The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-10-18
Work Of S. 0. S. in France Ex-
GELS All History Of Mil
itary Feats.
QUICK SERVICE IS THE RULE
Army Uses 100000 Pounds of RefriS-
Grated and Fresh Beef Each Day
Immense Supplies Needed to
Feed YanKs-Works Like
Machine.
BY CHARLES N. WHEELER.

matter Of feeding the trmy in Trance
Is an epic story. 1t Is truly Of heroic
proportions.
Just now II 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
picked meats and fish. More than 2OO,-
900 cans of tomatoes, corn and peas
help 70 make up one days ration
Something like 100000 cans of JAM
5000 cans Of peaches, 5000 jarA Of
pickles, 5000 bottles "f catsup ear
foods, more than 1000 boxes of ChOcO-
late, fresh white bread made of Amer
lean flour and all the hoyr want, even
the good old corn bread served hot, be-
sides the immense quahtities Of pota-
toes, beans. prunes. coffee, sugar, milk,
pepper, salt, vinegar, cinnamon, sirup,
and about everything found in we'll
stocked farmers pantrc in the United
States are laid before the American
army in France every day--and it Is
all there right on the DOT.
Works Like a Machine.
II IL there in every section of France,
from Soissons and Toni to Marselles
and from the Swiss border to the Bay
of Biscay. All France is great in
dustrial place and the'e is hardly a
Sprt in the whole coultry, including
the sections under heavy shell fire,
where the S. O. S. is rot standing at
attention when the dinrer bell rings.
Meantime, men and munitions, and
Gll manner of supplies are moving up
to the front continuously and the
fighters are coming back for a little
rest. The E.achlnery works smoothly
and efficiently. Therp are side lines
of great interest. One Of these is the
travelling bathroom. Az outfit that re-
qulrpS only three trucks is now sent up
10 the lines to greet tie boys as they
come ont of the treL ches and give
them a fine scrubbng Each outfit
VIII wash 800 boys an hour.
Mcansme the S. o. S is filling orders
from The, front. 1t may be few thou
sand infantry, an artillery regiment
or several such regiments, machine
gun companies. and so on through the
list. They are delivered Immediately.
The wounded have TO be brought
back TO the hospitals. The trains and
Nmbulances are ready and they move
like clOckwOrh-eXcept that getting
back from the flrst-aid stations at times
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 steady
stream of battlefield wrcckage. In the
clothing branch Of the work alone they
are saving the taxpayers back home
SJ,500000 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 anG are doing their
bit the next day.
It was found advisable to operate
special train for Amarican military
men between two widely separated
points in Frapcc. AS soon as the neces-
sEty presented itself the train was in
stalled. 1t Is called the american
Special" 1t is manned by Pullman car
porters->negro boys who have had
long traiaing 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 way
every "a hOlYs.
OF one thing the mothers back home
may be thoroughly assured, and that is
that not one of their boys wants for
single thing in the way Of subsistence
Abd medical and surgical attention. No
army ever took the field better pro-
EIhed. And while the appreciatiOns are
aeing passed around it is not out OF
place to observe that the subsistence
division of the war department at
Washington is entitled to decoration
for the efficiency it has achieved.
Something over 100000 enlisted men
and about $4,000 women comprise the
''hslp" IN the s. O. S. organization.
large number of officers, of course, are
required for the supervising positions,
bat practically all Of the workers are
luen in khaki who have been termed
the "nmmunition passers."
Employs Army Of Women.
Oc the $4,000 women in the work
most of them are French women.
twe~fold aim is achieved in the utiliza-
tinn of these women. A large per
csntago of them would be charges