Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-12-07
The Food Turkish Soldiers Live
Upon.

THE correspondent of TIE London
Telegraph writes:
If the Turk and his comrades fight
well, it is not because they are well-fed or
ell-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 COM
missariat system is even more deplorable
than ours; in fact, it can scarcely be said
to exist. If there are " arrangements of
any kind , they may be briefly said to
consist of a happy reliance upon chance
and broad, hopeful trust in something
turning up. 1t was, indeed, felt that the
men must have something in the way of
solid food. and accordingly the bakers at
Nisch and Sophia were set to make thou
sands of hard biscuits, which it was deter
mined to forward to the troops. To get
them there, however, was another puzzle,
for there is no Turkish transport service,
and in the end all the wagons and carts
in the country had to be requisitiOned. to-
gether with 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. DIR. Leslie told me that he
had found some men who had tasted
nothing but biscuit and roasted maize
stalks for seven weeks; and he made a
present to the army, in the name of the
excellent Red Cross Society, which he re-
presents, of 1000 sheep and some bull
locks. But what were they among so
many? Hardly a kabob" apiece for the
45, 900 hungry men who wanted them.
Yet the Turks have gone contentedly on
soaking the brick like biscuits IN
the muddy water they have obtained
from the Morava Valley, sometimes so
fortunate as to be able to supplement it
with little coffee or roasted maize-stalks,
occasionally with Servian fowl caught in
some deserted village, or a piece Of hare
which had been shot down in the long
grass, but generally with nothing at all /
could sympathize with them, for once or
twice, being short of provisions myself,
owing to accident, | tried to soften the
miserable biscuit by immersing it in
liquid of some kind or other. The at
tempt used to result in the rudest failure
it seemed to defy all my efforts. Per-
haps was unskilled, or happened to get
hold of unusually hard specimens-thele
was no picking or choosing allowed. To-
ward night, by the titful glare of q torch
or fire, the purveyor of such articles
would be seen perched on the sacks doing
Out tUt IdlIOuS 10 tllS
sergeants of the different regiments, who
used again to count them out to their as
sistants for each company. There was no
jangling; two broken pieces OF a fair size
equaled one biscuit or two handfuls of
crumbs; and this latter substitute seemed
to be preferred as softer and more reduci-
BILE to food. On went the Turk counting
in a monotonous tone, Beer, eckee,
eweh, dewd," till at last the full tale was
made up, and then the messenger would
fold up his sack and "silentIy steal
away" He must hurry off to his com
pany, give them their food, do his best TO
measure out the crumbs and pieces so as
to make it all go round and leave him
little piece for himself, and his work was
done. So it went on, day after day, the
Turks meanwhile fighting like heroes,
and never fiinching even when danger was
greatest and the enemy's fire hottest.