of warehouses on a scale hitherto unknown in the United States. The
warehouse plan was carefully worked out as part of the strategy of
conducting the war, the Council of National Defense making the first
investigations of the proper locations of supply depots, and these
early findings being later amended by the General Staff. Several
important considerations determined the locations of these depots and
warehouses. In the first place we would require great storage and
shipping facilities at tidewater; yet, if these were all to be located
in one spot or in one general region, there was a possibility that a
submarine blockade off the Atlantic coast could stop the shipment of
supplies to the American Expeditionary Forces. Thus the first project
was to locate the great supply bases at New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
and Norfolk. But it was evident that a relatively small number of enemy
submarines operating in a comparatively restricted area could block
shipment from these four ports. Therefore Charleston, S. C., and New
Orleans were added to the supply-base project.
There was another thing to be taken into consideration, namely, the
providing of sufficient warehouse space, so that, if there should be
any blockade of ocean transportation, the manufacture of supplies
could continue at its war rate and still find places to which to ship
its important products. Yet if the storage were all provided at the
tidewater bases, there would be danger of railroad congestion at the
ports. Consequently, as auxiliary to the terminal warehouses, there was
provided a system of enormous warehouses built in the interior of the
United States.
The system eventually worked out to give seven expeditionary supply
bases located, six of them, at the cities just named, in addition to
one that had been built at Port Newark, N. J., during the winter of
1917, and nine interior depots located respectively at Baltimore,
Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Jeffersonville, Ind., New Cumberland, Pa.,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Schenectady, N. Y., and St. Louis. These
latter were central in various producing districts.
The terminal projects alone involved construction on a scale that
was without precedent. The interior depots and the huge terminal
bases provided 690 acres of storage space, all inclosed in reinforced
concrete of the most modern type. They were all built in a little over
12 months. Into them went construction enough to build a concrete
building 70 feet wide from New York to Philadelphia and a wharf nearly
8 miles long, with berthing accommodations for 65 ships at once. The
facilities included 650 miles of railroad and 1,000 miles of concrete
roadway.
[Illustration: NEW ORLEANS ARMY SUPPLY BASE.]
[Illustration: BROOKLYN ARMY SUPPLY BASE.]
[Illustration: BROOKLYN ARMY SUPPLY BASE.]
[Illustration: BOSTON ARMY SUPPLY BASE.]
The Army supply bases at Brooklyn and at Boston are examples of
the immensity of the expeditionary depots built along the Atlantic
seacoast. The base at Brooklyn has approximately 4,000,000 square
feet of storage space in its two huge 8-story reinforced concrete
warehouses. One of these warehouses is 980 feet long by 200 feet wide
and the other is 980 feet long by 300 feet wide. In addition to these,
the installation at the base consists of three double-deck piers, each
150 feet wide and 1,300 feet long, and one open pier 60 feet wide and
1,300 feet long. In its railroad yards there is storage space for 1,300
cars at one time. The capacity of the base is 700,000 tons of supplies,
or the equivalent of about 100 shiploads. Twelve ships of 8,000 tons,
dead weight each, can be loaded at one time, and the loading of these
vessels can be completed within 24 hours, so vast and complete are the
facilities at this project.
Construction started at the site on May 15, 1918. More than 7,000
workmen were engaged on this job at one time, and the entire project
was to be completed before July 1, 1919, while it was to be in partial
operation by January 1. When the armistice was signed, 4,387,360 square
feet of floor space had been completed and 187,173 cubic yards of
concrete had been poured.
The base at Boston is 8 stories high, built of concrete, and gives
2,750,000 feet of storage room. Its wharves are 4,000 feet long. The
work on it was started May 14, 1918, and ended October 3. In that
time 200,000 cubic yards of concrete had been poured, 22,000 tons of
reinforcing and structural steel put into position, 3,000,000 brick
laid, 30,000 piles driven, 1,500,000 cubic yards dredged, and 30 miles
of track laid. In all, 7,000 carloads of material were handled in this
building.
The Norfolk base is located at Bush Bluff, 4 miles from the city. The
chief feature of this project is a group of eight 1-story concrete
buildings providing 2,000,000 square feet of storage space. The pier
sheds are built of concrete blown by compressed air upon steel lath.
The docks total a mile in length. The base can handle 600 cars of
supplies in a day. In addition to the storage and shipping buildings
themselves, the Construction Division provided quarters for a regiment
of stevedores and a battalion of guards. A 120-bed hospital was erected
at the project. The wharfage front was made of concrete piles weighing
12 tons apiece, and 217 acres of land were made by dredging outside of
the piles and filling in behind them. The work was started in May and
was nearly finished when the armistice was signed.
The Norfolk and Hampton Roads district has the distinction of being
the center of more war construction than was conducted at any other
point in the United States. There were located here the Navy arsenal,
the Navy yard, the Navy training station, and the great Norfolk naval
base. The largest construction project of all at Norfolk was the
quartermaster terminal which the Construction Division built there. But
in addition to these there was the Pig Point ordnance depot, described
above, Camp Stuart and Camp Hill, both embarkation camps, the Artillery
school at Fortress Monroe, Camp Eustis, and the Langley aviation field
of the Army.
With so many construction undertakings going on at once, the
labor problem proved to be an early embarrassment at the Norfolk
quartermaster terminal job. However, good quarters and good food for
the construction gangs at the terminal largely solved this problem. At
one time in the development on the shores of this part of Chesapeake
Bay, the street car and electric lighting system of Norfolk broke down
under the strain. The Government thereupon took the power house and
operated it thereafter for the duration of the emergency.
The interior storage depots of the Quartermaster Department provide
12,000,000 square feet of storage. They are all of permanent
construction. They range in size from the one at Pittsburgh, with
184,000 square feet, to that at Schenectady with 2,500,000 square feet.
The depot at Chicago was built by the Central Manufacturing District
as contractor on a site sold by its trustees to the Government. This
structure, costing $3,000,000 and giving 29 acres of storage, was built
completely in the period between March 4 and September 15, 1918.
MOTOR TRANSPORT CONSTRUCTION.
There was extensive construction for the Motor Transport Corps. Few
civilians perhaps realize the size attained by this branch of the
Army, with its more than 3,000 officers and 100,000 men in the United
States and abroad. The Construction Division designed a standardized
repair shop to be used in this country or to be transported overseas as
desired. There were three centers of repair, shipment, and the training
of men for the Motor Transport Service, the largest being Camp Holabird
at Baltimore and the others, Camp Jesup at Atlanta, and Camp Normoyle
at San Antonio, Tex.
When the armistice was signed the Army had in this country thousands
of motor trucks, motorcycles, and ambulances. Perhaps 80 per cent
of these were located in the districts subsidiary to Camp Holabird.
Consequently, there were constructed at Holabird an enormous repair
shop and a shop for the taking down and shipping of motor vehicles.
The machine shops at these camps were of permanent construction. Large
storage facilities were also furnished.
The experiences of the Army in Mexico taught that to be effective motor
transport must have adequate facilities for repair. The standardized
army repair shop is of glass, steel, and concrete construction. It is
operated by 55 officers and 1,400 men.
[Illustration: QUARTERMASTER STORAGE DEPOT BUILT BY CONSTRUCTION
DIVISION AT ST. LOUIS.]
[Illustration: CHICAGO PERMANENT QUARTERMASTER DEPOT WAREHOUSES.]
One of the most interesting buildings provided for the Motor Transport
Corps was the crating shop at Camp Holabird. The first motor trucks
sent overseas were shipped completely assembled. In addition to taking
up unnecessarily much-needed cargo space on the transports, they
frequently arrived in poor condition, due to the effects of the salt
air upon their metal parts.
Consequently, it was decided to ship trucks disassembled in crates. One
of these huge vehicles could be taken apart and, except for its truck
body, wrapped up in a parcel 20 feet long, 40 inches wide and 40 inches
deep. The truck body could be packed in a crate 12 feet long and 6 feet
wide and 1 foot thick. These crates were moisture proof.
The crating of trucks saved 75 per cent of the ship space formerly
required. The crating crews became so facile that they could take down
and pack in a single day from a mile and a half to two miles of trucks.
This unique shop cost $500,000.
The construction at Camp Holabird started February 4, 1918. The camp
now occupies 144 acres and has a cantonment for 7,000 men. The 22
buildings of an abandoned distillery on the ground were remodeled to
serve as permanent storehouses for the millions of dollars' worth of
tools and motor-vehicle parts which the Government acquired in the war.
ARMY HOSPITALS.
For the Surgeon General's Department the Construction Division
constructed hospitals in this country providing accommodations for a
total of 121,000 patients, 12,000 nurses, 4,000 doctors, and 34,000
hospital operation and maintenance troops. There were 294 of these
hospitals in all, built at a total cost of $127,725,000 and divided
into three types: base hospitals located at the various training camps,
departmental hospitals located at various other Army posts, and general
hospitals for the reception of sick and wounded men returning from
France. The construction of general hospitals did not cease with the
signing of the armistice, and at a recent date it had provided 97,000
beds for patients.
The builders adopted a standardized type of hospital construction.
The unit in this type was a single-story ward building of frame
construction lined in the interior with gypsum board or some similar
material. An open porch along the entire length of one side of the ward
building provided opportunity for convalescents to be wheeled outdoors.
Each ward had room for 34 beds and also had a diet kitchen, a nurses'
room, a doctors' room, lavatories, and an inclosed solarium at the end.
These buildings were connected with each other by inclosed corridors
running through the clear. At the Fox Hills Hospital, Staten Island, N.
Y., there was a mile and a quarter of this corridor construction. The
corridors in each case fed in toward the central administration group
of buildings in which were located the operating rooms and the various
laboratories.
As crews developed their teamwork some marvelous instances of
speed were shown in putting up the buildings. One crew of 566 men
at Fox Hills erected a complete hospital wing in one working day.
At 7 o'clock in the morning the ground of the site was untouched.
That night at 6 o'clock a 40-bed ward was standing finished on the
site--painted, equipped with heating and ventilating apparatus, all
plumbing installed, the last electric bulb screwed in, and in every
respect ready for occupancy. It was like magic; yet soon thereafter the
Construction Division had set the period of 10 hours as the standard
time for building one of these wings.
General Hospital No. 3 located at Otisville, N. Y., has a capacity of
579 beds and is a complete military hospital plant designed for the
treatment of tubercular cases. A short summary of the work done upon it
will give an idea of the general nature of the construction problems
incident to the building of the military hospitals during the winter
and spring of 1918.
On February 2, 1918, the Constructing Quartermaster with a few officers
and clerks arrived at the site of the hospital, about 37 acres of land,
near the village of Otisville, Orange County, N. Y., on the southern
slope of Shawangunk Mountain. The contractor and his organization
came on the same day. They found the site covered with snow and with
no accommodations even for the office force of the Constructing
Quartermaster or the contractor, except an old creamery building, which
was promptly rented and into which the two organizations moved the next
day.
