The Irish standard., 1898-09-10
CLOTHING AN ARMY
Rigid R"ics16 Quality Are Laid Down
and Enf0sred by Inspectors.

O! these ,tiN,usa nd -and-onc things which
the soldier needs, all of them NAY be found
III the SchhEf1ilf arsenal. With the OK
cepti"n On "lri1fHrms and Canton flannel
drawers cYfrytlkNg is bought Ivy contract
in the open market. An army equipments
board decd&s,i upon the style color. trim
minss. etc. of the uniform tor the army.
The patterNysa:a!;'! ff{; its own The. 4dartcr-
masters dcgaftWsnt advertiss;s for kcrscy
aud flannel. When delivered Ut the. arsenal
it Is sent to'tisc Examiner to lie tcstcl as to
color wcight. warp, filling and tensile
strength. Tief lSpnce kersey must bear
tensile straI aoti76o pounds To the square
inch. Each ,fea.e is examined by three
men. and Z ,rttyrd of each piece tested is
carefully prrseIvrd In the inspectors
books As soon :after being tested as may
be necessary this fabric is semitic the cut
ting room. Hero an army of cutters guide
electric cutting knives through 20 thick
ncSs"S Of l6-ouncc kcrscy for trousers and
flannel for drawers. 81 for facngs. 50 tor
overcoatS and blouscS. Each piece is then
rolled into 1t bundle and dropped through u
chute into the trimming ROOM where but
tons. hooks and eyes, braid. chcvrons pock-
cts and Innings are added; then it Is sent
to the delivery and inspection room to
await the tailoress who is to take 1t nome
and return it ready to wear. There are
over 5000 of these tailoresses on the pay
roll. who earn from SIS to $40 per month
When the clothing is returned the most
rigid inspection of it takes place. Uncle
Sans inspectors have to keep their eyes
open, as all kinds of frauds are. attempted
in IA small way; even such petty thefts us
changing the pockct-linings have been at
tempted. One pocket lining of course,
amounts to little. but in q years time the
aggregate of such populations would reacn
Il tidy sum- The gathering of these women
three times Il week at the arsenal to turn
IN and take out their work resembles a rush
on barean-day at some great store. Some
of them go as far fainting in the crush.
In fact some of the clerks have been swept
off their feet in vain endcavors to regulate
the crowd.
The arsenal makes all the tents used by
arm:: in this war emergency several thous-
aud have been supplied to the navy. These
tents made by suil-makers. vino squat
tailor fashion on the floor or little benches
and sew with incredible rapidity at the
heavy cotton duck. The men are paid by
the licce-i G.. "a for wall-tcnts. one man
turning out u tent of this kind in Il hours;
for the larger tents the men paid 50.
but it takes nearly three and one half days
to make one of these c0nical tents. Fifty
cents hundred Is pad for splicing tent
lines: there are besides tent poles and pins
Gle delivered must reach the prescribed
standard. and no matter how pressing may
be the CALL or the urgent neel of troops
in the field. no article whicn falls short of
the rigid rules of quality as laid down by
the army hoard passes the inspectors or Is
accepted and sent to the troops. What
ever reaches our troops in the shape of
clothing will be thc best this country can
produce. The great general depot of sup
plies for the army is the Schuylktll arsenal
which are supplied by contract. Wall tents
and flies require ~ urge and IL small pms:
cunical wall-tcnts As small pins; shelter
tents "a small pins. etc. Sibley tent COM
rlcte costs (ciroD s2'.14 wall-tent. ditto.
slSll: tent Rins. Ewal. set, % cents; tent
poles. ditto set, p$2oo; a tent stove Sl20;
tent tripods; e;tchI LIB: hospital tent. COM
' Shoes s cos, about 81 per pair; blouses, s275;
trousers. S. 10; blaykcts. s.: rubber ponchos.
| $l.37,.; drums. $5.9, bugles, $3.50; felt he'll
NETS sl.l2: csrk. Sis; muskrat gauntlcts,
but not for Cuba nor the Philippines, s5l;
| caps. 81 cents: leggins. SIS cents; forage caps.
| g cents: SHIRTS. ,dlannel, $l.97: muslin. %
cents: ovCrcVats., f$.2l. In addition to these
| all the chcvpoIs. hrassards and insignia for
| head wear are extra. The dark blue cloth,
! 6-4 army standard. $3.50 per, yard; blouse
| flannel. 81 cents; sky blue kerscy $l.O6. and
dark blue ditto, $1.l6: Canton flannel 8
| cents: shirtine flannel 50 cents. There are
| over 300 men employed IN and about the
arsenal; the pay urOll runs beyond 100000
per month"; and thu disbursements for sup
plies over otter $hoOooOo during the like
| period. II
| The equipment With which each infantry
soldier is provided consists Of rifle
complete. 100 rounds OF ammunition for
| same one cantecn and strap one blanket
! bag one pair blanket-hag shoulder-straps.
! ON pair blankct-bas coat-straps, one car
fridge belt. one.,. bayonct scabbard, one
havcrsack. one haversack-strap. one tin
cup one meat can, one knife. one fork and
| one SPOON Musicians and color-bearers
| carry one revolver and 10 rounds of ammu-
| nition instead of the rifle and rifle amml:-
| milton. In time of peace the Schuylkill ar
| senal can clothe and equip the army, but
| In this emergency many contracts have
| been let for supplies of all kinds. but al
| ways based upon the regular army stand
! ard 1t Is not generally understood that the
| enlisted men and non-commssioned officers
| have a clothing allowance. which for the
| private amounts to $57.4S for his first year.
| $2655 for his second, and 1894 for his third
years service. A clean and orderly man