The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-06-13
THE TROOPS IN CHINA
WHAT THEY EAT AND HOW THEY
ARE LOOKED AFTER.

ready referred to In these dispatches.
gives very interesting account of
the way the various troops were fed
and cared for during the campaign of
the allies in China. The Japanese
has rice bread, dried fish and tea.
which they supplemented by the use
of the sheep and cattle the country
produced. They also had American
canned meats, but these were not used
freely. and seemed to be more In the
nature of special or emergency artl-
Gle of their diet. The British white
troops had ration similar to ours in
quality and quantity, but not so
varied or flexible. They used tea in
stead of coffee. The British Indian
troops had about three-quarters of
pound of flour, about one pound of
rice, one gill Of vegetable oil, salt, and
once week n pound of fresh meat,
bone and all. The Sinks ate only
meat or goat, but the Mohammedans
ate everything except pork. The Rus
SLAMS had little besides a back bread
and soup. They were given quarter
pound cans of some sort of meat
preparation at intervals, much In the
same way as the japanese used
American meats. They had the finest
cooking arrangement, though. of any.
On sprlngless wagon was mounted
iron furnace under n semi-spherical
boiler water-jacketed. The boiler was
fitted with tight cover and the whole
was very strongly and compactly
built. Into this they put all the ma
terials for a soup or stew that they
possessed-and nothing came amiss--
screwed down the cover, lighted the
fire, and away went the perambulat-
ing soup tureen with its company.
When. they made camp all they had
to do was to stack arms" and then
march past the soup machine, the
cook opening n faucet, and each man
receiving his ration of hot, well-cooked
thick soup; the assistant cook in the
meantime was chopping up a loaf Of
black bread with an axe, and each
man got liberal chunk.
The camp arrangements of the diff
ferent nations varied as much as their
nations. The Americans appear to
have kept the cleanest and best po-
Iced camps. All garbage was prompt.
ly removed and buried in pits at a
distance, and other offal lined or COW
cred with dry earth daily. The British
kept fairly clean camps. but in a
spasmodic way. They would let them
get dirty and then turn thousand
coolies loose and do weeks cleaning
in two hours. The Japanese kept their
immediate quarters clean, but were
not at all particular concerning their
surroundings. The Russians and
French paid little attention to camp
sanitation, and but for the cool wealth
er in September would probably have
had hard time. On the other hand
the Germans kept their camps very
clean and guarded the health OF their
men by the most stringent rules, but
withal had the biggest sick report of
any.
The American transportation ar
rangement seems to have surprised
the foreigners. We used light wagons,
loaded with from $500 to 1000 pounds,
so as to defy the muddy roads. One
man cared for four mules, and each
mule hauled from 700 to 1000 pounds
of stores. The other armies depended
on carts which carried loads of only
500 pounds per animal, and each ami
NAL required one man to care for II.
The way our mules followed the bell
mare excited general interest; herd
OF fifty mules would be turned loose
and kept under control by Two or
three men, and when in harness they
could be driven without any change Of
speed over crowded road or through
the laybrlnthine streets of Chinese
cities.
The japanese had many little stall
lions with shaggy names and bulging
eyes, serving as pack-horses with
panniers, each led by n soldier. Be
sides these they had a multitude of
small one-horse carts, consisting of
a light platform, with neither sides
nor ends, mounted on two small
wheels. The Russians also had carts
larger than the Japanese, with harlng
sides and ends and drawn by Man
churian ponies OF great strength. The
British had a number OF active, vicious
little pacl; mules, led tandem, three in
a bunch. coolie leading the head
mule. Tho burdens We're held IN place
by an ingenious apparatus with loops
and hooks, bat the lead did not stay
on IL the mule trotted or acted fool
ish. The same army had also at first
number of carts with wooden aXles
and solid wooden wheels. which
proved too cumbrous and were cast
aside all along the road. Afterwards
some very good carts, steel built, ar
rived from india ard proved service
able. The French, Italians and Aus
trlans had 40 transportation except
what they picked up in the country.
The Germans were similarly lacking
until late in the season, when n large
number OF military baggage wagons
reached them. These wagons were
not nearly the equal OF ours In shape,
capacity or strength, and required two
teamsters to our one.
All the foreigners appear to have
paid more attention to the appearance
of their uniforms than our troops did,
but to have been less sensibly dressed.
In hats and shoes our men were bet
ter of than any, and their blue flannel
shirts We're greatly admired. The
Japanese marched with very light