Actual work was started February 5 and continued through every severity
of weather until the project was completed in the early part of July.
The work was interrupted, hindered, and hampered by snow and mud, by
transportation congestion preventing the delivery of materials on
time, by the absence of local labor and the necessity for importing
labor from near-by markets wherever it could be procured, and by the
consequent necessity for running special trains to transport laborers
to and from the job. No local facilities existed for housing any of the
workmen, and temporary accommodations had to be built to accommodate
200 Italian laborers both in the matter of shelter and food.
The average height above sea level of the site of this hospital is a
little over 1,000 feet. It was found after construction began that the
site was full of springs, which caused further trouble and difficulty
in developing the building operations.
The cost of the project was $1,681,000. About 300 carloads of material
were used, including approximately 3,000,000 feet of lumber. The
largest number of laborers employed at any one time was 1,795, with a
working day, as a rule, of nine hours, union and nonunion labor being
employed without discrimination. Water supply, sewer construction,
roads, 330 feet of railway siding, sewage disposal plant, electrical
installation, and boiler houses, all had to be built. The work was all
completed early in July, 1918. In addition to the bed capacity of the
hospital, accommodations were provided for a hospital personnel of 224.
One of the largest hospitals involving entirely new construction is
General Hospital No. 21, Denver, Colo. This is also a hospital for
the treatment of tuberculosis cases. The construction is permanent,
hollow tile and stucco, and the hospital facilities are sufficient to
accommodate 2,000 beds for recuperative and curative work. The plant
consists of hospital wards, tuberculosis wards, officers' quarters,
nurses' quarters, mess halls, storehouses, laundry, schoolhouse, power
house, water and sewer installation, and all of the necessary utilities
for the adequate operation of a completely self-contained unit.
The original authorization covered only 1,000 beds. Subsequently there
was authorized an addition equally as large, and the entire project
was completed on March 1, 1919. The actual capacity of the hospital is
in excess of the capacity estimated when the work was begun, and it
is estimated that 2,486 patients can be cared for, the cost per bed
running less than $1,350. In view of the nature and character of the
permanent construction involved, and the fact that this is a military
hospital with the usual numerous construction details not found in
civilian hospitals, the construction at this figure is regarded as
exceptional.
INCIDENTS OF THE WORK.
When the Government undertook the whole enormous military construction
program, it was found that there were few builders in the United States
who had equipment enough to handle the bigger jobs. Consequently the
Construction Division adopted the policy of acquiring equipment of
various sorts, usually paying rent for it. Such equipment included
locomotive cranes, concrete mixers, locomotives for trench machines,
road machinery, and other heavy apparatus. This equipment was rented
under an agreement that whenever the rent paid had aggregated the cost
of the article rented, the latter should become the property of the
Government. In this way the Government has acquired property of this
sort worth about $3,000,000.
The Construction Division at all times procured raw materials for the
contractors engaged upon the projects. During the summer of 1918 the
division was procuring material at an average rate of nearly $1,000,000
per day.
There were many interesting incidents in connection with this activity.
In the summer of 1917, when the cantonments were going up, it became
necessary to provide some 60,000 stoves and heaters, yet there were not
that many stoves for sale in the country including all existing stocks,
nor was the capacity of the various stove works sufficient to make up
the number in the three months' period before the soldiers would be
going to the camps. Accordingly, officers of the division were sent
out to make addresses to the workmen at the stove factories, and as
a result of such efforts the companies speeded up their output until
they were able to supply all of the camps with heating facilities by
October 1, 1917. In this effort the Government went into the market and
procured the pig iron, coke, and other supplies for the stove foundries.
The Construction Division was also able to obtain 15,000 Army kitchen
ranges in three months, although that number is a normal year's output
of the entire manufacturing facilities of the country.
When the project for the expeditionary supply base at Port Newark was
taken up--in the late fall of 1917--the Construction Division set about
it to get 63,377 piles for the foundations of this construction. There
were 64 pile drivers on the job, driving in a total of 1,566 piles in
a day; and to supply these the woodsmen of Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina, and New Jersey were called upon for their best efforts.
Due to the unforeseen severity of the winter, the rivers were frozen
and the railroads choked with freight. Near by was the Hog Island
shipbuilding project at Philadelphia, needing more piles than the
railroads could deliver. The trees in the woods were frozen and often
broke to pieces when they fell. In the southern logging districts the
negro woodsmen refused to stay on the job because of the cold. The
Construction Division then took hold, sent soldiers into the woods,
felled the trees, and then put guards on the cars of piling, to see
that they were not lost in transit. As a result, the piles for the Port
Newark job were delivered on time.
In addition to procuring materials for its own contractors, the
Construction Division also procured building materials for the Shipping
Board and for the Bureau of Industrial Housing. The peak load of labor
on the Army construction jobs came in the summer of 1918, when 230,000
men were on the pay roll, drawing $7,626,800 a week in pay, and still
the jobs were short 150,000 unskilled men. In general, the union
scale of wages and hours of labor were adopted, but the open shop was
maintained. Labor troubles were infrequent and not serious. To prevent
strikes the Government formed the Cantonment Adjustment Commission,
consisting of three members, the Army representative being Col. J.
H. Alexander, of the Construction Division. Of all the strikes that
hampered our war activities, less than 1 per cent were strikes of the
building trades.
When the labor shortage of 1918 was most acute the Construction
Division turned to Porto Rico and the Bahamas for unskilled labor,
importing 2,600 Bahamans and 13,000 Porto Ricans. This imported labor
was exclusively used on southern building projects and was sent back
home when the armistice was signed.
The Construction Division had charge of the operation and maintenance
of the utilities of the various training camps, a work requiring
a force of 452 officers and 16,559 men. In all there were 54,808
buildings at these camps to be kept in repair. This was done at the
cost of $8.10 a year for each man housed. The Government supplied
electricity to the camps at an average cost of $0.02½ per kilowatt
hour. In a single year of operation, the 32 camps burned about
2,000,000 tons of coal for heating. This was at a cost of approximately
$10 per man.
The utilities of the camps were under the management of men who could
qualify to be city managers. They had the operation of water systems,
fire departments, and other common conveniences of cities. Water was
supplied at the rate of 55 gallons daily per man. The purity of the
water and the adequacy of the sanitation may be gauged from the fact
that in July and August, 1918, the annual death rate at the camps was
2.8 per thousand. In our Mexican War the annual death rate of American
troops from disease was 110 per thousand; in the Civil War it was 65
per thousand; in the Spanish War 26 per thousand; and among Japanese
troops in the Russo-Japanese War it was 25 per thousand. The death rate
in civil life for men of the draft age is 6.7 per thousand.
Each camp and cantonment was adequately protected by fire companies
equipped with the most modern apparatus, nearly all of it motorized.
Each camp fire company had 60 men. A low annual fire loss in civil
life is $2 per capita. In 1917, 20 American cities of about 31,000
population each showed an annual fire loss of $2.15 per capita. The
average for the United States is $2.42 per capita. At the training
camps, in spite of their inflammable construction, the average annual
loss from fire per capita was only 46 cents.
TABLE 1.--_Army supply bases and interior depots built by
Construction Division between April, 1917, and January, 1919._
+-----------------------------+--------------+-------------+-----------------
Project. | Square feet | Approximate | General
|of floor area.| cost. | contractor.
------------------------------+--------------+-------------+-----------------
Port Newark terminal |{ 1,662,400 |}$10,260,000 |Mason & Hanger-
|{ [38]357,000 |} | McArthur Bros.
| | |
Norfolk Army supply base |{ 2,015,000 |} 25,975,770 |Porter Bros.
|{ [39]884,500 |} |
| | |
Philadelphia Army supply base | 345,570 | 15,510,112 |Snare & Triest
| | | Co.
Charleston quartermaster |{ 1,152,000 |} |
terminal |{ [38]379,200 |} 12,675,000 |Mason & Hanger.
|{ [39]269,000 |} |
| | |
Boston Army supply base |{ 1,651,104 |} 28,040,000 |W. F. Kearns Co.
|{ 882,000 |} |
| | |
Brooklyn Army supply base |{ 3,936,000 |} 32,500,000 |Turner Con-
|{[39]1,143,000|} | struction Co.
| | |
New Orleans Army supply base |{ 1,792,000 |} 11,660,875 |George W. Fuller
|{ 280,000 |} | Co.
| | |
_Interior storage depots._ | | |
| | |
Baltimore Interior depot | 663,800 | 2,143,676 |Sanford & Brooks.
| | |
Boston temporary warehouses | 327,600 | 1,265,079 |W. F. Kearns Co.
| | |
Chicago interior depot | 580,400 | 809,300 |Central
| | | Manufacturing
| | | District.
| | |
Chicago permanent warehouse | 1,230,400 | 3,691,800 | Do.
| | |
Columbus interior storage |{ 2,657,600 |} 6,128,022 |Hunkin-Conkey Co.
depot |{ [38]246,400 |} |
| | |
Jeffersonville quartermaster | 320,000 | 1,282,563 |Caldwell &
interior depot | | | Marshall Co.
| | |
Hoboken quartermaster | 162,540 | 201,000 |Barney-Hooks-
expeditionary depot | | | Ahlers.
| | |
New Cumberland interior |{ 1,568,000 |} |
storage depot |{ [38]400,000 |} 4,700,270 |Bates-Rogers Con-
| | | struction Co.
| | |
Philadelphia interior storage | 917,800 | 3,470,940 |William Steele &
| | | Sons.
| | |
Philadelphia quartermaster |{ 208,900 |} 1,091,050 | Do.
expeditionary depot |{ [38]51,400 |} |
| | |
Pittsburgh interior storage | 178,600 | 630,900 |The Austin Co.
depot | | |
| | |
Schenectady interior storage |{ 2,080,800 |} 6,051,550 |Feeney & Sheehan.
depot |{ [38]537,600 |} |
| | |
St. Louis interior depot | 384,300 | 1,368,540 |Westly Con-
| | | struction Co.
------------------------------+--------------+-------------+-----------------
[38] Sheds.
[39] Pier sheds.
TABLE 2.--_Hospitals built by Construction Division between
June, 1917, and January, 1919._
------------------+------------------+--------+-----------+------------------
Name. |Location. |Capacity|Approximate|Contractor.
| | (in| cost.|
| | beds).| |
------------------+------------------+--------+-----------+------------------
Azalea T. B. |Azalea, N. C. | 1,500| $2,715,000|Gude & Co.
| | | |
Boston City, west |West Roxbury, | [40]| 47,000|Chas. Logue
department |Mass. | | |Building Co.
| | | |
Cape May General |Cape May, N. J. | 700| 46,150|Cauldwell-Wingate
Hospital No. 11 | | | |Co.
| | | |
Carlisle General |Carlisle, Pa. | 120| 180,000|Warren Moore & Co,
Hospital No. 31 | | | |
| | | |
Colonia General |Colonia, N. J. | 1,650| 2,367,884|Cauldwell-Wingate
Hospital No. 3 | | | |Co.
| | | |
Cooper-Monitah |Chicago, Ill. | 500-625| 158,368|Chas. Logue
No. 32 | | | |Building Co.
| | | |
Denver General |Denver, Colo. | 2,265| 3,100,133|C. S. Lambie Co.
