LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

care of their feet and that of their men; and

       it improved their general health and was rapidly forming a

       taste for physical exercise."

       The enclosed letter ran in part as follows:—

       "I am returning under separate cover 'The Soldiers' Foot and

       the Military Shoe.'

       "The book contains knowledge of a practical character that

       is valuable for the men who HAVE TO MARCH, WHO HAVE SUFFERED

       FROM FOOT TROUBLES, AND WHO MUST AVOID THEM IN ORDER TO

       ATTAIN EFFICIENCY.

       "The words in capitals express, according to my idea, the

       gist of the whole matter as regards military men.

       "The army officer whose men break down on test gets a black

       eye. The one whose men show efficiency in this respect gets

       a bouquet.

       "To such men the book is invaluable. There is no danger that

       they will neglect it. They will actually learn it, for

       exactly the same reasons that our fellows learn the gunnery

       instructions—or did learn them before they were withdrawn

       and burned.

       "B U T, I have not been able to interest a single naval

       officer in this fine book. They will look at the pictures

       and say it is a good book, but they won't read it. The

       marine officers, on the contrary, are very much interested,

       because they have to teach their men to care for their feet

       and they must know how to care for their own. But the naval

       officers feel no such necessity, simply because their men do

       not have to demonstrate their efficiency by practice

       marches, and they themselves do not have to do a stunt that

       will show up their own ignorance and inefficiency in the

       matter.

       "For example, some time ago I was talking with some chaps

       about shoes—the necessity of having them long enough and

       wide enough, etc., and one of them said: 'I have no use for

       such shoes, as I never walk except when I have to, and any

       old shoes do for the 10-mile-a-month stunt,' so there you

       are!

       "When the first test was ordered, Edmonston (Washington shoe

       man) told me that he sold more real walking shoes to naval

       officers in three months than he had in the three preceding

       years. I know three officers who lost both big-toe nails

       after the first test, and another who walked nine miles in

       practice with a pair of heavy walking shoes that were too

       small and was laid up for three days—could not come to the

       office. I know plenty of men who after the first test had to

       borrow shoes from larger men until their feet 'went down' to

       their normal size.

       "This test may have been a bit too strenuous for old hearts

       (of men who had never taken any exercise), but it was

       excellent as a matter of instruction and training of

       handling feet—and in an emergency (such as we soon may have

       in Mexico) sound hearts are not much good if the feet won't

       stand.

       "However, the 25-mile test in two days each quarter answered

       the same purpose, for the reason that 12.5 miles will

       produce sore feet with bad shoes, and sore feet and lame

       muscles even with good shoes, if there has been no practice

       marching.

       "It was the necessity of doing 12.5 MORE MILES ON THE SECOND

       DAY WITH SORE FEET AND LAME MUSCLES that made 'em sit up and

       take notice—made 'em practice walking, made 'em avoid

       street cars, buy proper shoes, show some curiosity about sox

       and the care of the feet in general.

       "All this passed out with the introduction of the last test

       of 10 miles a month. As one fellow said: 'I can do that in

       sneakers'—but he couldn't if the second day involved a

       tramp on the sore feet.

       "The point is that whereas formerly officers had to practice

       walking a bit and give some attention to proper footgear,

       now they don't have to, and the natural consequence is that

       they don't do it.

       "There are plenty of officers who do not walk any more than

       is necessary to reach a street car that will carry them from

       their residences to their offices. Some who have motors do

       not do so much. They take no exercise. They take cocktails

       instead and are getting beefy and 'ponchy,' and something

       should be done to remedy this state of affairs.

       "It would not be necessary if service opinion required

       officers so to order their lives that it would be common

       knowledge that they were 'hard,' in order to avoid the

       danger of being selected out.

       "We have no such service opinion, and it is not in process

       of formation. On the contrary, it is known that the

       'Principal Dignitaries' unanimously advised the Secretary to

       abandon all physical tests. He, a civilian, was wise enough

       not to take the advice.

       "I would like to see a test established that would oblige

       officers to take sufficient exercise to pass it without

       inconvenience. For the reasons given above, 20 miles in two

       days every other month would do the business, while 10 miles

       each month does not touch it, simply because nobody has to

       walk on 'next day' feet. As for the proposed test of so many

       hours 'exercise' a week, the flat foots of the pendulous

       belly muscles are delighted. They are looking into the

       question of pedometers, and will hang one of these on their

       wheezy chests and let it count every shuffling step they

       take out of doors.

       "If we had an adequate test throughout 20 years, there would

       at the end of that time be few if any sacks of blubber at

       the upper end of the list; and service opinion against that

       sort of thing would be established."

      These tests were kept during my administration. They were afterwards abandoned; not through perversity or viciousness; but through weakness, and inability to understand the need of preparedness in advance, if the emergencies of war are to be properly met, when, or if, they arrive.

      In no country

Скачать книгу