MANTJAI FOR NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 47 



Always prepare your bed before dark. liCvel off the ground 

 and scrape out a little hollow for your hips. Get some straw 

 or dry grass if possible. Green grass or branches from trees 

 are better than nothing. Sleep on your poncho. This keeps 

 the dampness from coming up from the ground and chilling the 

 body. Every minute spent in making a good bed means about 

 an hour's good rest later on. 



Avoid the food and drink found for sale In the cheap stands 

 about camp. The quality is generally bad, and it is often pre- 

 pared in filthy places by very dirty persons. 



The use of intoxicating liquor is particularly dangerous in 

 the field. Its excessive use, even at long intervals, breaks down 

 one's system. Drinking men are more apt to get sick and less 

 liable to get well than are their more sober comrades. If 

 alcohol is taken at all, it is best after the work of the day is 

 over. It should never be taken when the body is exposed to 

 severe cold, as it diminishes the resistance of the body. Hot 

 tea or coffee is much preferable under these circumstances. 



CARE OF THE FEET. 



A soldier can not march v/ith sore feet, and marching is the 

 main part of an infai-itryman's daily duty in the field. All 

 soldiers should be familiar with the proper methods of caring 

 for the feet. Sore feet are generally due to carelessness, neg- 

 lect, or ignorance on the part of the soldier. 



The most important factor in the care of the feet and the 

 marching ability of the soldier is the shoe. Civilian shoes, 

 particularly light, patent leather, or low shoes, are sure to 

 cause injury and in time will ruin a man's foot. Only the 

 marching shoe issued by the Quartermaster Corps should be 

 worn, and they must be properly fitted to the individual. It 

 will not suffice to order a marching shoe of the same size as 

 one's ordinary civilian shoes, for it must be remembered that a 

 soldier may have to march many miles daily over rough roads 

 and carrying a heavy pack. The pack itself causes the foot to 

 spread out to a larger size, and the rough roads give so much 

 exercise to the muscles of the feet that they swell greatly 

 through the increased blood supply. (For directions as to 

 measuring the foot for the marching shoe, see General Order 



