CARE OF THE FRENCH TROOPS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2966, 3 January 1917, Page 8

CARE OF THE FRENCH TROOPS

COMMISSARIAT ORGANISATION EFFICIENCY WITH ECONOMY ("Morning- Post" Correspondent.) In times when economy in every direction is a matter of prime importance, it is gratifying to observe tho conscientious and- spontaneous efforts that are made- by camp commandants in France to reduce expenses to their minimum consistent with the comfort and proper victualling of the men. To keep our soldiers well fed, well clothed, and well housed is tho first consideration, and as to our success in that there can be no question. Tn fact, it cannot "be doubted that largo numbers of thorn wore never so well seen to in their lives, but that is only their due. At tho same timo the scheduled ration has of necessity to. bo .planned on a fixed scale, and that scale must be one to cover all kinds of situations. For instance, the feeding problem is widely different when it is a question of rationing a number of men distributed in eeparato billets than when the same number of men arc centralised in a mess with one general kitchen and menu. Yet they must be equally well nourished in either case, nor is it possible further to complicate an already intricate enough, department by introducing elasticity in the ration issue. It therefore follows that" when the normal rations of all sorts of provisions are centralised in one cook-house for some hundreds of men there is often more than enough, or would bo moro than enough if wastage were, not jealously guarded against and xho whole business properly systematised by the men on tho spot. It may, be confidently asserted that it is quite the exception to find camps where the taxpayers' interests m this respect are not carefully guarded,, and as experienco has been acquired some roally remarkable results are shown. One rofers, of' course, to ths camps at bases and on tho lines of communication, because on the actual front conditions are of necessity abnormal. Of the actual camps tliemselvcß, whether they consist of liuts or canvas, it is not necessary to speak. Tho oxtraordinarily low percentage *of disease is eloquent enough of their, hygienic organisation, and it ma-.y be said that they are comfortable without being in any way luxurious, even in tie officers' quarters. Officers do not even havo a table or a chair in their bedrooms unless they supply one themselves. Tho chief interest for outsiders resides in the cook-house, There is a chief inspector of catering, who trai'els to and fro on tho lines of communication looking up the local stationary inspector in tho various bases, who in his turn keeps watch on the cook-houses in his area and holds schools of instruction for Army cooks. Model Cook-houses. Discipline in the cook-house is very strict, and tho most spotless cloanliuess is maintained. Such thing as ablutions or shaving or hanging up washed cloths to dry are misdemeanours. Tho utensils hang up on nails, are washed clean immediately after uso, and the floors are- spotless. The sergeant cook staff have as hard a day's work, and in war time without extra pay, as any body of men in tho Army, for they are by no means overstaffed. Indeed, in at least one case that I havo seen the sergeant keeps changing his men every two months because they get stale at tho work, and lie sends them back to the ranks again, picking out likely-looking ones to train for tho cook-house. That particular camp has a particularly stronuoue time, however, because they aro receiving drafts at any time of tho day or night, which may mean an influx of anything up to a thousand men. Yet, no matter how many they arc or at what hour they iirrive, they can be served with a hot meal within a quarter of an hour of their arrival. This is achieved by the aid of rissoles, of which tho soldiere are very fond, and two men do nothing olso all day but make them. Tho yory cooking of the rissoles

is systematise*! to a- lino point. Tlio temperature of ilnv big oven is known to a. degree in all corners of it, and when a rush is on the trays of riesolos are kept circulating from the cooler places in rotation to tho hottest corner, so that they are coming out continuously after tlio first trayful is ready done- to a turn. A ladlo of rich stock from tho permanent stock-pot mul they are ready for the table. Nor is there over any waste with them, for any surplus can bo served up next day to the permanent camp inhabitants, so that thero are fresh rissoles always ready for cooking. Tlio popular Army rocipe for rissoles is, for 100 men, take 181b. of meat, fresh or bully, 101b. of stale bread or biscuits well soaked, 41b. of shredded dripping, one packet mixed herbs, 31b. onions, 4oz. salt, and loz. pepper. Mix thoroughly, passing all through tho mincing machine. Roll into balls weighing about -Jib. each. Our men aro fed almost entirely with frozen beef and mutton. Tho quarters of beof when they arrive at their destination are out up into joints for roasting, meat for pics and stows, scraps for mincing, fatty parts for boiling down, and tho smaller bones for tho stock-pot. Tho menus for the various messes arc made out for one week- ahead, so that when stow is on one mess roast is on in another, and so forth. Not a scrap of fat is wasted, because surplus fat is valuable) in the manufacture of explosives. The men aro very fond of dripping on thoir bread. Generally speaking, they prefer it to butter, but even when they aro satisfied in that respect and , the necessary amount of dripping has been used. in. tho cook-house there is still a surplus, which is sold and, tlio money applied to tho catering account of each particular mess. The very dish-water is now reduced in a special machine, so that the grease- may be extracted for the uso ot munition factories. Bacon ami Eggs for Nothing. In a word, tho swill tub contains only such matters as cannot bo used for human consumption. Unused scraps of fat or meat with fat upon it are kept separate from ' pieces of bread, etc., and passed through a mincing machine beforo being boiled down into dripping. Every bone is passed'.into the stock-pot that is always on the simmer, the floating fat being skimmed off it. Boiled bones also find a market. Some camps keop pigs and poultry, which are fed on the camp refuse with great profit. In ono camp that •has come within my. notice thoy are ablo to give tho men fresh pork onco a week, that has not cost the British taxpayer one penny, and to keep them almost supplied with eggs on a similar basis, wlien eggs in that particular district aro costing 3H- each bought on the farms. And alt these economies, it should be noted, aro tho spontaneous work of officers devoted to their duty arid to the interests of the country, because there aro no preordained regulations on the subject. Even such details as tho cutting up of bread are attended to. Under tho old regulations loaves of such and such weight were served out proportionately to so many men, as flio ration allowauco called for, with the result that, being apportioned out in rough and ready fashion, thero was inevitably a great waste in heels and crusts. Now 1 they slice up the loaves carefully, and a man gets just as much broad as he wants, but wastes very little. A tin of jam is not opened until ono is quite empty. The cheese ration is cut into small pieces, about an inch and a half square, and tho inevitable surplus is left clean and ready to bo niado into Welsh rarebits for tho odd-and-ond meals that aro so comforting to tlio men aftor work. For with all these little economies it is quite possible to servo out a hot snack at reveille and a supper of bread and cheese or soup. The tea ration is sufficient to givo tho troops tea fivo times a day, so it is obvious. that in this considerable economy can. be effeoted with tho judicious management referred to, for a pound of tea is sufficient for a hundred men. By the patriotic.'zeal of tho camp commandants and inspectors, it is on record that tens of thousands of pounds sterling are being saved every week in certain bases alone, without counting tho value of the by-products obtained and without stinting tlio men in tho slightest degree.' There is a colonel who has lately completed a month's trial of living entirely upon tho food tables of his men's mess. He declares he has never been better fed in his life.