In the happy, careless, easy-going days before the war, the question of repairing the worn shoes and clothing of the soldiers was not considered of sufficient importance to merit even passing attention from the War Department. The army was small, material was plentiful, and the clothing belonged to the soldier. The government issued a man a uniform and out of his pay required him to keep it clean and in repair; if his clothing did not present a neat appearance, he received a reprimand or a court martial. When his shoes wore out he had to have them mended at his own expense—all out of the munificent salary of fifteen dollars a month! But under the new system, introduced at the beginning of the war, the soldier’s clothing is the property of the government, and the government undertakes to keep it clean and in repair. And that is where the work of the Salvage Service comes in. [Illustration: AMERICAN SALVAGE DUMP IN FRANCE. “The salvage service had a perfect passion for economy.”] [Illustration: A WORKROOM IN AN AMERICAN SALVAGE DEPOT IN FRANCE. The salvage service fumigated, cleaned, pressed the soldiers’ uniforms, washed their shirts, socks, and underwear. It mended shoes and transformed campaign hats into felt slippers. _Photograph by Signal Corps, U. S. A._] [Illustration: AN AMERICAN DELOUSING STATION. The weary men returning from the trenches found the delousing and fumigating stations set up and awaiting them.] [Illustration: AN AMERICAN LAUNDRY IN OPERATION NEAR THE FRONT. Each of these units can wash the clothing of 10,000 men, fresh from the trenches, weekly. _Photograph by Signal Corps, U. S. A._]