Books: Notes of a War Correspondent
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Richard Harding Davis >> Notes of a War Correspondent
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The carry-all is, nevertheless, to my mind, the most nearly perfect
way in which to pack a kit. I have tried the trunk, valise, and
sleeping-bag, and vastly prefer it to them all. My carry-all differs
only from the sleeping-bag in that, instead of lining it so that it
may be used as a bed, I carry in its pocket a folding cot. By
omitting the extra lining for the bed, I save almost the weight of
the cot. The folding cot I pack is the Gold Medal Bed, made in this
country, but which you can purchase almost anywhere. I once carried
one from Chicago to Cape Town to find on arriving I could buy the bed
there at exactly the same price I had paid for it in America. I also
found them in Tokio, where imitations of them were being made by the
ingenious and disingenuous Japanese. They are light in weight,
strong, and comfortable, and are undoubtedly the best camp-bed made.
When at your elevation of six inches above the ground you look down
from one of them upon a comrade in a sleeping-bag with rivulets of
rain and a tide of muddy water rising above him, your satisfaction,
as you fall asleep, is worth the weight of the bed in gold.
My carry-all is of canvas with a back of waterproof. It is made up
of three strips six and a half feet long. The two outer strips are
each two feet three inches wide, the middle strip four feet. At one
end of the middle strip is a deep pocket of heavy canvas with a flap
that can be fastened by two straps. When the kit has been packed in
this pocket, the two side strips are folded over it and the middle
strip and the whole is rolled up and buckled by two heavy straps on
the waterproof side. It is impossible for any article to fall out or
for the rain to soak in. I have a smaller carry-all made on the same
plan, but on a tiny scale, in which to carry small articles and a
change of clothing. It goes into the pocket after the bed, chair,
and the heavier articles are packed away. When the bag is rolled up
they are on the outside of and form a protection to the articles of
lighter weight.
The only objection to the carry-all is that it is an awkward bundle
to pack. It is difficult to balance it on the back of an animal, but
when you are taking a tent with you or carrying your provisions, it
can be slung on one side of the pack saddle to offset their weight on
the other.
I use the carry-all when I am travelling "heavy." By that I mean
when it is possible to obtain pack-animal or cart. When travelling
light and bivouacking by night without a pack-horse, bed, or tent, I
use the saddle-bags, already described. These can be slung over the
back of the horse you ride, or if you walk, carried over your
shoulder. I carried them in this latter way in Greece, in the
Transvaal, and Cuba during the rebellion, and later with our own
army.
The list of articles I find most useful when travelling where it is
possible to obtain transport, or, as we may call it, travelling
heavy, are the following:
A tent, seven by ten feet, with fly, jointed poles, tent-pins, a
heavy mallet. I recommend a tent open at both ends with a window cut
in one end. The window, when that end is laced and the other open,
furnishes a draught of air. The window should be covered with a flap
which, in case of rain, can be tied down over it with tapes. A great
convenience in a tent is a pocket sewn inside of each wall, for
boots, books, and such small articles. The pocket should not be
filled with anything so heavy as to cause the walls to sag. Another
convenience with a tent is a leather strap stretched from pole to
pole, upon which to hang clothes, and another is a strap to be
buckled around the front tent-pole, and which is studded with
projecting hooks for your lantern, water-bottle, and field-glasses.
This latter can be bough ready-made at any military outfitter's.
Many men object to the wooden tent-pin on account of its tendency to
split, and carry pins made of iron. With these, an inch below the
head of the pin is a projecting barb which holds the tent rope. When
the pin is being driven in, the barb is out of reach of the mallet.
Any blacksmith can beat out such pins, and if you can afford the
extra weight, they are better than those of ash. Also, if you can
afford the weight, it is well to carry a strip of water-proof or
oilcloth for the floor of the tent to keep out dampness. All these
things appertaining to the tent should be tolled up in it, and the
tent itself carried in a light-weight receptacle, with a running
noose like a sailor's kit-bag.
The carry-all has already been described. Of its contents, I
consider first in importance the folding bed.
