Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1901-04-25
new ARMY CANTEEN.
One That the Te~etotaiers Won't
Criticise.
IT is AN IMPROVED WATER BOTTLE

40 40 6AA A1AA - .O $1,000 Oo4 LII
by a Civil War Veteran
Now a Regular Army Omcer-Wf1l
Keep Contents Cool, VIII Not BE
Hurt by Freezing
"I,m always on the lookout to do
something for to- advantage of the en-
listed men. Whaaver increases the eff
fciency Of the army unit must be of
the greatest benefit to the entire serv-
! ice."
This comment was made by Colonel
Philip Reade, Inspector general Of the
department Of Dakota, while relating
to a representative Of the ST. Paul Pr
oneer Press his recent experiments to-
ward improving the soldiers canteen.
Ladies of the w. G. T. U. need to be in
formed that the canteen in question Is
not the beer selling r~efreshment stand
that ongres has abolished, but the ar
ticle of equipment that three ladies
would probably call the soldiers water
can.
The canteen, properly so called, is the
only article of a soldiers equipment
that has not been improved since the
civil war. AS now supplied to Uncle
Sans fighters the canteen is a soldered
can of stamped metal covered with a
felt substitute and heavy canvas.
But his canteen is not always salts
factory. Owing to Irregularities of it's
internal surface the vessel cannot be
easily cleaned. In hot weather water
within d canteen cannot long be kept
cool. In cold weather coffee cannot
long be kept warm, and if the weather
is very cold either water or coffee soon
freezes and opens the joints of the can
teen.
Colonel Reade has tested various
sorts of canteens by filling them with
water and exposing them to the win
ter atmosphere. No American made
canteen could endure this test, but
several canteens made in Germany
+ have proved all that could be desired.
These German canteens are manufac-
tured of aluminium and in a single
] piece. When the contained liquid
freezes and expands, the canteen ex-
pands also without rupturing. Al
though the metal does not spring back
to it's normal dimensions, it will ex
pand repeatedly until the canteen's ca
pacity has increased 20 per cent before
bursting.
Not one of the numerous manufac-
turers Of aluminium wares in the Unit
; ed States has been able to follow tn
i German process and reproduce an alu-
minimum canteen in one piece.
To prevent a too rapid change in the
L~o $500 - H. oon4op@1 4ho Gov
man ~canteen is covered with a layer of
genuine felt almost half an inch thick.
When the felt is moistened, the conse-
quent evaporation ON a hot day will
keep drinking water cool for several
hours.
Colonel Reade will probably recon-
mend the adoption Of a canteen ex-
hibiting the essential features Of the
German product.
The inspector general has also de.
vised a removable supporting strap fol-
haversacks that will prevent the sacks
from ripping loose, however heavily
they may be loaded. Still another sug.
gestion of Colonel Reade's will be that
as a substitute for bayonets, practical.
ly useless under the conditions Of mod
ern warfare, the soldier SHOULD carry in
a leathern sling a small, short handled
ak. This would serve many useful
purposes, especially in camp, and If
our men," observed the colonel, chad
carried such axes in Cuba the Span.
iards' barbed wire would never have
checked us so long under fire, and
many Of our men would never have
been killed."
Colonel Reade is a civil war veteran
and was on the staff Of General Kent
at San Juan Hill.