Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-12-21
The Food Turkish Soldiers Live
Upon.

The correspondent of the London
Telegraph writes
IT the Turk and his comrades fight
we'll, it is not because they are WELL
fed or we'll clothed on the contrary.
their daily bread seems to be about
the last thing of which those who
bear rule and authority over them
have ever thought. Their commits.
sariat system is even more deplor-
able than ours; in fact, it can scarce
ly be said to exist. If there are Gar.
rangements of any kind" they may
be briefly said to consist OF happy
reliance upon chance and broad,
hopeful trust in something turning
up. 1t was, indeed, felt the men
must have something in the way of
solid food, and accordingly tho bak-
ers of Nseh and Sophia were set 10
make hard biscuits, which it was de-
termined to send to the troops, To
get them there, however, was anoth,
er puzzle, for there is no Turkish
transport service, aad in the end all
wagons and carts in the country had
to be brought into requisition, to-
gether their bullocks and drivers.
Then long trains of these laden with
the biscuits were daily dispatched
over the rocky roads, and so they
have gone on ever since. DR.. Leslie
told me that be had found some men
who had tasted nothing but biscuit
and roasted maize stalks for aeven
weeks and he made present to
the army, in the name Of the excel
lent Red Gross Society, which he
represents, of 1000 sheep and some
bullocks. But what were they a among
so many Hardly "kabob f"
apiece for the $4,000 hungry men
who wanted them. Yet tho Turks
have gone contentedly on soaking
the bricklike biscuits in the muddy
water they have obtained from the
Morava Valley, sometimes so forum
ate az 10 supplement it with q little
coffee or roasted maize~stalks, occa-
sionally with a Servian fowl caught
in some deserted village, or q piece
of hare which had been shot down
IN the long grass, bat generally with
nothing at all. | could sympathise
with them, for. once or twice, being
short Of provisions myself owing TO
accident, tried to soften the miser-
able biscuit by immersing it 10 liquor
of some kind or other. The attempt
used TO result in the rudest failure
ia seemed to DEFY ali my Efforts.
Perhaps | was uBsklllcd, or happen
ed to get hold Of unusually bard
pecimens-there was no picking OF
choosing allowed. Toward night.
by the fitful glare of torch or a FIRE,
the purveyor Of such articles would
be seen perched on the sacks doing
out the rations to the Quartermaster-
sargeaDts Of the different regiments,
who used to count them out again TO
their assistants for each company.
There was no jangling two broken
pieces OF fair size cq7aled one bis
cult or two handsful of crombs and
this latter substitute seemed 10 be
preferred as softer and moro redaci-
BILE to food. % wen; tho park
counting in a monotonons tone,
"Beer, eckee, eweh, down." till at
last the foil tale was made up, ard
then the messenger would fold mp
his sacks and silently steal away %
He must hurry off to his company,
give them their food, do his bost to
measure out the crumbs and pieces
70 as ID make it all 90 around and
leave him little pieco for himself,
and bis work was done. So it went
on, day after day, the Turks mean.
while fighting like heroes, aud never
hlnching even when danger was
greatest aad the enemy's fire hottest.