Questioned on third day: "The ration did not satisfy my hunger. I could eat more. It does not keep up my strength. I am weak in the legs. When I walk my legs give way. I am able to perform all duty. I am constipated.” This man was put on sick report and given full rations November 27 by order of the surgeon, who reported him "suffering essentially from lack of sufficient food.” Questioned after termination of trial: "In addition to the emergency ration I ate some parched corn, and was put on full rations November 27. The ration made me weak and constipated. It was palatable and did not disagree with me. I reported to the surgeon that I was weak and constipated and was put on full rations." I didn't feel as good as ordinary." Harry B. Hitt, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 122 pounds; when trial ended, 120 pounds; loss, 2 pounds. Greatest weight, 122 pounds; least, 119 pounds. Questioned on third day: "When I eat the ration I am satisfied for about half an hour, I then get as hungry. as ever. It has not kept up my strength. If I work a little while I get out of wind, and my legs don't seem able to hold me up. I can perform all my duty, although I am hardly able. I have had no ill effects in stomach or bowels after eating it." This man was put on sick report and given full rations November 27 by order of the surgeon, who reported him as having diarrhea. Hitt, himself, stated: "I feel badly. Stomach is out of order. Bowels move every twenty minutes like water. Have had two chills. Appetite never satisfied.” Questioned after termination of trial: "In addition to the emergency ration I had the meal I ate on November 24, when on detached service after horses, and some parched corn. I ate the corn at the camp on Boggy. The ration gave me diarrhea and my strength gave out. I got weak and could not work long in putting up tents or similar work. It was not palatable. It tasted good the first day or so, after that I had to drink water so I could swallow it. My stomach refused it. I threw it up once. I had headache and chills and fever. I also had diarrhea. My physical condition was not as good as ordinary." John J. Hopper, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 140 pounds; when trial ended, 139 pounds; loss, 1 pound. Greatest weight, 141 pounds; least, 138 pounds. Questioned on third day: "I get hungry in about half an hour after eating the ration. It does not keep up my strength. I am weak in the knees when working or lifting. I can't mount my horse very well. I am weak in the arms. I am able to perform all duty. I am sick at my stomach after eating." Questioned after termination of trial: "I ate other food than the ration during the trial. I ate some parched corn at the camp on Boggy; some cakes at the camp on Sugar Creek; also a piece of cheese the first night. The ration made me weak, and I didn't like it. It did not disagree with me, and I was never sick. I was weaker than ordinary." John B. McCord, private, Troop A, Eighth Calvary.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 145 pounds; when trial ended, 142 pounds; loss, 3 pounds. Greatest weight, 145 pounds; least, 142 pounds. Questioned on third day: I "The ration does not satisfy my hunger. I am hungry all the time. It does not keep up my strength. I feel weak after working a little. I feel weak all over. can perform all duty. I have felt no ill effects after eating the ration." This man was put on sick report and given full rations November 27, by direction of the surgeon, who reported him as "suffering essentially from lack of sufficient food." Earl Price, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 148 pounds; when trial ended, 148 pounds; no change. Greatest weight, 150 pounds; least, 1471⁄2 pounds. Questioned on third day: "The ration satisfies my hunger while I am eating it and for an hour afterwards. It has not kept up my strength. I feel weak, and if I work a little I feel as if I would give way in the knees. I don't feel able to perform all duty. I have felt no ill effects after eating the ration." Questioned after termination of trial: "In addition to the ration I ate two cans of potted ham. I also ate a handful of parched corn. I ate the ham from day to day, and the corn at the camp on Boggy. Some of the boys brought it from the Indian village. It was unparched and we parched it in the stove in the tent of the Third squad. There were other men parching corn at the same time. I would not be hungry for an hour to an hour and a half after eating the ration; I would then be as hungry as if I hadn't eaten anything. After three or four meals after we went out I became weak. I felt drowsy and as if I didn't want to move around. The ration did not continue palatable. It tasted very well the first three or four meals; after that I didn't like the taste of it. It never disagreed with me, but I had diarrhoea the last two days we were out. I was not as strong as usual while living on this ration." Harlan D. Rutherford, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 128 pounds; when trial ended, 126 pounds; loss, 24 pounds. Greatest weight, 1284 pounds; least, 126 pounds. Questioned on third day: "The ration has satisfied my hunger. It has not kept up my strength. An hour or so after eating I feel weak all over. I can do all duty. I have felt no ill effects after eating the ration." After termination of trial: "In addition to the ration I ate some flour at the camp on Sugar Creek. My health was all right, but it weakened me in an hour after eating. The ration was palatable. It never disagreed with me and I was never sick. I was weaker than ordinary." John B. Whitt, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.—First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 134 pounds; when trial ended, 132 pounds; loss, 2 pounds. Greatest weight, 134 pounds; least, 132 pounds. Questioned on third day: "The ration does not satisfy my hunger. In two hours after eating I am as hungry as ever. I am weaker than when I left the "ost. I notice it when walking and also when riding." Questioned after termination of trial: "In addition to the ration I ate some parched corn. My health was all right, but it made me weak. It was palatable. It never disagreed with me and I was never sick. I was weaker than ordinary." Thomas J. Zimmerman, private, Troop A, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 152 pounds; when trial ended, 151 pounds; loss, 1 pound. Greatest weight, 155 pounds; least, 149 pounds. Questioned on third day: "I am as hungry two hours after eating as if I hadn't had anything to eat. Whenever I am doing any work I can feel that my arms are weak. I notice it, also, in walking and riding.” Questioned after termination of trial: "In addition to the ration I ate some parched corn at the camp on Sugar Creek. I also started to eat something else, and saw Captain