TRENCH LIFE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17097, 21 February 1916, Page 4

TRENCH LIFE.

TWO GOOD MEALS A DAY. . LESSONS LEARNED. [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON. December 31. Mr H. TV. Allen, the accredited representative of the British Press with the. French army, has contributed to the Home papers a most interesting report concerning the measures taken by the French military authorities to make their soldiers' life in the trenches during winter endurable. He assured us that the French have taken every advantage of the experience gained during the last winter campaign, and that to-day the organisation is so splendid that not only have the men little to fear from cold, hut that existence for the soldier in the trenches —apart from the dangers inseparable from war—is, in the majority of cases, more healthy than his ordinary life in times of peace. They are well fed, well clothed, and, so to speak, well housed; in foot, the picture Mr Allen draws of the French soldier's life in the trenches is not at all one to make our hearts bleed. He tells us that the French commissariat has never failed to provide the entire army with two good meals a day; that an extra ration of meat has been given to the men who are most exposed; that as the weather gels colder this measure is extended to itll units. When the temperature requires it, hot drinks, too —coffee and fixed measures of alcohol—are served out regularly. .

Excellent service is being rendered by the horse-drawn camp kitchens which are attached to all the army corps at the front. and a light railway has been constructed to link up the distributing centres with the various rail-heads, and has proved of groat service.

TRENCH COMFORTS. The troops have all been provided with warm clothing, and especial attention has been paid to the soldiers' boots. The smallest units noiv have their cobblers' shops, and new marching hoots and puttees are being distributed liberally. For the trenches waders have been supplied, but one of the best devices for keeping the men's feet dry has been found to be the ordinary wooden sabot, and the trade of the sabottier has now become recognised at the front. Warm underclothing of all kinds has been provided by the State, whose efforts are being supplemented by private persons who are providing friends and relations at the front with all the woollen clothing they require; the Commissariat Department is taking upon itsc-li' the onus of distributing die gifts sent to the troops by private' donors. j -SOME" TRENCHES. The French army authorities have not confined their attention to feeding : and clothing their soldiers, but have j made every effort to render the toeri-i ches as comfortable and healthy as possible. They are, us far as possible, j drained and paved.' while powerful : pumps have been installed to clear out i the water from the pits sunk at inter- j vals in the trenches for the purpose of" carryii'" off the water. The walls of: the trenches have been strengthened' with hurdles to prevent " landslides," j and means have been taken to provide the troops v» ; tb damp-proof shelters..

The ground has been beaten down, levelled and covered with planks or straw. The earthen roofs lliavo been strengthened with sheets of zinc, while due attention has been paid to the ventilation and heating. In the second line trenches wooden huts have been erected with double walls and' slate roofs, while in most cases the floor has been raised above ground level. The soldiers, Mr Allen tells us, are particularly pleased with the design of the bed which the authdrities have provided. The foundation of this bed consists of wire netting stretched on a wooden frame, with straw packing and a good supply of blankets. A great feature of these improvised barracks is the stove, the place of which in the front trenches is taken by the charcoal brazier. Coal may be short, but in the firing zone there is no scarcity of wood, for the shells have lopped off great branches in every forest and cut down manv big trees." For lighting it has been'found that acetylene is both cheap and handy. THE HAPPY WARRIOR.

The entire absence of epidemic in the French Army is sufficient evidence of the excellence of its sanitary arrangements. Mr Allen states that nearlv all along the line furnaces have been constructed for the destruction' of refuse, and that every precaution is taken to ensure that the soldiers shall have a good supply cf drinking water. Every man receives from the military doctors a series of short instructions to enable him to ward' off frost-bite. Behind nhe lines rest-houses have been organised for men who have temporarily" broken down owing to the hardships, while for men more seriously ill an excellent motor service has been organised to convey them to the railway, en route to the base hospitals. A very large number of men are working on the roads, which are now better keot in the zone of the armies than those near Paris. Mechanical transport is being used wherever possible, even quite near the firing line, in order to spare the men all physical exertion which can be avoided. Tn conclusion.. Mr Allen assures us time " if the life in the trenches is, as it must be, a hard one, none the less everything has been done to make it tolerable, and the men who come back home on leave admit, as a general rule, that some of the happiest days of their lives have been spent within range of the Germans' guns.