MR. POILU AND HIS CLOTHES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 89, 14 April 1917, Page 13

MR. POILU AND HIS CLOTHES.

WHY HE IS ALWAYS WARM AKD WELL. Although France has undergone one of the severeet winters that has occurred for years, yet her armies, from the snow buried first line trenches to the repose cantonments in the rear, have suffered less from the coU than in either of the two preceding winters of the war, 6 ays Mr. Henry Wood, in a message to the. Exchange Telegraph Company. Warmth, both internally and externally, is the keynote of France's care of her troops. A Frenoh soldier, clothed in all the garments iwhich the Government provides and requires to be worn in winter, has his general dimensions increased by several inches in nearly all directions. The first article of clothing which a French soldier must now put on, and which is absolutely obligatory ia his woollen cholera belt. He next dons a suit of woollen underwear, and is required to have at all times with him three pairs of woollen socks, so that his feet may be kept not only warm but dry. The war has demonstrated that it is more dampness than cold that produces frozen feet. After the woollen underwear comes the shirt, then a knitted sweater, followed, of course by the uniform and overcoat. ' Then on top of all this comes the sheepskin ja-eket which every eoldier now hue, and a woollen neck scaTf, steel helmet (the latter a sweat producer when worn), two pairs of shoes, two blankets, and a waterproof clicker complete the clothmg phase of keeping the poilu warm. r ° A PARTLY POPULAR DRINK. Hot tea has now been added by the Frenoh army to the means of warming up the soldiere internally. Tea-drinkinl is more or leas of an imported custom n prance As France, however, wished to be perfectly impartial in borrowing customs from the Allies she took the Engheh tea and added to it the Russian custom of a dash of rum. As a rule the soldiers are not any too fond of tea but they argue that it is -well worth the while to drink just to get the flavour of rum that goes with it. AH are unanimous, however, in declaring that the combmation certainly does keep there warm. *