Evening star., 1918-05-28
Used Up Valuable Tonnage.

IL IL not permitted.
Used Up Valuable Tonnage.
II this soldiers packages averaged
the regulation seven pounds each. he
took up 469 pounds of tonnage. II
100000 men Jared that well. and
every one has the right to fare as
well as his comrade, there would be
234.500 tons. or practically full
cargo for twenty-four ships Of 10000
tons each. Any army supply sergeant
can aEure out how far 2s4.soo tons
ous articles on the issue list. but even
the most sentimental will easily see
tnat 234.b00 tons of food or forage
are more essential than 234,600 tons
Of christmas rsmembrances.
dening our tonnage with unnecessary
articles, many Of them foolish" said
one Of the general ofncers Of the
service Of supplies. which has charge
Of this all-important work for the
Army. "oftentimes they do not help
to his burdens, while they always
make it more difficult to get articles
which are really needed"
Too Many Apples Sent.
This officer called attention to many
thousand cases Of apples which re-
Gently were sent over by well-mean-
ing persons at homo and distsibuted
free through the Y. NJ. c. A. to the
soldiers.
AT this base there were more
apples than we could eat and most Of
them spoiled" he said. What IL
more important 10 that Just AZ good
annlAn 0rawn In Franco cnm1A he
bought here and our tonnage re-
leased for something more valuable" !"
Though the expedition is far from
being In desperate straits regarding
ocean tonnage. 1t must be used judi
ciously. Just q railroad tennage is
sary commodities must be given pref
srence and shipped in proportionate
quantities. A few days after this
conversation. in French city, back
of the French front. bought hefty
. cents. A friend could not get any
cigarettes in the entire city and the
salvation Army had stopped baking
doughnuts and pies because it did
not have any white -four. Most per
sons would prefer -four for white
One oficer brought over q crate of
grapefruit when he came. They
tasted hne, but again there was the
question whether the shipping space
could not have been better used for
sugar stacked in sacks as high as
the roof in warehouses at the sup
ply bases one might think that the
supply IL unendinE. but the demand
also is unending and every little bit
helps.
Bread, Cakes, Pickles.
OF the things that are sent by mail
the list Of "unnecessaries" is unend-
bread from a friend who had read
about the war bread Of Europe. It
was moldy and palatab1e only for
chickens. Those who have received
cakes in badly battered, dried condi-
tion are legion. Pickles, olives and
from Europe. some even from France.
are among the things sent.
One warehouse at one OF the base
ports 10 nearly full of old newspapers
and magazines. There is nothing that
can be done with them. Ohacers and
busy parts for promiscuous reading.
They would be satisfied could they re-
ceive the letters and papers from
home with promptness. That would
be suficient reading matter.N
seventy-Five Sweaters for One Man
The solution Is to use the general
distributing agency through the prop
or Army channel Indiscriminate
sending Of packages may give one
soldier half a do1en knit sweaters.
while his neishbor does not have any.
One man whom I know was given
seventy-five sweaters to distribute.
He implored everybody he met to take
one.
A nice new razor is always useful.
but II q man already has 4 ragor 1t Is
unnecessary. He must either throw
away the old razor or the new one, or
burden himself with two razors. It
would be much better to get a new
ragor when he needs 1t at the quarter
masters stores.
It is the same with many other ar
ticles, for the Quartermaster has 5000
different things to sell. Even he Is
going to cut down his stock. especial
~ Of bulky canned fruits. which can
be bought here, SO that ocean tonnage
may be used more judiciously.