Evening star., 1922-07-30
THE marines have added another
to the long string Of glorious
victories. They've won the Bat
tie of the Pack"

TINE marines have added another
to the long string Of glorious
victories They've won the Bat
tie OF the Pack
Every doughboy who fought in
France. or who fought anywhere, for
that matter, has indelibly stamped on
his memory the hardest battle Of all.
He may have gone over the-top at
Chateau Thierry. or fought his way
through the tangles of the Argonne.
or stood in muck up to his knees with
the British in the trenches around
Arras, but the memory Of these ex-
periences is as a pleasant dream COM
pared with that nightmare which tor
lures his soul when he thinks Of the
Battle Of the Pack"
An infantryman's pack. you know,
is his wardrobe. dining room. pantry.
bed and home. Whenever the infantry
man goes, his pack, like Mary's lamb.
goes, too. And he carries 1t on his
back, and 1t weighs sixty-odd pounds.
And any soldier who has lugged a
pack through France and back again
will tell you that the mud and the
food and the Germans and the gas
and the machine guns and all the rest
Of the mees was a holiday compared
with Juggling that pack around. The
old man of the sea was as a gentle,
springlike zephyr. which kisses a
maiden's' brow compared with that
conglomeration of all that is evil
the infantryman's pack.
*kk
But to return. The marines have
won the battle, perhaps the most
glorious Of their conflicts. They have
mastered the pack. Back In 1915.
when the marines were occupying
Vera Cruz, a young machine gun
officer, Cole by name. had an inspira-
tfon born Of watching his men strug-
gle over the ground day after day un-
der their heavy equipment. When he
got back to the states he designed a
simple little two-wheeled cart with
ball bearings and a telescope axle
which could be adjusted to make the
wheels At the width of the road.
When properly loaded. this cart will
carry the packs of two squads-six-
teen men-and, with one man pulling
and another pushing. the cart rolls
merrily along to the accompaniment
Of the hymns all soldiers sing when
relieved of their packs. Mai Cole
was killed at Belleau Wood. But the
cart which he designed. bears his
name-"Cole cart"-and his memory
will live as long as there are marines.
The carts have been oh1cially
adopted as a standard piece Of the
marines equipment. When the ma
rfnes went on their recent maneuvers
to Gettysburg the Cole, carts went
with them, the first time they had
ever been tried out with such large
body of men. The experiment was
interesting, in that 1t marked the
first time, perhaps. that soldiers ever
marched on any like maneuver and
carried their packs anywhere but on
their backs. Some omcers averred It
couldn't be done. "a soldier with
out, q pack ON his back? Horrors
above! Can a soldier march without
a pack on his back? well
But the experiment worked. The
marines carried their packs right
with them and when they reached the
end Of long days march they
weren't making plans to desert next
chance they got. Instead, they were
fresh and ready for the next march.
True, the carts stretched out the
column some. which. with . large
body Of troops. isn't desirable: but
the increased lsnghth Of the column
was slight and cannot be called a
whom compared with
The carts are designed primarily
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