Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-06-08
MENACE OF THE HEAT
in ORDINANCE DEPOT
AT U. S. Army Base-Song and
Story Tell of Man Behind
the Gun.
THE MAN In KHAKI.
Fifty-Seven Varieties of Heat On Mex
lean Border Methods of Evapor-
alton to Cool Things Off.

Il
Part /.
Especial to The Capital. by Jean Cabell
O'Neill, Columbus, n. NJ, June
June End, 1850
Song and story tell of the imam be-
hind the gun" and God bless him for
weeks of experience at this Army base
of the Punitive Expedition fills your
correspondent with a big admiration
for the man in khaki but the man be-
hind the gun would be puny and inef-
fective creature not worth his salt If
he was not provided with a gun.
To the Ordnance Department at this
base all the success of the various TO
rays and skirmishes in Mexico NAV be
credited, and the officer in charge was
brought straight from the pleasant
wales of Boston Common for this i'm
portant work, Captain James Welch,
so well known, is ION the job" early
and late. cheerful and efficient and de-
pendable in all emergencies-all here
who watch his never ending work in
keeping the supplies moving TO the
long thin battle front, while he keeps
the base itself stocked up against any
emergency, believe the Great White
Father" in Washington. ID c.. is very
lucky in his selection OF the officer
who supplies the gun for the man to
stand behind
Under blazing sun a red flag beats
ominously in the gale over the low
buildings marking the Ordnance De-
partment of this Army base. Around
the various sheds that mark the home
of this most important branch of mill
tary organization, ropes with pennants
of the same warning color and many
signs warning that Lady Nicotine is
not welcome in the vicinity, keeps the
onlooker alive to the fact that here is
danger with a capital initial letter
Constantly the officers and men of the
service who work in this zone, live and
strive in this menacing atmosphere.
Annapolis is beginning, probably, to
simmer in the summer sun. People
in that fortunate cline are probably
beginning to swelter and complain of
the warTnth-but it is only physical
plant. But imagine the strain, the
suspense under which the Army
guardians of munitions of war live,
when each added degree registered by
the mercury means added danger to
the precious explosives in their charge
No one wants, particularly, to die
and to die in pieces is particularly I'M
pleasant to contemplate serenely. 1t
is likely that the well disciplined SOL
diers in the ordnance department and
the men under them borrowing of their
spirit do not let imagination toy with
such thoughts, but one thing is ever
before them-the price of explosives is
very great. These necessities of war
are very scarce and this base is a long
way from munition factories.
So, if anything happened to the pre-
cious stock of explosives, apart from
the loss of life, which would undoubt-
eddy be heavy, the back set to the pu-
nitive expedition would be incalcula-
BILE When the mercury in the tubes
of the thermometers rises higher
and higher, wait comes down on the
hearts of the watchers, and the higher
the register of heat, the heavier this
spiritual pressure.
Capt. James Walsh is responsible for
the whole works, as the boys express
it, and they are some works, believe
me-" Everything, from little steel
pins, triggers hair springs to cannon
and motor cycle guns, also motor cy-
cles for their mounting. This is the
latest move in the preparedness
game" from knives and spoonstrench-
ing shovels and picks big guns and
little ones, horse equipment and leath-
er goods, chains of steel and the same
chains bound carefully in leather so
as not to chafe the sides of the artil-
lery horses-all these and many others
are ordered and received and sent into
Mexico by Captain Walsh. He knows
where every article of this weird as
sortmnet is stored, and he can lay his
hand on what is wanted at any hour
without delay or furry.
All the material of every descrip-
ton is receipted for by Captain Walsh
He is financially responsible for all
the munitions and the fifty-seven vari-
cites of other articles called for over
the border. If any are lost in this four
hundred miles of front" it is Captain
Walsh who will have to pay. Surely
Uncle Sam IS throwing a good deal on
the shoulders of bis loyal servant by
this arrangement. But that's another
story, as Kipling would say.
There are easily a million articles
outside of actual munitions stored in
the buildings of the ordnance depart
ment which are springing up in many
directions within the confines of the
Army base, but his force is wonder
fully efficient, but it is also wonder
fully small for the work in hand. over
the heat none have control.
The first work of Captain Walsh
when he arrived to take over this vital
part of the war game was TO have a
shed constructed with a white canvas
top. There is little canvas to be had
except the heat attracting khaki color
tenting, but by hook or crook white
was procured to the order of Captain
Walsh. This was lifted above the
walls of the shed, so there is a con-
slant current of air, and If any stirs
| it is thus admitted to the cases OF