Trench and camp., 1918-09-19


or fruit in limited quantity, he dis
tributes 1t to the men in his care as
tar as 1t will go, and keeps an accu-
rate record of the units that enjoyed
the dainty. When the next supply of
tnat particular edible is obtained, he
continues the process OF distribution
tn other regiments.
Within short time, consequently
every man in his care has enjoyed
the novelty. The boys at the front
don't get chickens, eggs, fresh veg
etaDles and fruits as often as men in
American training camps, but we
nave been able to vary their diet far
oftener than we had any reason to
expect.
The American troops in the front
trenches are the aristocrats of the
nghcng forces. Every unit behind
them is working for their comfort.
For that reason, it is not surprisine
that our young men Over There. prac-
tically without exception. infinitely
prefer the front trenches to the SUD-
porting stations. The only iissafis-
fed soldiers L found i'm France were
regiments that have been across al
most year and have not vet had
frOnt-linc duty.
| suppose a majority of the men on
the American side have no idea how
we manager to serve hot meals at the
| front. 1t Is simple trick. We use
nve-gallon thermos containers that
keep meals smoking hot for several
hours, or preserve the frigid qualities
OF ice cream and other cold deIicacies
by the use of these thermos con-
talners we can, for example, send food
forward at 3 O'Clock in the morning
and serve smoking hot breakfasts in
the trenches at the regulation hour
AS a matter of fact, there are very
Few dishes that we cannot put into
our menus.
This department surprised an in.
quirer very much q few days ago by
mentioning the fact that sirloin
steaks, smothered i'm onions. ia one
of the triumphs that have been
achieved by our front-line chefs.
There is always possibility that,
under particularly trying battle con-
dltlons, 1t may become absolutely i'm
possible to get food into the trenches
for day or two at a time. The
lines of onmunication might be com
| pletely cut of by heavy barrage.
That annoying situation would play
havoc with our hot meal plans. but
it would not cause the boys out in
front to go hungry. Every man, Of
course, carries the regulation two
days rations as part of his equipment.
In addition to that emergency food
supply, we have scheme that costs
a lot of money, but it is worth the
cost.
The Qusrtermaster Corps has pur-
chased large supply Of galvanized
iron food containers. They are made
in this country, filed with food,
packed In heavy crates and shipped
direct to the trenches.
Each coltainer holds twenty-five
ratiOns. These rations, as a majority
of you boys probably know, include a
pound of hard tack, pound of
canned meat, little more than an
ounce of coffee and a proportionate
amount of sugar and salt. Every
thing is air-tight and the big contain
ers are thoroughly sealed.
AS a result, the food is absolutely
protected from dampness or gas. The
containers are distributed through
the trenches and the canned meat in
them is varied to suit any taste. 1t is
not the sort of diet the boys at the
front prefer. but it comes in mighty
handy whenever the enemy is lucky
enough to break up the routine of
feeding American soldiers at the
| front.