The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-25
SOME FIGURES ON THE WAR.
Queer Statistics Regarding the Army and
Some of the Supplies Used.
IN. Y. SUM-


were fired during the conflict, but since
shat cannot he ascertained it is striking
enou.h to consider that the S77, COO men
now composing the army of the United
States carry in their cartridge belts more
than q 900, UG0 rifle balls. AT all events
thay would carry that many if all of them
vera armed with the new magazine rifle,
somrNonly known as the Klag- Jorgensen,
100 cartridges being allowed to each man
Before long all of Uncle Sans soldiers
will be provided with this weapon instead
of the ''archaic" Springfield.
Thus equipped. the 277. 900 men now en-
listed would carry 372 tons OF bullets at
their waist; and this makes reckoning OF
only the leaden balls, and not OF the cart
ridges containing them. Each OF the
cartridges is bit over three inches long,
and if all of these contained IN tne Osi1s
of the soldiers were placed end TO enl
they would stretch -,366 miles. JUST
think of the destructive power represented
by that line of cartridges!
The. barrel of one -of these regulation
rifles is 80 inches long. If all OF them
the 277, e00-were placed end to end, SO as
TO make a continuous tube. the latter
would extend 13l miles, or just about the
distance from Washington to Philadelphia
But. to render the thing more striking,
consider the fact Ethat the new rifle will
Kill a man at 4, 400 yards. This makes O
total effective range of 692, 500 miles for
277. 900 rifles. Accordingly, II the syeloci-
ties OF all the bullets could be combined.
three sharpshooters on the earth would
be able to shoot far Eenougn 20 XIII thfee
men on the moon.
Each soldiers uniform, with cape over
coat, requires eleven and a quarter square
wards of material Hence IL appears that
fhescloth USED for making war costumes
for the 277, 600 men in the army ,sif spread
out, would cover just about GA acres, or
little over square mile. at SIS 90 a
suit an outfit Of uniforms for all the
TROOPS of the United States costs the Gov
eminent S. t66, $50, enough to build, fur
nish and arm the biggest and finest kind
of battleship, such as the Oregon.
Most of the volunteers in the war have
received only one bianEet apiece from
Uncle Sam, the usual allowance Is two.
.hese blankets are of exceptionally fine
material, costing So SO apiece. To provide
every man in the army with one means
an expense of 1929, 40, and these a77, UO
blankets would cover 244 acres OF ground.
They are seven feet long by five and
officers and men in thu service that
better poker can be played on than than
on any other kind OF cloth.
To make an army shirt of flannel re-
quires three square yards of stuff, andthe
Government pays Sl.95 for the hnished
garment. Thus it is easily calculated
That such shirts for all the troops would
come to a total of $540, 600 aud tie mate
rial for them would spread over 172 acres.
More interesting is the fact that 4,625
calves would be required Ito furnish
leather for the shoes of all the regiments
and this would take no account OF the
soles and heels which would have to be
supplied by 9O,233 COWS. The rubber
cloak for the army called ''ponchos,
would COST $3.50, $40, and would cover 143
acres.
One acre of good land yields 375 pound
of cotton, which can be woven into l47
half tents of the "shelter" kind used in
the Geld. Each two soldiers Ehave a tent
between them, one carrying the right
half and the other the left half. Such a
tent costs 49, 81 complete, with jolnted
cole, etc., the total expense of sheltering
the entire army under canvas being So49,
SAC Spread out the canvas needed
would cover 272 acres, each half tent hav-
ing 3-4 yards of material TO produce
the cotton for making all this tentage
would need 1889 acres or nearly three
square miles.
An ordinary canteen ,sholds two quarts.
With all these receptacles filled, the .pres-
ent army of E377, 900 Emen carries 1914
hogsneads of water. This in fact is about
equivalent to the daily requirement ct
water for the troops. The quantity would
last one man more than seven hundred
and sixty years. Each man has tin cup
that holds pint and half If all of
them were. filled they would contain z, 7S3
hogsheads But soldiers are thirsty
people, and their belt capacity is woun-
derful Forty mine inches long, by the
way. is the average cartridge belt, and
277 Goa of them put end to end would
stretch 214 miles.
One of the most interesting questions in
relation to the lighting problem is that
of transportation. 1t is imp ssible to as
certain, even approximately, how many
miles were traversed by the army as a
whole or by the average soldier. How
ever, it may be said that the average SOL
der enlisted man during the present war
did not travel less than 200 miles. If it
be supposed that the journey taken by the
average enlisted man was 200 miles. it
will appear that the total number of
miles traversed was So, 400, 00O This total
represents more than balf the distance
from the earth to the sun, and a paid
ticket On that basis would en5itle an In
diyidual soldier TO lis round trips to the
moon.
The War Department says that it costs
Is cents day to maintain a soldier
This, of course means simply the regu-
lar rations. Transportation of provisions
means an extra expense and SO it is reck
oaed that fighting man requires q cents
day for his maintainance. Now,
at this rate, the Government is obliged TO
Fay &c., $40 day for food for the 277, 900
men enlisted. Each man is entitled to
an allowance of twenty ounces Of fresh
meat dny, which means total of 346,
goo pounds a day for the entire army.
OF -four the allowance is eighteen ounces,
amounting to l,569 barrels day for the
whole army. Reckoning things on the
same basis, the army as at present consti-
tuted requires 1871 barrels of potatoes
daily, and for the saine period 27,70o
pounds OF coffee, Al, $50 pounds of sugar
1920 pounds Of salt. 1858 pounds of soap
1924 pounds of candles, CO., pounds of
pepper, and A hogsheads Of vinegar.
During the war the loss to the Span.
inrds by ships destroyed has been S24, Geo.
0t0. The cost of the war to the United
States may reach billion dollars.
SPANISH WAR DOGS.