Blue Shirt and Khaki: A Comparison

by James F. J. Archibald

The system that England works upon is the establishment of a base of supplies at home, situated at Woolwich, where the government supply depot was established for the especial purpose of meeting the demand of an emergency in case of war. At this depot supplies have been kept ready for shipment to the front at a moment’s notice. They are all packed in cases, the heaviest of which weigh one hundred pounds, while the majority weigh from thirty to eighty pounds. These cases are of convenient size for rapid transportation in the field, and they are so packed that it is not necessary to open them until they are issued to the consumers.

Cape Town was made the secondary, or field base, where all supplies are shipped as fast as they can be loaded on ships; and it is necessary to keep an extra supply of rations and forage sufficient for the consumption of every man and animal on the field for three months, at least, and as much more as it is possible to accumulate above the amount used. Should this reserve stock be called upon, the men would be put on shorter rations until it was an assured fact that the delay in the arrival of fresh supplies was overcome.

The reserve stock consists of 5,000 tons of canned beef, 5,000 tons of white flour, 5,000 tons of hard bread, 90 tons of coffee, 50 tons of tea, 780 tons of sugar, 150 tons of salt, 10 tons of pepper, 1,500 tons of jam, 500,000 gallons of rum, 40,000 tons of oats, 40,000 tons of corn and bran, 40,000 tons of hay. None of this may be used unless it is absolutely necessary and all other supplies fail. Besides this supply at the Cape, an intermediate depot was established at de Aar junction, which is about half way to Pretoria; others were at Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, and the last one was established at Pretoria.

My first idea when looking through these supply stations was of the huge part America played in the South African war. One might well imagine he was in the commissary department of the United States army, as nearly all the supplies bear the mark of American production. While I was at the German army manœuvres I observed the same thing—American farmers were keeping the German army alive; and my first sight of anything that pertained to war in the South African struggle was a great pile of cases of the familiar Chicago canned beef, such as we used in Cuba, on the wharf at Baira, in Portuguese South Africa. I think the English army could be trailed from Cape Town to Middleburg by empty cans of what they call “bully beef,” each one with the Chicago or Kansas City label.

“I didn’t know America was so large,” said an officer to me one day, “until I saw so much tinned meat down here.”

That same “tinned meat” from Chicago will do more to command the respect of every European nation towards the United States than all the battleships we can float. They have realized what it would mean to attempt to feed an army without the assistance of America.

A base of supplies at de Aar Junction.

Many shiploads of supplies came directly from American ports to the Cape, not only of food stuffs, but also of horses, mules, and cattle. It involves more to supply the animals of an army than to feed the men themselves, for the quantity that is used by a mule, horse, or ox is much greater than that required by a man. Each horse has to be given twelve pounds of hay, twelve pounds of oats, and a pound of bran every day. The mules receive ten pounds of oats, six pounds of hay, and one pound of bran. The oxen are usually turned out to graze, and find sufficient food in the veldt grass; when that is not abundant, they receive about eight pounds of hay, but no grain. A large amount of “mealies,” as American corn is called, is used in lieu of oats or other grain, although in many cases the horses will not eat it, being unaccustomed to it. It is always best to feed the animals on the product of the country from which they come, if possible, as they do not understand and will not eat strange grain. The native pony which I rode in South Africa would not touch the plentiful oats, although at one time he was without proper forage for several days.

The use of spirituous liquors has been established in the British army many years, and the issuance is still carried on in the same manner that it was years ago. I do not think there is as much tobacco used in the British army as in ours, although I have nothing but personal observation to judge by in the supposition; but the Britisher wants his “grog” in the army quite the same as in the navy. The issue is about half a gill of rum per day. The quality used is of the very best known, and it comes from a stock bought by the government in Jamaica about forty years ago. The last of that old supply is now being used. The use of liquor as a part of the ration in the British army is almost as old as the army itself, and although it has been fought by the prohibitionists for several years, it still continues. There is not enough issued to cause any intoxication, and the use of the amount which the men receive undoubtedly works effectively against drinking to excess. A man naturally wants what he cannot have, and if he is denied the use of liquor he immediately craves it, and to satisfy that craving he takes too much. While in the field or at Cape Town I saw but one soldier under the influence of liquor; this occurred in Pretoria on the day of the formal occupation; he had celebrated the event too enthusiastically.