Fountain coming and threw it away. The ration kept me weak all the time and I was hungry all the time. It was palatable. It never disagreed with me and I was never sick. I felt hungry and weaker than ordinary." Report of surgeon after this trial, as follows: Chicago ration test, November 23 to 28, 1900. Commenced at supper, November 23; lasted five days. November 26: Private Alt unable to eat ration. He ate a lot of miserably cooked biscuits surreptitiously the night before; possibly such caused the stomach trouble. He ate ordinary food balance of trip. November 27-4.30p.m.: Excused Privates Hein, Hitt, Brodie, Crossman, McCord, and Featherson, and Trumpeter Ford from living on emergency ration any longer, but they stayed on duty, as did Alt also. Hitt had diarrhoea. The others were merely suffering essentially from lack of sufficient food. Crossman and Ford took laxatives. FORT RENO, OKLA., December 10, 1900. J. D. POINDEXTER, U. S. A., Surgeon. The results of the three trials having demonstrated to the satisfaction of the board that No. 1 best fulfilled the requisites of an emergency ration, arrangements were at once made for the fourth or final trial, as outlined in the original plan. The commanding officer of Fort Sill, Okla., having promised a detachment of 25 men for this trial, he was now communicated with and requested to have this detachment leave his post December 1, march to Anadarko, Okla., and there join the detachment which was to leave Fort Reno on the same date. The combined force, consisting of Capt. S. W. Fountain, Eighth Cavalry, Capt. F. W. Foster, Fifth Cavalry, Ben. Clark, guide, 25 enlisted men, Troop A, and 26 enlisted men, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry, 1 private, of Hospital Corps, and 5 civilian teamsters left Anadarko December 3. Captain Poindexter did not accompany this command, as he was suffering from indisposition. Private Thorne, Hospital Corps, was hereon supplied with a stock of medicines and administered them as required. The entire command was put on No. 1 ration as soon as all the arrangements for the march were made. Before starting out the object of the trial was carefully explained to the men and they were asked to report to the commanding officer in case they felt at any time that the ration was insufficient, being told that in such case they would at once be put on ordinary rations. Every man subsisting on the ration was weighed in his ordinary clothing previous to starting out, but no further weights were taken during the trial and no attempt was made at the examination and questioning that had been practiced during the three preceding trials. This trial not being for the purpose of comparing this ration with any other, but simply to ascertain in what condition for service a cavalry command would be after subsisting on it during a five days' march or campaign, no such minuteness was considered necessary. The route was so laid out as to make each day's march approximately 20 miles, and instead of making camp before the midday meal, as in the previous trials, care was taken to halt daily about noon for luncheon, which for this meal consisted of the ration dry as it came from the can, washed down by water only. Camp was made sometime during the afternoon, all the necessary work, such as pitching tents, gathering wood, etc., being performed before the evening meal was served. All guard duty, including herding the stock, was regularly performed; in short, every effort was made to assimilate the march in all respects to the ordinary march of a troop of cavalry. The trial ended December 7, when the command reached Fort Reno, Okla. The weights of the men were again taken on that day under the same conditions as at the beginning of the trial, and the actual loss in weight of the 56 men subsisting on the ration was 6 pounds, as shown by the combined weights of the men at the beginning and the end of the trial. There is probably some error in this result, due to the fact that all the men were not careful to wear exactly the same clothing when both sets of weights were taken, resulting in some cases to an apparent abnormal gain, and in others to a corresponding loss; but making all allowance for such errors, it is probable that the same command subsisting on ordinary field rations under similar circumstances would have shown an equal or greater loss in weight. The result of this trial was to confirm the members of the board in their favorable opinion of No. 1 ration. At no time during the trip was there the slightest indication in the appearance of any man that he was suffering from hunger or weakness, and Private Thorne, Hospital Corps, in charge of the medical stores, reported that no men had been treated for any illness that could be attributed to the ration. This was a much severer test than any of the rations had been subjected to during the first series of trials, and the results were so very favorable that the board feels warranted in asserting that any command can go into a campaign and subsist exclusively on this ration for ten or more days at a time, if necessary, with the absolute assurance of being fit for service at all times. The following are the opinions of the various members of the command, expressed in answer to the following set of questions propounded after the termination of the trial: Did you eat the ration during the five days? Did you eat anything else than the ration? Was it palatable? What effect did it have on your health and strength? S. W. Fountain, captain, Eighth Cavalry.-Weight when trial commenced, 180 pounds; when trial ended, 175 pounds; loss, 5 pounds. These weights were with usual clothing. "I lived exclusively on this ration for five days. This was the second trial of this ration. I found it palatable all the time. I ate the food in a thick soup or mush, morning and evening, using the chocolate in liquid-about one pint. At noon I ate the food stuff and chocolate dry, drinking cold water from my canteen. I remained perfectly well in every respect. Of the three rations I tested I should, from my own experience, consider this one vastly superior to the other two." F. W. Foster, captain, Fifth Cavalry.-Weight when trial commenced, 169 pounds; when trial ended, 1671⁄2 pounds; loss 14 pounds. "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was always palatable. It had no effect whatever on my health and strength. I have lived on No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 rations, and consider No. 1 far superior to the others in every respect.' Henry C. Lenhardt, sergeant, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-Ninth year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 144 pounds; when trial ended, 143 pounds; loss, one-half pound. