The men march from their compartments under control of their compartment officer in four lines, two from forward and two from aft, meeting on E-deck at the grand staircase leading into the troop mess hall coming down the staircase four abreast. When in the mess hall the column is split into twelve lines and pass the serving stations at a slow walk through to the mess tables. When finished, they go on to the forward end of the mess hall, where there are the washing tanks somewhat similar to the tanks at the serving stations. These tanks have hot soapy and clear water in which the men wash and rinse their mess gear, returning to their compartments by other established routes. All the mess lines, both to and from the mess, are kept under control so that in case of an emergency during the messing the men may be brought to their proper stations quickly and without confusion. This arrangement of the messing lines and mess hall has kept intact and separate the feeding space of the troops from their sleeping quarters, an arrangement of much sanitary value and in evidence only upon United States Navy transports. WORLD’S FEEDING RECORD The system holds the world’s record for feeding the largest number of men in the shortest period of time, ashore or afloat. Nine thousand men in an average time of ninety minutes were fed. The best time, however, for the same number of men was sixty-seven minutes; this means that during the messing one soldier was served a ration every thirty-six seconds. It must be remembered that these huge commissary problems has been solved with deep thought and precision, overcoming the enormous difficulties presented on shipboard by the confined space and the mass of floating population equal that of a large town or small city. On the afternoon of December 14th, the day previous to the starting on that historical first trip, the first meal was served. Previous to serving this meal, the carefully planned organization had to be put into operation. This required numerous army details for messing, kitchen work and working parties. These reported to the commissary office and after being properly stationed were given instructions to carry on the messing.