El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-03

demand il, and when failure at am
important point might mean disaster
Strongly in his mind was the streah
OF luck that befell Uncle sam wher
/ the Pershing expedition made neces-
sary- at once, system OF automobile
| transportation.
/ We sent 10000 soldiers into Mexico
] carrying only what provisions could be
I put in regimental wagon trains, and
| with the knowledge that the country
into which they were heading wa:
animals, said the quartermastei
major When il began TO dawn or
! VI ashiuSton that the men and animals
must be fed. they said Get motor
trucks. as II motor trucks grew on
mesquite bushes, or thrived on sand
European Trucks Secured.
Ordinarily trucks OF the kind re-
[ Qulrec for military transportation
| could not be built in less than a month
We didn't have them anywhere in our
/ army supply Hst-and IN a month the
1 entire expedition would probably
I starve TO death Luckily there were
/ trucks, not just what we wanted. but
! Still trucks awaiting shiDment from
! American manufacturers 10 Europe.
They We're shipped. by express, at a
cost OF 500 a car, TO Columbus They
were loaded and started 10 the front.
| When they arrived, some advanced
/ regiments OF cavalry had been without
ratiOns for two days. so you can
I figure out how close to disaster we
! were because of the theory Of expert
ment afterwards
Trucks Bought In a Rush.
LAS things now stand. we have 27O
trucks working out of Columbus, per-
haps a hundred more at other border
Z military posts. and an additional hun
dred ordered TO establish an east and
west transportation line, paralleling
! the border, TO supply patrol posts"
And in connection with transporta-
ton. a quartermaster captain at
would. seem, of American railroads.
The way the government had to
pay to get these emergency orders
Z Of trucks to the border is just an ex-
/ ample said the captain on the
| continent, military train order
| takes precedence over all other rolling
/ stock Troops, supplies and military
mail are rushed through ahead Of
( everything
Criticism Of Railroads.
Here, when we needed motor trucks
( at the border TO save the American
/ army from starving TO death in the
Mexican deserts. American railroads
I pleaded rush Of business, and forced
! the government TO send automobile
{ trucks, Weighing tons, at a so-much-
/ per-pound express rate TO get through.
| And the government had no recourse
but TO pay
/ 1T has always been that way with
! our railroads When the government
: wants TO move troops from one point
: to another, il always hires special
: trains 70 do the work But these
{ trains are never given right of way.
I Any freight train carrying coal TO a
5 candy factory. or bananas to some
: peddler is given road preference. And
IN Obtaining cars 10 make up the
It's take care OF commercial business
and then look out for the army
repeat, sir, that il couldn't be done in
Europe"
Calvary Sbo-f % H.,
one captain Of a cavalry regiment
-las been with the renOunt service for
some months, buying horses for all
branches OF government work
IT'S a joke" he remarked bitterly,
n answer TO question as to how the
United states government would get
military horses
We couldn't do it." he continued.
american horse markets are as
stripped of good horses for military
work as an eel is of feathers.
All Horses Cleaned Up.
Trench, English, Russian, Italian,
and even German army buyers have
cleaned the country. The Germans
nave bought for no other reason than
70 keep the allies from getting them.
But the very purchase has kept the
american government from remOunts.
The extent Of the CLEANUP shows in
me quality Of animals recently sent
10 the base here from the remount
station at Fort Reno. Okla Five hun
9red mounts, approximately. were sent
1or the Fifth, Seventh, Tenth 18th
TN and 18th cavalry regiments. in /
Mexico. A detachment Of the Fifth !
cavalry started across the desert with |
lEem- Inc remounts had no weight TO ]
carry other than their own They /
were led and the marches were bv /
comparatively easy stages. never over /
~ miles day More than 30 Of the \
remounts died before getting 10 I
tolonia Dublan, 10 miles inland
Best Horses Worthless
And the 500 were absolutely the
4leA o. all that had been gathered at 4
me Fort Reno station Maybe YOU 4
can tell me what would happen if the
United States We're to 70 TO war. and 1
the remOunt service was put IN
against the proposition of getting new
S ~. Ealry, artillery and officers mounts,
ana new mules for wagon rransDOrta- !
ton, in lots of SCOOP It's bigger
4uesllon than can answer"
an ten you what viii happen If Z
We can't get good artillery horses"
cut IN a captain sent back from the l
Iront on sick leave after service win |
one OF the field batteries. Wen have |
% turn 10 motor mounted cannon !
I because an artillery horse is SUPER /
morse and anything less is worse than !
Requisites of Artillery Horses.
An arlillery horse has to have the /
vs., 9elght mat goes with a truck horse,
tne speed OF a driver and the stamina |
Of a COW pony On TOP of an thai
ne has to be trained more highly than
any other government horse. He's got
70 De nerve trained not to mind the /
rear Of heavy field guns. He's got
70 pc muscle trained to stand Strains I
and heavy hauling. And his moufb
mas 70 stay as tender and light as
mat OF a colt It takes a wear 10 |
train a green one.
But, aside from horses. the ar
1llery needs lots Of things We need
. 5gtulpm lent and ammunition Recently
4hen the six new caissons were or
Tered from the Rock Island arsenal
% replace some that had shaken 10
pieces on the rocky Mexican roads. we
were told that we would have to wait
until they could be built-that cais-
sons Of the type we wanted were not
N stock And yet that caisson was
he regulation three-inch field battery
attachment It took three weeks 10
get them.
No Ammunition for Caissons.
Ammunition, when my regiment !
anne TO the border, was short Had
We been forced into action in the (
irst 10 days we were at Columbus.
We would have been out of shells at
ne end Of a three-hOur engagement
rom an officer recently sent to the I
Columbus base from the government
-rsenal az Rock Island, came some