The Alaska daily empire., 1916-04-14
WITH SOLDIERS ON MARCH INTO
 MEXICAN LANDS
lsneelal cerreapondenee.l

FIELD HEADQUARTERS, Ameri- can Expeditionary Forces. Colonio Dublan, Chihuahua. March 27 CBy motor truck to Columbus, N. MJ, March Establishment of @ field bakery, on a Mexican plantation near headquarters, has released half a dozen automobiles for other work, which up to date, have been distri- buting bread baked on the United States border among the columns ofI tho expedition.
 The new field Kitchens, compris- Ing two ovens. each nearly the size of a garage are capable of turning out 5,40O one pond loaves of bread per day. A ones pound loaf Of ar my bread is a days rations for Q soldier in the field. lt is about the size of a derby hat. but not so sym metrical. The estimated cost of car rylng bread from the border to the bases in automobile trucks was $40 per day in gasoline alone. More im- portant than the saving of money was the release of automobiles and other transport facilities for carry ing additional supplies The space released can furnish, for example daily grain supply for about one regiment of cavalry horses.
 Big Bake Ovens.
 The bread baked at the new ovens is from native Mexican flour. the first obtained by tho expeditionary columns. The ovens are made of native brick and adobe mud. Each oven has large fire box, enclosed on all sides by very thick walls manufactured from mud and brick. A wood fire is built in this box' burning for about an hour until the temperature in tho box is about 500 degrees. Then the fire Is removed quickly. a wet cloth on @ pole wipes out the wooden ashes. and on a wood en ladle. with a handle about 20 feet long. dough loayes are deposited in the fire box. In about an hour they are done. The process is repeated every two hours without interrup- tion. day or night the bakers work ing in eight-hour shifts. The yeast for this bread has been made from Mexican potatoes. in big barrels. A little sugar is put into the dough.
 Whatever the outcome of the chase for Villa. 1t is evident that the army here in Mexico. under General Persh- in. Is being given an actual test of the military Inventions under service conditions
 Motor Trueks Tested.
 More than one type of motor truck is in use among the 54 machines of this class doing transport duty. The trucks are under test in country without roads. where hill and noun tain climbing on rocky trails are nec- essary if the army is to subsist. The big motor trucks not only have done an expected Of them. but they have in several respects outdone the ia. nous lighter makes of automobiles in pace making under difficult con- ditions.
 The army in the field has already met the problem of living in coun- try which is practically without salt. With the expectation that 1t would in part live off the country through which 1t is passing, paying for what 1t consumed. even the scanty food supplies which were anticipated in the devasted Chihuahua districts, are not materializlng.. Most of the avail able pork. for example, has been found to be infected with trichinae. These and other Incidents have com plicated an already difficult transpor- tation problem. throwing the army upon its own resources to work out quick substitutes for the ordinary means of subsistence.
 Soldiers Great Endurance.
 Practically. however. 1t is under stood that the field forces by hard work and the endurance of the cav alrymen and horses and the remark abue marching powers displayed by the infantrymen have made up for a considerable portion of this handi- cap. Adaptability of the troops to emergencies displayed under the test of this campaign has furnished many practical object lessons to the lengths to which American armies can be driven on forced marches without loss of organization or danger to the men. These troops made record marches during their first day out but, according to the reports reach Ing here and the evident physical hardness of the men in the base camps. the men are In condition not only to repeat. but to exceed their past performances.
 In spite of the campaign hardshlps, the camp life in Mexico is beginning to produce Its round of humorous soldier stories. Today a Chinese laundryman. a resident of Mexlca, established his business near a large camp. proceeded to attempt to build his shack over and around the army telegraph wires. He intended to use the wire to hang the clothes on. An officer stopped him before the shack was up.
 Take a Day Hunting.
 Duck shooters and other pot hunt CTS along the 250 miles of communi-