Hospital No. 21 | | | |
| | | |
Eastfield General |Westchester, N. Y.| 1,550| 237,000|Frank H. Goble.
Hospital No 38 | | | |
| | | |
Elks and Robt. |Boston, Mass. | 700| 8,000|Chas. Logue
Bringham | | | |Building
| | | |
General Hospital | | | |Co.
No. 10 | | | |
| | | |
Ford Hospital, |Detroit, Mich. | 2,000| 107,750|Albert A.
General Hospital | | | |Albreacht.
No. 36 | | | |
| | | |
Fort Bayard |Fort Bayard, N. | 1,046| 650,000|V. E. Vare.
General Hospital |Mex. | | |
| | | |
Fort Des Moines |Des Moines, Iowa | 1,266| 244,148|Chas. Welts Sons.
Hospital | | | |
| | | |
Fort Douglas |Fort Douglas, Utah| 227| 690,000|Lynch-Cannon Eng.
Hospital | | | |Co.
| | | |
Fort McHenry |Baltimore, Md. | 2,800| 2,327,975|J. Henry Miller
General Hospital | | | |Co.
No. 2 | | | |
| | | |
Fort McPherson |Fort McPherson, | 2,000| 680,000|Gude-Krebs & Co.
Hospital |Ga. | | |
| | | |
Fort Oglethorpe |Fort Oglethorpe, | 1,300| 967,377|Park-Grimes Co.
General Hospital |Ga. | | |
No. 14 | | | |
| | | |
Fort Ontario |Fort Ontario, N. | 660| 557,000|J. J. Turner &
Hospital No. 5 |Y. | | |Sons.
| | | |
Fort Root General |Little Rock, Ark. | 500| 16,455|
Hospital No. 33 | | | |
| | | |
Fort Sheridan |Fort Sheridan, | 5,000| 2,515,786|Summer-Sollitt Co.
General Hospital |Ill. | | |
No. 28 | | | |
| | | |
Fort Snelling |Fort Snelling, | 1,780| $489,600|H. N. Leighton Co.
Hospital |Minn. | | |
| | | |
Fox Hills |Fox Hills, Staten | 1,808| 2,929,556|Thompson-Starrett
Debarkation | | | |Co.
Hospital No. 2 |Island | | |
| | | |
General Hospital |New Haven, Conn. | 700| 360,670|Sperry
No. 16 | | | |Engineering Co.
| | | |
Grand Central |New York City | 3,500| 215,000|Day labor.
Palace | | | |
Debarkation | | | |
Hospital No. 5 | | | |
| | | |
Greenhut Building |New York City | 3,130| 420,000|Do.
Debarkation | | | |
Hospital No. 3 | | | |
| | | |
Infirmary |St. Louis, Mo. | 1,000| 65,000|March Construction
| | | |Co.
| | | |
Lakewood General |Lakewood, N. J. | 1,020| 282,735|Geo. D. Morrow.
Hospital | | | |
No. 9 | | | |
| | | |
Letterman General |Presidio, Calif. | 1,250| 112,716|
Hospital | | | |
| | | |
Madison Barracks |Madison, Wis. | 273| 125,535|J. J. Turner &
Hospital | | | |Sons.
| | | |
Markelton General |Markelton, Pa. | 500| 93,580|Dawson
Hospital | | | |Construction
No. 17 | | | |Co.
| | | |
Nassau General |Long Beach, | 1,500| 25,000|Day labor.
Hospital No. 39 |Long Island, N. Y.| | |
| | | |
Norfolk State |Norfolk, Mass. | 700| 120,000|Chas. Logue
General | | | |Building
No. 34 | | | |Co.
| | | |
Otisville General |Otisville, N. Y. | 1,020| 1,685,766|R. H. Howes
Hospital | | | |Construction
No. 8 | | | |Co.
| | | |
Park View General |Pittsburgh, Pa. | 1,200| 208,940|Day labor.
Hospital | | | |
No. 24 | | | |
| | | |
Plattsburg |Plattsburg, N. Y. | 2,000| 231,948|D. Callahan.
General Hospital | | | |
| | | |
Richmond College |Richmond, Va. | 960| 51,750|John T. Wilson Co.
Debarkation | | | |
Hospital No. 51 | | | |
| | | |
Roland Park |Baltimore, Md. | 500| 329,617|J. Henry Miller
General Hospital | | | |Co.
No. 7 | | | |
| | | |
General Hospital |West Baden, Ind. | 1,500| 125,000|Chas. W. Gindle
No. 35 | | | |Co.
| | | |
United States |Biltmore, N. C. | 551| 37,050|Gude & Co.
Army General | | | |
Hospital No. 12 | | | |
| | | |
United States |Waynesville, N. C.| 400| 73,700|Gude-Krebs & Co.
Army General | | | |
Hospital No. 18 | | | |
| | | |
United States |Hot Springs, N. C.| 750| 103,200|Do.
Army General | | | |
Hospital No. 23 | | | |
| | | |
Walter Reed |Takoma Park, | 2,093| 1,675,151|Skinker & Garrett.
General Hospital |Washington, D. C. | | |
| | | |
Whipple Barracks |Prescott, Ariz. | 1,000| 1,629,683|James E. Morgan.
General | | | |
Hospital No. 20 | | | |
------------------+------------------+--------+-----------+------------------
[40] Part of General Hospital No. 10, Boston, Mass.
TABLE 3.--_Approximate quantities of materials purchased by
materials branch, Construction Division, June 15, 1917, to Dec.
15, 1918._
-----------+--------------+-----------+----------------------------------
Item. | Quantity. | Cost. | Remarks.
-----------+--------------+-----------+----------------------------------
Brick | 325,783,400| $2,631,799| Would build a road 18 feet wide
| | | approximately 380 miles long,
| | | or equal to the distance from
| | | Indianapolis to Pittsburgh;
| | | loaded in cars having a
| | | capacity of 15,000 brick,
| | | would require 21,720 cars to
| | | load.
| | |
Lumber | 2,647,605,426| 69,773,825| If considered 1-inch pieces 12
| [41] | | inches wide and placed end to
| | | end, would reach 500,000 miles,
| | | or 20 times the circumference
| | | of the earth. It would take
| | | 175,000 cars to haul this
| | | material, figuring 15,000 feet
| | | board measure material to each
| | | car. Figuring each car 35 feet
| | | long, would make a train
| | | 1,160 miles long, or the
| | | distance from Washington,
| | | D. C., to Kansas City. Total
| | | weight, 5,000,000 tons.
| | |
Wood stave | [41]2,900,080| 2,325,000| If placed in one single line,
pipe | | | would extend 550 miles. This
| | | is approximately the same
| | | miles of pipe as all of the
| | | water and gas lines in the
| | | city of New Orleans, La.,
| | | which supplies a population
| | | between 400,000 and 500,000
| | | people.
| | |
Structural | [42] 64,000| 6,311,092| This would require 1,000 cars
steel | | | having a capacity of 80,000
| | | pounds each. It would require
| | | structural-steel shops
| | | employing 100 men fabricating
| | | 2,000 tons per month three
| | | years to complete the
| | | fabrication. This is
| | | sufficient material to erect
| | | twenty 20-story buildings
| | | 75 feet square.
| | |
Roofing | [43]1,400,000| $3,650,000| Sufficient to roof 5 square
| | | miles, or would roof 100,000
| | | ordinary houses of 14 squares
| | | to each house.
| | |
Cable | [44]1,103,560| 257,233| Approximately 210 miles.
| | |
Copper |[44]33,283,000| 1,409,600| 6,303 miles.
wire | | |
| | |
Cement | [45]6,181,194| 13,723,153| 36,148 car loads, approximately,
| | | of 171 barrels to car load.
| | | Loaded on cars 35 feet total
| | | length, would make one train
| | | 239 miles long, or greater than
| | | the distance from Boston to
| | | New York.
-----------+--------------+-----------+----------------------------------
[41] Feet.
[42] Tons.
[43] Squares of 100 square feet.
[44] Feet.
[45] Barrels.
Procurement branch during period of 18 months, June 15, 1917,
to December 15, 1918, purchased and allocated materials to the
amount of $245,115,443.
BOOK VII.
THE SIGNAL CORPS.
CHAPTER I.
SIGNAL CORPS MATERIAL.
The spent runner who hurled himself through the gate of ancient Athens
and with his dying breath gasped out the news of the brilliant success
of the Athenian troops against the Persian at Marathon in the year 490
B. C. was the first famous soldier of a signal corps; but since then
the exploits of the bearers of military tidings have filled the pages
of legend and story. Just as other branches of military science have
been brought to a high perfection in modern times, so in equal degree
has the art of military signaling progressed in efficiency.
Where the ancient athlete once exhausted his strength in bearing
military messages long distances in the field, the modern Mercury uses
the wireless phone. In Civil War days the pony express rider brought
from some desperate stand the story of the lack of ammunition; to-day
the ammunition-supply organization is in constant touch with the
front by means of telegraph or the long-distance telephone. In the
Indian campaigns in our own West messages from beleaguered parties
were sometimes conveyed by signal smokes; the "lost battalion" in the
Argonne sent news of its plight by carrier pigeon.
Modern warfare has indeed retained the old, but it has also developed
the new, in transmitting military tidings. So important is this branch
of fighting that it is put in the hands of a specialized organization,
which in the American Army is known as the Signal Corps. The Signal
Corps not only had charge of the operation of the various communicating
devices in 1917 and 1918 in the field of operations (except latterly in
the air), but it also had charge of the manufacture of the equipment
for this work.
The production of signaling equipment was far greater than the
uninformed person would imagine. As an instance, there was one special
type of telephone wire, a form unknown to commercial use before the
war, which, before November 11, 1918, was being produced at the rate
of 20,000 miles a month, at a cost of $5,650,000 per month, requiring
the complete capacity of the day and night operation of all fine wire
machinery in the United States, except that which was working on Navy
contracts. Many other production activities of the Signal Corps were
carried through on a similar scale.
Until after the Civil War, the operation of large units of troops
was greatly handicapped by the limitations of military signaling as
then known. A force could not be effective in combat that could not
be readily reached in all quarters by runners or riders or by visual
signals. The development of the telegraph and telephone and the
invention of radio changed all this, so that in the great war armies
stretched out on fronts 100 miles or more in length with every part of
them in immediate touch with every other part through the exact and
complete systems of signaling on the field.
