561

Annotations.

THE SOLDIERS’ FOOD.

I I Ne quid nimis,"

THE prolonged hearing of a summons againstMessrs. J. Lyons and Co. in respect of beefalleged to be unfit for food, but intended for

troops quartered at the White City, ended in theconviction of the caterers and the impositionof the maximum fine of £50, coupled with £70costs. Mr. Fordham, who heard the case atthe West London police-court, had an earlydifficulty in dealing with it owing to his havingomitted to point out to the defendants that

they could claim trial by jury. This, however,was apparently rectified by recommencing the

hearing, and the main point raised in defencewas, briefly, whether unwholesome food was

being prepared for the troops at the timewhen the Hammersmith borough council’s re-

presentative first saw it or whether it hadbeen withdrawn by the defendants’ servantsafter detecting its condition. The evidencebearing on this point was of a contradictorycharacter, and it would not be desirable to

recapitulate and comment upon the learned

magistrate’s observations in announcing hisdecision, in view of an intimation by counselthat there will be an appeal, at which thisquestion and the technical one indicated abovemay be further discussed. Mr. Fordham washimself satisfied that the defendants were to

blame, and were seriously to blame, for theacts of their servants, and he concluded bysaying that the Hammersmith borough councilwould not have done its " barest duty" " if ithad not taken proceedings. The council, therefore,and the medical officer of health, Mr. J. B.

Howell, deserve congratulation upon the success

which has been obtained by them at thepresent stage, and upon their intervention ina matter not likely to have come within the rangeof their previous experience. Before the war itmight not have struck anyone that the supervisionof the food of military forces, training in a par-ticular neighbourhood owing to fortuitous con-

venience for billeting them, would be added as aduty to that already discharged with regard to thecivil population by a medical officer of health.Whether this is wholly a good arrangement isfor the consideration of the Government and ofthe military authorities, but we suggest to themthat as they are spending money on feeding anarmy they should assist in providing supervisionsufficient to secure the proper carrying out of theirintentions. In this instance the actual arrange-ment in force at the White City seems tohave been made between the caterers and theCounty Territorial Force Association for thefeeding of not less than 10,000 men at the rateof ls. 9d. per man per day. Such a rate shouldsuffice for the provision of a sufficient supplyof food not only sound but palatable, whileleaving a fair margin of profit to the contractor.Has this been so either universally or even

generally is a question which the British citizenwould like to have answered satisfactorily.It may be an undesirable topic to investigatepublicly at such a time as the present, but someday inquiry ought to elucidate it, and meanwhile

every effort should be made to remove as far ascircumstances permit, any cause for complaint andany suspicion that the country is not getting fullvalue for the money that it is expending. It is notright that soldiers should be well fed and contentin one place, when elsewhere others upon whoman equal amount is being spent have good causeto complain. The fact that many do not complain,but contentedly make the best of adverse circum-stances which they did not bargain for, is entirelyto their credit, but does not otherwise affect thematter. The recent case in West London is notalone in calling attention to soldiers’ food andthe conditions under which it is supplied.Recent correspondence in newspapers has shownthat regrettable waste of provisions in army campshas taken place and is taking place. The extent towhich this is preventable, and the possibility of

introducing better training of caterers and cooksare large questions into which we do not nowgo. It would be difficult to introduce general im-provement with any immediate effectiveness in amatter with regard to which as a nation we areat normal times indifferent, and no one suggeststhat the present conditions are bad as a whole. Inthe British Islands economical cookery, producingpalatable and wholesome results, is insufficientlystudied by a large proportion of the women of theworking classes, and is considered beneath theattention of men. Hence for the classes who areable to eat outside their houses foreigners havefor many years done business in towns whereverthe demand has attracted supply. The result withregard to cookery for the new army, in cir-cumstances admittedly unforeseen and whollyabnormal, has been that a very large numberof those who have joined it have found thenature of the food an irritating hardship. Thisis certainly not due to niggardliness on the part ofthe Government, and, indeed, the profusion whichappears to characterise the whole matter is not itsleast serious aspect. This feature; however, mayperhaps lead to the ultimate improvement which isdesired by all who wish to see no hindrance placedin the way of recruiting, and who hold that thespending of money by the State upon the food of itssoldiers should have as its object the cultivation ofhealth, strength, and contentment in them in thehighest attainable degree. So far as the armyengaged in fighting is concerned, it appears to beuniversally agreed that all circumstances being con-sidered the arrangements made for supplying it

with food have been admirable.SKIN AND BODY SCRAPERS.

CERTAIN flint implements of the neolithic agehave long been recognised as skin-scrapers, usedprobably in their day in the dressing of hides andskins. An " acheulite " now lies before us whichmany years ago belonged to the late Sir JosephPrestwich. It was picked up by him when inthe society of Boucher de Perthes and Sir JohnLubbock at St. Acheul, near Amiens, as long ago asApril, 1860. In shape it is roughly oval, is aboutinch in thickness, 2 inches long, and 1½ incheswide. The edges have been chipped to a certainsharpness, and more than one " bulb of percussion

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on both its faces prove it to be beyond doubt a flintworked by man. Sir Joseph Prestwich opined that itwas held in the hand and used to scrape off hairsfrom the hides of animals. It is now thought to

: have been a razor. The question thereupon arises :