Manual of Military Training Part 103

The first designated place should be farthest up the stream; the others, in the order named, downstream.

Where two bodies of troops are to camp on the same stream one must not pollute the water to be used by the other. This can be arranged by the commanders agreeing upon a point where both commands will obtain their drinking water, upon a second point where animals will be watered, etc.

If the stream be small, the water supply may be increased by building a dam.

Small springs may be dug out and each lined with a gabion, or a barrel or box with both ends removed, or with stones, the s.p.a.ce between the lining and the earth being filled with puddled clay. A rim of clay should be built to keep out surface drainage. The same method may be used near swamps, streams, or lakes to increase or clarify the water supply.

Water that is not known to be pure should be boiled 20 minutes; it should then be cooled and aerated by being poured repeatedly from one clean container to another, or it may be purified by apparatus supplied for the purpose.

Arrangements should be made for men to draw water from the authorized receptacles by means of a spigot or other similar arrangement. The dipping of water from the receptacles, or the use of a common drinking cup, should be prohibited.

In the field it is sometimes necessary to sterilize or filter water.

The easiest and surest way of sterilizing water is by boiling. Boiled water should be aerated by being poured from one receptacle to another or by being filtered through charcoal or clean gravel. Unless boiled water be thus aerated it is very unpalatable and it is with difficulty that troops can be made to drink it.

Filtration merely clarifies--it does not purify. The following are simple methods of filtration:

1. Dig a hole near the source of supply so that the water may percolate through the soil before being used.

2. Sink a barrel or box into the ground, the water entering therein through a wooden trough packed with clean sand, gravel or charcoal.

3. Place a box or barrel in another box or barrel of larger size, filling the s.p.a.ce between with clean sand, gravel, moss or charcoal, and piercing holes near the bottom of the outer barrel and near the top of the inner. The filter thus constructed is partly submerged in the water to be filtered.

4. Bore a small hole in the bottom of a barrel or other suitable receptacle, which is partly filled with layers of sand, gravel, and, if available, charcoal and moss. The water is poured in at the top and is collected as it emerges from the aperture below.

The amount of water used by troops is usually computed at the rate of five gallons for each man and ten gallons for each animal per day.

=1254. Rules of sanitation.= The following rules of sanitation are to be observed:

Men should not lie on damp ground. In temporary camps and in bivouac they raise their beds if suitable material, such as straw, leaves, or boughs can be obtained, or use their ponchos or slickers. In cold weather and when fuel is plentiful the ground may be warmed by fires, the men making their beds after raking away the ashes.

When troops are to remain in camp for some time all underbrush is cleared away and the camp made as comfortable as possible. Watering troughs, shelter in cold weather, and shade in hot, are provided for the animals, if practicable.

The camp is policed daily after breakfast and all refuse matter burned.

Tent walls are raised and the bedding and clothing aired daily, weather permitting.

Tents must be kept clean and in order.

The company street and the ground around the tents must be kept clean.

Food, slop water, rags, paper, empty tin cans, and other trash and refuse must not be thrown on the ground, but should be put in the box, can or other receptacle provided for the purpose or thrown into the incinerator.

The food must be protected from flies, dust and sun.

Under no circ.u.mstances must the company street or any other part of the camp grounds be defiled by urinating or deficating thereon. The urinal tub and the latrine must invariably be used.

When an open trench is used as a sink, each individual must always cover his excrement with dirt.

If the sink is inclosed by a box with stool-covers, the covers must always be put down as soon as one is through using them so as to keep out the flies. However it is found in practice that men will not do this therefore it is a good plan to construct the covers so that they will close automatically when a man rises from the seat.

Kitchen garbage must be burned in a pit or incinerator, or put into _covered_ cans and hauled away. _The covers must be kept on the cans at all times_, so as to keep out the flies.

Horses are not to be ridden through camp except on the roadways.

As soon as a tent is pitched it should be ditched.

When it rains the guy ropes must be loosened to prevent the tent pegs from pulling out and the tent falling down.

The body and the clothes should be cleaned daily as thoroughly as the means at hand will permit.

In the morning wash the face and neck and don't fail to use your tooth brush afterward.

In the continued absence of opportunity for bathing it is well to take an air bath and a moist or dry rub before getting into fresh underclothes.

If the lack of opportunity to wash clothes continues for any length of time, soiled clothes and bedding must be frequently exposed to the sun and air. Sunshine is a good germ killer.

If there are mosquitoes in camp, mosquito bars must be used by men when asleep, and headnets by men on guard and other duty. Also, if in a malarial country, about five grains of quinine should be taken daily, preferably just before supper. In localities where a pernicious form of malaria prevails, daily doses of ten grains of quinine should be given.

In the tropics troops are require to camp at least 500 yards away from all native huts or villages as a preventative measure against malaria.

Men are also prohibited from visiting these places at night for the same reason.

Clean your mess kit thoroughly after every meal, if practicable, washing same with soap and boiling water.

The company cooks must keep everything in the kitchen and mess tent clean with hot water and soap. Boil the utensils and dish rags, and be sure to throw all slops and garbage into the kitchen incinerator.

Rest and sleep are most important to preserve the health, so, keep the body rested by plenty of sleep. Do not join idle parties going to walk the streets of the nearest town at nights, nor sit up late playing cards.

Observe in camp even with greater care than when in barracks the rules of health and personal hygiene. (See pars. 1451-1477.)

=1255. Your camp, your home.= A soldier should always look upon his camp as his home, which it is for the time being. Your tent is your bedroom; the company street, your sitting-room; the latrine, your toilet; the mess tent, your dining-room; the camp kitchen, your kitchen; the bathing facilities, your bathroom. And as you are careful about keeping your bedroom and the other rooms of your home in a clean and orderly condition, so should you do your share to keep your tent and the other parts of camp in a clean, sanitary condition.

CHAPTER XVI

INDIVIDUAL COOKING

=1256. Importance of individual cooking.= It often happens in campaign that it is impossible to have the field ranges and cooking utensils accompany the troops, and in such case each man must cook his own food in his mess kit. Also, it frequently happens that detachments operating away from their companies must do individual cooking.

All food we eat should be properly cooked, if not, stomach or intestinal trouble will result. Hence, the importance of every soldier learning how to cook in his mess kit the main components of the ration.

=1257. Fire.= Remember that the best fire for cooking is a small, clear one, or better yet, a few brisk coals. Dig a hole in the ground with your bayonet and make your fire in it with dry wood, starting it with paper, shavings, dry leaves or dry gra.s.s.

If preferred the fire may be made between two small flat stones or bricks, care being taken to so place the stones that the draft will pa.s.s between them. The mess pan can be placed on the stones, across the fire, and the cup for boiling the coffee at the end away from the draft where it will get the most heat.

This method will, as a rule, be necessary on rocky or stony ground.