Military signals to-day include the telephone, the telegraph, radio
telegraphy and telephony, the buzzer, the buzzerphone, panels,
pyrotechnics, flags, smoke signals, pigeons, dogs, mounted orderlies,
and runners. Each of these means of signaling is an adjunct to the
others; when one fails, another is employed to get the message through.
Some have special uses for branches of the service with peculiar
requirements. The radiophone is especially suited for communicating
from airplanes. Artillery fire is directed by wire and wireless
communication. Trained pigeons are sometimes able to get messages
through when all other means of communication have failed.
The Army did not have a great quantity of signaling equipment when it
went to war with Germany, but what it did have was good. The American
punitive expedition in Mexico, where long lines of communication over
rugged country were required, had given opportunity for testing modern
signal apparatus in the field. Many of the signaling devices used by
the American Expeditionary Forces were, at least in type, in common
use by the civilian population; yet the procurement of this equipment
offered heavy difficulties. This was because the Army was much more
exacting than was commercial demand as to the quality of material used.
For instance, a telephone instrument for use in the field hardly can
be compared with the telephone in a business man's private office. The
field set demands stronger connections, better insulation against the
dampness of outdoor work, and more rugged construction to withstand
rough usage by an army on the march.
One of the larger tasks of the Signal Corps in France was that of
providing facilities for communication for the service of supply. The
first Signal Corps officers sent to France soon realized that the
forthcoming American Army could not depend upon the French telegraph
and telephone systems in the various zones of operation, because those
systems were already overburdened by the uses of the French government.
Consequently, it became necessary to set up our own telegraph and
telephone systems, extending them from the ports of debarkation through
the various bases and zones up to the battle regions. The magnitude of
the system which finally was constructed is shown in the fact that on
November 11, the date of the armistice, there were in France 96,000
miles of American telegraph and long-distance telephone circuits. This
wire was all used by the service of supply and by the various Army
bases behind the front.
Yet in the field of fighting the requirements for wire were even
greater. At one time during the height of the operations it was evident
that the time was not far distant when the Signal Corps would need
68,000 miles a month of what was known as outpost wire, for use simply
in connecting up the telephone and telegraph systems carried along by
the troops in their advances.
Outpost wire was entirely a development of the war against Germany.
The original telephone system used at the front had been the single
telephone wire grounded to complete the circuit. But all the armies in
France perfected their listening instruments to such a degree that they
could hear conversations conducted on the grounded telephone circuits,
the sounds being detected in the earth itself. Consequently, it became
necessary to carry forward with troops two-wire telephone circuits,
thus doing away with ground connections. Even then care had to be
taken that the insulation of this double wire was perfected, lest the
impulses enter the ground through gaps in the insulation. Wireless for
outpost communication was equally impracticable, since the enemy could
easily listen in and hear radio phone messages.
Outpost wire insured secret communication at the front. Outpost wire
was a twist of two wires, each single wire being made up of seven
fine wires, four of them of bronze, and three of them of hard carbon
steel. These were stranded together, coated, first with rubber and
then with cotton yarn, and finally paraffined. The wire was produced
in six colors--red, yellow, green, brown, black, and gray--for easy
identification in the field, each unit employing its own color.
The wastage of outpost wire was enormous. In an advancing movement it
was folly to undertake to pick up the wire. The abandoned miles of
it had to be left in the field to be salvaged later by the clean-up
parties.
The proposition of producing 68,000 miles of outpost wire every month
staggered the wire manufacturers of the country. There were not enough
braiding machines to complete such an order, and new ones had to be
built before such a quantity of outpost wire could be attained.
In addition to the various means of communication, the Signal Corps was
also called upon to supply in large quantities such other articles as
wire reel carts, flag staffs, field glasses, photographic equipment,
chests, tools, meteorological apparatus, and wrist watches.
In the production of its supplies, the Signal Corps was confronted with
the same obstacles of inadequate industrial capacity, dearth of raw
materials, and congestion of railroad transportation, that embarrassed
almost every line of military production. To meet these difficulties
the Signal Corps organized an elaborate inspection force which not
only checked the work at the various factories for quality and rate
of production, but was also constantly on hand to help the harassed
manufacturer out of his difficulties as they arose. The Signal Corps
never slept. At night and on holidays there was at least one officer on
the job in Washington to receive telegrams or long-distance telephone
messages and to be ready to act quickly in any emergency.
From the production standpoint, signal equipment was divided into
several general classifications: (1) telephone and telegraph
apparatus; (2) radio apparatus; (3) line-construction materials; (4)
batteries; (5) wire and cables; (6) field glasses; (7) wire carts; (8)
photographic supplies, pigeons, and pigeon supplies; and (9) chests,
kits, and tools, mechanical signals, electric signals, meteorological
apparatus, and wrist watches.
TELEPHONES AND TELEGRAPHS.
In the early days of the conflict the construction of signal materials
in the United States was devoted to such basic supplies as wire, cable,
tools, and the standard types of telephone equipment, such as telephone
sets and switchboards. The first great task in France was to install
the lines of communication for the service of supply, a system that
required American equipment because it was planned to operate it with
American-trained telegraph and telephone operators.
Now, there were numerous styles of commercial telephone equipment
manufactured in the United States. The plan, therefore, was adopted
of allowing the various manufacturing concerns to bid on a tentative
production schedule, giving an exclusive contract to the lowest bidder
in each type of apparatus. This exceptional policy was adopted in order
to avoid multiplicity of types of equipment to be used abroad. If many
makes were adopted in each type they would necessitate the procurement
of many types of spare parts and replacement materials.
The concerns which produced the telephone equipment for the American
Expeditionary Forces were the Western Electric Co., of Kansas City; the
Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co., of Chicago; the Stromberg-Carlson
Telephone Manufacturing Co., of Rochester; the Frank Black Co., of
Chicago; and the Reliable Electric Co., of Chicago.
At the signing of the armistice there were 282 American telephone
exchanges in France, with 14,956 telephone lines reaching 8,959
stations. The 282 exchanges ranged from the small four-line monocord
unit, such as may be seen in any business office, to the standard
American multiple board of the city telephone exchange. Of these latter
there were over 30 in use by the American Expeditionary Forces when the
armistice was signed.
[Illustration: MULTIPLEX PRINTING TELEGRAPH. SCHOOL OF RADIO AND
MULTIPLEX TELEGRAPHY.]
[Illustration: SIGNAL CORPS SCHOOL FOR TELEPHONE ELECTRICIANS,
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, INSTRUMENT AND SWITCHBOARD REPAIR CLASS.]
[Illustration: FIELD WORK WITH UNDAMPED WAVE TRANSMITTER AND TRENCH
ANTENNA.]
[Illustration: SIGNAL CORPS EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN A DUGOUT.
Left to right--S. C. field telephone, type "EE-4;" field service
buzzer; signal lamp (projector), type "EE-6"; S. C. radio set, SCR-76
and S. C. radio set, SCR-54A.]
The special telephones adopted for use in the field were different
from any in commercial use in America. The Signal Corps had developed
certain special instruments combining both telephone and telegraphic
principles. The field telephone, model 1917, for instance, was a
telephone which included a telegraph buzzer on its telephone circuit.
This instrument was used when great secrecy in communication was
required. The messages were sent in telegraphic code, the buzzers
being heard by the receiver. Another instrument was known simply
as the buzzer. This was an instrument which utilized the telephone
receiver for telegraphic messages. It was a supreme development for
use over defective lines. An instrument closely related to the buzzer,
but which gave even greater secrecy, was known as the buzzerphone.
The buzzerphone was put into production just before the close of
hostilities.
The mobile switchboard in most general use by our troops at the front
was developed originally by the French and was known as the monotype.
It was designed in units and could be extended to accommodate up to
12 trunk lines leading away from the board. This apparatus was the
"central" of the front-line dugouts. It could be put into operation in
a few minutes and was easily carried by a soldier.
The switchboard of the dugouts was the only telephone equipment not of
American design used by the American Expeditionary Forces. It was put
into production in the autumn of 1917 in three American plants, under
the general policy of the Signal Corps to contract with more than one
factory for the production of any important device.
Another type of field switchboard when packed for transit resembled a
salesman's trunk. It was used in the camps and provided for 40 lines.
This board was being constantly redesigned as field needs developed. A
new type of camp switchboard was coming into heavy production at the
end of hostilities.
Still a third type of portable switchboard was built in units
resembling the units of a sectional bookcase and was set up in the same
way.
The telegraph apparatus of the lines of communication in the S. O. S.
was designed along purely commercial lines. It included the latest type
of printing telegraph equipment, the apparatus first adopted being the
multiplex printing telegraph as used by the Western Union Telegraph Co.
Later, the Morkrum printing telegraph was also adopted.
At the close of hostilities 133 complete telegraph stations with full
equipment were in operation in the service of supply. The peak load
of this service, just prior to the armistice, was 47,555 telegrams,
averaging 60 words each, sent from these stations in a single day. The
daily average in the final weeks of the fighting was 43,845 telegrams.
RADIO.
At the outbreak of the war, the field radio equipment in active use by
the Army was limited to two sets, both of comparatively high power.
On the other hand the allied forces had developed a complicated and
extensive use of radio sets of small power, many of them operated from
airplanes, and the Signal Corps found itself confronted with the task
of developing an entire new line of complicated electrical apparatus,
and putting it into large quantity production in the shortest possible
time. The progress made is indicated by the fact that at the signing of
the armistice the number of types of complete sets on which development
work had been carried out was 75. Of these approximately 25 were in
quantity production. When it is remembered that each of these sets
consisted of hundreds of parts, many of which required careful study
and experimentation as well as design, the magnitude of the problem is
appreciated.
The initial step in the reorganization of this branch of the Signal
Corps' work consisted in the establishment of a radio section
in Washington and a corresponding section in France. The former
was charged with the design of apparatus and the preparation of
manufacturing drawings and specifications, while the latter served as
the first hand observer of actual service requirements and approved all
equipment before it was used in the field. An important auxiliary of
the development organization in Washington was the radio laboratories
established at Camp Alfred Vail, where all necessary technical
facilities, such as model shops, drafting rooms, research laboratories,
a completely equipped flying field, etc., were maintained. With this
engineering organization and the production organization which handled
all Signal Corps equipment, the work here detailed was carried out.
Shortly after the declaration of war, the French government sent to
this country a distinguished commission which included the foremost
radio experts, who were thoroughly familiar with the latest military
developments. Technical information and samples of radio apparatus
were also obtained from British sources. With this beginning,
the engineering work naturally divided itself into two general
problems--first, to duplicate the approved foreign designs, and then
to create designs for new types of apparatus which would be superior
to any in service. Work on these two groups of problems was prosecuted
simultaneously with the result that there were soon in production
American equivalents of a number of French and British sets, together
with improved original types of American radio apparatus.
