Since I returned to this country, a manufacturer of vermin killers told me that the following method will be found effective: Take a goose quill and seal up one end. Put in half an inch of mercury, and then seal the other end making a little phial of about an inch and a half in length. Sew this to the clothes under each armpit and round the belt line. As to whether this will work I do not know, for I am glad to be able to say that I have not needed to test the theory since I returned to America.
Fleas are not so common, but when they occur, they must be hunted with the same vigilance as lice, and the same methods apply to their extermination. As carriers of typhus, they are particularly to be dreaded.
CHAPTER V
HEALTH AND OFFICERS
So far I have been dealing with disease from the point of view of the individual and I have said nothing of the duties of officers towards their men in this respect. A word on the subject may not be out of place.
When the new armies were formed in England at the outbreak of war it was summer time and the new troops were placed in tents in open fields. The lessons of camp life were difficult for many of these men to learn, and some of the experience that was obtained was bought dearly. It will occur to every soldier that the greatest care must be paid to the cleanliness of the lines. Men are often too lazy to carry their scraps to the proper garbage pails, and carelessly throw them around in the neighbourhood of the tents. In fine weather they can be easily seen and the culprits, when discovered, can be made to clean up all the lines. When the culprits cannot be discovered, whole companies have to be put to this fatigue work. In wet weather it is worse, for the particles of meat and bread get trodden into the ground and before long there arises a stench from them. Sometimes, too, rats and mice are encouraged by this careless method. We used to find that certain men who had an inherent objection to fresh air, would eat all their meals within the tents. This practice must be stopped at all costs. Bring the men into the open and let them stay there and they will be all the better for it. It is excusable for them to remain in the tents during rain but at no other time. The inspecting officer would frequently find pieces of bacon and butter and cheese trodden into the ground on which the men had to sleep.
The lines must be kept clean. Officers will be well advised to assign liberal fatigue work to the men who are guilty of messing up the lines, and littering them with particles of food, papers, cigarette and cigar ends, etc. The regular sanitary squad cannot be expected to do its work unless the soldiers themselves are made to co-operate. It is a good thing to encourage the spirit of rivalry between units, and men can often be jollied on into keeping their lines neat and tidy by pointing out to them lines that are better kept—and sometimes praising them when their lines are up to the required standard. We found that a good many of the men had quite an artistic instinct, and would use up the old bottles and stones from around the camp to execute the most beautiful designs representing the battalion colours or the flags of the allied nations.
We also met with considerable difficulty in getting men to thoroughly air the tents. The flaps of round tents should be rolled up just as early as is possible each morning. A good plan is to "strike" individual rows of tents occasionally and give the ground a thorough airing and disinfecting. We followed this plan with tents which contained notoriously lazy men who would not rise at the proper time and developed the habit of leaving the flaps of the tents down. They were awakened by the Orderly Corporal in the usual course of events and given ten minutes in which to appear outside their tents. Promptly at the expiration of this time a squad arrived on the scene and, undoing all their guy ropes, let the tents down very suddenly on their heads. It is very provoking to have a mass of canvas come about your ears in this way, and the slackers soon learned the only way to avoid it.
