The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-21
SOME FIGURES ON THE VAR.
Queer Statistics Regarding tho Army an,
Some of the Supplies Used.

SOME FIGURES ON THE WAR.
Queer Statistics Regarding tho Army and
some of the Supplies Used.
Now that the war Is over some persons
would Xix to know how many bullets were
fired during the conflict. but since that cannot
be ascertained, It Is striking enough to con-
slider THAT the 277. 900 men now composing the
army OF tho United States carry in their car
fridge belts more than 27.0o0.0 900 rife balls.
At all events they would carry that many II all
OF them were armed with the new magazine
rife, commonly known as the KraR-Jorgensen.
100 cartridges being allowed to each man. Be-
fore long all Of Uncle Sans soldiers will be
provided with this weapon instead of the AR
chaic " Springfield.
Thus equipped. the 277.000 men now enlisted
would carry $40 tons OF bullets at their waists
and this makes reckoning Of only the leaden
balls. and not Of the cartridges containing
them. Each Of the cartridges is a bit over three
inches long. and II all of those contained in the
belts Of the soldiers were placed end to end
they would stretch 1895 miles. Just think OF
tfe,destrpettve power represented by that line
Of cartridgesla
The barrel OF one OF these regulation rides is
80 inches long. If all OF. them-the 277.000-
were placed end to end. SO as to make a con-
tinuous tube. the latter would extend 131
miles. or Just about the distance from WASH
ngton to Phi iladelphia. But. to render the
thing more striking. consider the fact that the
new rife will kill man at 400 yards. This
makes,a total effective range of 800. 500 miles
for 277.O0O rifles. Accordingly. ifthe velocities
Of all the bullets could be combined. three
sharpshooters on the earth would be able to
shoottar enough to kill three men on the moon.
Each soldiers uniform. with cape o~vercoat,
requires eleven and q quarter square yards OF
material. Hence it appears that the cloth used
for making war costumes for the 277. 900 men
in the army. II spread out. would cover just
about ga acres. or q little over q square mile.
At $18.65 a suit an outfit Of uniforms for all the
troops Of the United States costs the Govern
ment IS. 166.050. enough to build. furnish and
arm the biggest and finest kind Of a battleship.
Most of the volunteers In the war have re-
Sam, though the usual allowance is two. These
eoa 2 "a are IS S OF exceptionally PIT nrdr;dd fine nsor material q;
11i6. and these 277.0S0 biankets would. cover
IA acres Of gronnd. They are seven feet long
both officers and men In the service that better
poker can be played on them than on any other
10 make an army shirt of flannel requires
three Three square yards az 10 OF stu stun; a ana the q G Sema1t
Thus It is easily calculated that such shirts for
all the troops would come to a total OF S54O.OOO
99a a seS ma Mo4e i fSF shsm w Is tb spFF set 9 fSsF
34.G25 calves would be required to furnish
leather for the, shoes of all the regiments. and
heels which would have to be supplied by 81
233 cows, The rubber, eloaks for the army,
Sa iNT mponeh9s:m would cost S39o'o'o. and
One acre Of good land yields s75 pounds of
Of the shelter" kind used in the field. Each
two's soldiers have a tent between them. one
SSTFFyiS sGt the , right right half na.tI and d Il he c6 other mnIr,t the 2 lett
ioInted pole. &c. the total expense Of shelter
ilng the entire army under, canvas being $549,.;
cover PIP acres. each half tent having AZ yards
II material, To produce the cotton for making
aLlthis tentaRe would need 3 acres or nearly
An ordinary ~canteen holds two-quarts. With
81 2 ;7 1858 m asGe earrIes s.s44 fns Rhrssfst o 9fT waye o.
9uirement Of water for the troops. The guam
dred and sixty years. Each man has a tin cup
that holds a pint and a hall. i 81 Of them were
capacity Is wonderful. Forty-nine inches long.
gzz7!t6RSSb GfRthhi Il 'P put "s end &c s snd %oSid PS stfe seS
pa miles.
One q the post interesting questions in re-
portation. II is impossible to ascertain, even
approximately. how many miles were traversed
der, However, it may. DO said that the average
enlisted man during the present wal did not
Won 'ithi ~No tiiVo II ~ ut 6ulINJOcu
man was 300 miles. il viii appear that, the
total number OF miles traversed was 55.4OO,-
600. This total represents more than half tho
distance from the. earth to the sun. and a paid
ticket on that basis would entitle an individual
soldier to 115 round trips to the moon.
The War Department says that 1t costs 10
cents. a day to maintain n soldier. This. Of
course. means simply. the regular ~rations.
TRANSPORTATION Of provisions means an extra
expense and 80 1t Is recEoned that a fighting
requires % cents n day for his mainte-
Now. at this rate, the Government Is
obliged to pay $6O.g40a day for food for the
277,00O men enlisted. Each man i, entitled to
q day. which means a total of 348,250 pounds
for the ontire army. OF flour the, allowance Is
eighteen ounces. amounting to 1859 barrels
a day for the whole army. Reckoning things
on the same basis. the army as at present con- |
stitpted requires 1.731 barrels OF potatoes
daily: and t9T the same period y, 100 pounds Of
OF salt. $500 pounds OF soar. 1924 pounds OF
candles: 6a2 pounds OF pepper. and A hogs
heads of vinegar.
During the war, the loss to the spaniards by
ships destroyed has been S~24.600.OO0. The
cost 81 the war to the United States may reach
u billion dollars.