[Illustration: RADIO RECEIVING SET, SCR-54, USING CRYSTAL DETECTOR.]
[Illustration: REAR PANEL VIEW, RADIO TELEPHONE GROUND SET. TYPE
SCR-67.]
[Illustration: RADIO TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTING SET IN CASE.]
[Illustration: RADIO TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTING SET WITH CASE REMOVED.]
Probably the most noteworthy technical development during the war,
in so far as radio communication is concerned, was the extensive use
made of vacuum tubes. These "bottles," which make practical use of the
electrons of the new physics and which are sometimes called audions
or pliotrons, are literally marvels in the realms of engineering,
and their applications are as yet hardly realized. One form was used
for the reception of signals prior to the war; but the military
developments, particularly in France, had so progressed that when
this country entered the war they were used both for receiving and
transmitting signals, and most of the more important sets depended
on them. To meet this demand the services of the three foremost
vacuum-tube engineering organizations of the country were enlisted, and
under the direction of the Signal Corps radio engineers the progress
toward satisfactory design and construction of the required types was
rapid. Within less than six months standardized tubes were turned out
by the quantity production method at rates sufficient to insure the
requisite supply. Work was continued, however, on the development of
still better types of tubes. The improvements that have been made
from time to time have been incorporated in the tubes being produced
on a large scale, so that tubes of recent manufacture are a great
improvement over those made a year ago.
As indicative of the extent and variety of the radio development work
which was carried on, there is given below a partial list of the types
of sets which were completely developed and placed in production during
the war period:
LAND RADIO EQUIPMENT.
Spark sets, sending and receiving (three types).
Continuous-wave Army radio telegraph sets (three types).
Radio telephone set (one type).
Tank radio telegraph set (one type).
T. P. S. (earth telegraphy) (four types).
Wavemeters.
Battery-charging sets.
Radio operating and repair trucks.
Miscellaneous special equipment.
AIRPLANE RADIO EQUIPMENT.
Interphone sets (for use of two to five persons).
Radio telephone sets (three types).
Radio telegraph sets (three types).
Direction-finding radio-receiving set (one type).
The magnitude of the production of special items involved may be
gathered from such figures of expenditures as the following:
For vacuum tubes $1,650,600
For storage batteries 5,315,350
For dry batteries 602,470
For battery charging sets 1,524,400
These are, of course, only some of the items. The total production
authorized was valued at approximately $45,000,000.
The remarkable development and improvement of military radio equipment
which has taken place under the direction of the Signal Corps during
the last 18 months will undoubtedly materially change the system of
Army communications and even the tactical use of military equipment and
personnel. A typical example of this development is the airplane radio
telephone, described elsewhere, the use of which has made possible the
"voice-commanded air squadron." The military value of an air squadron
has been enormously increased by virtue of this device, which enables
the squadron commander to direct the movements of the individual
airplanes in any manner which circumstances may require.
Certain other radio devices recently perfected, the nature of which can
not be revealed, will undoubtedly affect the tactical use of troops
to such an extent as to make certain kinds of radio equipment as
indispensable to the operations of military units as the rifle or the
machine gun.
LINE EQUIPMENT.
The first requisition for line equipment for France called for the
construction of 500 miles of telephone and telegraph main pole lines,
carrying 10 copper telephone and telegraph wires. It was found that
ship space could not be spared for poles in such quantity. Consequently
a forestry unit was sent to France to get these poles from the French
woodlands. All of the other materials for the 500 miles of line,
together with materials for approximately 600 miles of extensions, were
procured in the United States and shipped to France within six months
after the requisition was received. This material was secured in such
short time only by the cooperation of the large commercial companies
in the United States, who literally stripped their warehouses bare of
their supplies.
In the late summer of 1918 the American Government began anticipating
the advance of the allied forces into Germany, and the Signal Corps
put into production a reserve equipment for long distance line
approximating 500 miles. Soon there was received from France a
cablegram asking for the shipment of this material, and it was all
floated before the armistice. However, as it turned out, this equipment
was never required, since the terms of the armistice gave the American
forces the German telephone and telegraph lines in the occupied
territory.
This line equipment was all of a type standard in the United States.
For the fighting zone special line equipment was required. Before the
war with Germany American signal troops had set up their emergency
telephone and telegraph lines on the standard "lance poles." These
poles served admirably in open warfare, but proved to be impracticable
for the static conditions of fighting in France. After a considerable
supply of lance poles had been shipped abroad their production was
curtailed. Thereafter the trench telephone and telegraph lines were
supported on short stakes with special cross arms, in appearance the
conventional telegraph poles in miniature. The enormous mileage of
trench lines called for a great quantity of insulators and cross arms.
The wastage of these fittings, due to their being exposed to artillery
fire, became increasingly greater in the closing months of the war.
In wire itself, the American production was enormous. This production
included the commercial type of copper line wire and the drop wire for
connecting up individual telephones to the pole lines. Much commercial
cable for connecting congested centers with branch switchboards
was also required. Yet all of this wire used in the system within
the Service of Supply was but a small quantity compared with the
requirements in the fighting zone.
The production of double-conductor wire, or the so-called outpost wire
of No Man's Land, which had relegated to the scrap heap the standard
field wire of open warfare, necessitated an extraordinary effort. The
wire had to be light enough for easy transportation and laying, strong
enough to withstand the abrasions from traffic crossing it as it lay
on the ground, and exceedingly well insulated. The first estimate was
that an American Army in the field might use 1,000 miles per month of
outpost wire. When the first American force actually went into action,
in the spring of 1918, a reserve supply of 20,000 miles of outpost wire
was in the American warehouses in France, with a vast quantity of cable
in reserve. Cable, at first used in large quantities at the front,
was invariably buried several feet underground and abandoned at every
change of headquarters.
As the fighting grew more intense and covered a wider and wider area,
the wastage of outpost wire became enormous. The demand of our forces
for cable dropped to a negligible quantity, but wire requirements rose.
Outpost wire became the main dependence of ourselves and the allies for
all communication in the active sectors. A higher quality of wire was
specified. So great was the destruction of wire that by July, 1918, the
original estimate of 1,000 miles per month to be supplied by American
factories had jumped to 20,000 miles.
As a substitute for outpost wire to fill the immediate needs the
familiar twisted drop wire, with which the ordinary telephone is
connected with the main circuit, was adopted. Our field officers liked
drop wire, its only objectionable feature being its relative bulk. All
available drop wire in the United States was shipped across, and its
manufacture was pushed until the new type of outpost wire could be
produced.
The Signal Corps supplied the mounting needs of the American
Expeditionary Forces through August and September, 1918, with the
available drop wire plus the growing production of the new outpost
wire. In early August all the wire makers in America were summoned to
a conference, in which the Signal Corps made known the necessity of
pushing production. The result was an expansion which reached a total
production of 40,000 miles of outpost wire in November.
Just before the armistice was signed, the American Expeditionary
Forces indicated that they would require 50,000 miles of outpost wire
every month, beginning in January, 1919. This requirement had already
been fully anticipated, since the American manufacturers had set for
themselves a maximum production of 68,000 miles per month by August,
1919.
To secure this production every wire mill in the United States worked
24 hours per day. When the production was at its height, inquiries
came from the allied governments, indicating that they would call on
American wire makers for a quantity of wire equal to what the latter
were already producing for the American Expeditionary Forces. In other
words, this proposition called for the doubling of a production which
had already attained great size. Yet, had the fighting continued, there
is every reason to believe that the industry would have risen to the
demand.
The production of outpost wire was an intricate operation. To fill the
demand for 50,000 miles of outpost wire a month called for 300,000
miles of steel strand and 400,000 miles of bronze strand every month.
The steel strand had to be given repeated heat treatments before it had
acquired the necessary tensile strength.
ELECTRIC BATTERIES.
The American Expeditionary Forces consumed great quantities of electric
batteries, the familiar dry battery of commerce being most used. Toward
the end of the fighting arrangements were being made to establish in
France a plant at which dry batteries would be assembled by French
labor, utilizing parts made in America. The necessary apparatus and
materials for the first operation had reached France prior to the
armistice, but the plant was not in production at that time.
Storage-battery requirements of the American Expeditionary Forces were
heavy and exacting. The storage battery was the only practicable source
of electrical energy for the operation of small portable radio outfits.
Field conditions required a storage battery that would not spill its
contents, with a jar not easily broken, the whole equipment being as
light as possible. A rubber composition jar was finally adopted.
The chief reliance of the American Expeditionary Forces was in storage
batteries of European manufacture, which were to be used until American
production got underway. When by the summer of 1918 America had
perfected her own designs of radio equipment, the Signal Corps took up
the matter of storage batteries for radio and decided upon types. This
was in July, 1918. A conference of battery manufacturers was called and
the orders were allocated among practically all the storage-battery
plants in the United States that were in a position to undertake
quantity production. The end of hostilities stopped this production on
the eve of heavy deliveries.
FIELD GLASSES.
When the war began, the Signal Corps had the duty of providing field
glasses for all branches of the Army, issuing them to noncommissioned
officers and selling them at cost to commissioned officers engaged in
combat. The first estimates showed that these glasses would be needed
by the tens of thousands, whereas the manufacturing facilities in the
United States had turned them out merely by the hundreds.
The optical-glass industry had never been developed in America, our
field glasses being supplied with lenses of European glass, and
principally German glass. In 1914 the imports of optical glass were
$641,000 in value. The following year they were almost nothing. The
advance of the German army toward Paris encompassed the glass plants of
Belgium and many of those of France. England needed the entire output
of her own glass factories.
In the autumn of 1914 the American optical-instrument makers began
to develop an optical-glass industry, largely stimulated by the
possibility of obtaining heavy orders at high prices from the British,
French, and Russian governments. The most important work was done by
the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., of Rochester, N. Y.; the Spencer Lens
Co., of Buffalo, and the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., of Pittsburgh.
They were aided by the United States Bureau of Standards and by the
geophysical laboratory of the Carnegie Institution. The Bureau of
Standards established a laboratory at Pittsburgh where experiments were
conducted with 30-pound pots of glass.
Optical glass differs greatly from ordinary glass. It must be clear,
without striae, and there must be no strains in it, resulting from the
final stirring and cooling. It must give a high transmission of light.
About the time of America's declaration of war the American experiments
had produced glass suitable for optical instruments. This glass,
however, was being turned out in quantities quite insufficient to meet
the demand during the first few months.
In addition to the difficulties surrounding the glass supply, there
was only a limited number of establishments capable of manufacturing
field glasses after the glass was procured. These concerns were located
principally in Rochester, N. Y., where they had been manufacturing a
wide variety of optical instruments, including opera glasses, camera
lenses, scientific and educational apparatus, battery commanders'
telescopes, marine glasses, microscopes, and gun sights. In order to
meet the war requirements of America for field glasses, these factories
had to install large quantities of new equipment and to run day and
night. The equipment consisted of lens-grinding apparatus, lathes,
dies, and automatic screw machinery.
