The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-01-30
SUPPLIES WILL
WIN THE WAR:
DON'T WASTE'EM
Keynote of the British Troops at
the Front Now.
n SOON MUST Be OURS

ped and Little Attention Was Paid
to Waste at Spigot-Now a Salvage
Department Is Literally Saving
Thousands Of Pounds a Day.
Over In the American lines there Is
a sort of a standing order-never re-
duced to printed form, but wholly in
effect nevertheless-which runs about
as follows:
Get the goods. Never mind what
they cost. Get the goods"
1t was perhaps inevitable under the
force reached France almost literally
without a spare undershirt to It's col
lective back. There were shortages of
blankets and food and o%vercOats and
huts and gun sings and pack saddles.
1t had been gathered In a hurry when
mined to go to war, writes Herbert
Corey, with the British armies in the
field, to the Chicago News.
Because the men had not been prop
erly equipped or clothed on our own
side of the water-because they did
not bring food sufficient to their needs
because so many things were needed
at once-the element of economy gave
way to the element of haste.
Huts at "5rown Stone" Prices.
We paid and W. are paying through
the nos for our lack Of foresight and
provision.
Therefore one hears stories of
French workmen being hired to build
huts for our men at salaries which
would make the old-fashioned Pitts
burgh rolling mill boss-the sort who
used to drive to work each morning In
his own car-envy the French carpen-
ter. One hears of huts which have
been run up at brown stone prices,
One hears of a hotel rented at four or
five times Its normal rental In times
of peace. Even the French people,
who are getting the money, are kick
ing about 1t. They say the Americans
are spelling the market for them.
1T Is the war price," l said in resig'
nation the other day when / had been
stung to a blue welt.
"Mais, non," objected the French
friend who accompanied me. at is the
price American"
Ali this, as has been said, is inevi
table, because we did not take that
stitch In time of which the provert
) tells. 1t Is perhaps also inevitable
that the officers of our old regular
army, which had been VIGOROUSLY
starved In times of peace and who are
now l%uxuriating In unlimited funds
should develop a Coal Oil Johnny hab
Ii Of mind. But the time will CONF
when economy must be considered. Il
; might be well for some of our staff t.
make a careful, even a prayerful
study of the British system for pre-
venting waste.
II Grew Slowly But Surely.
: Mind you, the British system did no
: spring to life over night. No army IL
the field has been so lavishly equipped
as that of Great Britain. Its men ar
given of the best, from bacon to saddl,
feathers. During the construction per
Tod, when all energies were bent to thu
creation of an effective army in thu
field. little heed was paid to the waste
e ut the spigot. Some of the early camps
: were Uttered with half-worn-out equip
ment of various sorts. Guns and linn
e bers and old shoes and what not, hav
| ing worked through their period O
greatest effectiveness, were cast aside
l think Ii is but fair that emphasis
should again be put upon the fact tina
r this was an inevitable complement o
a period Of hurried army building. Blu
, when that army was once built and II
running order the orderly British mine
rebelled against the wanton extraya
gance to be seen on every hand. 4
: salvage department was not a part o
: the original organization, because M
!, one had thought Of 1t. 1t is justifyinl
its existence today by a saving of lit
orally thousands Of pounds a day
The American ~people-and thu
American staff-should realize tina
this promises to be a long and an enor
u mously costly wal for us. There is n
reason why we should not prepare II
advance for the army economies whicl
e will ultimately be necessary.
Old Rifles Made as Good as New.
There are certain details Of the Brit
q ish salvage system which I may no