And second in importance I would place a folding chair. Many men
scoff at a chair as a cumbersome luxury. But after a hard day on
foot or in the saddle, when you sit on the ground with your back to a
rock and your hands locked across your knees to keep yourself from
sliding, or on a box with no rest for your spinal column, you begin
to think a chair is not a luxury, but a necessity. During the Cuban
campaign, for a time I was a member of General Sumner's mess. The
general owned a folding chair, and whenever his back was turned every
one would make a rush to get into it. One time we were discussing
what, in the light of our experience of that campaign, we would take
with us on our next, and all agreed, Colonel Howze, Captain Andrews,
and Major Harmon, that if one could only take one article it would be
a chair. I carried one in Manchuria, but it was of no use to me, as
the other correspondents occupied it, relieving each other like
sentries on guard duty. I had to pin a sign on it, reading, "Don't
sit on me," but no one ever saw the sign. Once, in order to rest in
my own chair, I weakly established a precedent by giving George Lynch
a cigar to allow me to sit down (on that march there was a mess
contractor who supplied us even with cigars, and occasionally with
food), and after that, whenever a man wanted to smoke, he would
commandeer my chair, and unless bribed refuse to budge. This seems
to argue the popularity of the contractor's cigars rather than that
of the chair, but, nevertheless, I submit that on a campaign the
article second in importance for rest, comfort, and content is a
chair. The best I know is one invented by Major Elliott of the
British army. I have an Elliott chair that I have used four years,
not only when camping out, but in my writing-room at home. It is an
arm-chair, and is as comfortable as any made. The objections to it
are its weight, that it packs bulkily, and takes down into too many
pieces. Even with these disadvantages it is the best chair. It can
be purchased at the Army and Navy and Anglo-Indian stores in London.
A chair of lighter weight and one-fourth the bulk is the Willisden
chair, of green canvas and thin iron supports. It breaks in only two
pieces, and is very comfortable.
Sir Harry Johnson, in his advice to explorers, makes a great point of
their packing a chair. But he recommends one known as the
"Wellington," which is a cane-bottomed affair, heavy and cumbersome.
Dr. Harford, the instructor in outfit for the Royal Geographical
Society, recommends a steamer-chair, because it can be used on
shipboard and "can be easily carried afterward." If there be
anything less easy to carry than a deck-chair I have not met it. One
might as soon think of packing a folding step-ladder. But if he has
the transport, the man who packs any reasonably light folding chair
will not regret it.
As a rule, a cooking kit is built like every other cooking kit in
that the utensils for cooking are carried in the same pot that is
used for boiling the water, and the top of the pot turns itself into
a frying-pan. For eight years I always have used the same kind of
cooking kit, so I cannot speak of others with knowledge; but I have
always looked with envious eyes at the Preston cooking kit and water-
bottle. Why it has not already been adopted by every army I do not
understand, for in no army have I seen a kit as compact or as light,
or one that combines as many useful articles and takes up as little
room. It is the invention of Captain Guy H. Preston, Thirteenth
Cavalry, and can be purchased at any military outfitter's.
The cooking kit I carry is, or was, in use in the German army. It is
made of aluminum,--weighs about as much as a cigarette-case, and
takes up as little room as would a high hat. It is a frying-pan and
coffee-pot combined. From the Germans it has been borrowed by the
Japanese, and one smaller than mine, but of the same pattern, is part
of the equipment of each Japanese soldier. On a day's march there
are three things a man must carry: his water-bottle, his food,
which, with the soldier, is generally carried in a haversack, and his
cooking kit. Preston has succeeded most ingeniously in combining the
water-bottle and the cooking kit, and I believe by cutting his water-
bottle in half, he can make room in his coffee-pot for the food. If
he will do this, he will solve the problem of carrying water, food,
and the utensils for cooking the food and for boiling the water in
one receptacle, which can be carried from the shoulder by a single
strap. The alteration I have made for my own use in Captain
Preston's water-bottle enables me to carry in the coffee-pot one
day's rations of bacon, coffee, and biscuit.
In Tokio, before leaving for Manchuria, General Fukushima asked me to
bring my entire outfit to the office of the General Staff. I spread
it out on the floor, and with unerring accuracy he selected from it
the three articles of greatest value. They were the Gold Medal cot,
the Elliott chair, and Preston's water-bottle. He asked if he could
borrow these, and, understanding that he wanted to copy them for his
own use, and supposing that if he used them, he would, of course,
make some restitution to the officers who had invented them, I
foolishly loaned them to him. Later, he issued them in numbers to
the General Staff. As I felt, in a manner, responsible, I wrote to
the Secretary of War, saying I was sure the Japanese army did not
wish to benefit by these inventions without making some
acknowledgment or return to the inventors. But the Japanese War
Office could not see the point I tried to make, and the General Staff
wrote a letter in reply asking why I had not directed my
communication to General Fukushima, as it was not the Secretary of
War, but he, who had taken the articles. The fact that they were
being issued without any return being made, did not interest them.
