Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-07-27
PHELPS for the
NEW SOLDIER
BY a United States Army Officer
THE SOLDIER ON THE MARCH.
lcogyrlgh., 1917. by the Wheeler Syndicate, Ine.l

If there are important reasons why
q soldier in camp or in barracks should
look to his health, these reasons are
infinitely more important when on the
march. For if sick soldier is a drain
on the regimental resources while in
camp, in the field, if he has to be car
the hospital in the care of another sol
der, he becomes an utter encum-
brance.
It is for this reason that the phys
zeal examinations are now so exacting,
in order to weed out all those predis-
posed to break down under marching
conditions. Yet it is not necessary for
man to be actually sick for him TO
become q dead weight on body OF
troops. If he does not take care of his
feet, he will become fully as useless.
One half-inch blister may, for march
ing purposes, turn a six-foot soldier
into an invalid.
In the first place, the shoes should
be fitted with special attention. They
should neither be too wide nor too
short Sores and blisters should be
promptly dressed during a halt. At
the end of the march the feet should
be bathed and dressed, and, if prac-
ticable. the shoes Should be changed.
A soldier should under no circum-
stances, however, go barefoot, for his
feet would swell and give him in
creased difficulty as soon as he starts
to march again.
One of the points which cannot be
emphasized too strongly is that water
should not be drunk on the march. A
soldier may take an occasional sWal-
low from his canteen, rinse out his
mouth and then eXpel the water, but
If he drinks outright-as he may do
freely at the end of the march-the
consequences are disastrous.
One National Guard regiment on the
Mexican border last year started upon
q six-miIe march. The column was a
shining succession of uplifted cam
teens. Before five miles had been COW
cred, % men were stretched out by the
roadside In collapse. Another Ma
.tional Guard regiment, in which the
men drank without restraint on a hot
march-even scooping up water from
puddles, lost approximately two hun
dred out of the column on that day.
A soldier should never sleep on the
ground. He should always have his
rubber ponchO, or at least his blanket,
beneath him, and, whenever possible,
a bed of straw or leaves beneath pom
cho or blanket. If the dampneSs of
the soil entered his system, he would
contract cold and rheumatism and be-
come, as with all sick men, heavy
drag upon his organization.
Just as it is essential, for the sake
of his health, that a soldier keep scru-
pulously clean, so for the protection of
the general health, q camp or barracks
must also be rendered immaculate. All
trash, even small pieces of paper,
should be swept from the floor of the
tent or quarters, or "pOliced' from the
company street. For trash breeds in
sects and insects carry disease. All
pools and damp places near the camp
should be drained, so that mosquitoes
may have no place to multiply. For
this reason soldiers are supplied with
mosquito bars, as protection against
purveyors of fever. All camp refuse
is either buried in sink or burned in
an moderator.