El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-03
LTROUGH more than twothlrd

THOUGH more than twothirds OF
n the revenues Of the United States
= government is expended in pre-
pairing for future wars and on account
of wars of the past, this large eXpendi-
ture is not reflected by the size OF tie
United States army. In The regular
army at the present time there are 1899
officers and S2,6S5 enlisted men, when
includes the $50 officers and 1892 enlist
ed men com posing the Philippine scouts
The authorized strength of the regular
army is not to exceed 100000 men BoIn
the regular and the militia regiments
are maintained on a peace 1ooJlnS al q
little over half war strength. As the
organized militia embraces about lZO,OVO
officers and men. it viii be seen thaI II
would require a reserve OF about zVV'OVU
men to bring all OF the regiments OF
the regular army and organized mill
Tia up to their war strength only
about one man in each 400 people in
the United States is numbered IN the
ORGANIZED forces of the American mill
tarv establishment. The unorganized
militia consists Of more than lb,VuU,UUO
men. which embraces every able BODIED
man in the United States between the
ages Of IS and A
Although il does not take 5 long TO
recruit and equip strong army as II
does to build a naval fleet and put II
into commission manned by an eIIlclenl
personnel, it does take a considerable
TO a standard which makes il an eff
cient fighting force The country IS
commencing to realize the Importance
Of establishing in time of peace an or
ganizatiOn from which an eIuclenJ
army can be quickly made in time OF
war. and with this end in view pro
visional field army has been established
in the New England states and New
York.
First Provisional Army.
al ar-G nd 4
have been grouped into what is known
q the first provisional field army me
commanding general, department OF the
east. is its commander. The organized
militia and regular army, while fur
nishing a very considerable portion or
the troops needed for this army, are
not adequate to furnish certain technl-
cal troops nor is the quota Of field
artillery or cavalry suttlclenJ- A SER
Gus effort is being made to organize
additional field artillery and cavalry
organizations in the militia, and 10 or
ganize and train certain technlcal
troops, engineer troops, signal troops
etc and 10 provide reserve supplies
of clothing, transportation, guns, am
munition, etc. The policy viii proba-
bly, be carried out throughout the
United States and a certain number OF
provisional field armies organized and
reserve supplies gradually accumulated
The great shortage in the army today
is in field artillery guns and ammunl-
ton
The task of provisioning the regular
army is no small one. The commlssaIy
department issues 3O,000,00O rations
year. Each OF these costs approx
mately q cents. For an army Of 100
900 men there is required for each
days ratiOns) so tons Of meat, 80 tons
of bread. SO tons of potatoes and 40 tons
of other food Experience has taught
that the feeding of an army is one OF
the first essentials TO its efficiency IN
the field, and the war department is
using every possible facility 1or insur-
ing good food for the soldiers in the
Always After Good Men.
The recruiting service Of the army
is a busy one, even in times Of peace,
and If Uncle sam does not get good
soldiers it is not because he has lack Of
applica lions for service in the army In
q recent year $4,000 such applications
for enlistment were received OF these,
l25, 600 were attracted by adVeruslng-
The adjutant general keeps card In
deX in which is recorded full data about
the army service and the men who con
stitute it. This index now contains
nearly 60,000,000 individual cards,
S 900. 90 of them being medical cards.
giving the history Of ali cases Of sick
ness in the army.
When a soldier en1ists in Uncle Sans
army he is assured that he Will receive
the best possible medical attention,
which is provided free Of charge. The
medical department Of the army con-
sists Of hundreds of graduate physi-
clans who are appointed after cOmpeti-
tive examinations. If a soldier is only
slightly indisposed he is treated by the
post medical officers and is furnished
with medicine at the regular dispense
ries free Of charge. If his ailmeut is
more serious, he is sent to a hospital,
and the army hospital has the reputa-
ton Of being one Of the most sanitary
and hest conducted in the world.
Army Medical OFFICER.
Humanity owes a vast debt to the
army medical officer. Many of the
most valuable lessons learned by medi-
cal science during the past 20 years
have been taught by him. For instance,
the mosquito theory Of the transmission
of yellow fever was proved by board
OF American medical officers consisting