HOW THE TROOPS ARE KEPT SUPPLIED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2432, 10 April 1915, Page 7

HOW THE TROOPS ARE KEPT SUPPLIED

1 ARMY SERVICE CORPS AT WOREJ London, April 8. The Press Bureau says: "Eye-Wit* ne&s" describes the bases through' which troops and material pass to tha front. The keynote to the handling of> a vast amount ol material is simplicity; and labour-saving. On arrival of car-: goes, tliey aro stored in ,large sheds, divided into sections, upon each of whieh one day's supplies for the troops are dtpondent. From this ba6o supplies' aro collected daily. Thcro are pens close to the railways, each pen containing the necessary quantity by an army corps or headquarters.Next day the contents of tlie pens are loaded straight into a train.

Medical comforts and petrol are kopti separately. The meat is retained ia the refrigerating steamers until ' tho steamers are empty. The bread doesn't pass through the sheds—trucks con-i tainiug these articles (meat and bread)/ are added to the trains when the latter are being finally marshalled. There are hundreds of field ovens, each baking ninety loaves of 1-Jlb. weight, but these are being gradually supplemented by. Eteam-travelling ovens capable of baking 4000 loaves a day. An enormous staff is required to copa Ivith the increasing stream of material.In one place 1400 men'are working ;'ifc' is like a gigantic beehive. Despite complexities, there is a regulated spirit and the strictest order. When it is remembered that the men employed were never before subject to military discipline, but' were accustomed to live in an atmos-i phere of trade disputes, this smooth working speaks wonders for the' gooq spirit prevailing in all ranks: At the main ordnance base 1700 meij sleep in wooden berths constructed is tiers in a large warehouse.