The Press., 1915-03-10
MARCHING TROOPS
carinu For the Feet of an Army
 Is a Vitc| Matter.
AS IMPORTANT AS FIT FOOD.

The Manner In Which the Sock and
 Shoe Problem Was Solved by Our
 Military Men Has Given Uncle Sam
 the Best Shod Soldiers In the World.
 The care of soldiers feet is one of the important things in war. A soldier k no better than his feet Many things enter into the sum total of military ef- ticiency, but two of the great factors making for efficiency i'll 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 lm- 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 flying corps without an aeroplane.
 Napoleon has been credited with say ing that an army marches upon its stomach. which. of course, is true as far as it goes. Soldiers to bring or maintain their eff, iency at the highest point must be adequately fed. and Il 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 tc have the food well cook ed But it is just as true. hguratlvely as well as literally, that an army marches on its feet.
 When a recruit or a prospective re cr,lit comes up for his physical exam ination the examining surgeon gives just about as much attention to the applicants feet as to his lungs, heart kidneys, teeth. vision and hearing. He will not pass d man with fiat feet. be- cause that man could not march. He will insist on q certain amount of arch to 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 ell durance on the march would be 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- toriIy adjusted. The necessity of ire quent bathing of the feet, especially on he 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 Il sock with a hole ill it or sock that has been l darued is not to be worn. At least that is the idea as developed in the Ameri- | can military service. In the matter of l the lit of a soldiers socks it is pre- scribe'l 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 it came down to the study of
 the shoe the military men had a seri- 1 ous problem which it is believed ill l this country to have been correctly solved and with the result that the
 men of the American army are the I best shod troops in the world The
 cost of the United States army shoe garrisou or marching, is in round fig
 ures $:5, and so popular is it with the l men of the army that they rarely buy | q pair of private shoes for use when
 absent from post on pass or on fur
 tough. The qnartermaster shoe of the present day is considered an excellent specimen of the shoemaker's art and
 is vastly different in fit and finish from
 the army shoe of a generation ago. \ g,, ,%H<Do
 are issued by the national government to the organized militia it is one of tn. l perplexiticS of the national guard Of
 ficers 10 keep their men from wearin,
 the shoes in civil life.
 | Before the foot and shoe fit uuestiol
 came under the study of men concern
 ed with the efficiency of troops there
 was always d great deal of foot sore
 ness among the soldiers on the march | This trouble waS always severe ant
 annoying among new troops ant
 among old troops with new shoes
 The old idea WIS to equip a soldier ! with q pair of shoes that would wea 1 ong. The StullneSS ana durability O
 the shoe W;l$ the main consideration |
 the foot hat went inside the shoe. Il
 he shoe was lnrYc enough and no l very much too large f,s the man tho
 matter wHS thought to be settled Foo
 trouble among regular troops On tho
 march has been greatly reduced. bu l of course has not been elimiMat ed
 Probably that ideal never will he at l tained.
 X soldiers marching efficiency de | pends not alone on line size or what i.
 commonly called the fit of the shoe
 that Dr. Herman Meyer was the frs
 'u formulate the theory that the grea
 toe must lie in such d position tha it's axis when carried backward shal
 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
 snd power at he heel, which is trans
 lnitted through the tendO- Achilles iron The calf muscles and the weight of the
 body between. This lever is the prime
 factor ill walking or marching. The
 leg and body muscles balance the loat
 pr shift the levers. which are the feet
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