Evening journal., 1915-01-08
RY wILLIAM PHILP snIMs.

Ff WILLIAM fHiiIif oihhos
united Press Stan Correspondent.
WITH THE FRENCH ARMY AT
THE FRONT, Nov. s0.-(By Mail to
New York;. Probably no army in
tho world. actually in the field. was
ever better fed than Is that OF the
Allies.
Every French soldier in the field
Is entitled to % ounces Of bread a
dav: 8 l-3 ounces Of rice. beans or
peas. 10 ounces of meat; Is ounces
of sugar; one ounce lard; 2-3 ounce
salt and a little more than 2-3 ounce
of coffee.
These articles constitute the daily
ration under ordinary conditions
There are times, however. when cir
crmstances are extraordinary, when
fresh meat new bread, dried vegeta-
<-hlcs and regular coffee-can not be
delivered daily to the soldiers. I'm
der such conditions the French fight
ing man falls back on his reserve
rations. which are: Ten ounces OF
"hiscuit." or "war bread" as hard
tack Is known in the French army;
10 ounces Of canned meat; 2-S
ounces OF sugar, ] 2-3 ounces Of soup
essence. in cube form; / IA ounces
Of essence of coffee. also I'm cube
form, and. .0625 litre (1-16 Of a quartz
OF brandy.
Back Of the fighting line the
French soldier has never had to fall
back on his reserve" rations He
always has his fresh beef, mutton or
other meat; his coffee made from
the coffee beans: his fresh bread
and the rest Furthermore these
things are quite good have lived
for days with the private soldiers and
eaten their food. so can give personal
testimonial as to its excellence.
have eaten their reserve" food also
their canned meats C'monkey-meat
the soldiers call it) and tackled their
hard tack: drank their cube" coffee
and perhaps of the bullion made ol
their soup cubes. 1t is all whole
some and nutritious. The brandy i'
good and stimulating and admins
tered In medicinal doses, as the gooS
Marianne OF France administers II
can not harm the brave fellows stand
ine in trenches which are hot an'
cold at one and the same time. SOM
Of this brandy Is of the "calvados
brand and is made of fine, lusty ap
pies. and in slipping It, the smell ant
taste of the apple are quite notice
able
The revictualing of the Allies. un
der ordinary circumstances, is car
ried on by England and France sep
arately. That is. France feeds he
cwn troops and England feeds hers
II rarely happens-though the cir
cumstance is not known-that th
French have to feed the English o
vice versa The English cat NOR
timed foods than the French. on
reason being their means of trans
port are more difficult. They ais
consume tea in enormous quantiuo
whereas the French are little addic
ted TO the tea habit. In France
heard this story of an English mothe
who had just received a letter fror
her son at the front
"Ny poor boyi" the mother dis
tractedly exclaimed. "He is undergo
ing enormous sacrifices and hard
ships, He writes me that a few day
ago he was Obliged to so from min
o'clock in the morning until six tina
evening with0u. lunch and no te
WAS served that day at alll'
Were the war to siop at this mo
ment my mental picture OF
f1IIIIrM rNAlANl NWMiN wv
very healthy looking individua
standing by the side OF a newl
opened packing case eating roas
beef from a tin. have seen him d
numerous points along the line an
II seems to me he is always eating
The Frenchman has two meals
DAY plus his morning coffee tn
two big meals are at. or around
q o'clock in the morning and $50 I
N6 o'clock in the afternoon, usual
~ meat and vegetables are serve
tonether. as they are cooked, Il
mixture being a stew prepared
hree pots or boilers. His ration
served him by the cook who ladl
out niece of meat and the regul
tion amount Of rice, beans or pes
In his "gamelle," or casserole. viii
Is part Of his equipment. II you ha
ever seen a picture of a French 81
der in full marching order you ha
noticed this utensil strapped TO {
top Of his knapsack He eats
meals with his pocket knife or f
gers unless he has provided hims
with one Of the many varieties
ccllapsible knives and forks.
But where does all this food Co
from: How does it arrive at
front How is the food collected a
handled; who baked the bread. whit
and how?
In France there are some 20 rev
tualing stations we'll out OF harl
way back of the line Then there
what is called a control" VIII
bureau unifes the thing and preve
too much of any material going
one static.a and too little to anothe
Long before war was declared
War Department had tabulated
average output Of food stuffs in es
department OF France. II was
ready understood that. in case
war. each department was to furnI
so much of this or that article. 7
thing works automatically now Il