The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-09-28
Some Figures Of the War.


sons would like to know how many bull
lets were fred during the conflict, but
since that cannot be ascertained, it is
striking enough to consider that the
277 900 men now composing the army
fridge belts more than 81 100000 rifle
balls. AT all events, they would carry
that many If all of them were armed
with the new magazine rifles, common
ly known as the Krag. Jorgensen, 100
cartridges being allowed to each man.
Before long all of Uncle Sans soldiers
will be provided with this weapon, in
stead of the "archaic" Springfield.
Thus equipped, the 277 900 men now
enlisted would carry 372 tons of bullets
at their waists; and this makes reck-
oning of only the leaden balls, and not
of the cartridges containing them.
Each of the cartridges is a bit over
three inches long, and If all of those
contained in the belts of the soldiers
were placed end to end they would
stretch 1856 milee. just think of the
destructive power represented by that
line of cartridgesl
The barrel of one of these regula-
ton rifles is thirty inches long. If all
of them-the 277, 000-were placed end
to end, 30 as to make a continuous
tube, the latter would extend 131 miles,
or just about the distance from Wash
ington to Philadelphia. But, to render
the thing more striking, consider the
fact that the new rifle will kill a man at
400 yards. This makes total effect
i've range OF 692,50O miles of 227 900
rifles. Accordingly, if the velocities of
all the bullets could be combined, three
able to shoot far enough to kill three
men on the moon.
Each soldiers uniform, with cape
overcoat, requires eleven and one
fourth square yards of materiel. Hence
it appears that the cloth used for max
ing war costumes for the PIT 900 men
in the army, if spread out, would cover
just about 644 acres, or little over a
square mile. At 1885 a suit, an out
fit of uniforms for all the troops of the
United States costs the government
SIS, 166,050, enough TO build, furnish
and arm the biggest and finest kind of
battle ship, such as the Oregon.
Most of the volunteers in the war
hoNO lONClFCu OhiJ ODC DldhhCb uPlCCC
from Uncle Sam, though the usual al
lowance is two. These blankets are of
exceptionally fine material, costing S3. 33
apiece. To provide every man in the
army with one means an expense of
1922, 40, and these 277,000 blankets
would cover 244 acres of ground. They
are seven feet long by five and one-half
feet wide, and it is agreed by both off,
GERS and men in the service that better
poker can be played on them than on
any other kind of cloth.
To make an army shirt of flannel re-
quires three square yards Of stuff, and
the government pays $1.95 for the fin
ished garment. Thus it is easily calcu-
lated that such shirts for all the troops
would come to total of $540, 900 and
the material for them would spread
over 172 acres. More interesting is the
fact that 81 ,625 calves would be requir-
ed to furnish leather for the shoes of
ell the regiments, and this would take
no account of the souls and heels which
| would have to be supplied by sc, 233
COWS. The rubber cloaks for the army
called "ponchos," would cost $500, $40,
and would cover 143 acres.
One acre of good land yields 375
pounds of cotton, which can be woven
into lat half.tents of the "shelter"
kind used in the field. Each two SOL
diers have a tent between them, one
carrying the right half and the other
the left half. Such tent costs SO 81
complete, with jointed pole, etc., the
total expense of sheltering the entire
army under canvas being $549, S45.
Spread out, the canvas needed would
cover 272 acres, each half-tent having
Al yards of material. To produce the
cotton for making all this tentage
would need 1889 acres, or nearly three
square miles.
An ordinary canteen holds two
quarts. With all these receptacles
filed, the present army of 277, 900 men
carries 1914 hogsheads of water. This
is, in fact, about equivalent to the
daily requirement of water for the
troops. The quantity would last one
has tin cup that holds pint and a
half. If all of them were filled they
would contain 1913 hogsheads. But
soldiers are thirsty people, and their
belt capacity is wonderful. Forty-nine
inches long, by the way, is the average
cartridge belt, and 277 of them put end
to end would stretch 314 miles.
One of the most interesting questions
in relation to the fighting problem is
that of transportation. 1t is impossi-
BILE to ascertain, even approximately,
how many miles were traversed by the
army as whole, or by the average
soldier. However, it may be said that
the average enlisted man during the
present war did not travel less than two
hundred miles. If it be supposed that
the journey taken by the average en-
listed man was 200 miles, it will ap-
pear that the total number of miles
traversed was 55, 100000. This total
represents more than half the distance
from the earth to the sun, and paid
ticket on that basis would entitle an in
dividual soldier to 115 round trips to
the moon.
The war department says that it
costs 18 cents day to maintain SOL
der. This, of course, means simply
the regular rations. Interpretations Of
provisions means an extra expense