They passed cheerfully over the fact that the articles had been
stolen, and were indignant, not because I had accused a Japanese
general of pilfering, but because I had accused the wrong general.
The letter was so insolent that I went to the General Staff Office
and explained that the officer who wrote it, must withdraw it, and
apologize for it. Both of which things he did. In case the
gentlemen whose inventions were "borrowed" might, if they wished,
take further steps in the matter, I sent the documents in the case,
with the exception of the letter which was withdrawn, to the chief of
the General Staff in the United States and in England.
In importance after the bed, cooking kit, and chair, I would place
these articles:
Two collapsible water-buckets of rubber or canvas.
Two collapsible brass lanterns, with extra isinglass sides.
Two boxes of sick-room candles.
One dozen boxes of safety matches.
One axe. The best I have seen is the Marble Safety Axe, made at
Gladstone, Mich. You can carry it in your hip-pocket, and you can
cut down a tree with it.
One medicine case containing quinine, calomel, and Sun Cholera
Mixture in tablets.
Toilet-case for razors, tooth-powder, brushes, and paper.
Folding bath-tub of rubber in rubber case. These are manufactured to
fold into a space little larger than a cigar-box.
Two towels old, and soft.
Three cakes of soap.
One Jaeger blanket.
One mosquito head-bag.
One extra pair of shoes, old and comfortable.
One extra pair of riding-breeches.
One extra pair of gaiters. The former regulation army gaiter of
canvas, laced, rolls up in a small compass and weighs but little.
One flannel shirt. Gray least shows the dust.
Two pairs of drawers. For riding, the best are those of silk.
Two undershirts, balbriggan or woollen.
Three pairs of woollen socks.
Two linen handkerchiefs, large enough, if needed, to tie around the
throat and protect the back of the neck.
One pair of pajamas, woollen, not linen.
One housewife.
Two briarwood pipes.
Six bags of smoking tobacco; Durham or Seal of North Carolina pack
easily.
One pad of writing paper.
One fountain pen, SELF-FILLING.
One bottle of ink, with screw top, held tight by a spring.
One dozen linen envelopes.
Stamps, wrapped in oil-silk with mucilage side next to the silk.
One stick sealing-wax. In tropical countries mucilage on the flap of
envelopes sticks to everything except the envelope.
One dozen elastic bands of the largest size. In packing they help to
compress articles like clothing into the smallest possible compass
and in many other ways will be found very useful.
One pack of playing-cards.
Books.
One revolver and six cartridges.
The reason for most of these articles is obvious. Some of them may
need a word of recommendation. I place the water-buckets first in
the list for the reason that I have found them one of my most
valuable assets. With one, as soon as you halt, instead of waiting
for your turn at the well or water-hole, you can carry water to your
horse, and one of them once filled and set in the shelter of the
tent, later saves you many steps. It also can be used as a nose-bag,
and to carry fodder. I recommend the brass folding lantern, because
those I have tried of tin or aluminum have invariably broken. A
lantern is an absolute necessity. When before daylight you break
camp, or hurry out in a wind storm to struggle with flying tent-pegs,
or when at night you wish to read or play cards, a lantern with a
stout frame and steady light is indispensable. The original cost of
the sick-room candles is more than that of ordinary candles, but they
burn longer, are brighter, and take up much less room. To protect
them and the matches from dampness, or the sun, it is well to carry
them in a rubber sponge-bag. Any one who has forgotten to pack a
towel will not need to be advised to take two. An old sergeant of
Troop G, Third Cavalry, once told me that if he had to throw away
everything he carried in his roll but one article, he would save his
towel. And he was not a particularly fastidious sergeant either, but
he preferred a damp towel in his roll to damp clothes on his back.
Every man knows the dreary halts in camp when the rain pours outside,
or the regiment is held in reserve. For times like these a pack of
cards or a book is worth carrying, even if it weighs as much as the
plates from which it was printed. At present it is easy to obtain
all of the modern classics in volumes small enough to go into the
coat-pocket. In Japan, before starting for China, we divided up
among the correspondents Thomas Nelson & Sons' and Doubleday, Page &
Co.'s pocket editions of Dickens, Thackeray, and Lever, and as most
of our time in Manchuria was spent locked up in compounds, they
proved a great blessing.
