El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-06-02

power. as already suggested. depends
as much upon his ability TO march as
upon his ability 10 shoot And his
marching abi4,y is largely matter
Of footgear.
Shoes Must Be Comfortable.
A pair of i'll fitting shoes. that
cause discomfort at every step, VIII
soon affect the soldiers bUoyancy Of
spirit. make him irritable, and di
minish his fighting capacity. His ef-
ficiency as combatant is reduced.
or even destroyed
Hence the Importance of new
departure taken by the war depart
ment a short time before the great
conflict began A board as appoint
ed TO study out the problem OF pro-
viding proper shoes for our soldiers,
and the result of its work is shown
in the fact that today every man in
the United States army enjoys the
luxury OF perfectly comfortable feet.
With the shoes previously worn,
infantry could not march two days
ithout disabling at least 10 per cent
OF the command. owing to abrasions,
blisters. etc. This meant that tenn
porarily, if a campaign were in pro-
gress, as many men would be with
drawn from the firing line by sore
feet as might be put out of action in
a pitched battle
New Army Shoe Is Model.
The new army shoe is the shape of
the foot and allows the toes to
spread slightly in walking. with the
outer edge Of the great toe in a
straight line with the heel, instead
OF being pressed toward the middle.
When provided with such footgear,
eight companies 1879 men and Off
cers) covered. on an experimental
march, 120 miles in nine DAYS Not
one man dropped out. and every foot
IN r
the hike"
Meanwhile. for purposes Of study.
the war department had made a col
lection of the footgssr of all the for
eiEn armies No two pairs were at
all alike. Their very diversity proved
that something was wrong with
them; for. il one pattern was correct.
all the others must be very incor-
rect Without exception. they were
too heavy-a serious disadvantage.
inasmuch as every extra ounce the
marching man has TO lift at each
step counts toward fatigue.
For our own army there used to
be hundreds OF different patterns Of
shoes; now there is only one pattern.
built on a government made last. At
the quartermaster storehouse sam
pies of every size are kept for try
ing on. There are Is sizes num-
bered for length. each Of them in six
widths reckoned by letters-a total
of 90 varieties
The men are not allowed to pick
out their own shoes Experience has
shown that trained filters can do
the lob much better. Every person
thinks himself competent TO decide
on the fit of his own footgear, yet,
in civil life. say the war department
experts. Two men out OF three wear
shoes too short for them, ar one
in four cramps his feet in shoes that
are too narrow
4 mistake formerly made in the
army was in trying to fit the foot
to the shoe. The foot is not a mere
mass of flesh, bone, and gristle.l
which may be crowded into any sort
OF protective covering for walking
purposes. II is one of the most COM
pick anatomical structures OF the
human body. and every one Of its
parts has a definite function The
military shoe, therefore. should be
like a glove. while combining dura-
biiity With lightness.
Dress on Seven Cents Daily.
The American soldier is expected
TO keep himself well dressed on seven
cents a day. It seems a small al