Trench and camp., 1918-09-19

sat down to your MONDAY meal in the
mess-tent and tackle hot roast beef,
Iresn vegetables served steaming hot.
ana WIND up with ice cream, did you
ever STOP to think that serving hot
Iood In the middle of the day to the
mdn up In the front trenches "Over
mere is the most difficult Job put
up 10 the Quartermaster Corps?
VI course, we try to serve threa hot
Meals DAY ON the firing line, but
Wnen the shell-fre is particularly
Drlsk we have to be content with one
not meal. And that one, of course. is
served at night. 1t is possible to get
1000 fresh from the portable kitchens
INTO the trenches under cover OF dark
ness, but the German guns would
scramble our service if we attempted
10 make deliveries in the middle of
the day to all the fighting units.
Our mess service at the front is
very materially affected by the ter.
ram occupied. If the trenches are To-
Ssteo IN country that slopes toward
.ns enemy, It is exceedingly difficult
20 move supplies forward in daylight.
1ns bearers would soon attract hot
~AVA AAOm Lu0 G0rma0S.
tne trenches are not exposed to
ulrcct shell fire, and there is a good
system OF communicating trenches
we can PICK our own meal hours and
serve not food four or five times a day
Even under the most difficult circum-
stances, however, we manage to get
not meals to the front at least once
every twenty-four hours.
spent some time in France only
rev weeks ago, and during that
PERIOD there wasn't report of a miss
under the once-a-day program. How.
ever, we cannot stick to a definite
nour for the hot meal, even at night
II we did, the enemy would soon dig.
cover the schedule and make things
lively for the bearers.
Notwithstanding the handicaps Gre
ated by the big guns. the quality oil
the food delivered in the trenches is
exceedingly good. A fair sample of a
IrOnt-line dinner would incluIe hot
roast beef, fresh spinach, stewed to.
matoes, potatoes or corn, ice cream
and cake, and plenty of coffee with
sugar and evaporated milk.
Although this would not be regard
ed as a remarkable meal on this side
OF the Atlantic, it is a hard one tc
serve in first-class condition in France
and under heavy shell-fire. 1t repre-
Sents an overcoming of exceedingly
difficult transportation problems.
Our meat, for example, is pur-
chased in Chicago, or some other
point in the Middle West. It must
pass the most rigid inspection ever
devised by the United States Army, is
then frozen and shipped in refrigera-
tor cars to an Eastern port Here il
IL refrOzen, packed ON board a refrig
orator ship and rushed to France
where it is frozen for the third time
and transferred in refrigerator cars tc
the front. AS result of this con-
stant care, the meat cooked under
ehell-6re is better than a majority oi
housekeepers in the United States car
purchase.
The most dificult meals to serve
are those that include fresh vege-
tables and fruit, chicken and eggs
But, with the cheerful cooperation OF
the French people, it has been pos.
sible to vary the monotony of regular
army rations. This detail Is entrust-
ed to the regulation officers in charge
of food supplies for one or more divi-
sions. These experts control the dis
tribution of food according to sys-
tenn that insures equal treatment o1
all regiments.
If, for example, regulating officer
in one sector manages to pick up some