Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-16
8 HOT MEALS DAILY
FOR MEN IN TRENCHES
Roast Beef, Three Vegetables, Ice
Cream and Cake, Coffee,
Sample Dinner.

Colonel William II. Grove, u. ;. a.
chief of the Substance Division on TIN
staff of General Pershing has writer
for Trench and Camp, the army caml
publications an article in which he tell
how the American first line troops arr
supplied with food of wholcsomcncss
and quality never before approached II
warfare Colonel Grove, before the war, was
one of the senior officers IN the Quarter
| masters Department at Washington, and
| before that was, for several years, the
| q,iarterrnastcr of the Military Academy
at West Point In the course OF his article,
which is captioncd 'Becfstcak Smothercd
| in Onions Served Under Fire IN France,
Colonel Grove says
| when YOU men in the cantonments SIT
| down To your MONDAY meal IN the mess
tent and tackle hot roast beef, fresh
vegetables served stcaInlng hot, and wind
up with ice cream. did you ever stop to
think that serving hot food in the middle
of the day 10 the man up in the front
| trenches Over There" is the most dittcult
| Job put M to the Quartcrmastcr Corps
"Of course. we try To serve three hot
| meals dav on the firing line, but when
the shcllhrc is particularly brisk, We have
| to be content with one hot meal. And
that one. of course, is served at night. II IS
! possible to get food fresh from the port
able kitchens into the trenches under
cover of darkness, but the German guns
would scramble our service II We attempt
ed TO make deliveries in the middle OF the
day to all the lighting units.
Our mess service 1T the front Is very
materially affected by the terrain occu-
pied If the trenches are located III
country that slopes toward the enemy, II IS
exceedingly difficult to move supplies
in daylight The bearers would soon at
tract hot attention from the Germans.
III the trenches are not exposed To
direct shcllhrc. and there is good system
Of communicating trenches. we can pick
our own meal hours and serve hot iood
four ar five times day. Evcn under the
most difficult circumstances. however, we
manage 10 get hot meals To tho front Mt
least once every - houre
Il spent some time III France only lew
weeks ago. and during that period there
wasnt report of a mss under the once
a-iav program However, We cannot stick
to definite hour for the hot meals, even
at night If we did the enemy would soon
discover the schedule and make things
| lively for the bearers.
Notwithstanding the handicaps Gre
! atcd hv the big guns, the quality OF the
| food delivered III the trenches IS exceed
! inply good. \ fair sample Of front line
/ dinner would include hot roast beef fresh
| spinach, stcwcd tomatoes, potatoes or
! corn, ice cream and cake, amt plenty OF
/ coffee with sugar and cyaporatcd milk.
| Although this would not hc regarded
! as a remarkable meal on this side OF the
/ Atlantic. il is a hard ono 70 serve III first
| class condition IN France and under heavy
/ ShcIlhrc. Il represents an overcoming OF
/ exceedingly difficult transportation prob
! lens
The most difficult meals to serve arc
! those that include fresh vegetables and
/ fruit. chicken and G q But, with the
| cheerful co-opcration Of the French
| people, il has been possible 10 vary the
monotunv of regular army rations lhls
detail is lntrllstcd to the regulation officers
III charge of food supplies for ono or more
divisions. These experts control the dis
tribution of food according 70 system
that Insurcs equal treatment Of all regl-
mcnts
i suppose majority Of the men on the
American side have no idea hoW We man
age "a serve hot meals at the front II is a
simple trick We use flvcgallon thcrmoe
containers that keep meals smoking hot
for several hours. or preserve the frgid
qualities OF ice cream and other cold
tlclicaciCs
"By the use OF these thcunos containers
we can for example, send food forward At
: o clock in the morning and serve snok-
ing hot breakfasts III the trenches 1t the
regulation hour As matter Of fact
there are very few dishes that we cannot
put into our menus.
This department surprised an in
quircr very much few days ago by men
tioning the fact that slrloln steaks,
smothered in onions are one Of the tri-
umphs that have been achieved by our,
fTont-ine chefs.
There is always q possibility that
under particularly trying battle condi-
tions, il NAV become absolutely impos-
sible to get food into the trenches for
dav or two at a time The lines of com
munication might be completely cut off
BY a heavy barrage.
That annoying situation would plav
havoc with our hot meal plans, but 1t
would not cause the boys out in front 10 go
hungry Every man. Of course, carries the
regulation two DAYS Tatlons as part of his
equipment In addition 10 that cmergen-
cy food supply, we have a scheme that
costs lot Of money, but 1t is wcrth the
cost
The Qnartermaster Corps has pur-
chased i large supply Of galvanized iron
food containers They are made in this
country, filled with food packed in heavy
crates. and shipped direct to the trenches.
Each containcr holds % rations
These rations. as a majority Of you boys
probably know, include d pound Of hard
tack, a pound Of canned meat, little
more than an oupce Of coffee, and pro-
portionatc amount Of sugar and salt
Everything is alright and the big con
tainers are thoroughly sealed.
'As result the food is absolutely pro-
tected from dampncss or gas. The con
taincrs are distributed through the trench
Is and the canned meat in them is varied
to suit any taste 1t is not the sort Of
diet the boys at the front prefer, but it
comes in mighty handy whenever The
enemy is lucky enough to break up the
routine Of feeding
May Change Levy Court