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. I liked it very much. It tasted better at the end of the time than at the commencement. I lost no strength and was in good health. I could see no change in me, and believe I could live on it a month without eating anything else. Its effect on my health and strength was good." James E. Ayers, corporal, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.—Third year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 1373 pounds; when trial ended, 144 pounds; gain, 64 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. It was palatable. My health was better than usual. I felt better then and do now. My strength was even greater than usual. The change or something else seemed to do me good. I I think I could go twenty days on the ration as well as I could five." Colonel Charleston, corporal, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-Second year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 166 pounds; when trial ended, 170 pounds; gain, 4 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. It was palatable. My health and strength were just as usual." Harry Richards, blacksmith, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 141 pounds; when trial ended, 144 pounds; gain, 3 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. It was palatable. I felt all right but a little weak the last two days, but could do my duty all right.' Louis Asbell, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 125 pounds; when trial ended, 121 pounds; loss, 4 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the chocolate and the broth from the balance. When I first started I could not eat the rest, but the last two days I got so I could eat the whole ration. The ration was not palatable. My health and strength were good." John Barker, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 142 pounds; when trial ended, 1451⁄2 pounds; gain, 31⁄2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. It was palatable The first two days I felt rather weak; after that I was all right. The first meal I didn't eat all the ration." George Doherty, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 157 pounds; when trial ended, 160 pounds; gain, 3 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. I noticed no effect on my health and strength. I felt just as usual." Henry Eskew, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 157 pounds; when trial ended, 160 pounds; gain, 3 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. I didn't like it very well, but managed to eat it. I couldn't tell any difference in my health and strength. I felt a little weak at first, but was all right afterwards." Henson Felters, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 140 pounds; when trial ended, 137 pounds; loss, 3 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. The first few meals it tasted good, but I then got tired of it. It had very little effect on my health and strength. I was about the same at the end as when I started." Joseph Fromholtz, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.—First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 139 pounds; when trial ended, 142 pounds; gain, 3 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days' trial. It was palatable. My health and strength were the same as usual." Thomas Crafton, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 172 pounds; when trial ended, 172 pounds; no change. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the chocolate and part of the rest of the ration and nothing else. At first I didn't like it. Towards the last I ate it better. I couldn't see that it had any effect whatever on my health and strength." Henry Lee, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 126 pounds; when trial ended, 125 pounds; loss, 1 pound. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. It had no noticeable effect on my health and strength." Lewis Jackson, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 155 pounds; when trial ended, 153 pounds; loss, 2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. It had no effect on my health and strength that I know of." Joe Lourenski, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-Second year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 175 pounds; when trial ended, 174 pounds; loss, 1 pound. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. It made me weak the second night; after that I was all right." Thomas M. Morris, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 161 pounds; when trial ended, 1561⁄2 pounds; loss, 41⁄2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It didn't taste good the first two days; after that it was all right, and I could eat it with a relish. I didn't feel like working." Walter J. Merriam, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 163 pounds; when trial ended, 163 pounds; no change. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. The ration was palatable. I felt weaker, but could do all duty." Leroy E. Nealey, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 146 pounds; when trial ended, 145 pounds; loss, 1 pound. Questioned after the march was concluded: I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. I couldn't feel that it had any effect on my health and strength." Louis L. Roskovencky, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-Second year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 140 pounds; when trial ended, 142 pounds; gain, 2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. It had no effect whatever on my health and strength." John J. Ross, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 150 pounds; when trial ended, 148 pounds; loss, 2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable, but I didn't like it at first; I liked it at last. My health was all right, but I felt a little weak." Fred A. Sheldon, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.—First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 147 pounds; when trial ended, 1451⁄2 pounds; loss, 11⁄2 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. couldn't eat much, but after that I could eat all I could get. on my health and strength that I could notice." The first two meals I Ralph M. Sherrick, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry-Second year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 155 pounds; when trial ended, 155 pounds; gain, one-half pound. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable when cooked. The first few days I felt as well as usual, but the last day I had a sort of diarrhea and felt weak." Andrew J. Underwood, private, Troop C, Eighth Cavalry.-First year of service. Weight when trial commenced, 150 pounds; when trial ended, 154 pounds; gain, 4 pounds. Questioned after the march was concluded: "I ate the ration and nothing else during the five days. It was palatable. I seemed to feel better after eating it than before." |