In the list I have included a revolver, following out the old saying
that "You may not need it for a long time, but when you do need it,
you want it damned quick." Except to impress guides and mule-
drivers, it is not an essential article. In six campaigns I have
carried one, and never used it, nor needed it but once, and then
while I was dodging behind the foremast it lay under tons of luggage
in the hold. The number of cartridges I have limited to six, on the
theory that if in six shots you haven't hit the other fellow, he will
have hit you, and you will not require another six.
This, I think, completes the list of articles that on different
expeditions I either have found of use, or have seen render good
service to some one else. But the really wise man will pack none of
the things enumerated in this article. For the larger his kit, the
less benefit he will have of it. It will all be taken from him. And
accordingly my final advice is to go forth empty-handed, naked and
unashamed, and borrow from your friends. I have never tried that
method of collecting an outfit, but I have seen never it fail, and of
all travellers the man who borrows is the wisest.
Footnotes:
{1} From "A Year from a Reporter's Note Book," copyright, 1897, by
Harper & Brothers.
{2} From "A Year from a Reporter's Note Book, copyright, 1897,
Harper & Brothers."
{3} For this "distinguished gallantry in action," James R. Church
later received the medal of honor.
{4} Some of the names and initials on the trees are as follows: J.
P. Allen; Lynch; Luke Steed; Happy Mack, Rough Riders; Russell; Ward;
E. M. Lewis, C, 9th Cav.; Alex; E. K. T.; J. P. E.; W. N. D.; R. D.
R.; I. W. S., 5th U. S.; J. M. B.; J. M. T., C, 9th.
{5} A price list during the siege:
SIEGE
OF
LADYSMITH,
1899-1900.
I certify that the following are the correct and highest prices
realised at my sales by Public Auction during the above Siege,
JOE DYSON,
Auctioneer.
LADYSMITH,
FEBRUARY 21st, 1900.
Pounds s. d.
14 lbs. Oatmeal 2 19 6
Condensed Milk, per tin 0 10 0
1 lb. Beef Fat 0 11 0
1 lb. Tin Coffee 0 17 0
2 lb. Tin Tongue 1 6 0
1 Sucking Pig 1 17 0
Eggs, per dozen 2 8 0
Fowls, each 0 18 6
4 Small Cucumbers 0 15 6
Green Mealies, each 0 3 8
Small plate Grapes 1 5 0
1 Small plate Apples 0 12 6
1 Plate Tomatoes 0 18 0
1 Vegetable Marrow 1 8 0
1 Plate Eschalots 0 11 0
1 Plate Potatoes 0 19 0
3 Small bunches Carrots 0 9 0
1 Glass Jelly 0 18 0
1 lb. Bottle Jam 1 11 0
1 lb. Tin Marmalade 1 1 0
1 dozen Matches 0 13 6
1 pkt. Cigarettes 1 5 0
50 Cigars 9 5 0
0.25 lb. Cake "Fair Maid" Tobacco 2 5 0
0.5 lb. Cake "Fair Maid" 3 5 0
1 lb. Sailors Tobacco 2 3 0
0.25 lb. tin "Capstan" Navy Cut Tobacco 3 0 0
{6} The top of the trunk is made of a single piece of leather with a
rim that falls over the mouth of the trunk and protects the contents
from rain. The two iron rings by which each box is slung across the
padded back of the pack-horse are fastened by rivetted straps to the
rear top line of each trunk. On both ENDS of each trunk near the top
and back are two iron sockets. In these fit the staples that hold
the poles for the bed. The staples are made of iron in the shape of
the numeral 9, the poles passing through the circle of the 9. The
bed should be four feet long three feet wide, of heavy canvas,
strengthened by leather straps. At both ends are two buckles which
connect with straps on the top of each trunk. Along one side of the
canvas is a pocket running its length and open at both ends. Through
this one of the poles passes and the other through a series of straps
that extend on the opposite side. These straps can be shortened or
tightened to allow a certain "give" to the canvas, which the ordinary
stretcher-bed does not permit. The advantage of this arrangement is
in the fact that it can be quickly put together and that it keeps the
sleeper clear of the ground and safeguards him from colds and
malaria.
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