Catoctin clarion., 1918-10-31
Work of S. o. S. in France Ex-
GELS All History OF Mil
itary Feats. /
QUICK SERVICE IS The rule
Army Uses 100000 Pounds OF RefrIg.
Grated and Fresh Beef Each Day
Immense Supplies Needed to
Feed Yanks-Works Like
Machine.
ev CHARLES N. WHEELER.

In the Chicago Tribune)
In the S. o. S. Sector, France.-The
matter Of feeding the army In France
is an epic story. 1t is truly of heroic
proportions.
Just now It requires about 100000
pounds of refrigerated and fresh beef
TO feed the army in France each day,
besides the hundreds Of thousands OF
pounds of bacon. mutton. ham, corned
beef canned salmon, and dried and
pickled meats and fish. More than 2OO,-
600 cans of tomatoes, corn and peas
help to make up one days ratlons.
Something like 100000 cans of jam,
5000 cans Of peaches, 5000 jars of
pickles, 1900 bottles Of catsup, car
loads of canned lobster and other sea
foods, more than 1000 boxes of choco-
late, fresh white bread made of Amer
lean -four and all the boys want, even
the good old corn bread served hot, be-
sides the immense quantities Of pota-
toes, beans, prunes, coffee, sugar milk,
pepper, salt, vinegar, cinnamon, sirup.
and about everything found in we'll
stocked farmers pantry in the United
States are laid before the American
army in France every day-and 1t Is
all there right on the dot.
Works Like Machine.
It Is there in every section Of France,
from Scissors and Toul to Marseilles
and from the Swiss border to the Bay
of Biscay. All France is a great In
dustrial place and there Is hardly a
spot in the whole country, including
the sections under heavy shell fire,
where the s. o. S. is not standing at
attention when the dinner bell rings.
Meantime, men and munitions, and
all manner of supplies are moving up
to the front continuously, and the
fighters are coming back for little
rest. The machinery works smoothly
and efficiently. There are side lines
of great interest. One of these Is the
travelling bathroom. An outfit that re-
uuires only three trucks Is now sent up
to the lines to greet the boys as they
come out of the trenches and give
them fine scrubbing. Each outfit
will wash 500 boys an hour.
Meantime the s. o. s. is filling orders
from the front. 1t may be a few thou
sand infantry, an artillery regiment
or several such regiments, machine
gun companies, and so on through the
list. They are delivered Immediately.
hnu tn hn hrnupht
back to the hospitals. The trains and
ambulances are ready and they move
like clockwork-except that getting
back from the first-aid stations at times
is not quite as slow as clock. The
wounded are sent to all corners of
France and the big machine works on
almost faultlessly.
Whole armies Of the mobile sections
now are transported quickly from sec.
tor to sector. 1t Is up to the s. O. s.
to see that all this equipment Is pro-
vided.
Salvage Work Important.
The s. O. S. besides doing an enor-
nous business in the manufacturing
line, conducts large salvage plant, or
plants, into which flows a steady
stream of battlefield wreckage. In the
clothing branch of the work alone they
are saving the taxpayers back home
S35OO,OO0 a month. More important
than the money saving Is the saving OF
tonnage.
At one station mammoth American
locomotives are assembled "while you
wait" Six of these leviathans are put
together every day and are doing theiI
bit the next day.
1t was found advisable to operate q
special train for American military
men between two widely separated
points in France. AS soon as the neces
sity presented itself the train was In
stalled. 1t Is called the "Americar
Special" 1t is manned by Pullman cal
porters-negro boys who have haC
long training on the de luxe trains back
home. They are rated as first class
wagon men here. American railway
conductors have been assigned to this
train, or trains, one running each wa!
every "a hours.
OF one thing the mothers back home
may be thoroughly assured, and that |!
that not one of their boys wants for
single thing in the way Of subsistenc.
and medical and surgical attention. M
army ever took the field better pro
vided. And while the appreciations ar
being passed around 1t Is not out O.
place to observe that the subsistence
division of the war department a
Washington is entitled to decoration
for the efficiency it has achieved.
Something over 100000 enlisted mel
and about 25,O0O women comprise tn
"help" in the 8. o. S. organization. 4
large number of officers, of course, ar
required for the supervising positions
but practically all of the workers ar
men in khaki who have been terme'
the Ammunition passers."
Employs Army Of Women.
OF the 25,000 women In the worl
most of them are French women.