"We have put through half
a million of reinforcements since you were here last." And close upon
two million rations were issued last month! The veterinary accommodation
has been much enlarged, and two Convalescent Horse Depots have been
added--(it is good indeed to see with what kindness and thought the Army
treats its horses!). But the most novel addition to the camp has been a
Fat Factory for the production of fat,--from which comes the glycerine
used in explosives--out of all the food refuse of the camp. The fat
produced by the system, here and in England, has already provided
glycerine _far millions of eighteen-pounder shells_; the problem of camp
refuse, always a desperate one, has been solved; and as a commercial
venture the factory makes 250 per cent. profit.
Undeterred by what we hear of the smells! we go off to see it, and the
enthusiastic manager explains the unsavoury processes by which the bones
and refuse of all the vast camp are boiled down into a white fat, that
looks _almost_ eatable, but is meant, as a matter of fact, to feed not
men but shells.
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