Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-21
LESSON NO. s

"HANSllNU AND CAKE OF EEEI
(Preceding Lessons: / Your Post OF
Honor. 2. Making Good as a Sol
der. 8. Nine Qualities of a Sol.
der. 4. Getting Ready for Camp
b. First Days in Camp. 6. .Cleanli-
ness in Camp. 7. Your Health.)
The new soldier seldom under
stands now important it is for him tc
learn TO march and to develop his
muscles so that he. can easily carry
ms arms and euipqment. MARCHING
constitutes the principal occupation
of troops in campaign" Gnfantry
Drlll Regulations, paragraph 62S. J
Modern trench warfare in Europe
mas Tor the time being reduced the
amount of marching required in
campaign; yet it remains just as i'm
portant an element in the soldiers
training as 1t ever was.
In order to march for long dis
tances the soldiers feet must be in
good condition. AS has been aptly
remarked, the infantryman's feet
are his means of TRANSFORMATION. u
Special attention should be maid tc
the hitting of shoes and the care OF
the feet. Marching shoes should be
quite little larger than shoes fol-
ordinary wear. Sores and blisters
on the feet should be promptly
dressed during halts. At the end OF
the march feet should be bathed
and dressed; the socks, and if prac-
tieal the shoes should be changed. -
(Intantry Drill Regulations, para
graph 627.)
You will learn in time the prac-
tlcal rules for taking care of your
feet that are followed by experienced
soldiers. You will avoid considerabIe
discomfort, however, if you learn
some of these rules now and mi
them into practice from the very
beginning:
1. See that your shoes are large
enough. They will at first look and
feel unnecessarily loose. This is
needed because it has been found
that feet swell and lengthen on
marches, especially when CARRYING
packs. But shoes fitted this way will
give you no corns, bunions, blisters
or other foot ills. In fact, they will
cure any that you may already have,
2. Take pains to keep your shoes
in good condition. 1t is a good idea to
apply light coat of neat's-foot oil,
which will both soften the leather
and tend to make them waterproof
Don't neglect to smooth out wrinkles
in the lining of the shoe. Break in
new shoes before wearing them on
long marches.
8. Wear light wooden socks. such
as will be issued to you. See that
you have no holes or wrinkles in
them. If a hole has been worn and
can not be mended at once, change
the sock from one foot to the other
so that your foot will not be irri-
tated more than is necessary.
4. Keep your feet socks and shoes
clean. When on the march try 10
wash your socks at night and put
on clean pair every morning. Battle
the feet every evening, or at least
wipe them off with wet towel.
8. Keep your feet scrupulously
clean. A foot bath can be taken,
when other facilities are not at hand,
by scraping small depression in the
ground, throwing a poncho over il
and pouring water into this from
your canteen. Even a pint of water
will do for foot bath. You can
bathe all over by making or finding
depression of suitable size and
using your poncho as for a foot bath
6. Keep your toe nails trimmed
closely and cut them square across
the ends. This will tend to prevent
ingrowing nails. By all means avoid
the common error of rounding the
corners of the nail and cutting it to
a point in the center.
7. In case blister is formed while
on the march, open the edge of the
blister with the point of a knife or
a needle that has been heated in a
match fame. Be sure to squeeze all
the fluid out of the blister. To leave
any in it may make it worse. Do not
pull off the loose skin but press il
back. Then put on an adhesive plas-
ter, covering the skin we'll beyond
the edges of the blister, putting IL
on as tightly as possible without
wrinkles. In the same way put an
adhesive plaster over any red or ten
der spots.
8. In case any tendons become in