Newspaper Page Text
Beefsteak Smothered In Onions | Served Under Fire In France r By COLONEL WILLIAM R. GROVE > [ Chief of the Subsistence Division, Quartermaster Corps, in France = Written Specially for the Soldier-Readers of “Trench and Camp” When you men in the cantonthents sat down to your noonday meal in the mess-tent and tackle hot roast beef, fresh vegetables served steaming bot, and wind up with ice creaiwn, did you eéver stop to think that serving hot food in the middle of the day to the man up in the front trenches “Over There’” is the most difficult job put 8p to the Quartermaster Corps? Of course, we try to serve thren hot ~Mmeals a day on the firing line, but (when the shell-fire is particularly ‘brisk we have to be wontent with one _bot meal. And that ole, of course, is served at night. It is possible to get food fresh from the portable kitchens into the trenches under cover of dark ness, but the German guns would Scramble our service if we attempted to make deliveries in the middle of the day to all the fighting units. Our mess service at the front is ¥ery materially affected by the ter rain occupied. If the trenches are lo cated in a country that slopes toward the enemy, it is exceedingly difficult to rove supplies forward in daylight. The bearers would soon attract hot attention from the Germans. It the trenches are not exposed to diréct shell fire, and there is a good system of communicating trenches, we can pick our own meal hours and serve hot food four orfive times a day. Even under the most difficult circum stances, however, we manage to get hot meals to the front at least once every twenty-four hours. 1 spent some time in France only & few weeks ago, and during that perfod there wasn'’t a report of a miss under the once-a-day program. How eéver, we cannot stick to a definite hour for the hot meal, even at night. If we did, the enemy would soon dis ~ cover the schedule and make things lively for the bearers. thwithstanding the handicaps cre ated by the big guns, the quality of‘ . the food delivered in the trenches is exceedingly good. A fair sample of a front-line dinnmer would inclute hot roast beef, fresh spinach, stewed to matoes, potatoes or corn, ice cream and cake, and plenty of coffee with sugar and evaporated milk. - Although this would not be regard ed as a remarkable meal on this side of the Athantic, it is a hard one to serve in first-class condition in France and under heavy shell-fire. It repre sents an overcoming of exceedingly . difficult transportation probloms. . Our meat, for example, is pur chased in Chicago, or some other point in the Middle West. It must pass the most rigid inspection ever devised by the United States Army, is then frozen and shipped in refrigera tor cars to an Eastern port. Here it is refrozen, packed on board a refrig ~ erator ship and rushed to France, where it is frozen for the third time and transferred in refrigerator cars to the front. As a result of this con stant care, the meat cooked under shell-fire is better than a majority of housekeepers in the United States can purchase. v The most difficult meals to serve are those that include fresh vege -tables and fruit, chicken and eggs. But, with the cheerful co-operation of the French people, it has been pos sible to vary the monotony of regular army rations. This detail is entrust ed to the regulation officers in charge ~ of food supplies for one or more divi sions. These experts control the dis tribution of food according to a sys tem that insures equal treatment of all regiments. If, for example, a regulating officer fn one sector manages to pick up some JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE GERMANS (Written by a Major on the - General Staff) The Germans, a naturally docile people, have beeh so completely subjected to military tyranny that they cease to feel humiliation and regard their condition as normal. In this mental state they readily absorb the doctrine that their mili { tary hierarchy is all-wise and that to question its will is sacrilege. By reaction the military autoc racy comes actually to I lieve it self divine. These facts explain the other wigse incomprehensible attitude of Germany, and it is the dawning realization of the world menace created thereby that united all free men to resist the extemsion of a system which aims at a subjuga _{ tion, similar to that imposed on | German people themselves, for the . | ontire human race. B 7 e —— e ’ e < TP I e o sy iß| e e Vi, - P ea 4 M o “;"Z ez lectotann, _— _ s AR S & ‘#‘k J s e : M\? e : o : = i et Rot bR et eieSOSTT2R3 PYTR < TY A MRS RLT, T Be S Rsl TRN ANI - g 0 . B % A L TR i N W b TRENCH AND CAMP’ particularly desirable fresh vegetable or fruit in a limited quantity, he dis tributes it to the men in his care as far as it will go, and keeps an accu rate record of the units that enjoyed the dainty. When the next supply of that particular edible is obtained, he continues the process of distribution to other regiments. Within a short time, consequently, every man in his care has enjoyed the novelty. The boys at the front don’t get chickens, eggs, fresh veg etables and fruits as often as men in American training camps, but we have 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 fighting forces. Every unit behind them is working for their comfort. For that reason, it is not surprising that our young men Over There, prac tically without exception, infinitely pmfertbefromtrenchestotheup mmou. The only dissatis fled so I found in France were regiments that have been across al most a yeur and have not yet had front-line duty. - 1 supposc a majority of the men on the American side have no idea how . we manager to serve hot meals at the front. It is a simple trick. We use five-gallon thermos containers that keep meals smoking hot for several