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CLOTHING UNCLE
SAM'S NEW ARMY
; GIGANTIC TASK
Immense Supply of Materials
Necessary to Equip Men
for the Field.
DOUGLAS COUNTY SENTINEL, DOUGLASVILLE, GEORGIA
BIG PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED
In Addition to the Regular Army and
National Guard, Supplies Must
Be on Hand for the
Drafted Men.
Washington.—When a nation goes to
war, naturally the people bade home
want action. The first thought is to
whip the other fellow as soon as pos
sible, whip him good and plenty and
get it over with. Congress votes an
army. The people, and rightly so,
want that army in training camps as
quickly as possible and made ready to
fight.
America’s national army of half a
million men probably will not get into
camp until September. Miracles, al
most, will have to be accomplished to
do that. Even most of the National
Guard won’t be in camp until August
1. And war was declared early in
April.
There have been delays here in
Washington getting things under way
that are hard to understand. There
have been minor blunders and mis
takes that appeur inexcusable. It has
taken longer to do things than appears
on the surface, at least, at all neces
sary. But practically every complaint
of this character, serious or minor, is
traceable back to the fundamental of
the whole situation: When this coun
try went into war it was emphatically
on a peace basis. Most of this lost
time and motion has been spent in
building up the tremendous organiza
tion necessary, not alone to supply the
army when it tukes the field in num
bers with munitions, but with the
iplalnest necessities before they are
ready even to take the field for pre
liminary training and to keep them
supplied.
Big Industries Simplify Task,
If the United States were not a big
Industrial nation, the biggest in the
world, the task would be almost Im
possible. As it is, it presents a prob
lem the average person back home has
little conception of until he goes into
actual figures of needs and require
ments.
When war was declared, It naturally
was supposed the National Guard, our
second line of defense to the regular
army, would be put in intensive train
ing at once. It wasn’t. The reason was
that the army didn’t have the equip
ment to take care of the National
Guard, if it should recruit to war
strength at the same time the regular
army was fillings up its ranks. There
was no particular object in calling out
Jthe very men who had had the splen
did experience on the border. The
Guard had to be doubled and nearly
trebled in size and it was the new re
cruits who needed the intensive train
ing. And the government couldn’t take
care of the new recruits. It will have
a job fully equipping the National
Guard when It does take to camp.
But the army says it can do the
task now. Something like a half mil
lion recruits have been taken into
the regular army, National Guard and
navy already. And the first contin
gent of the national army, 025,000
men, must be equipped in September
That was the array job on supplies,
apart from arming the men. The na
tion went to war without huge store
houses full of reserve supplies. We
were operating on a small army scale
because we didn’t think we would biive
to go to war.
The Clothing Requirements.
Concrete figures give a real idea of
what it takes to clothe and equip an
army. Here are the clothing requlre-
r jnts for a million men and the up
keep in clothing for nine months, for
the army has to know where the next
few months’ supply is to be had as
well as the initial equipment:
Belts, waist 2,000,000
Breeches, cotton, foot soldier 2,673,000
Breeches, cotton, mounted soldier..1,292,000
Breeches, woolen, foot soldier 1,882,000
Breeches, woolen, mounted soldier 951,000
Coats, cotton 2,400,000
Coats, woolen ....1,270,000
Cords, hat 2,600,000
Drawers, summer ,..6,175,000?
Drawers, winter 6,600,000
Gloves, horsehlde, yellow 41,000
Gloves, riding 740,000'
Gloves, wool 1.866,000
Hats, service l,82o,000
Daces, she xtra pairs 7,200,000
Deg gins, c«. -vas, foot
Legrgins, canvas, mounted 660,000
Overcoats
Ponchos 1’irewTO
Shoes, russet r'SX'u,
Shoes, field
Slickers 4 SS'Sl
Stockings, cotton 3.767.W
Stockings, wool, lightweight^ 6,683,000
igfc', ^vooT, Heavywuigni.....-w,v...
Tags, Identification 2,645,000
Undershirts, cotton 4,700,000
Undershirts, woolen ,...4,600,000
This is the clothing requirement,
alone. Before the year is out the fig
ures will have to be doubled.
The United States is going to get
these supplies. It is getting them now
In daily increasing amounts. The war
department in conjunction with a de
partment of the national council of
defense of which Julius Bosenwnld
of the Seurs-Itoebuclc company is the
head, has built up a tremendous organ
ization. Mills are running at full
capacity turning out the army needs.
Contracts are let almost daily in lig-
ares that before tlio war would have
been a real news item, but which now
occasion no comment. It is all a part
of the day’s work.
Tents and Khaki Scarce.
