Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1898-12-01
QUEER WAR STATISTICS;
ENTERTAINING FIGURES ANENT THE
ARMY AND THE SUPPLIES USED.

Relation to the Figh ting Problem Ia
That of ofTransportation-wa Cost Nav
Reach the Total of Billion Dollars.
| Now that the war is over some per-
sons would like to know how many
bullets were fred during the conflict.
| but since that cannot be ascertained.
1t is striking enough to consider that
the 277, 600 men now composing the
army of the United States carry in
their cartridge belts more than 27.-
900, 600 rifle balls At all events they
would carry that many If all of them
were armed with the new magazine
rife, commonly known as the Krag- Jor-
gensen, 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, coo men
now enlisted would carry 372 tons of
bullets at their waists, and this makes
reckoning of only the leaden balls, and
not the cartridges containing them.
Each of the cartridges is q bit over
three inches long, and if all those
contained in the belts of the soldiers
We're 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-
tion rifles is 80 inches long. If all of
them-the 277, ,000-were placed end
to end so as to make 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 4400 yards This makes
total effective range of 692, 500 miles
for 277,0 rifles. Accordingly, if
the velocities of all the bullets could
be combined, three sharpshooters on
earth would be able to shoot far
enough to kill three men on the moon
Each soldiers uniform, with cape
overcoat, requires eleven and q quar-
ter square yards of material Hence
it appears that if the cloth used for
making war costumes for tho 277, 600
men in the army if spread out would
cover just about 644 Gores, or a little
over square mile At $1S. "a q suit
an outfit of uniforms for all of the
troops of the United States costs the
government SIS, ,166, $50, 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
allowance is two. These blankets are
of exceptionally fine material, costing
SO. 33 piece. To provide every man
in the army with one means an ex-
pense of 1922. 41O, and these 277, 900
blankets would cover 24A acres Of
ground. They are seven feet long by
five and half feet wide, and it is
agreed by both officers and mon in
the service that better poker can be
played on them than on any other
kind of cloth.
To make an army shirt of cloth re-
quires three square yards of stuff,
and the government pays 81 for
the finished garment. Thus 1t is cas-
lily calculated 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, $50
calves would be required to furnish
leather for the shoes of all the regi-
ments, and this would take no account
of the soles and heels which would
have to be supplied by 80, 239 cows.
The rubber cloaks for the army called
''ponchos," would cost S390,570
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 soldiers
have tent between them, one carry
ing the right half and the other the
left half. Such a tent costs 1897
complete, with iointed pole, etc, the
total expense of sheltering the entire
army under canvas being $540, S45.
Spread out the canvas needed would
cover 272 acres, each half tent having
four and three-quarter yards of ma
terial. To produce the cotton for
making ull UllS leutuSe WOuiu ueeu
1889 acres, or nearly three square
miles.
An ordinary canteen holds two
quarts. With all these receptacles
filled the present army of 277, 900
men carries 3644 hogsheads of water.
This, in fact, is about equivalent to
the daily requirements of water for
the troops The quantity would last
one man more than seven hundred
and sixty years. Each man has a tin
cup that holds pint and a half. If
all of them were filled they would
contain 2733 hogsheads. But soldiers
are thirsty people and their belt ca
pacity is wonderful. Forty-nine inches
long, by the way, is the average car
fridge belt, and 277, 600 of them put
end to end would stretch PA miles.
One of the most interesting ques-
tious in relation to the fighting prob
lem is that of transportation. 1t is
impossible to ascertain, even approx
mately, how many miles We're trav-
oraal hv the army as q whole, or by