Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-25
TROOPS Who
KICK GIVEN
MECHANICS
Veterans at Front Call New
Men "Featherbed".
Soldiers.

I French Front, Feb. 1O.-(COrre-
spondence Of the Associated Press)-
The veteran Of 1914 who has passed
four winters at the battlefront is apt
to make ironic remarks about "feath-
erbed soldiers when he hears newly
Joined comrades speak of the dis
comforts of cold weather anton
ment. At the beginning of the war
the fighting men were more than
pleased to discover a comparatively
dry spot under the trees of a forest
or in a drafty stable or Darn in which
to pass their very rare and shor
periods Of repose.
Now all has changed and everything
possible is done to provide some sort
of comfort and distraction for the
men when they. come down from the
front line trenches. 1t must not be
supposed that all the modern aids to
human comfort are furnished to the
soldier, but his lot is luxurious COM
pared with that during the early
months of the war.
In every village in the immediate
rear of the fighting line out of range
Of the German guns a town major has
been appointed, who make It his
business to know of every nook and
corner where men and horses can be
housed. When a battalion or a regi-
ment marches in. everything is in
readiness for its reception. Regi-
mental workshops and offices. stables
and kitchens already are arranged,
and billetlng accommodations for Of
ficers and men listed in such a way
that the soldiers have only to go in
and occupy their quarters. Some
times they are lodged in the cottages,
but in general it has been found more
convenient to place them in farm
houses and barns, as the hygienic ia
cilitieS in the country houses are far
from modern.
Every available grange and barn
has been thoroughly gone over and
made watertight by having it's roof
covered with tarred paper and its
walls made dr%aft-proof by thick
crenelated cardboard. Electric light
provided with a stove and wash
stands. Partitioned off is a compart-
Lment where the me- may take hot
and cold shower baths. In the nearby
kitchens every requisite is handy for
cooking.
AS to the mems personal comfort.
each of them is given a trestle bed,
with straw mattress, known generally
as "siX-foot feathers" bolster, Sleep
ing sack and blankets.
In the vicinity of the villages sports
grounds have been enclosed and
marked for football games, while
numerous plots of land are set apar,
for truck gardening n generally
cultivated by old reservists who do no
go into the firing line. The produce
is much appreciated by the troops
who, when at the front, have to con-
tent themselves with canned vegc-
tables.
In each cantonment a large hut has
been erected to serve as a recreation
and reading and writing room. 1t is
provided with a fairly extensive Ii.
brary and all kinds of indoor games
Every week or so a moving picture
performance is given by the army
theatre, which also arranges dramatic
shows.
sBesides these official arrangements
for the troops other efforts are made
by private bodies to cheer the men
between their arduous and perilous
periods of trench work. In almost
every cantonment a canteen has beer
established under the auspices OF
French. American or British women
who serve the men with hot coffee
tea and bouillon and little food deli.
cacies.
During the chilly months from
September to May each soldier is
given extra supplies of warm clothing
comprising three cotton shirts, two
pairs of ~flannellette under garments
two or three pairs of wooden socks
three blankets, one sweater. one scarf
and Il pair Of wooden gloves. n ir
the Eosges mountains and other sec
tors where the cold is most severe
? at the disposal of the troops in case
IF peed