The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1916-12-07
SUPPLIES
Used BY BRITISH
enormous Task Necessary in the
Equipment of the Force
1T. in the Field.
wear OUT CLOTHING QUICKLY
Ninety Million Yards of Wooden Cloth
Required, Nearly 100000 Blank
cts and s4o,ooo,ooo Buttons
Boots Big Item.

= DOOIS olH teSHis
| London.-In a general way every
one has realized that the mere re-
Eruitment of men and the supplying
them with arms and ammunition was
only a part of the work required OF
the war Office to put the new British
army in the field, but not one person
in a thousand realized the enormous
task and the multitude of incidents
which go into the equipment of force
capable of taking its place in the field
under modern war conditions.
The war office has been faced with
the necessity of providing everything
from socks to uniform buttons, from
mess spoons to great coats, for an
army grown in "a months from less
than 100000 to more than 100000.
And the success with which this situ-
alton has been met is one of the in
dustrial romances of the war.
Figures, as a rule, tell little, but the
government has compiled some statis-
tics behind which can be seen the
6eyerish industry, the unceasing toll,
which has permitted the men at the
front to take their place as an eff
fective fighting machine beside the
French and the Russians and the Ital-
fans; the labor which made possible
the development of the little cOntin-
gent which crossed to France in Au-
gust, 1914, to the greatest volunteer
army in the history Of the world.
These statistics are based on reports
up to April 1.
Wooden, Flannel and Cotton.
During the first 20 months of the
war the amount of wooden cloth re-
Quired for the army was 100000
yards, which would suffice to put
girdle twice around the earth. Shirt
flannel has been bought to the total
of 100000 yards. These figures, it
must be remembered, represent solely
the army's needs. Here in table is
q comparison of the war Offices needs
In textile products in peace years and
In war time in yards:
in peace 1914, to
years. April l, 1916
Wooden and worsted
cloth observation-disclosures ,l49,UU ul,VV0,oVO
F1annel .............-..l, E54,UU S4,WVCV
Cotton cloth .......... $4,000 194,0O00N
After the fabrics were turned from
the looms there was the question of
making them into uniforms and shirts.
OF the latter more than 26,OO0,00O
have been required for field and train
ing wear, apart from the further huge
total needed in the hospitals. The
soldier, whether in training camp or
in active service, wears out his clothes
rapidly, and the supply department at
the war office has found that the re-
punishment demands as much cloth
ing now in week as did the entire
army in year in the days before the
war.
1t is not the large items that con-
stitute all the difficulties. Buttons
quence, but more than S40,000000 of
them, in all shapes and grades, have
been used since the war began; not an
unimportant commercial factor in it.
self.
Clothing for the Troops.
In the actual work of making up
uniforms and their accessories, the
army clothing factory was soon
swamped when the first contingent
took the field. The great clothing
contractors of London, Leeds and 9TH
er cities were called on, and with the
adjustment of the necessary labor diff
ficulties the work of keeping the new
army clothing was thoroughly sys-
tented. This table will show some
startling figures:
Annual Total for