Two items presented the most dif
ficult problem—ducking for tents and
khaki cloth. The country had been
pretty well drained of both by the de
mands of our allies before we entered
the war. In fact, one war speculator
had practically cornered the market
on klmki. But “scouts,” representing
tin? Rosenwald committee, and repre
sentatives of the quartermaster’s de
partment have scoured the country,
peering into every place or mill or sup-
lily house where either material could
lie had in quantities. The supply avail
able for government use lias increased
oy leaps and bounds since the mobili
zation qf resources began.
But clothing is only one side of
equipping an army. Tents upon tents
are needed. This is a particularly big
problem right now, as the National
Guard is to be housed in tents. And
tents have to lie replaced every three
to six months, on an average. The
following table presents the needs of
one million men with nine mouths’
upkeep:
tnpfTfhr ...—...-nv... ; 1.™ ;
Wnll 4 ' 2 ™ i
Hospital Ward— l
Wall JffiO I
Pyramids' 280,000 (
Stora r „ i
Wall (large)— I
Upright ln ' 400
Ridge 8 ' 200
Wall (small)—
Ridge
Upright 123,100
Ponclieo, music 23,000
Slings, color ftp 1 i
Shovels, short handle 97,000
Spades J 2 ' 488
Stands, music 11,000
Sticks, shoe size U.500
Shields, tent, g. 1 4r - noft
Stoves, tent 209,200
Stovepipe, elbows 97,900
Stovepipe, joints 1,000,000
Spark arrestors 221,000
Stretchers, shoo 11,400
Tape, foot measure 11,000
Tents— ' . iWA !
Hospital, tropical
Hospital, ward 2.000
Pyramidal <.92.000
Shelter halves 2,140,000
Storage 8,480
Wnll, large 8,200
Wall, small 04,400 ^
Tent Files- I
Hospital, tropical £.2-0 ,
Storage 8,480
Wall, largo 24.000
Wall, small J 4 .4M
Screens, canvas, latrine <•‘*.400
i Whistles and Chains—
! Anno 105.200,
20,000 .
16,000,
Knight
Siren
Materials— I
Bobinette, 30-lnch, yards 30,600,000
Buttons, shirt, o. d., gross 218,8J0
Buttons, overcoat, bronze, gross.. 152.000
Buttons, coat, bronze, small, gross 412,3n0
Buttons, coat, bronze, large, gross 219,925
Cloth, cotton, o. d., yards
Drilling, unbleached, yards 15,475,000
Duck, shelter, tent, yards 12,900.000
Duck, khaki, No. 4, 42-inch, yards GOS.idO
Duck, khaki, 12.1-oz., yards 37.375.000
Duck, khaki, 8-oz., yard 9,562.500
Flannel shirting, o. d., yards 8,250.000
Jeans, corset, yards 1.U8.000
Meltons, o. d„ 16-oz., yards JSnfiS
Meltons, o. d., 30-oz., yards ££02.000
Bedding, canvas, yards 2,3-.,t»w
Serge, luster wool, lightweight,
vnrils 2,975,000
SlTosla. o. d„ yards
Tent slips. No. 2,160,000
Tent plates and chain “ZB.- w
Tent squares 3 - 5 - 400
Axes 130,500
Ax helves 102,000
Bags, surplus kit 183,000
Bags, water sterilizing 21.550
Bars, mosquito 1,950,000
Bedsacks 1,800,000
Blankets 3,450,000
Brooms, corn 360,000
Brushes, scrubbing 177 000 en j a that linve to bo added
Bugle 3 slings2!'.!!!! 1!!!!! 2 •••••••!! 2o|600 to It. The arming of the forces
Cots 1,900,000 is entirely another problem—the rifles,
Containers, neatsfoot oil 70 masks, trench tools, rapid firo
SXNTd^aVri™.!?"! 8 :: iU and the like, come under a dlf-
Dosks, field, small 23,200 forent department and present a still
Now this table represents merely
equipage. And there are dozens of
Headnets, mosquito 202,000
OH, neatsfoot, pints 160,000
Pickaxes 130,000
Pickax helves 127,000
Pins (tent)—
Large 10,630,000
Small 10,375,000
Shelter 12.650.000
roles (tent), Canvas Latrine Screen—
Upright, 7-toot 17 2.2?J
Horizontal. 7-foot 24,000
Horizontal, 9-foot
Shelter
Hospital, Tropical—
more difficult tusk than clothing and
camp equipage.
But from this an tden may he gained
Of the giant task war making Is.
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you should die?
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The Penn Mutual Life
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It will be our pleasure to furnish full infoi*^
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A Savin g-Not An Expense
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Send name, address and date of birth for amount of annu-j
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Name -—
Address
Date of Birth.
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It might bo well while correcting
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Fill in and return to
Z.
DAKE.
•0
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