from one
foot to the other, puts on his boots and puttees again. Cotton socks
are very uncomfortable, for when a man stands all day and sleeps at
night in his boots, if the socks are made of hard thread, the thread
will leave a mark in the feet. Unless the men remove their puttees,
boots and socks once a day they are liable to have "frost bite"
"cobble feet" or varicose veins. These troubles soon render them fit
subjects for the hospital. After the rifle and feet are attended to
the men shave. Our men always shaved every day, and were very proud of
their clean appearance in spite of the mud. One man was brought before
me shortly after we went into the trenches for neglecting to shave. He
explained that he had served in one of the South African wars and that
on service there he was supposed to wear a beard. I fined him for
neglecting to observe the King's Regulations and Orders, and his
comrades who had warned him against trying to "put anything over" on
the Commanding Officer gave him the laugh. He asked to see me and
expressed such regret that I forgave him. He was a splendid soldier
and his example made a rule for the others.

Perhaps it will be just as well here to explain the remainder of the
daily routine and how the men are fed and cared for. Some time during
the night the company waggons, which are kept in billets at the
quartermaster's stores, are loaded with food for the men in the
trenches. This food, also charcoal, for fuel, barbed wire and other
supplies are placed in sand bags, in weights that one man can carry. A
fatigue party from each platoon meets the waggons at a convenient
spot, and carries their respective sacks into the trenches held by
their platoons. A non-commissioned officer from each company remains
always in the quartermaster's tent to supervise the preparing of
supplies for his company. He sees that the company cooks prepare
steaks, soups and other food to be sent into the trenches. He is
responsible to his company commander that his company gets its proper
share.

The rationing usually begins about eight o'clock, and if you listen
you can hear the rumble of the ration waggons in the German lines as
clearly as in our own. At this hour there was generally a truce to
sniping, but as soon as either side finishes rationing a few rounds of
rapid fire warns the other to hurry up and get down to the business of
killing.

When the water in the vicinity of the trenches is bad, water waggons
are