Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-12

process developed by the war which the
Americans going to France are adj
mira bly, equipped to emulate. and doubt
less will. ] mean the bread-maktng for
the army. l speak of 1T because. of all
the marvellous sights | have seen in this
conflict, none perhaps is. in some re-
spects, more remarkable. At a certain
depot in France ! watched one of the
hugest bakeries in the world doing its
work. Every day more than 100000
loaves of bread emerge from the oven
and go speeding up and down the lines
10 feed the hungry troops. Oddly
enough. every one of this army OF
bakers is a regularly enlisted soldier.
When by some miracle he is enabled TO
take all the flour Off his clothes you
see the tan of the khaki showing be-'
meath In general, army food purvey-
ing is one great opportunity for Yankee
resources TO make good in a big way.
You have now seen how the American
industrial machine, with all its genius
of organization and output, can be CO.
ordinated with those great mechanical
forces already employed by our allies
in the war. 1t only remains to speak
of the coordination of the human ma
chine-the gallant men who have gone
and who will continue to go in ever-
increasing numbers to join the far
flung battle front. This is. of course a
much simpler process than the other.
y fighting man is fighting man.
whether in America or in Europe and
his job is definitely cut out for him.
s How the American soldier. with his
RESTLESS and impetuous temperament.
Will stand the strain and monotony Of
trench ife remains to be seen. open
engagements are few and far between.
our soldiers will have to qualify as
good diggers and walters as well as
good lighters. One feature of European
fighting that will amaze our men is
the absolute absence of the details and
trimmings that SO long constituted part
of the panoply orwar. / mean that no
flags are permitted. In all nay journeys
up and down the fighting front / never
saw single flag in action. The only
flags shown are Red Cross flags.
One reason. of course. for the eclipse
of battle flags is that. when they are
displayed they Immediately become the
target for a vicious bombardment. In
the early days Of the var some of the
regiments carried their standards. but
they found they had to pay a costly
price for the thrill.
One more detail remains to he eN-
planned in this all-important matter OF
lining ourselves up with the allies. 1t
seems slight, perhaps even sentimental.
but it makes mighty difference. IL il
the part that every American family
play in making our soldiers at the
front more happy and comfortable IL
a soldier likes one thing above all 9TH
ers, it is letters one of the tragedies
of the war was to see the men who
never get any. In the midst of the dead
lest din and the most multitudinous
activity. they are the loneiiest people
in the world. Therefore, If American
families have no active part in the war
and desire to become real philanthro-
pists let them nail to the masthead or
their homes this motto:
Write to of the boys in France"
har aln 80 n
the men at the front. il must be warm
clothing. Gossamer socks and diaph-
anous mufflers do not stand up against
the chill winds of France or the bitter.
biting cold of the trenches. If you are
going to knit socks. knit heavy wooden
socks, and, il you are going to send
comforters, make them warm and serv-
iceable-
There is still another detail that can
enlist the attention of the non-combat-
tant and stay-at-home American. The
'.Sammies" in the trenches must be pro-
vided with reading matter. Remember
they will be stationed in a foreign
country that speaks a different lam
guage from our own. After tobacco.
nothing perhap s is more welcome to the
fighting man than books, home papers
and magazines. In Great Britain all
reading matter is transported free OF
charge to the soldiers. You can turn
in your books. magazines and other
contributions at the nearest post office
and John Bull will do the rest. Here
is a precedent well worth emulating in
the United States. When you send
books send thrillers or "shockers' as
the British call them The man in
Khaki wants no high brow or uplift
literature. He gets all the uplifting he
wants in the war game, particularly IN
the high explosive shell department
In the last analysis you find that war
is work 1t demands practical things
1t ca lis for the sort of cooperation that
the United States almost more than any
other nation, is best equipped to give.
And she will give it ungrudgingly.
Copyright, 1917, by The Bell Syndicate. Inc.D