FEEDING THE ARMY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11493, 21 June 1900, Page 2

FEEDING THE ARMY.

There is noAv in South Africa, says a correspondent of the Times, a four months' supply of 220,000 men and 90,000 animals, and it is maintained by the regular Aveekly despatch of about one and a half million rations. Rations include meat, A>getables, groceries, biscuit, rum, lime juic3, and forage. The daily quantity a'lowed pr-r day is as follows :—: — Meat, lib; biscuit,!llb; tea, coffee, f oz; jam, Jib ; sugar, 6oz ; salt, £oz ; papper, l-360z ; A'egetable, loz ; lime juice, £oz ; rum, £ pint ; forage — oats, 121 b ; hay, 121 b ; compressed forage, 201 b. Tho number of rations shipped during tho Aveek ended 3rd February (to take a specific instance) Avas as follows : — Meat. 1,209,392 rations ; biscuit, 1,174,600 ; tea and coffee, 6.109,296 ; sugar, 6,336,597 ; jam, 2,091,936; silt, 12,615,683; pepper, 1,869,696 ; vegetable, 2,257,492 ; lime-juico, 1,505,283; run, 5,047,744 ; oits, 1825 tons ; hay, 412 tons. Such is a r.ilhcr heaA'y Avoek's shipment, A considerable proportion of some of tho articles enumerated — particularly biscuit, tea and coffee, sugar, salt, and forage — is shipped directly by contractors, but the greater part is prepared at the depot and despatched from there, A Scandinavian gentleman captured Avith a .Transvaal ambulance party icas in Kimberley recently on parole, and made an admission Avhich may bo taken as throAving light on the Boer losses in this campaign. Being questioned on that' point by some people at the hotel at which he Avas staying, he persisted that tho Boers had lost very fe •/ men, indeed, not to be compared Avith the British. The conversation deepened into argument and took rather a haated turn. One of tha parties ingenuously i emarked that he hoped the Avar Avould soon bo over, and that the Republics Avould offer terms of peace Avhich Great Britain could accept. The ambulance man rejoined Avith warmth that that Avould never be ; there Avero three thousand AvidoAvs in the (Transvaal Avho Avould never let tho GoA'ernuicnt agree lo it.