In addition to the Rochester factories there was a concern in Denver,
Colo., the Weiss Electrical Instruments Co., which in a smaller way had
been manufacturing surveyors' levels and other engineering apparatus.
The Talbot Reel & Manufacturing Co., of Kansas City, had been making
fishing reels in a small plant about 30 feet square. This factory was
purchased in 1917 by Mr. L. Harris, who, after finishing a contract
for gun sights for the Ordnance Department, built a factory especially
for the production of Army field glasses and reached the quantity
manufacture of these instruments before the armistice came. The chief
center of supply, however, continued to be Rochester, where the plants
of Bausch & Lomb, the Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Co., and the Crown
Optical Co. are located. These factories expanded many times, and the
output of field glasses went beyond what the executives at the outset
of the enterprise imagined could be possible.
The Bausch & Lomb Co. was started in Rochester about 50 years ago by
J. J. Bausch, who was born in Germany. The plant developed gradually,
making a full line of spectacle lenses and optical instruments. The
Carl Zeiss Works, of Jena, Germany, had a financial interest in the
plant, and Bausch & Lomb had a financial interest in the Zeiss plant.
This connection, however, was dissolved in 1915, when Bausch & Lomb
took on contracts for the manufacture of field glasses for the British,
French, and Russian governments.
Before 1914 this concern had never manufactured more than 1,800
pairs of field glasses in a year. The output was speeded up until in
November, 1918, a total of 3,500 pairs was being produced each week,
while the development was aiming toward an output of 5,500 pairs
of glasses per week beginning in January, 1919. At the date of the
armistice the Bausch & Lomb factory had a floor space of 32 acres and
employed 6,000 men and women.
The Gundlach-Manhattan Co., which had made camera lenses chiefly, was
eventually able to produce 600 pairs of field glasses a week. The Crown
Optical Co. was not so rapid in its expansion; and in late 1917 the
Navy Department commandeered it and thereafter operated it in charge
of Lieut. Commander L. C. Scheibla. Under naval management the output
of this factory increased so that the Signal Corps was able to obtain
from it about 1,200 pairs of high quality field glasses each week, the
plant continuing also to supply the needs of the Navy.
Out of a situation that seemed impossible at the outset the Signal
Corps built up an industry within a comparatively few months which
provided all the field glasses that were necessary in the operations of
the American Expeditionary Forces. Often to keep the optical factories
equipped with sufficient workmen the Signal Corps obtained the furlough
of drafted men with experience in this line so that they might go to
work making field glasses.
All Army organizations except Artillery were supplied with a six-power
glass having an angular field that took in a view 150 yards wide at a
distance of 1,000 yards. The glasses were of the prismatic type with
individual focus for each eye. Each glass was provided with a leather
carrying case and shoulder strap. On the top of the case a compass was
mounted.
The Artillery organizations were supplied with eight-power field
glasses, all of which were purchased in France.
The total requirements of the American Expeditionary Forces for field
glasses of the six-power type during the period of hostilities were
approximately 100,000 pairs. The total shipments from America were
approximately 106,000 pairs.
MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES.
The Signal Corps took up with three concerns--the Hampden Watch
Co., the Illinois Watch Co., and the Elgin Watch Co.--the matter of
providing wrist watches for the Army. A 7-jewel movement was adopted
as standard for issue to troops and a 15-jewel movement for sale to
officers. A waterproof case was adopted, bearing the serial number
of the movement on the outside, the case being so constructed as to
require a special tool to gain access to the movement.
The production of wire carts for the Signal Corps did not exceed 25
per year prior to 1917. The demand for these carts, which were hard
to build, increased at such a rate that during the autumn of 1918
the matter of procuring them was one of the most serious production
problems faced by the Signal Corps.
The Holmes Automobile Co., of Canton, Ohio, abandoned the production of
automobiles and in September, 1918, turned over its entire plant to the
production of wire carts. Other manufacturers were the George B. Marx
Co., of Brooklyn; the J. G. Brill Co., of Philadelphia; the American
Instrument & Tool Co., of New York; and the Wesel Manufacturing Co.,
of Brooklyn. In all, 721 wire carts were manufactured and 327 shipped
overseas.
A total of 2,402 tool chests for the Signal Corps was produced during
the war period. The plan eventually adopted was to split up the orders
for tools among the various manufacturers and to give the manufacture
of the empty chests to prison labor at Fort Leavenworth, where the
tools were to be shipped and packed in the chests. This plan, however,
required the construction of a special building at Fort Leavenworth,
and in the meantime the assembling of tool chests was conducted at
the Signal Corps supply depot at Philadelphia and at the port of
embarkation. The armistice stopped the construction of the assembling
factory at Fort Leavenworth.
The Signal Corps produced a suitable number of gas alarm signals known
as strombos horns. This equipment consisted of an alarm horn operated
by air pressure acting against a diaphragm and thereby producing a
loud and distinct chatter. Compressed air was supplied in small steel
cylinders connected to each horn by hose. The air tanks were charged
behind the lines from a portable air compressor which could pump
into several cylinders at once. The horns were manufactured by the
Klaxon Co., of Newark, N. J., the cylinders by the Harrisburg Pipe
& Pipe Bending Co., Harrisburg, Pa., and the air compressors by the
Ingersoll-Rand Co., of New York.
Flag kits were not used to any great extent by the American
Expeditionary Forces, although large quantities of these were produced
in this country.
The Signal Corps originally had jurisdiction over all war photography,
either of land or air, except for a small amount conducted by the
engineers in connection with their own operations; but later aerial
photography became a branch of the Military Aeronautics and Aircraft
Bureaus. After that the Signal Corps was charged with taking all
photographs of historical nature or other interest.
In connection with this work two types of cameras were necessary--still
cameras and motion-picture cameras. Later in the war there was being
developed a new motion-picture camera which was expected to be the
ideal type for use in the field.
It was with great difficulty that a sufficient number of photographic
lenses was obtained for the use of military cameras, since the large
lens factories of America were tied up with other war orders. A
campaign was conducted by the leading newspapers and magazines of
the country which resulted in the Government's securing from amateur
photographers a large number of high-grade lenses, mostly of foreign
manufacture.
The Signal Corps scattered its camera operators broadcast over the
country, photographing cantonments and other war activities to the most
minute details. These photographs and films were then made public in
newspapers, periodicals, and motion-picture theaters throughout the
United States, with the result that the people saw with their own eyes
how their soldiers were preparing themselves for the defense of the
Nation.
An interesting development of war photography was the production of
motion pictures showing the training of soldiers. Many pictures were
taken to show graphically on the screen the different chapters of the
Army drill regulations. These pictures will have a future use to the
Government in training soldiers efficiently in the shortest possible
time.
The Signal Corps photographers also developed a new kind of history of
the war, a history written entirely in pictures for future generations
to scan.
PIGEONS.
Although nearly every European army for 40 years has trained the
carrier pigeon to be a field messenger, the American Army never adopted
the bird until 1917. In a single year the Signal Corps established
hundreds of pigeon lofts in this country and overseas and bought and
trained more than 15,000 pigeons for service in France. In actual
use on the field the pigeons delivered more than 95 per cent of the
messages intrusted to them, flying safely through the heaviest shell
and gas barrages.
The standard pigeon loft adopted by the Signal Corps had a unique trap
arrangement which permitted the entry but not the exit of returning
pigeons, and an electrical alarm which automatically notified the
attendants of an arrival. Such lofts, however, were of the stationary
type and not practicable for use in France. For the American
Expeditionary Forces the Signal Corps purchased mobile lofts. It was
found that pigeons would come home as well to mobile lofts, which
were constantly changing position, as they would to stationary lofts.
The first mobile lofts built in the United States were top-heavy, but
this defect was overcome by increasing their width and adding heavier
wheels. They were all built by the Trailmobile Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Civilian pigeon fanciers were appealed to and urged to breed young
birds to stock the Government lofts. The Signal Corps distributed small
aluminum bands to be put on the legs of squeakers, as the newly-hatched
pigeons are called, which were intended for sale to the Government. The
uniform price of $2 per bird was paid, and over 10,000 youngsters were
bought for stocking purposes.
Tons of pigeon feed were purchased and shipped to Europe. Some of
this grain, such as millet, Argentine corn, pop corn, hemp seed, and
Canada peas, was hard to obtain; but nevertheless the supply was well
maintained. It was shipped in hermetically sealed containers to prevent
it from becoming mildewed.
The American Army copied the French and English models of willow and
reed baskets to hold the birds. One type of basket was carried on the
back of the soldier and contained small corselets in which the pigeons
were securely fastened. Corselets were suspended from the sides of
the basket by elastic contrivances permitting considerable joggling
without injury to the birds. All of these baskets were made by the A.
L. Randell Co., of Chicago.
Message books were manufactured in accordance with a French model.
After the message had been written, it was placed in an aluminum
capsule which was fitted in a holder of aluminum. This holder was
attached to the pigeon's leg by means of aluminum bands. These
bands were found to break easily, and pure copper bands were later
substituted. The message holders were manufactured by Thomas A. Gey, of
Norristown, Pa.
Thousands of items of supply were included in the supply schedules of
the Signal Corps. In the following lists some of the more important
items are shown, the production indicated in each case being that
between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918.
_Telephone equipment._
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
| Produced. | Floated
| | overseas.
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
Batteries, dry | 970,171 | 396,427
Bells: | |
Extension | 865 | 470
Vibrating | 13,756 | 12,934
Blocks, connecting | 6,500 | 6,500
Cabinets, wire chief, testing | 225 | 225
Coils: | |
Induction | 255 | 50
Repeating | 801 | 801
Condensers | 10,205 | 6,788
Cords: | |
For telephones | 5,000 | 5,000
For switchboards | 23,539 | 11,890
Fuses, for monocord switchboard | 670,000 | 341,000
Receiver diaphragms | 2,700 | 2,050
Receivers, telephone | 12,950 | 9,354
Repeaters, telephone | 362 | 362
Staples, insulated | 912,300 | 809,800
Switchboards: | |
Camp, 40-line | 111 | 68
Commercial types | 304 | 304
Switchboard, telephone, monotype | 14,462 | 13,264
Telephones: | |
Artillery type (W. E. 1375) | 66,544 | 46,123
Camp | 38,456 | 32,668
Commercial types | 2,669 | 1,514
Telephone offices, truck | 1 | 1
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
_Telegraph equipment._
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
Buzzers, service | 3,983 | 3,478
Connectors, stud | 8,027 | 8,027
Disks, cipher | 6,157 | 6,157
Keys | 1,830 | 1,830
Relays | 1,672 | 1,147
Sounders | 1,998 | 1,998
Switchboard, telegraph | 1,321 | 550
Telegraph office, truck | 1 | 1
Typewriters | 920 | 880
Vibroplex, transmitter | 470 | 420
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
_Radio equipment._
----------------------------------------------+-----------+
| Total
| produced.
