Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 271, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1917 — MESS COOK THE BIG MAN OF ARMY [ARTICLE]

MESS COOK THE BIG MAN OF ARMY

Even Company Officers Have to Be Considerate to the New Autocrat. NOBODY “BAWLS HIM OUT” Any Kicks or Grumbling Against the Worst Cook Are Made in Private and Out of His Earshot — Word Is Final. Field Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, France. —“Who s the great hero in the estimation of the privates in the American army?” asks the man interested in th<T psychology of soldiering. “The commanding general, or course,” Interrupts his companion, annoyed at the apparently foolish question. “Naw r not him. I ain’t never seen him even,” replies a private, kicking his hobnailed shoes into the turf. “Your captain, then,” suggests the wise friend, coming down several pit Tiles. “Aw, he’s all. right and we’re always there to salute him, but there s others,” says the private. "“How about your top sergeant, a veteran ‘noncom’ with rough talk and a strong right?” asks the friend, losing confidence. “We’re all for him, but there’s others just as good as him too/’ insists the private. “Put us next, who’s the boss of the company?” the first questioner insists. “The cook, who else?” chorus half a: dozen. That’s the hero —the company cook, writes Junius B. Wood, in the Chicago Dally News. The cook may be hot and grouchy, his uniform greasy and his eyes red from smoke, but he is the most respected man in the mess. That Is, if he is a good cook. Even if he isn’t a good cook, indeed is a very poor cook, which is unusual for our army, nobody “bawls him out” to his face as they might even do to a sergeant major who isn’t much of a scrapper. Any kicks or grumbling against even the worst cook are made in private and out of his earshot. ' “Say, cook, gimme another helpin’ of the ‘slum gullion?’” asks a soldier, coming up with his tin mess kit scoured clean with a hunk of bread of all traces of the first helping of stew. “No seconds, tonight,” replies the mess sergeant. “Aw, fie a good fellow, I’m nearly starved,” begs the soldier. “Nothin’ doin’, some of the fellows haven’t got here yet, beat it.” i V ■ Mess Cook Is Boss. American soldiers are always hupgry and a stand-in wltji the mess cook is equivalent to one “with the landlady’s daughter if you want the second piece of pie.” He is the company autocrat.

Anybody who has suddenly dropped into a strange company about mess time knows that the chances of dining well, though he may be obliged to squat on the ground, hold the mess plate in one hand and feed with the other, are better if the first call is made on the mess sergeant than if it is made on the captain. The captain possibly eats off a table made out of an old box. Certain formalities, however, are observed among officers. The captain may not always volunteer as host, and it is not good form to invite yourself. “Say, sarg, any chance of bumming some chow?” is a good formula. “Al w ays can serape the old pan for a hungry man,” is his usual reply. “Don’t want to crowd you, and I haven’t a mess kit either,” you say. “Guess I’ve got an extra one around. I’ll fix you up all right," he says, and you eat. The American army eats well but It figures closely. Rations are drawn for exactly the number of men and the exact number of days that they are to eat. It is up to the mess sergeant and his cooks to see that everybody gets his share of everything and that nothing is left over. That means close figuring with only his eyes and a big spoon to measure by. For each infantry company of 204 men there are a mess sergeant and three cooks. Under the old -organization there were a sergeant and three cooks for a company of 153 men and officers. The way it works out up to a brigade unit is:

Bat- RegiCompany. tallon ment. Brigade. Officers and men.2o4 766 2,736 6,491 Mess sergeants... 1 4 14 28 Cooks ? H ?? 9n Rolling kitchens.. 1 4 la j “0 Ration wagons... 1 4 28 58 In the field-, officers eat the same food as the men. If they want to purchase some extra dainties that Is their affair. Any man can do the same. The government issues sugar for the coffee, and jam or preserves or dried fruit. At mess time, the men, each carrying his kit, line up in front of the kitchen. As the line passes along, the sergeant dishes up the stew and beans or other vegetables, one of the cooks doles out the bread, another fills the coffee mugs and the third is sweltering over the fire. After all the men have been served, the sergeant fills the officers’ tin dishes and carries them to where they are waiting. That is all the extra service they get. It is the same with the marines. It is a wise government regulation. The officer knows what food the men are getting, for he has the same.