BEST EQUIPPED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 21 October 1942, Page 4

BEST EQUIPPED

AMERICAN SOLDIERS <l.Ol 111 s I OOI) \M> PA \ NINE PAIRS OK SHOES EACH < onsidrr (he task i»l' Ilie I niterl Stales <Ju n termastcr Corps llut eiliciem armv ol shopping spuril ists whose job it is to Iced, clothe, house aiul sup|>l> Xmeriia s I.CMIM (Mid fighting men. wherever thev are. sa\s .1 11. Kate I ill in an article in < oilier . Weekly. You will see why civilians will take a hack seat i going vat • State- soldiers an the best led. best clothed. be.* tiansportcd in the world Their arctic equipment i- the envv «>: the Ihi urn- Well-dressed Ainericnn private- are being .-aluted by the fin lisle mistaken lor officer They aneating beltei food than 60 per rent. ** the Lniud States civilian populate :: Providing for an army of 4hOh.ni/n.. i job t at tj gg< r tin tioi. Million <.l D« ople are engaged in .supplying 00.000 distinct items; clarinet.-, egg crates, electrically heated underwear .adding machines, jeeps, tombstones, sled dogs, boneless beet, tur cloak.-. Getting ai; tlii'- a v sorted equip- • ncm tog< thei i- the iob ol the Quartet master Corps probably the bigg«-t m the world to-day. HKII.LIAM SCPPI.I <lllll La i spi mg Pi< id* nt Ro evell p I the Army into three section-. ground, air and supply. The supply job v ent to Lieutenant-General Brchon B. Some : veil, a brilliant executive Ills various accomplishments include an economic survey of Turkey. Shoes as always present one of the Army's biggest problems A tight fit that raises blisters can put a man out ol commission just as surely as a bullet. So elaborate efforts are made to sop that men are well shod. Firit off the new soldier is given two 20-pound buckets of sand to hold This spread* the feet. Then he steps on a footmeasunng device. BAKERIES \NI) MOBILE CANTEENS The Army stock* 142 shoe sizes twice as many as the Germans. It estimates that a man is 70 per cent, more likely to get a shoe that fits than he was in the first World War Shoes give some mention of the size of the Army’* procurement .iob There must be nine pairs for each man! The recruit gets two pairs when he enters the service. Four more pairs must be in depots for replacement—under sonic conditions, shoes last only two weeks. One pair must be in process of manufacture and Some of the iew mobile equipment the Quartermaster Corps is supplying should change the whole face of war Take the bakery: It has oil-heated ovens, power dojgh mixers. It can be set up in ten minutes. New mobile can-teens--travelling coiner stores—carry tour clerk*; and an assortment of candy, cigarettes and soft drinks. It starts doing business immediately any column halts. CLEANING UNIFORMS Besides these, there are mobile laun dries, tailor shop*, and cobblers’ shops —which carry ten si oe-repair men. One of the tests of the new* pieces of equipment is the delousing truck. It contain.- steam-pressure chambers which clean clothes in 15 minutes. On the other side of the truck are 12 shower he ids —where men can bathe. This unit can care for 2500 troops a day. Food research likewise engage a large amount of the Quartermaster Corps' attention. By the end of this year the Army will be serving over 10.000.000 meals a day— to men scattered from Africa to India to Iceland. To buy the food required, the Quartermaster Corps maintains 30-odd marketing centres. All are linked by teletype with the Chicago Quartermaster Depot. TRAFFIC CENTRE IN CHICAGO Chicago is the traffic centre. It orders ?. trainload of canned goods to the Memphis depot or a carload of grapefruit directly to a camp in Massachusetts. Sectional food preferences play a large part in determining menus. Boys from Louisiana want chicory in their coffee. Floridians like lots of fish, t!>e Georgia boys want hominy, and New Englanders want beans cooked with molasses. The favourite Army meal by the way. is not steak or turkey and ice cream as you might suppose. It is roast beef, potatoes and apple pie.