Evening star., 1918-06-23
REDCR0SS SGUYSA[L
RIGHT, SAYS YANK
Free Hot Lunch for Men at
Front Wins Soldiers
Approval.
SALVATION LAssIEs AID
BY HERBERT COREY.

BY HERBERT COREY.
JUST BEHIND THE SoMME
FRONT. May 13.-"You can't buy any
thing here" said the Red Cross man.
What we have is yours-but you
can't buy it,
This is a raw. cold. rainy day. as
are most May days in Picardy. Troops
are drifting through the town j- small
groups. Those on their way out are
tired and muddy and a bit haggard.
They chaffed those going in.
THE c. I. cans are coming mighty
thick" they said. A G. l. can. in
American soldier slang. is high ex-
plosive shell of large caliber. They
are named for the galvanized iror
, cans which play an important part in
American domestic economy. Lotsa
gas. too. Better keep your muzzles
on while you're up yonder." They
were obviously happy at getting out
of the trenches. ITS no business up
there" they said. I'VE Just been sit
ting in holes and getting shelled."
The incomers were likewise tired
after hike under full packs. They
audibly expressed their fears that
So>' q poin IoohiiS OuNhl dS Lie oul-
goers would not have policed up their
billets. They sneered at the G. I. cans
and the gas and made remarks about
cold feet. I'VE thought there was a
barrage on last night" they said.
but 1t was Just you guys teeth chat
tering."
1ncomers and outgoers stopped in
the rain for the ten minutes rest at
the end Of the hours hike. They ex-
changed unpleasantnesses
Come In and get some chow" the
Red Cross man said.
They drifted into the little station,
rather weary and distrustful, as is the
! American soldier habit. Perhaps 1t is
just difidence for the most part.
Some of them wanted to know what
this cost and that. Their tones indi-
Gated that il the price was not right
they would not buy-not they. They
would not be stung.
Nothing to sell" said the Red Cross
man. What we have is yours. What
will you have"
The Red Cross Kitchen.
In the tiny courtyard Of the old
dwelling house in which the Red
Cross station has been established
was the field kitchen. Most field
kitchens of the American Army are
preposterously heavy and cumbersome
the march. nothing can be baked or
roasted in them. they demand an ex-
travagant amount OF wood in a coun-
try where wood is desperately scant.
and the food served is necessarily
either soup or stew and nothing else
The Red Cross field kitchen is neat
and compact.
1t is more like the fine steel ranges
one sometimes sees in well kept kitch-
ems back home. A neat awning pro-
tects the cook from sun and rain. 1t
Is carried on rubber-tired automobile
wheels. and is drawn behind a canton.
or even a flivver If forced by need.
III you use too much wood. you will
spoil the food" is the nickel plated
Injunction which stares the cook in
the face. 1t bakes and broils and
roasts.
Il fed $500 refugees a day with it."
said the Red Cross man.
Half dozen "Norwegians" stood at
the cooks elbow. A Norwegian is a
fireless cooker about the size and
shape OF the big milk cans one some
times sees on farmers wagons on the
way to the rural creamery. They
keep food steaming hot for twenty
four hours, and when occasion de-
mands hot food is sent by the Red
Cross right into the, front line
trenches, where no fires can be light
ed. If 1t were not for the Red Cross
the men in the front line would have
no hot food at times. Nothing is less
appetizing than cold stew. unless 1t is
cold soup.
The American Army has no insu-
lated food containers of this sort, al
though the Italian army has had
them for two years.