The daily Alaskan., 1915-03-16
MARCHING TROOPS
Caring For the Feet of an Army
 Is a Vital Matter.
AS IMPORTANT AS FIT FOOD.


 the Best shod Soldiers In the World.
 The care of soldiers feet is one of the important things In war. soldier Is no better than his feet. Many things enter into the sum total of military ef- ficiency, but two of the great factors making for efficiency in troops are craftsmanship and marching power. Infantry that cannot march would be as unfit as infantry that could not shoot. It may be because of the i'm portance of the feet in infantry that the men of that branch of the service are called foot troops" Infantry without good feet would be more use less than cavalry without mounts ar tillery without cannon or T flying corps without an aeroplane.
 Napoleon has been credited with say ing that an army marches upon it's stomach, which, of course, Is true ns far as it goes. Soldiers to bring ol maintain their efficiency at the highest point must be adequately fed. and world of endeavor has been put forth by brainy men to insure the proper supply of food. to put into the ration the constituents needed by the human system and to have the food well cook ed. But 1t is just as true, hguratively as well as literally, that an army marches on its feet.
 When recruit or a prospective re cruit comes mp for his physical exam ination the examining surgeon gives just about as much attenll:u 10 the applicants feet as to his lungs. heart kidneys, teeth, vision and hearing He will not pass man with iiaI feet. be cause that man could not march. He will insist on a certain amount of arcb 10 the foot Too high an arch. which. however, is rare in men, would result in his rejection Any defect in the feet which would initiate against his en durance on the march would be a cause for rejection of the man.
 With the recognition of the impor tance of the soldiers foot came long and earnest study and experimentation with the soldiers sock and his shoe The sock question was soon satisfac' torily adjusted The necessity of fire quent bathing of the feet, especially on the march, was early determined on and woolen socks, light or heavy. ac cording to the season, were decided on for marching men. Fresh and clean socks are insisted on, and sock with d hole in 1t or sock that has been darned is not to be worn. At least that Is the idea as developed in the Ameri. can military service. In the matter Of the fit of soldiers socks it is pre- scribed in regulations that "the socks will be large enough to permit free movement of the toes, but not so loose as to permit of wrinkling."
 When 1t came down to the study Of the shoe the military men had seri ous problem which it Is believed in this country to have been correctly solved and with the result that the men of the American army are the best shod troops in the world. The cost of the United States army shoe garrison or marching, is in round fig ures S3, and so popular is it with the men of the army that they rarely buy pair of private shoes for use when absent from post on pass or on fur tough. The Quartermaster shoe of the present day is considered an excellent specimen of the shoemaker's art and i3 vastly different in fit and finish from the army shoe of a generation ago ID those states where these shoes are issued by the national government to the organized militia 1t Is one of the perplexities of the national guard of. fcers to keep their men from wearing the shoes in civil life.
 Before the foot and shoe dt question came under the study of men concern. ed with the efficiency of troops. there was always great deal of foot sore ness among the soldiers on the march
 This trouble was always severe and annoying among new troops and among old troops with new shoes The old idea was to equip soldier with a pair of shoes that would wear long. The stoutness and durability of the shoe was the main consideration There was very little consideration for the foot that went inside the shoe. Ii the shoe was large enough and not very much too large for the man the matter was thought to be settled. Foot trouble among regular troops on the march has been greatly reduced, but of course has not been eliminated Probably that ideal never will be at tained.
 A soldiers marching efficiency de bends not alone on the size or what is commonly scaled the 'fit'' of the shoe but on the shape. It has been said that Dr. Herman Meyer was the first to formulate the theory that the great toe must lie in such position that it's axis when carried backward shall pass through the center of the heel The foot is a lever of the second class the fulcrum is at the ball and great toe and power at the heel, which is trans mitted through the tendo-Achilles from