New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-01
By ARTHUR S. DRAPER

London. Feb. % passed by the censor
March S).-If the campaign OF wi
runs through the next winter the brlt-
ish army will be well prepared 70 com
bat the weather. however great ITS
rigors. The winter OF 1860 VIII
be long remembered because Of ITS
severity, and IT would be a strange
freak Of nature II there should be two
successive winters in France as cold
and snowy as the one just drawing to
q close.
To Americans accustomed to several
months of snow and weeks when the
thermometer registers around zero inc
last winter would not seem especially
severe. but TO the Australians, Ne"
Zealapders, West Indians. Indian
troops. Senegalese and others unused
70 snow it has been as trying as II
would be for Americans to work IN inc
African jungles in midsummer. 1t IS
not so much the low temperature ana
snow as the damp, penetrating WINDS
that bite into the very souls OF inc
men. ,
Little Sickness in Ranks
In recent trip over some hundreds
81 miles Of roads in Northern France
cot an idea Of what it means TO spend
q winter at the front and learned OF
some Of the things the British au-
1horities have done 10 lessen the haro-
sb;ps Of the men. (Deleted by censor
Tborc are more men in and behind the
British lines than there were before
the summer Of 1914; there is unqueS-
tionably lower percentage OF sickness
among them than in pre-war days
The idea that an army lives under can
vas in one Of the many illusions THIS
war has shattered. There are soldiers
,hopsands of chem. who are sleeping IN
tents in France, but there arc hundreds
If thousands who are billeted IN nuts
with elephant back roofs. The IN
ventor of these low-roofed buildings
which can be constructed almost as
quickly as a tent can be staked out
and at an extremely low cost. has won
and deserves the blessings Of thousands
and thousands Of Tommies who have
vintered in France. Other thousands
are billeted in French farmhouses and
harms and any place where there Is
roof TO cover them.
No stub ble-Faced Tommies
~ In the equipment of every BRUSH
soldier is a razor. and II Il IS iost II
IS missed almost as much SIS II he were
deprived Of his tea. You can traVel
many q mile in France without nhd-
ing stubble-faced Tommy. What that
means 10 one appreciates who has not
tried 10 shave where the only water
was a cake Of ice and the only mirror
q niece of broken glass or q discarded
Tin I have seen them shave When
the temperature was below freezlngi
have also seen them washing IN water
which they could not get before break
ing the ice covering pond
The winter of 19l4-15 ruined many
q good soldier. but that was before the
DAYS when the army knew how 10 ward
off trench feet" There have been
mighty few footsore cases IN the last
winter. though the weather has been
ter men were forced by necessity TO
stand for hours IN trenches where the
water was often above their knees, and
the only thing they had on their feet
were woollen socks and leather SHOES
Troops Get Rubber Boots
This winter they were equipped with
rubber boots. Besides this, thelr fee'
were treated especially to ward of chill
n
convalescent camps near one OF the
biggest base hospitals in France is d
ward where q trained chirOpodlst IS
kept constantly busy.
This same convalescent camp, on the
side Of q French hill, Is swept by sea
breezes winter and summer. Week IN
and week out some 800 men live there
while they are receiving final treatment
before returning TO active service. In
summer and winter II IS a perfect
health resort With the exception OF
the officers quarters, the Young Mems
Christian Association hut and the mess
rooms, there are no wooden buildings
The officers quarters have tiny bre-
places. which offer protection from the
lev blasts. Practically the whole camp
lives under canvas, and the men are
mighty husky lot, judging by the guam
the kitchen for one MONDAY meal.
Shower Baths Popular
A really warm room in this camp IS
the kitchen, where great sides Of Argen-
tine beef are hung close 10 the ovens TO
thaw the meat before it can be cut.
When / was there most of the water
pipes were frozen, and all the erstwhile
plumbers in the camp were busy trying
10 get the shower baths in commission.
Up till then the baths had been working
properly and were well patronized,
though the water was as cold as the
spray from the North Sea. And these
were convalescents!
The coolest job in France Is done by
the aviators, who fly eighty, ninety or
one hundred miles an hour back and
forth across the trenches, making OBJ
servations, taking photograph o.
enemy positions and fighting the Boehe
sirnen. A trip in an army motor ear
dasbing along at fifty miles an hour,
gives one an appreciation OF the pene'
trating power Of cold, but the aviator
is unable TO cuddle up IN blankets and
fnr robes and hide behind wind shields.
His only protection comes from the
c1o.hes he wears and he cannot be