Plattsburg Training Camp - Plattsburger Yearbook (Plattsburgh, NY)

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'M fi MEALS A' LA MESS ' By Tll0lll2lS F. Hennessy, Co. L Some were good and SOHIG were bad-we speak now of the meals which we so voraciously devoured after sweltering drills and long drawn out hours on the rifle range. But just stop for a moment to consider how .difiicult it was to prepare varying menus which would please the greatest number of particular young men and would, at the same time, carry the proper nutritive elements. The food selected, moreover, had to be of such a nature as to be readily divisible with a minimum amount of wastage. Ordering mess is a little game in itself. We found this out When, after much difliculty, we finally cornered Lieutenant VV. G. Skelton of the 16th Infantry by the simple method of sitting down by his lair and waiting for the quary. This -despite the fact we had been told at headquarters that the Lieutenant was not on the post and won't be until tomor- row morning. I Lieutenant Skelton had had previous experience as Mess Oflicer. In 1920 he was Oflicer of the Consolidated Mess at Camp Perry, Ohio. In 1921 he was with the C. M. T. C. at Plattsburg and so ably acquitted himself as to clinch his appointment for 1922. Our Mess Oiiicer ordered food for 1,330 men each day. The individual ration allowance was seventy cents periday. Fifteen cents of this amount went toward the extra pay of mess sergeants, cooks and dishwashers, and for equipment. It was a neat little business venture for Lieutenant Skelton to keep within the fifty-five cents allowed for actual ra- tions and at the same time get away with a whole skin. But the Lieutenant assured us that he ,was doing it and even getting a little ahead of the game. This was indeed sur- prising when we considered how good the meals had been as a general rule. By the way of contrast we might remark that the regular army enlisted men on the post were allowed but 27 cents a day for rations while the 'oiiicers each paid 91.25 a day for his meals which, we are told, were no better than those served the humble candidate. Out of curio- sity we asked one of the oflicers COne hot morning as we labored 'neath a storm of perspiration and shot in the pitsb if Lieutenant Skelton prepared the officers' menus also. If he .does he ought to be shot, was the reply. Of course this is no reflection on Lieuten- ant .Skelton for he too eats in the oflicers' mess and what's good enough for a 1irst louie ought to be good enough for a shave tail. , Now just what did we eat? Suppose we start out half complainingly. To begin with, did we get CI was about to say eat J a lot af bologna and iced tea? The latter, like most material things, grew weaker at every lap and toward the end of each meal it was often necessary to ask a K, P. which pitcher contained water and which tea? Then, at times, we had stew. After thorough investigation we are now able to state with im- punity that, without exception, someone always managed to find the one or two small pieces of meat which swam far beneath the surface of a lake of beguiling gravy. Then again we think the majority will agree that at times the morning eggs had been scrambled so much they were played out. A Here, however, we think complaints should end. We were on K. P. one Wednesday and took note of the mid-week menu. Of course these meals were the best of the week. The government would have gone bankrupt had it served such eats every day, where- upon we C. M. T. C. warriors would have been out of luck on our bonus. But 'let us take a look at this excellent program for Vlfednesday, August 23rd: Breakfast Dinner Supper Sliced pineapple Corned beef and cabbage ROaSt6-d ChiCkeH Cornflakes with milk SDiDP1Ch and boiled egg Mashed D0t3t09S Boiled eggs Cold Slgdyw . Cream peas and carrots Hot rolls and butter L0ga11bG1'FY DiS Sliced t01'11at0eS Cgffee-and fresh milk Bread and Apple Butter Ice Cream Iced tea and water Plain Cake Bread and Butter Iced tea and water Each mess had two shifts of three cooks each. Each shift worked for twenty foul ll fn

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government heartily agrees with the old adage that Cleanliness is next to godlinessf' and not only preaches, but practices it as Well. The water supply was obtained through the city of Plattsburg, the Water being drawn from the lake, and then being thoroughly filtered. Despite the enormous demand on the supply, not a single incidence of embarassment can possibly be chalked up against the city. The above facts are not by any means intended to account for the entire use of the appropriation, or for the other various expenses incurred by the camp. As such inciden- tals as salaries, etc., etc., do not come under the guiding hand of Lieutenant Dupree, in his oflicial capacity as Camp Supply Oflicer. Interviews with various other departmental heads must be consulted in this paper in order to form a balance sheet. It is ,hoped however, that these simple statements of prominent apparent facts Will, in a measure, serve to deepen in each candidate his grateful appreciation of what this great government of his has actually had to accomplish with happy acquiescence in order to offer him such a four-weeks as he has now successfully passed through. A .-.1 4 C' O I L I .J ' LX-his L O Kidd 7 ' o 3- X :til U 1..f ' S ,X , s-fi f ' - - I - 1 ' I - ? CHUCKNQN fb qhaplaill tO Major Cpointing to candidate blacking his sightj Why do they have to heat the gun before they shoot? 10

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hours and rested the following twenty-four hours. Then there was one regular butcher who went from mess hall to mess hall to prepare the meats for the ovens. The rolls for breakfast, the desserts for the other two meals and all the bread was turned out by the bakery. Considering the fact that 2,500 rolls were eaten .daily for break- fast and 240 pies per meal iive or six times a week not to mention the 400 pounds of bread consumed daily, as well as the jello, rice pudding, chocolate pudding and other desserts enjoyed on occasions--the staff of the bakery deserves a lot of credit for its untiring service. At the head of this bakery was a quartermaster baker from Camp Dix, N. J. In addition there were a pastry chef from the Hotel Astor, New York city, and eight other bakers. 'Desserts were made a day ahead and if we only had known of the overtime and extra work which went into the preparation of jello concoctions we would have under- stood why we were served pie so often. Who helps you to make up the menus? we asked Lieutenant Skelton. I make them up myself, he answered, some times easily and sometimes after hours of work. The menus are made u ptwo days in advance so that the raw foods may be delivered a day ahead of their scheduled 11-se. - There was comparatively little wastage. This is explained by the fact that the amounts of food ordered were nicely calculated. Bear in mind that more than 1,300 men had to be fed. Eight cartons of breakfast food, consisting, of thirty six packages per carton, were consumed every morning. Bananas or oranges were had frequently, a half dozen crates of oranges being eaten each time while 500 pounds of bananas were consumed at a clip. One hundred and twenty pounds of butter disappeared daily. Six hundred and forty quarts of milk reached the mess halls before dawn each day from model -dairies in Peru, N. Y., about ten miles away. Those dairies were rigidly inspected every other day by medical omcers. It might well be added here that all food was given a thorough inspection upon arriving at the mess halls and before it was accepted for usage. Two hundred and forty dozens of eggs per meal, eight hundred pounds of corned beef or 350 pounds of veal were frequently consumed during a single noon hour, while it was a com- mon thing for mess call to signal the consumption of ten quarters of beef weighing 140 pounds each. ' Everything considered the food served at the 1922 Citizens' Military Training Camp was far better than a great majority of the candidates expected. The men had the most intimate knowledge of the preparation and serving of the meals, acquired while serving a UK. P.'s and their judgment is a fitting tribute to the efficiency with which the Camp Mess Officer, Lieutenant Skelton, discharged his duties. l-all THERE,S ONE IN EVERY COIVIPANY The bird who is always late for all formatifons The bird who always gets the best of everything at mess The bird who always counts after the others stop, at calinisthetic exercises The bird who always bums his cigarettes The bird who gets a pink letter every other day The bird who has always done or is going to do something The bird who thinks he can sing The bird who is always out of step The bird who is always losing something The bird who thinks he's a General, R. H. BROWN CO. D 12