The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-10-06

JILL &C 1ACucS 1CuS, anu II all OF SllOSo
contained in the belts of the soldiers
were placed end to end they would
stretch 1866 miles. Just think of the
destructive power represented by that
line of cartridges!
The barrel of one of these regula-
ton rifles is 80 inches long. If all of
them-the 277,00O-were placed end
to end, so as to make a continuous
tube, the latter would extend 131
miles, or just about the distance from
Washington to Philadelphia. But, to
render the thing more striking, con-
slider the fact that the new rifle will
kill man at 4,400 yards. This makes
total effective range of 692, 800 miles
for 277,O0O rifles. Accordingly, if the
velocities of all the bullets could be
combined, three sharpshooters on the
earth would be able to shoot far
enough to kill three men on the moon.
Each soldiers uniform, with cape
overcoat, requires 11A square yards of
material. Hence it appears that the
cloth used for making war costumes
for the 277,000 men in the army, if
spread out, would cover just about GA
acres, or little over a square mile.
At $18.65 suit an outfit of uniforms
for all the troops of the United States
costs the government $5,166,050,
enough to build, furnish and arm the
biggest and finest kind of battleship,
such as the Oregon.
Most of the volunteers in the war
have received only one blanket apiece
from Uncle Sam, though the usual al
lowance is two. These blankets are OF
exceptionally fine material, costing
1888 apiece. Tc provide every man in
the army with one means an expense
of $922,410 and these 277, 900 blankets
would cover PA acres of ground. They
are seven feet long by five and half
feet wide, and it is agreed by both Off
GERS and men in the service that bet
ter 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
finished garment. Thus it is easily cal
culated that such shirts for all the
troops would come to a total of $780,
600 and the material for them would
spread over 172 acres. More interest
ing is the fact that 34,625 calves would
be required to furnish lea ther for the
shoes of all the regiments, and this
would take no account of the soles and
heels which would have to be supplied
hxyO 81
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 147 half tents of the "shelter"
kind used in the field. Each two SOL
diers have tent between them, one
carrying the right half and the other
the left half. Such a tent costs 1897
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
four and three-fourths yards of mate
rial. To produce the cotton for maxi
ing all this tentage would need 1889
acres or nearly three square miles.
An ordinary canteen holds two
quarts. With all these receptacles
filled, the present army of 277,000 men
carries 1914 hogsheads of water. This
in fact is about equivalent to the daily
requirement of water for the troops.
The quantity would last one man more
than 76O years. Each man has tin
cup that holds pint and half. If all
of them were filled they would contain
2,733 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,ooo of them put end to
end would stretch 214 miles.
One of the mr:st interesting ques-
lions in relation 20 the fighting prob
lem is that of transportation. It is
impossible to ascertain, even approx
mately, how m:,ny miles were trav-
ersed by the army as a 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 200 miles. If it be supposed
that the journey taken by the average
pear that the total number of miles
traversed was 55,40O, 900. This total
represents more than half the distance
from the earth to the sun, and paid
ticket on that basis would entitle an
individual soldier to 115 round trips ia
the moon.
The war department. says that it
costs Is cents day to maintain SOL
der. This, of course, means simply
the regular rat;ons. Transportation
of provisions means an extra expense
and so it is reckcned that fighting
man requires % cents day for his
maintenance. Now, at this rate, the
government is obliged to pay $6o,04C
a day for food fol the 277 900 men en-.
listed: Each nfaa is entitled to an al.
lowance of 20 ounces of fresh meat a
day, which means a total of 346,25C
pounds for the entire army. OF flour
the allowance is 1S ounces day
amounting to 1859 barrels a day fol
the whole army. Reckoning things on
the same basis, the army as at present
constituted requires 1871 barrels Of
potatoes daily, and for the same period
27,70O pounds of coffee, ALSO pounds
of sugar, 11,279 pounds of salt. $685.
pounds Of =oap, 1924 pounds of candles
500 pounds of pepper, and a hogsheads
Of vinegar. W. 8
During the war che loss to the Span
lards by ships destroyed has been $24,