New-York tribune., 1918-01-10
Hits General With
Box of Cigarettes
Newspaper Man Tossing To-
bacco to Troops in France
Miscues His Aim
lStof Co,respondence1

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
NANCE, Dec. 24.--Dinner is peasanter
tor the soldier than the period mmc-
o'ately afterward, for the American
army does not seem to be able to keen
up with the demand for tobacco. At
some times there has been an absolute
shortage in cigarettes, and never has
the supply been able to keep ahead of
the demand. Tobacco funds from the
various newspapers have helped a little
aithough none of them have evolved a
good system Of distribution.
'~ne newspaper representative un-
certook to distribute cigarettes bv
hand. tossing them box at - time
from flying motor truck. The SOC
ond day out he hit brigadier GEN
efai with box of cigarettes. and
mat system has since been abandoned
Inc \. NJ. c. A. has been tho most
successful agency for the Distribution
OF tobacco. but the soldiers comnla;n
tnat they charge too much for their
cigarettes, and once or twice have
ooycotted them. The y. NJ. c. A. is
oolng good work here. but it needs
!act: and, although the soldiers use
IT'S nuts and various facilities freely
they blaspheme it.
OF course, there arc two sides tn
the tobacco shortage One capta;n
toid me: THE men have got SO per
cent better wind than thev had q
couple of weeks ago, and it. all bc-
cause they haven't been able to pet
many of those damn cigarettes. On
.hc other hand, a major said: "If they
nave cigarettes soldiers will stand cold
and hunger and shell fire and hell it,
sei1; The chaplain said: eyes, they
ought to have cigarettes. | don't find
nearly so much to do when they have
enough to smoke"
Candy Always Welcome
One Of the best antidotes for ciea-
rettes is candy. but few soldiers can
try that cure. The army made mod
crate allowance of sweets in the early
shipments to France, but they never
came within good many hundred
pounds of satisfying the demand. Any
oody who wants to send luxury to a
soldier abroad had better make it
candy. 1t will be even more welcome
than cigarettes.
otficers say that the soldiers get
paid too much money. Soldiers say
maybe, but not often enough. The pay
system of the American army is fear
fully complicated and getting worse.
allowances to folks at home and de-
auctions for Liberty bonds have made
1t almost necessary for each company
to nave trained bookkeeper.
Red tape about pay is enormous.
Added to this, the movement of troops
and the secrecy as to their where
abouts have increased the difficulties
OF headquarters AS result great
many soldiers are far behind on their
pay. Three months is the furthest |
encountered. A guard division was
that much IN arrears. and so were the
nurses of the Roosevelt Hos pital unit
"A fellow newspaper man told me, how
ever. that he had found some engineers
Who had not been paid for five months
This state of affairs cuts two wavs
The division which had not been paid
for three months lived in our town
Their lack of pay corresponded with a
lack OF provisions attendant upon theil
recent arrival. One soldier traded a
sweater knitted for him by some kindly
woman at home for a can of preserved
peaches, and another turned in a wrist
watch for can of sardines. These
things did not look we'll, and indeed
they were not we'll, since lack of pay is
almost as bad for morale as too much
pay, and one day these unpaid lads will
have three or four months wages pile
IN upon them at once, and then there
will be work for the military police and
court martials and men in the guard
| house.
In its handling of material the
American army has made some prog
ress, but it has still much to do. Cargo
space can be saved if we will refrain
from shipping red tape