hours, or preserve the frigid qualities of ice cream and other cold delicacies. By the use of these thermos con tainers 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 a few days ago by | mentioning the fact that sirloin | steaks, smothered in onions, is ome lof the trinmphs that have bee achieved Ly our front-line chefs. Thére is always a possibility that, | under particularly trying battle con ditions, it may become absolutely im possible to get food into the trenches for a day or two at a time. The | lines of communication might be com | pletely cut off by a heavy barrage. . That annoying situation would play ' havoe with our hot. meal plans, but | it would not cause the boys out in | front to go hungry. KEvery man, of course, carries the regulation two |days’ rations as part of his equipment | In addition to that emergency food {supply, we have a scheme that costs {a lot of money, but it is worth the | cost. . The Quartermaster Corps has pur |chased a large supply of galvanized | iron food containers. They are made |in this country, filled with food, | packed in heavy crates and shipped | direcg to the trenches. Each coatainer holds twenty-five rations. These rations, as a majority |of you boys probably know, include a pound of hard tack, a pound of canned meat, a little more than an |ounce of coffece 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. It 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. GERMAN PISTOL WEAKER The difference between our .45 cal iber pistols and the German Army re volver was demonstrated not long ago in a Middle West slaughterhouse. Ten shots from a German pistol | were fired into a big steer without | bringing him down. The third shot | from an American .45 automatic sent | a second steer crashing to the ground | killed, and knocked over by the heavy | bullet. | It is easy to understand, therefore, | why the Germans were annoyed when | General Pershing began arming cer | tain picked American soldiers with a | pair of these heavy automatics and |turned his “two-gun men” loose on {the enemy. ‘ SAME OLD RANK | By Private A. F. Zicht, Battalion A, ; : 326th F. A., West Point, Ky. | “Has your son been inoculated | since he has been in camp?” [ “Nope; last I heerd of him he was still a private.”—Judge. ‘I ~ for EUROPE ’ s AN ‘é ; "‘. \—‘ 7 A 'l:‘:_ \ ‘él = ' AT - P /|| N S ——— [ IR % a_:;__i""—-_—:-—-:_——z-..- W | e S S e & \\\l\ :% ;\_ : ! e SRR IS = LL other means of transmitting personal funds to Europe are superseded by the ex clusive arrangement made in the interests of Army and Navy Officers by Cox & Co., London, Mili ‘ tary Bankers, with the Bank of France, Cox & Co. (France) Ltd., and the Banca Italiana di Sconta. 1 Under this arrangement, Officers in uniform ’ may, without being called upon to establish their . identity or signature, cash their checks on Cox & ; Co., Londofi, up to the equivalent of £5 [about .' s2s] at a time, at branches of the above banks 4 throughout France and Italy, as well as at-Cox & | Co.’s own offices in London, Liverpodl and South | ampton —a convenience which obviates the ; necessity of carrying large sums of money or eas | ily lost letters of credit across the Atlantic or in | the war zones. ) | Cox & Co. have been Army Bankers and Official Agents | since the establishment of the Bank in 17§8—a hundred-and ? sixty years ago. This Bank is the officia! channel for the recovery - of Officers’ personal effects and kits lost on the battlefield. The ' Bank has conducted its own Officers’ Casualty Bureau on purely fi volntary lines since the beginning of the war, in the interests of , Officers’ relatives and friends. . BEFORE SAILING FOR FUROPE, t instruct your home Banker to give you a draft ’ or to cable a trangfer to Cox & Co., Charing | Cross, London. Current accounts are conducte(_i . without charge, and interest is allowed on deposit f _accounts. By endorsement of your pay voucher, ; ‘you may direct your pay to be lodged with Cox \ & Co., London, each month. : ’ st aot e e S o PRI | “THE THREE STORIES OF COX'S” | giving full information, mailed free upon applica , tion to Cox & Co., care of the Dorland Advertis ‘ ing Agency, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York; cr to : Bankers, Charing (ross, London, England | BRANCHES IN INDIA : Bombay, Calcutta, Karachi, Rawal Pindi, Murree and Srinagar (Kashmir). COX & CO. (France), LTD.: Paris, Boulogne, Rouen, Havre, Marseilles, Amiens, Lyons. Branch now open at Bordeaux, 4 rue Esprit des Sois Only Deep-Sea Bathing Goes | With Men At This Camp Soldiers at Camp Upton prefer surf bathing to still-water swimming, ac cording to Captain Framk Glick, ath |letic director of the War Department Commission on Training Camp Activ ities. Whole battalions are taken to Smith’s Point, near Upton, where Captain Glick instructs them in both ocean and still-water swimming. At present there are six swimming instructors and six life guards at the Point. Captain Glick says it is an inspiring sight to see several battal ions of men, many of whom have never seen the surf before, cavort like schoolboys on vacation. . 4] ECHOES FROM FRANCE A letter: “QOur morale is very high. We are green at this war game, but are anx ious to do our share, beat the enemy and come back home victoriously. The people back home can bet their all that we will do it.””—U. S. soldier, 208th Inf. A news item: ““Axel Jermaison, wounded, refused to quit; acted as loader to an auto matic until ordered to the rear, when he picked up a rifie and fought until the Germans retreated.” . 8. 0. 8. & Konmservation Kills Kaiserism. 5 A 2 "% 2 {& :'; /E T f = A s ey ‘l‘fl R Sl I 9“ ‘ l| ‘3':‘ " f .-,}7 ; " o ; ‘ j N7 &! " I ! v . G [ A ' R eL- 48 : | i '/?'i/’/",/, @ T A ) %\/ \ <Y ¢ [\ hé~> Wy &% 5“'\%&3 £ \" ‘\\\'4% ’. D ’l\>“-"" > ' Vs h‘: ;’: SO ‘?:\.’ :-;. f;!_.