TRIUMPH OF THE COMMISSARIAT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 747, 20 February 1915, Page 7

TRIUMPH OF THE COMMISSARIAT.

Among the invaluable services rendered to the whole country by the caravan of French war correspondents now being personally conducted along the line of battle by one of the Staff Officers is the cheerful picture of the efficiency of the commissariat they are drawing for the Parisian dailies, whose circulation embraces all France; including to some extent thanks' to British and French aviators the five Departments still in German occupation. British soldiera who from time to time are returning from the front with missionß for Paris, Versailles and Orleans, speak with bubbling enthusiasm of the care, the Bkill and ths consummate success with which the British Expeditionary Force bus been fed. Only the other day I was chatting with several English officers who are convalescing at Versailles. One of them was through the South African war, and a younger officer laughingly said: "Ladysmith was child's play, compared with tha siege of the Yser" "Perhaps," was the Colonel's comment; "but no army in any campaign has ever, been so magnificently supplied aB ours is. The fighting is terrific, but thanks to the motor lorrieß and the co-peration of the French railways, and the Director-General of Supplies and the Inspector-General of Lines of Communication, the Englißh groceries and the French cattle and French flour, it is proceeding almost amidst luxury." M'de. Feuquieres, one of the French correspondents, whose automobile landed him within sound, though not yet within range, of the guns, eays: § "I found out that if a convoy of provisions is a quarter of an hour late it is a serious event, and the officers wonder if it has been captured. German prisoners say they have often to wait not merely fifteen minutes but twenty-four hours and even a week. 1 talk to officers. 1 say bonjour to the sodiers. Not a discordant note anywhere. "Everybody praisets the victualling corps. One mouthpiece for many said to me, 'lt's marvellous how they feed us. We get the best of everything. We are the spoilt children of France. Hardship ? Privation ? Nonsense. tHellish shell fire? Of course. What are we here for? We have hot coffee, hot chocolate and cakes whenever we want them. And wine, good wine, too. And even cognac never fails. Sometimes our tobacco disappears, but our friends at home are always remembering us, and the supply is soon replenished." ■ M. de Feuquieres adds that England and France know the nature of the task before their sons and are taking care of them.