----------------------------------------------+-----------+
Airplane interphone set | 4,263
Airplane radio telegraph receiving set | 7,029
Airplane radio telegraph transmitting set | 3,971
Airplane radio telephone set | 3,186
Amplifiers | 1,250
Battery charging sets | 455
Ground radio telegraph receiving set | 8,052
Ground radio telegraph transmitting set | 2,637
Ground radio telephone set | 527
Storage batteries | 227,139
T. P. S. receiving sets | 2,510
T. P. S. transmitting sets | 1,995
T. P. S. two-way set | 2,010
Vacuum tubes | 446,818
Wavemeters | 8,042
----------------------------------------------+-----------+
_Photographic equipment._
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
|Production.| Shipped
| | overseas.
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
Chemicals pounds | 50,723 | 41,881
Cameras: | |
4 by 5 speed graphic | 541 | 283
4 by 5 RB graflex | 310 | 237
6½ by 8½ cycle graphic | 280 | 249
Miscellaneous still | 40 | 40
Motion-picture | 470 | 145
Paper, photo, all sizes gross | 21,364 | 16,364
Do. rolls | 5,186 | 3,686
Lenses | 2,797 | 696
Tripods, M.P. | 558 | 147
Plates dozen | 68,873 | 48,873
Holders, plate | 28,298 | 18,298
Film, M.P. feet | 7,500,000 | 4,000,000
Film, still rolls | 48,814 | 28,814
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
_Line construction material._
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
Anchors, guy | 17,360 | 17,120
Belts, lineman's | 6,733 | 5,332
Bolts, lag screws, etc. | 1,139,648 | 1,137,928
Braces, cross-arm | 123,162 | 98,440
Brackets: | |
Oak | 287,000 | 287,000
Pole, galvanized | 13,929 | 13,929
Transposition | 26,905 | 26,280
Cable: | |
Telephone, circular loom feet | 662,978 | 396,250
Telephone, lead covered miles | 80,202 | 1,696
Cable compound pounds | 6,160 | 3,760
Carts, reel | 737 | 227
Clamps, guy | 39,250 | 26,000
Climbers, with straps pairs | 11,828 | 10,619
Cross arms | 38,500 | 38,500
Gloves, lineman's pairs | 849 | 748
Hangers, cable | 51,000 | 51,000
Insulators, for lance poles | 291,124 | 26,700
Insulators, glass | 1,158,836 | 1,158,836
Insulators, porcelain | 2,411,670 | 1,798,220
Knives, electrician's | 264,754 | 141,920
Knobs, wooden | 953,540 | 400,000
Marlin pounds | 4,527 | 1,427
Muslin, cable-splicers yards | 1,251 | 1,251
Nails, for insulators pounds | 36,000 | 36,000
Pikes, wire | 1,992 | 1,728
Pins, cross-arm | 807,653 | 477,400
Pliers, lineman's | 193,533 | 84,642
Poles, lance | 209,000 | 23,685
Reels, breast | 6,109 | 6,108
Sleeves, copper, splicing | 146,934 | 51,934
Solder pounds | 21,808 | 14,606
Tape: | |
Friction do.| 106,042 | 90,318
Rubber do.| 20,523 | 16,713
Terminals, cable | 1,290 | 1,290
Wire: | |
Stranded, messenger feet | 2,470,577 | 2,470,357
Telephone-- | |
Copper, bare miles | 126,664 | 78,880
G.I. bare do.| 14,411 | 7,970
Single, insulated do.| 23,950 | 14,011
Twisted pair, Insulated do.| 75,022 | 45,457
Wire carts | 721 | 327
----------------------------------------------+-----------+----------
CONCLUSION.
The reader who has come to this point has before him the picture of
the Nation's industry at war--the whole teeming effort in its main
outlines, its myriad ramifications, its boundless activity, its
ten thousand enterprises, its infinite toil, its hosts of workers,
its wonders of scientific achievement, its attainments, even its
failures--in short that humming complex of work, planning, ambition,
disappointment, triumph, shortcomings, ability, and driving force which
was a mighty people concentrated with all of its powers upon a single
objective.
It remains now to describe the place occupied by this effort in the
whole strategic plan of the war against Germany. We did not go into
the struggle as if we expected to fight a single-handed war. Whatever
we did either with military personnel or with munitions we did with
reference to what the nations associated with us were doing or could
do in the same respects. The whole plan was coordinated more or less
perfectly, and these international understandings and agreements
touched and influenced even the most trivial of our enterprises.
The reader who has in mind the record set down on the preceding pages
is now prepared to comprehend the force and extent of the international
cooperation in the war and to judge how well America played her part in
the general scheme. Let us go back, therefore, and review the history
of these agreements.
For many months before America came into the struggle, England, France,
and Italy had been engaged in grappling with the scientifically
organized forces of German military autocracy. The world war had become
a conflict of materials, almost as much as of men. All participants
had mobilized their industrial resources in a manner and to an extent
undreamed of in times of peace.
The allies had marshaled all available raw materials and factory
production in their own lands, and still faced colossal deficiencies
in supplies for their military programs. They had been forced to reach
out into the markets of the world to meet these deficiencies. They had
come to America and placed huge orders for raw materials and finished
products. The normal capacity of America's peace-time production had
been insufficient to meet their overwhelming needs.
In August, 1914, the total factory capacity in the United States for
the manufacture of powder was 6,000,000 pounds a year. In April, 1917,
under the stimulation of orders placed by the allies, the capacity had
been increased more than sixty-fold. England, France, and Italy were
taking this entire production and asking for more. They had absorbed
our entire output. A huge stream of materials, supplies, and ammunition
was flowing steadily from America to the front line trenches in France.
The allied governments had moulded their military programs in reliance
upon the continuation of this source of supply. Their troops were
on the front and in contact with the enemy. Failure of supply meant
disaster.
The flow of materials from America to the armies in France could not,
under any circumstances, be interfered with or curtailed. This fact was
promptly recognized by the United States, and the allied governments
were assured that America's military program would be formulated and
performed without interference with the allied programs of supply from
this country.
America's industrial contribution to the war, as a nation, was to
be over and above the industrial contribution to the allies then
being made by our individual producers. This fundamental plank in
the interallied platform of cooperation was laid down at the very
commencement of America's preparation, and it was strictly adhered to
until the end of hostilities.
A comprehensive cooperative plan for America's industrial participation
in the war remained to be worked out. A survey had to be conducted of
the new partner's strength and weakness in supply. A determination had
to be made of what the allies could give to the new partner, and what
they must receive from her. This was done by the Interallied Munitions
Council sitting in Paris, by the foreign missions in Washington in
conference with the War Department, and by the allied war ministries
and Gen. Pershing abroad.
An analysis of the facts of the situation disclosed that:
A. The world over--
(1) There was a critical shortage of ocean tonnage which promised to
become more critical as time passed on account of the success of German
submarine operations.
B. In France and England--
(1) The output of factories was being seriously curtailed and limited
by lack of raw materials and semifinished products.
(2) If an adequate supply of raw materials and semifinished products
could be made available, the factories had a substantial surplus
manufacturing capacity which could be placed at the disposal of the
United States.
C. In the United States--
(1) A surplus of raw materials and semifinished products for transport
to France and England could quickly be made available.
(2) It would be impossible, within less than a year, to build up
additional manufacturing capacity in the United States sufficient to
supply a large army.
The lack of ocean tonnage was recognized by all as the vitals of the
problem. France, Italy, and the United States had comparatively little
merchant tonnage. England's vast tonnage was suffering rapid depletion
by submarine losses and was totally inadequate to meet allied needs.
Ships were the biggest single deficiency in the interallied program.
The cooperative industrial program of the Allies and the United
States had to be geared into the shipping problem. To do this the
determination of what materials should be shipped from the United
States had to be decided first on the basis of what economies could
be effected in shipping space. If raw materials for aircraft occupied
less cargo space than the finished product, the maximum utilization
of available tonnage demanded the shipment to France of these raw
materials to be made into the finished product there. If, on the other
hand, finished nitrocellulose powder for artillery shell propellants,
or finished picric acid for artillery shell explosives, occupied less
cargo space than the raw component materials used in their production,
the shipping shortage demanded manufacture of these explosives and
propellants in the United States. Not a single ship could be freighted
with an extra pound or cubic foot of cargo which by any effort could be
saved.
The French Mission in the United States early recognized this fact and
urged the manufacture in the United States of picric acid to be used as
explosive in 75-millimeter and 155-millimeter shell, pointing out that
the finished product occupied but one-nineteenth as much cargo space as
the raw materials.
Gen. Pershing recognized the point, and in August, 1917, cabled as
follows:
A joint French-American commission has examined the question of
the production in France of powders and explosives and reports
as follows: France must import by December 4 the greater part
of the raw materials used in the manufacture of powders and
explosives. The weight of raw materials required is 10 to
20 times the weight of the finished product. The shipping
situation is such that by December the output of France will
be limited by the amount of raw material produced in France
or easily obtainable. * * * The present outlook is that in
December the French output will not be more than half of the
present output. To avoid calamity the United States must not
only furnish powder and explosives for all of its own forces
but must supply about half of the French requirements. It is
therefore recommended: (A) that the United States Government
furnish all powders and explosives needed for present contracts
with French Government; (B) that the United States Government
prepare to furnish by December 300 tons per month of explosives
and 200 tons per month of powder for French consumption; (C)
that study be immediately commenced for the purpose of adapting
American powders to French cannon of different types, this
study to be made both in the United States and in France by
competent experts; (D) that the French Government put at the
disposition of the American Government competent experts both
in the manufacture and use of these powders in the guns. * * *
Subsequent computations made on this side of the ocean indicated that
in the case of picric acid and other explosives this ratio between raw
materials and finished product in bulk was too great, yet in principle
these computations did not affect the desirability of shipping the
finished product rather than the raw materials.
Again, Gen. Pershing cabled to the Chief of Staff in the United States
urging the purchase of completed artillery, artillery ammunition, and
airplanes abroad, in order that "saving of tonnage" might be effected,
and pointing out the saving of cargo space resulting from the shipment
to France of raw materials instead of finished products, saying:
Following is comparison in tonnage of the principal
manufactured articles of ordnance obtained in Europe and the
replacements in raw materials contracted for the same. All
tonnage ratios shown are in favor of raw materials:
Field Artillery guns 1 to 7½
155 millimeter howitzers and ammunition 1 to 1¼
8 millimeter ammunition 1 to 3-3/16
Trench mortars 1 to 12-1/3
Grenades 1 to 4
In airplane production:
Packed airplanes, in weight 1 to 2
Packed airplanes, in cubic capacity 1 to 2½
Packed airplanes in area covered by boxes on board ship 1 to 9
In the above comparison in the ammunition item, finished explosives are
regarded as raw materials.
