The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-09-23
FIGURES ON THE WAR.
Some Queer statistics Regarding the
Army and Some of the Sup
plies Used.


the 277, 900 men now composing the
army of the United States carry In
their cartridge belts more than 27,-
900 900 rifle balls. At all events they
would carry that many IL all of them
were armed with the new magazine
rifle, commonly known as the Krag-
Jorgensen, 100 cartridges being al
lowed TO each man. Before long all of
Uncle Sans soldiers will be provided
with this weapon instead of the 'ar-
chaic" Springfield.
Thus equipped, the Ell 900 men now
enlisted would carry 372 tons of bull
let's 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 if all of those
contained in the belts of the soldiers
were placed end to end they would
stretch 1856 miles. Just think of the
destructive power represented by that
line of cartridges!
The barrel of one Of these regula-
ton rifles is 30 inches long. If all of
them--the 277.O00-were placed end
to end, so as TO make continuous
tube, the latter would extend 1871
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 400 yards. This makes
total effective range of 692 800 miles
for 277,O0O rifles. Accordingly, IL the
velocties 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 III, square yards of
material. Hence it appears that the
| cloth used for making war costumes
for the 271,00O men in the army, if
spread out, would cover just about GA
acres, or a little over a square mile.
| At $3.50 suit an outfit of uniforms
for all the troops of the United States
costs the government S5,16G,O50,
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
1888 apiece. To provide every man in
the army with one means an expense
of $022,+l0, and these 277,0OO blankets
would cover PA acres OF ground. They
are seven feet long by five and a half
feet wide, and it n agreed 10y 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 Slo5 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 IT, acres. More interest
| ing Is the fact that 34,625 calves would
! be required to furnish leather for the
shoes of all the regiments, and this
would take no account of the soes and
heels which would have TO be supplied
by 90,233 cows, The rubber cloaks for
the army, called "ponchos," would
cost S39O,570, and would cover 143
/ acres.
one acre of good land yields 315
pounds Of cotton, which can be woven
into l47 half tents of the shelter"
kind used in the field. Each two SOL
diers have a tent between them, one
carrying the right half and the other
the left half Such a tent costs 1897
complete, with jomted pole, etc, the
total expense Of sheltering the entire
army under canvas being $40. SIS.
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 l,SS0
acres or nearly three square miles.
An ordinary canteen holds two
quarts. With all these receptacles
filled, the present army of 277,OO0 men
carries 3G44 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 100 years, Each man has Il 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 PA miles.
The war department. says that it
costs Is cents day to maintain sol
der This, of course, means simply
the regular rations. Transportation
of provisions means an extra expense
and so il is reclcned that a fighting
man requires % cents a day for his
maintenance. Now, at this rate, the
government Is obliged to pay S60,94C
day for food foi the PIT 900 men en-
listed Each maa is entitled to an al
lowance of 20 ounces of fresh meat a
day, which meaus a total of 346,25C
pounds for the entire army. OF -four
the allowance is IS ounces day
amounting TO ISO barrels n daV for