The Portland daily press., 1898-12-24
ENGLISH ARMY LIFE.
How Tommy Atkins Fares in the Mat
ter of Food.

What He Must Attain Before He Can
Secure the Privilege of Marrying
How the Wives of the Privates Live
i'm the Barracks.
The orderly man clatters in at the door
with steaming can of tea, from which
he rapidly fills the basins, the milk and
sugar having been already added before
the tea left the cookhouse. No allowance
is made in barracks for men of fastidious
tastes. If man prefers his unsweetened,
he can go elsewhere; the taste OF the
majority is alone consulted. The tea
having been served out, the orderly man
now proceeds to divide the bread into
chunks. one for each man, and announces
that the "extra" that morning is butter.
This announcement is welcome one,
and the butter, being produced in its
wrapper of blue canteen paper, is speedily
divided into equal portions, one for each
member of the mess.
Should any oomrade be SO unfortunate
as to be languishing in the guardroom,
awaiting disposal by the commanding
officer, the orderly man has now to take
his allowance to him, the tea being poured
into tin canteen and the bread and but
ter wrapped in paper aud slowed in
hayersack.
But 1t may be asked: 'Surely we have
been told that soldiers enjoy more variety
than plain bread and butter at their
breakfasts. Have we not heard Of savory
kippers, of porridges-yes, even OF eggs
and bacon?"
True, such ara the dishes encouraged by
generals and colonels who like to earn
reputation for looking after the welfare
of their men, but these fancy relishes are
not much encouraged by Tommy Atkins,
for the simple reason that his funds will
not allow of his receiving more than an
infinitesimal proportion of the kipper or
whatever may be the .favorite breakfast
dainty of his commanding officer. Ali
that the COZ poral in charge of the grocery
book has to spend daily is threepencs per
man in mess or under 81 for company
with the average strength of 60 men in
| mess.
When it is realized that with this money
tea, salt, pepper. vegetables for dinner,
-four if "duff" is to ornament the
dinner table, and all the groceries which
the soldier needs to exc out the rations OF
bread and meat already described have to
be provided, it will be understood that
the question of providing extras for break
fast and tea is difficult one to solve,
and that the corporal naturally prefers
something like butter, which all appre-
ciate to some other dainty which may
not appeal to the tastes of his constitu-
ency.
The question of permission to marry lisa
burning one in the barrack room. Only
limited number of men are allowsd to
marry, the strength OF the roll varying
with. the establishment of the corps. Ser
geants are given permission to marry
as a matter of course. If there is vacancy
in the establishment, but no soldier Is
allowed to enter the blessed state unless
he has seven years service, e5 in the saw
ings bank and two good conduct badges.
I have heard it said that there is such
thing as borrowing the &5 till the neces'
sary permission has been obtained, but
there is no getting over tine other two
conditions.
The married quarters seem comfortable
enough. What strikes us most is the enor-
nous number Of babies and quite young
children who swarm round the door Of
every quarter, occasional yells leading to
the hasty arrival of flushed and heated
looking matron to restore order in sum
mary fashion. The allowance OF space
does not strike one as particularly liberal
soldiers with small families being given,
only one room, with the minutest posi-
BILE scullery, the fathers of larger families
rejoicing in an extra room. Sergeants,
as a rule, have two rooms, but otherwise
have no pull over their comrades OF lower
rank.
The wives of the private soldiers add
largely to the scanty pay of their nus
bands by doing washing for the men OF
their husbands company. and twice
| blessed is the woman whose good man be-
longs to company having few married
soldiers. In this case she will be able to
get more to do than her less fortunate
sisters. Some of the women who have a
reputation as washerwomen earn plenty
of money by washing for the officers OF
the regiment. The soldiers wife seems
to drift naturally into bsing a washer
woman.
A little conversation wiz allies is
liberal education in esprit - corps;
each woman thoroughly identifies herseif
with the regiment to which her husband
belongs, and even in these days OF short
service it is not difficult to find women
whose fathers and grandfathers nave
soldiered in bygone days under the tau
tered colors now hanging in the sacred
precincts of the officers mess.
The ladies of the regiment, as rule,
take great interest in the welfare OF their
hum bier sisters. frequently visiting them
in their quarters and giving more Than
their sympathy at one of those crises
which occur SO frequently in the mar
ried block and generally lead ultimately
to the object of their soiicitude applying
for extra accommodation owing to an I'M
authorized addition to the strength OF the
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