Daily camera. [volume] (Boulder, Colo.) 1891-1928, 1900-06-25
TnE DAILY CAMERA
FEEDING AN ARMY.
An Enormous Task That Involves
Mach Labor.
arsAt Quantities Of Supplies Cen
stantly In Demand ard an Army
Of Men and Horses to
Handle Then.

1t is very PROBABLE that 80 people
out of every 100 think of an army as
a great aggregation OF fighting men,
ar14ed to ins teeth with rifles. swords
and wha, nct. while they never once
gi,e thought to the men in the
re;.r." Yet these men in the rear
are an important part of the fighting
machinery, says the Detroit Free
Press.
When an army is encamped in q
friendly country there is not so great
a difficulty in feeding it as when it
is penetrating hostile territory and
has separated itself from its own
country. And yet in either case it
is no light task to furnish and dis
tribute the food that is to keep, say,
so 800 stomachs satisfied and 10000
hearts in the right place. This is the
w1rk of the commissary department.
When an army division or an army
corps is encamped. at home the prob
lem of getting supplies is compare
tltply simple. Sometimes they are
furnished on contract, sometimes
bought in large quantities week or
mere in advance of the time at which
they will be needed. The commissary
general is responsible for the procur-
irg of these supplies and having them
d, posted at a depot within easy
reach of the troops.
Zach company Of a regiment has its
c, oks; each regiment has its COM
ssary depot. where supplies are
Kept sufficient for, say, week or ten
days for all the men. Men are de-
tailed from each company to assist in
tie work of getting the supplies from
t regimental depot to the company
kitchens every day. Others are de-
tailed to help transport the supplies
to the regimental depots from the
general headquarters whenever the
ST ores in the former are getting low.
AS all supplies are issued from head
quarters only on orders and receipts
are given for everything secured, it
c"n be seen that there is an immense
a,noun, of clerical work necessary to
tie smooth and uninterrupted work
OF the department.
When the troops are in barracks the
" ork of the kitchen can be better at
tended to than in the field Ranges and
al necessary utensils are on hand and
hot meals are served to the different
ness tables with regularity. When in
the field. either field stoves are used
fer cooking or partially covered
trenches are constructed. with an open
ing for the huge coffee ttet tie and an
oven for the baking of bread.
Whenever any important move is to
be made by the army each soldier is
usually supplied with rations for a
day, which he carries in his haver-
sack These he is not to use I'M
less ordered to do so. There are, be-
sides, two days rations carried in
transport for each fraction of a COM
mand to tide the troops over the
march. In the English army there
are even wagon arrangements for
cooking meals on the march, great
quantities Of soup being heated and
meat and potatoes being prepared
while on the march But when the
army moves away from its base of
supplies then it is that the feeding
problem becomes more complicated.
There are always a number of men
detailed from each regiment to assist
in the work of bringing up supplies
The keeping open of line of COM
munication with the base of sup
plies is the first thing that a com
man,ier must see to. for it means the
safety Of his army. If this line of
communication is but days march,
the work is simple, and it does not
take many men detailed to wagon
driving to replenish the impoverished
larder. But when the distance is in
creased to 60 or 100 miles the trick is
one of great difficulty.
There are along this line OF COM
munication two lines of transport
wagons constantly on the move and
in opposite directions. The one line
is for wagons filled with stores and
supplies fer the army. The other is
made up of empty wagons going back
to the base for other loads. Easy
stages are made Of the journey.
Within easy reach of the army is
established a second base of supplies
where great amount of stores is
accumulated in order to enable the
army to extend its operations further
from its principal base. Of course.
railroad makes the thing doubly sure
and quick. But there is usually a
good deal of wagon hauling to be
done even with the railroads, because
it is not often possible for an army
to confne it's operations to the line
of rail communication. In any case,
from the nearest base OF supplies are
brought the division or >regimental
wagons, which are filled on requisi-
ton and receipts are given for the
supplies received.
weeks supply or even ten days
food should be at hand with the army.
From the regimental depots the COM
pany gets lis food for each day, and
it is transferred to the company's
kitchen. Here are great kettles of cot
GOO foo p,ipr over tho fire with hacOn