Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-09-17
SUPPLY WAGONS
AND THE "Y'
Had To Supply Fighters With
Food. Two Hundred Tons
OF Biscuits A Day
EATS" AND SMOKES"

G. A. canteen department was put TO
a test few organizations OF similar
character ever faced. The battle
moved swiftly. The Red Triangle had
to move with equal celebrity or get left
Getting left is one thing that the ~
objects TO. 1t never has happened
since the overseas work began.
So swiftly did the scene of action
shift during the progress of the fight
that the army's ration carts couldn't
always keep up. Conditions were such
that it was humanity possible to give
the men the food that normally is is
sued 10 them. In some cases, it was
impossible TO give them any. The Z.
NJ c. A. supplies, ordinarily classed
as something to supplement the ra-
tions, became the means actually OF
sustaining some of the fighters.
The story of how the Red Triangle
kept up with the army in these
exciting days is one of hard work,
Toiling sometimes as much as SO
hours at stretch, almost constantly
under fire, dozens of the Y. NJ. c. A.
workers stuck to the jobs and were
rewarded by being able to supply the
men in olive drab with biscuits, choc-
olate. cigarettes and hot drinks and
gave them stamina to go on with the
work of beating the Boche.
The number of ton miles gotten out
of motor trucks in these days of con-
slant fighting was prodigious, the
number of hours of labor that the men
were able to put in was almost incon-
ceivable The dangers incident to the
service make the small size of the Red
Triangle casualty list seem miracu-
lous.
Racing to Battle
Just as soon as the news came that
a big push was on, the canteen de-
partment temporarily suspended all
other activities and devoted its entire
attention to rushing supplies to the
front. Biscuits, chocolates and ciga-
rettes, destined for points in the re-
serve areas were requisitioned and
loaded on trucks bound for the scene
of the hottest fighting Even the ware
house filled with supplies to be used
against the possibility of an evacua-
ton of Paris was emptied in order
that the Army might be fed.
No matter how fast or how far the
heroic conduct under fire that before
fighting units went, Y. NJ. c. A. man
was right on the heels of the soldiers
The trucks were taken as far as pos
sible and then, when it would have
been suicidal for wheeled traffic to
venture closer to the lines, the work
ers packed food and smokes in on
their backs.
There were so many instances of
the matter was day old, the Army
had ceased to remark on the courage
of Y. M. c. A. secretary in remain
ing at his post when men were being
killed all around him.
One wearer of the Red Triangle,
Rev. Walter Rue Murray, of East
Orange, ~ j., was killed by shell con-
cussion while actually distributing
food to the men in his canteen. Sew
eral cases of shell shock and gassing
we're reported but in most cases the
victims insisted on sticking" until
it was all over.
1t is estimated that an average of
200 tons of supplies day were ham
died by the canteen department in the
week when the struggle was fiercest.
A large proportion Of this was distrib-
uted gratis, as the field workers were
wanted for anything that could be
supplied him, whether he had money
to pay for it or not. The idea was to
serve and let the excheQuer take care
of itself
1t must be remembered that the dis
Etribution of supplies was greatly ham,
pered by the fact that the French rail-
roads were already overtaxed by the
demands of strictly military business.
Motor transportation was relied on
and, because the desired amount of
cargo space for bringing Y NJ. c. A.
trucks cannot be had, there were not
anywhere near enough trucks to do
the job according to the normal esti-
mates. But by making every driver
and every vehicle do unheard of
things, the line was kept open.
1S0,000,OO0 Smokes Monthly
The Y NJ. C. A. canteen department
in France qualified as Big business"
long ago and it is constantly getting
bigger. Here are some figures that
will give a slight idea of the quaint
ties it handles
The post exchange department esti-
mates that there we're distributed dur
ing the month of August $1,000, 900
bars of chocolate. 100000 packages
of biscuits. 100000 packages of gum,
100000 two-ounce cans of tobacco
and 1SO,000.000 cigarettes.
To manufacture the chocolate bars.
], $50 tons of sugar were required and
$50 tons of -four went into the biscuits.
One of the largest confectionery
manufacturing concerns on the CONT
nent was chartered to make the choc-
olate bars and the job was rushed with
all possible speed.
An examination of these figures will
explain the problem of manufacturing
and distribution. A slight approxima-
ton of the size of the job may be gain
ed by remembering that the output of
a we'll organized and equipped factory
in the States in ordinary times is
about $50, 1000 to 200 900 pounds of
candy per month
AS the number of American soldiers
in France increases, the Y. M. c. A. is