The Iron Ration: Three Years in Warring Central Europe

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Iron Ration, by George Abel Schreiner

Three Years in Warring Central Europe BY
ILLUSTRATED
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Iron Ration Copyright, 1918, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published February, 1918
to my friend Dr. Jerome Stonborough man—scholar—philanthropist
The Iron Ration is the name for the food the soldier carries in his pack when in the field. It may be eaten only when the commanding officer deems this necessary and wise. When the iron ration is released, no command that the soldier should eat is necessary. He is hungry then—famished. Usually by that time he has been on half, third, and quarter ration. The iron ration is the last food in sight. There may be more to-morrow. But that is not the motive of the commander for releasing the food. What he has to deal with is the fact that his men are on the verge of exhaustion.
The population of the states known as the Central Powers group of belligerents being in a position similar to that of the soldiers consuming their iron ration, I have chosen the designation of this emergency meal as title for a book that deals with life in Central Europe as influenced by the war.
That life has been paid little attention by writers. The military operations, on the one hand, and the scarcity of food, on the other, have been the cynosures. How and to what extent these were related, and in what manner they were borne by the public, is not understood. Seen from afar, war and hunger and all that relates to them, form so bewildering a mosaic in somber colors that only a very general impression is gained of them.
I have pictured here the war time life of Central Europe's social and political aggregates. Of that life the struggle for bread was the major aspect. The words of the Lord's Prayer— Give us our daily bread —came soon to have a great meaning to the people of Central Europe. That cry was addressed to the government, however. Food regulation came as the result of it. What that regulation was is being shown here.