Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-10-01
FIGURES ON THE A
some Queer statistics Regarding the
Array and Some of the sup
plies Used.

the 211,000 men now composing the
, army of the United States carry in
\ their cartridge belts more than 27,-
would carry flat many if all of them
Y were armed with the new magazine
h rifle, commonly known as the Krag-
II ~JorgenSen, 100 cartridges being al
It lowed TO each man. Before long all of
t Uncle SAINTS soldiers will be provided
with this weapon instead of the "ar-
s chaic" Springfield.
Thus equipped, the 277,O00 men'now
enlisted would carry 372 tons of bull
lets at their waists; and this makes
e reckoning of only the leaden balls, and
1 not of the cartridges containing them.
Each of the cartridges is a bit over
!, three inches lcne, and if all of those
, contained in the belts of the soldiers
2 were placed end to end they would
| stretch 1866 miles. Just think of the
destructive power represented by that
, line of cartridges! "' ' r.
The barrel of one of these regula-
, ton rifles is 30 inches long. If all of
them-the m, G00-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
XIII a man at 4,l00 yards, This makes
"A total effective range of G92, 500 miles
for 217,000 rifles. Accordingly, if the
yelocities Of all the bullets could he
combined, three s~harpshooters on the
earth would be able to shoot far
enough to kill three men on the noon.
Each soldiet'S uniform, with cape
overcoat, requires M square yards of
material. Hence it appears that the
cloth used for making war costumes
for the $4,000 men in the army, il
spread out, would cover just about GA
acres, or a little over a square mile.
At $3.50 a SUIT an outfit of uniforms
for all the troops of the United States
costs the government s., 1G6, $3.50,
enough to build, furnish and arm the
biggest and finest kind of a 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
$3,35 apiece. re provide every man in
the army with one means an expense
OF S922,4l0, anG these 277,00O blankets
would cover 24+ acres of ground. They
are seven feet long by five and a half
ieet 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- {
CURES three square yards of stuff, and
the government pays $l.95 for the I
finished garment. Thus it is easily cal ,
cuIated that such shirts for all the 4
troops would come to a total of $54O.- t
900 and the material for them would
spread over 1G2 acres. More interest '
ing Is the fact that 34,G25 calves would s
be required to furnish leather for the t
shoes of all the regiments, and this
would take no account of the soles and a
heels which would have to be supplied J
by 9O,233 cows. The rubber cloaks for t
the army called "ponchos," would '
cost $39O,51o, and would cover 143 c
acres. d
r
one acre of good land yields 375 Il
pounds OF cotton, which can be woven C
INTO l4' half tents of the shelter" l
Kind used in the field. Each W sol o
o'ers have a tent between them. one b
carrying the right half and the other v
the Iett half. Such a tent costs S3.o7 II
complete, with iointed pole, etc. the u
Total expense Of sheltering the entire 81
army under canvas being $549. S45. q
out the canvas needed would Il
rover 2E acres, each half tent having 1t
'our ana three-fourths yards of mate q
I1aI' TO produce the cotton for max al
all TINS tentage would need 1889 D
acres or nearly three square miles.
An ordinary canteen holds two
IlartS' With all these receptacles \,
'''ied, the present army of 277, 900 men
carries 3,G44 hogsheads of water. This
tact is about equivalent to the daily .
'rqulrement of water for the troons
ne quantity would last one man more &C
nan 900 years. Each man has a tin DE-
'uP mat holds a pint and Il half. fall IN
lhem were filed they would c~ostain tn
1883 hogsheads. But soldiers are be
-''fsty people, and their belt capacity an
5 wonderful. F~orty-nine inches long pc
the way, Is the average cartridge nj
'elt, and 277,0oO of them nut end to In
nd would stretch pa miles. NJ,
one OF the mGst Interesting oues- err
IONS III relation TO the fighting prob gr
is that of transportation. 1t is by
impossible to ascertain, even approx;-, SIN
i"'e'y' now m'ny miles were trav- IN
rSed by the army as a whole. or NV his
ne average soldier. However, it NAV an
e sad that the average enlisted man SIC
.urIng the present war did not traye, OF
ISIS than 200 miles. If It he sunnosod a
the journey taken by the AVERAGE ba
'l'sted man was 200 miles, it will an iat
ear mat the total number of miles SCI
was $1,000, 900. This total OF
epresents more than half the distance OF
ON the earth to the sun and n maid sui
on that basis would entitle an col
1dividual soldier to rs round trins 20 COZ
he moon. ..''t a.,-l r. w the
The war department saws that !, of
osts 10 cents a day to maintain n col Alb
ler' THIS, of course, means simnlv tut
~ regular rat'ons. Transportation sar
I provisions means an extra exnensa ana
nd SO it is r%eckcned that a fgbtinr tina
"equlres % cents a day for bis the
l%aintenance. Now, at this rate tha to
overnment is obliged to pay SEC. 94o of
day for food foI the 277. 600 men nm, VIII
sted' Each man is entitled to an al. gil'
vance of 20 ounce of fresh maa. Do
~, which means a total of 34s oso scr
ounds for the entire army. Oft1our the
lie allowance is 10 ounces n dav usa
mounting to 1850 barrels a dav for tivt
le who'll army, Reckoning things ~ reg
'e same basis, the army as at presen, mes
requires. 1871 barrels ~ u
4 n a., ,r ,I..I.H - @NNfo OF -