The Interallied Munitions Council, sitting in Paris and containing
among its membership the best military and industrial brains at the
command of the allied cause, including Gen. Pershing, Gen. Robertson,
chief of the imperial general staff of Great Britain, and Gen. Foch,
then chief of the general staff of the French Army, came to the same
conclusion, and Gen. Bliss transmitted its findings in a memorable
cable, a part of which was reproduced in the preface to this report.
Every mind was in accord. Tonnage must be saved. It could be saved and
in vast amounts by calling upon the United States to supply the raw and
semifinished materials, and upon the French and British war factories
to utilize these raw and semifinished materials in the manufacture of
the finished products.
But could this solution of the vital shipping question be dovetailed
into the industrial situations of the various nations concerned? Could
the United States supply the essential raw and semifinished materials
in quantities equivalent to the amounts consumed in the manufacture
of the finished product? Did the French and British factories, with
these materials laid down in their yards, have available a sufficient
manufacturing surplus to supply the needs of their own armies and also
to produce in part for the armies of America?
The foreign missions were in Washington. They knew intimately the
economic and industrial situations in their respective countries;
they knew the military plans of their general staffs; they knew in
what respects their programs of supply for their armies in the field
needed assistance, and in what respects these programs could be met
or exceeded. With this information available, they were prepared to
furnish the answer as to the manufacturing capacities of allied Europe.
The British War Mission in Washington communicated to the War
Department a cable from the British minister of armament, setting out
the position of the British Government on reciprocal supply:
The British Government is willing as far as possible in matters
of urgency to manufacture for use of the Americans any products
necessary to the more speedy equipment of the Americans that
the Americans consider they can obtain in England more promptly
or better than in the United States. Furthermore, the situation
as to manufacture of steel products is better than it has been.
The British Government will help to its utmost ability without
making actual and immediate replacement of raw material an
indispensable condition when any order is given. On the other
hand the general principle of replacements of raw materials
as soon as possible should be observed. It has become more a
question of furnishing supplies promptly to the allies than a
mere question of replacing what has been furnished American
troops; in other words, the needs of the allies should be
considered as one, and England should manufacture for the
allies anything that is necessary or best got that way, and
America should in the general interest of the allies furnish as
soon as convenient raw material to replace that used. * * *
Writing to Maj. Gen. Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, the French high
commission urged the placement in France of orders for artillery and
artillery ammunition and pointed out the existence of surplus factory
capacity available for their production. The commission summarized the
industrial situation in France in the following language:
Even in such remarkable technical conditions as yours, it takes
time to realize such a program, to organize manufactures and to
have men to direct them. You will take less time than we did in
France, where the output of big guns was not adequate to our
needs before the end of 1916. But time--more or less--had to
be an essential factor, so that after careful consideration,
it has been found that the only plan to be carried out in
order to supply the first American divisions with material on
their landing in France was to avail ourselves of the surplus
capacity of production of the French factories, which had
been since the beginning of the war very powerfully equipped
and were able to turn out greater quantities than those
corresponding to our supply of raw material.
The allies could deliver the artillery, artillery ammunition, and
airplanes if America could deliver the raw and semifinished materials.
America answered that she could and would produce and transport to
Europe raw materials and semifinished products in amounts equivalent to
the amounts consumed by allied factories in manufacturing the completed
guns, shell, and airplanes.
The details remained to be worked out. The French high commission
submitted statements showing the amounts of each component material
consumed in French factories in the production of guns and ammunition
of the various calibers. There were to be supplied by America 6
tons of steel for each 75-millimeter gun, 40 tons of steel for each
155-millimeter howitzer, and 60 tons of steel for each 155-millimeter
gun, and proper proportionate amounts of necessary materials used in
the manufacture of artillery ammunition.
The program of industrial and economic cooperation between the United
States and the allies thus took form. It used in the most efficient
manner every nook and cranny of every available ship. It utilized to
the utmost the surplus manufacturing capacity of France and England.
It brought into the war at the earliest moment the resources of
America in raw and semifinished materials. It spanned the period
during which America could go forward with her gigantic mobilization
of manufacturing power and later convince the Central Empires of the
futility of further struggle.
With the program mapped out, reciprocal agreements for supply remained
to be made. Orders were promptly placed.
The United States ordered from France a total of 5,854 pieces of field
and trench artillery of various calibers, of which 3,834 were delivered
to the American Expeditionary Forces prior to the armistice.
By August, 1917, more artillery ammunition was on order with the French
Government than was fired by the American Expeditionary Forces from
January 18, 1918, when the first complete American division entered
the line, until November 11, 1918, when the end of hostilities was
announced to the world. Of the amount ordered 10,000,000 rounds were
delivered before firing ceased.
In aircraft equipment, the French factories also had a surplus capacity
and delivered to Gen. Pershing up to November 11, 1918, a total of
4,881 finished airplanes.
By the terms of our agreement with the French Government, America
obligated herself to supply the raw materials and component parts
of the finished products delivered to our forces in France. This
agreement America performed twice over. For every ton of raw materials
and semifinished products America agreed to furnish to France, she
furnished two tons. According to French statements, our replacement
obligation in raw materials was 350,000 tons. America furnished over
800,000 tons.
In exchange for the artillery and artillery ammunition of French
manufacture fired by Pershing, America supplied to France in metals
alone over 700,000 tons of steel, 30,000 tons of pig iron, 5,000 tons
of brass and spelter, and 50,000 tons of copper.
In addition, and for use in the artillery ammunition received from
French factories, America manufactured and supplied to France in a
finished state all the principal materials used in loading all shell
delivered to the American Army. These materials consisted of smokeless
powder, used as a propellant to drive the shell from the guns, and of
picric acid, used as a high-powered detonative to burst over the enemy
lines. The French used 12,000 tons of smokeless powder in our shell.
America delivered an equivalent amount of finished powder. The French
consumed 18,000 tons of picric acid in loading shell for American use.
America supplied 18,500 tons.
In exchange for the finished airplanes, again America supplied the
raw materials and component parts. For the framework of the French
planes driven by American aviators, America furnished 34,500,000
feet of spruce, fir, and cedar, enough to manufacture over 16,000
finished planes; for the propellors, America furnished 7,000,000 feet
of mahogany and walnut, enough for 40,000 propellors; 4,000 tons of
aluminum, enough for thousands of planes; and dopes for painting
airplane wings, and miscellaneous aircraft materials and supplies far
in excess of the number of finished planes delivered to Gen. Pershing.
Under special contract made in August, 1917, and in addition to the
above, America furnished to France all materials for 5,000 finished
planes and all parts for 8,500 finished airplane engines, which were
to be assembled in France for the American Expeditionary Forces. The
engine parts were in forgings and needed only to be machined. For the
use of the French Government in machining these engine parts, America
built and delivered the necessary equipment and machinery.
Thousands of additional smaller items of all kinds were supplied by the
various governments to each other from day to day. No deficiency in the
military programs of any of them was permitted to exist, if it could be
made good by any of the others.
All of America's vast contribution to the allied program of supply
was not only produced in America, but it was taken to France in army
transports. From August, 1917, to November 11, 1918, an average
of 2,000 tons of American materials for French factories left
American ports every day aboard American army transports. Through a
submarine-infested ocean, in which the Germans sank over 21,000,000
tons of dead-weight shipping, these materials were carried in army
transports manned by American crews, and laid down at the doors of
French factories.
By February, 1918, Gen. Pershing estimated that 2,000,000 tons of cargo
space had been saved by the adoption of this program of international
and reciprocal supply, a saving of more tonnage than was then available
for the use of the American Expeditionary Forces. The Franco-American
commission on explosives estimated a reduction of 75 per cent in cargo
space in the shipment of explosives alone.
So the silent drama of international cooperation was carried out.
The story of British and American mutual aid during the war is the
same story in substance as that of Franco-American cooperation, with
changes only in the figures. Economy of shipping was effected. British
and French factory capacity was utilized. The vast reservoir of
American raw materials and explosives was thrown against the enemy.
International cooperation on a scale and in a spirit of cordial, mutual
helpfulness, such as the world had never dreamed of, helped to equip
2,000,000 American soldiers in France.
And it was done, all of it, without curtailment of the huge stream of
material which was flowing from America to the allies when the United
States entered the war. France and England received ever-increasing
quantities to the last day. The more than 800,000 tons of replacement
materials for artillery, artillery ammunition, and airplanes delivered
to America was over and above the millions of tons secured by the
allies for their own use directly from American producers.
It was partly by reason of the adoption of this program and its
complete performance that Gen. Pershing, after the armistice, could say:
During active operations extending from January, 1918, when our
first division entered the line, until the close of hostilities
on November 11, our troops were supplied with the equipment
and ammunition necessary to carry their work to a successful
conclusion.
Beyond all this, our Government, as part of the interallied program,
created vast faculties for the manufacture of supplies which England,
France, and Italy still required for their own needs and which a
comprehensive consideration of the entire program, with particular
reference to shipping, showed could be best produced in this country.
Factories for the production of immense additional quantities of picric
acid, powder, and other materials were built by our War Department to
fill the deficiencies in the military programs of our associates in the
war.
And beyond and behind all this America went forward with her own
gigantic preparations for the conquest of the dark forces which
threatened world civilization. It was this mobilization of her might
almost as much as the effect of her immediate force which helped to
convince the German general staff of the futility of further resistance
and assisted to bring the war to an early end.
Transcriber's Notes:
P. 122 corrected table sum from 284,730 to 331,730.
P. 343 corrected table sum from 1,605,582 to 860,700.
P. 344 corrected table sum Total produced from 17,684,853 to
17,683,353 and Total manufactured from 125,800 to 123,800.
P. 350 corrected table sum from 1,818,182 to 1,818,172 and also
3,360,111 to 3,360,101.
P. 400 swapped title captions "FILLING HAND GRENADES WITH WHITE
PHOSPHORUS" and "FILLING MUSTARD GAS SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL" so
the title agrees with the photo and the explanatory captions.
P. 451 corrected Hard bread Total Value from 3,614,365 to
3,614,865.
P. 493 corrected table Grand total from 20,520,251 to
20,520,254 and 22,799,263 to 22,799,266.
P. 505 corrected table sum from 4,043 to 3,443.
P. 513 corrected table Total from 9,203,577 to 9,203,575 and
305,909,719 to 305,909,715.
Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were
silently corrected.
Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.
Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.
Bold markup is enclosed in =equals=.
End of Project Gutenberg's America's Munitions 1917-1918, by Benedict Crowell