that of the 

 plains." 



FOOD SUPPLIED DURING THE SIEGE OF 

 MAFEKING. 



The following statements regarding the 

 food supplied during the siege of Mafe- 

 king are included in a report by General 

 R. S. S. Baden-Powell: 



"Early in the siege I took over all mer- 

 chant stocks and put everybody on rations. 

 Beginning on the usual scale, I gradually 

 reduced it to the lowest that would allow 

 of the men being fit for duty. During the 

 latter part of the siege, no extras of any 

 kind were obtainable. All lived strictly 

 on the following scale : 



At first. Latterly. 



Meat 1 pound ^ to 1 pound 



Bread 1 " 5 ounces 



Vegetables 1 " 6 " 



Coffee 1-3 ounce 1-3 " 



Salt y 2 " y 2 " 



Sugar 2 " 



Tea y 2 " 



Sowens 1 quart 



The first ration was calculated to fur- 

 nish 142 grams protein, with a fuel value 

 of 2,517 calories; the latter, 149 grams 

 protein and 2,722 calories. 

 § "We had a large stock of meat, both 

 live and tinned. For livestock, we had to 

 open up a wide extent of grazing ground. 

 We t ate the fresh meat first in order to 

 avoid loss from enemy's fire, failure of 

 grass and water, lung sickness, etc. The 



tinned meat we stored in bomb-proof 

 chambers, and kept as reserve. During 

 the last 2 months, we were on horseflesh 

 3 days a week. Our stocks of meal were 

 comparatively small, but we had a large 

 supply of forage oats. Those we ground 

 into flour, and fermented the residue into 

 sowens, a form of porridge. The remain- 

 ing husks went as forage to the horses. 

 Fresh vegetables were largely grown 

 within the defences, and for a greater part 

 of the siege formed a regular portion of 

 the ration. 



"The cost of feeding the troops was 

 is. 3d. per ration, or, with fresh vege- 

 tables, is. 6d. ; about 3d. below the con- 

 tract price in peace. Civilians paid 2s., 

 and women in the laager is. 2d. All 

 liquor was taken over and issued in 'tots' 

 to the troops on wet nights. This, I think, 

 saved much sickness. 



"For the natives, we established 4 soup 

 kitchens, at which horse stew was sold 

 daily, and 5 sowen kitchens. Natives 

 were all registered, to prevent fraud, and 

 bought rations at 1 quart per adult, and 1 

 pint per child, at 3d. a pint. Defence 

 watchmen, workmen, police, etc., and certi- 

 fied destitute persons were given free ra- 

 tions. The kitchens so managed paid their 

 own expenses. 



"Our master baker made up our forage 

 oats into a good form of bread. The oats 

 were winnowed, cleaned, kiln dried, steam 

 sieved twice, and made into bread in the 

 usual way, with a small admixture of Boer 

 meal." 



Regarding sowens, General Baden- 

 Powell says : "This is a form of porridge, 

 made from the fermented bran of oats 

 after the flour has been extracted for mak- 

 ing bread. One hundred pounds of bran 

 in 37 gallons of water give 33 gallons of 

 sowens. On this we fed both natives and 

 whites. We had 5 sowen kitchens, each 

 capable of producing 800 gallons daily. It 

 was sold at 6d. a quart to those not en- 

 titled to it as a ration. 



"The horses which we used for meat 

 were, as a rule, so poor in condition that 

 we found it best to cut off the flesh from 

 the bones and mince it for issue as a ra- 

 tion. The remainder of the carcass then 

 went to the soup kitchen. The mince was 

 mixed with spice and saltpetre, and made 

 up into sausages, the intestines of the 

 same animals being used for sausage skins. 

 The meat thus treated lasted longer, and 

 was more palatable." 



BLANCHING CELERY. 

 Celery is blanched to deprive it of its 

 natural green color and of certain bitter 

 properties, thus rendering it more palat- 

 able. The desired end is attained by the 

 exclusion of light from the stalks. All ar« 



