El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-27
USING THE WASTE
IN BRITISH ARMY
Nothing Is Thrown Away
Old Shoes, Old Shirts, Old
Guns Made Over.
BY FREDERICK PALMER.

London, Eng. June 27.-Thc British
are not outdoHe by the Germans in
saving and repairing every article Of
equipment worth while says Nemiro-
witch Danchenko. a. prominent Russian
war correspondent, in an account Of his
visit TO the front made public here
He writes:
Never. I think. has The practical
genius Of the English revealed itself
so strongly as in this war. We wer-
taken to see their activity a the rear
Of the army. It was one Of the towns
where the whole OF the work for the
nearest corps is concentrated Here
some thousands Of French women
whose fathers, husbands, and brothers
have gone to the war, earn hand
some living Of which they could not
Our boots when they are worn out
are thrown away by the soldiers. We
saw heaps OF these castoffs near the
Russian trenches in Galicia and Po-
land. and indeed Of what use could
be that leather torn in pieces and as
hard as wOod?2 Here however, things
are different
Making Over Old Shoes
We saw sheds fun OF these old boots,
piles Of rubbish. and could not under
stand what they were going 10 do with
IL all; but here we saw stage by stage
this rubbish turned again into splen-
did boots, soft and strong
First Of all the old boots were
soaked in a mixture and then passed
from hand 10 hand until they became
pliable- They are then scrubbed and
rubbed and carefully patched New
soles are sewn on. and the boots are
then hOhnailed- All this Is done BY
machinery This repairing shop turns
out about 1000 pairs of boots per day.
and IL is expected that it. viii shortly
be able to turn out about 5000.
The boots pass on to the depart
ment where the women are working
They give the boots a bath of boiling
oil and stralghten and shape them
After undergoing seVera. other proc
esses. the boots are again immersed
in an oil bath and finally at the other
end Of the work shop you see similar
piles. not OF hideOus rubbish. but OF
comfortable, splendid boots with
solid soles.
Making over Old Clothes.
1.-THE same thing is done with the
khaki and linen First the beastly
looking things are passed through
steam Of the highest temperature The
rags are then handed to the women.
who rip off the sound portions with
sharp knives as. for instance, collars,
sleeves, cuffs. etc Then the women,
in long India rubber gloves reaching
W 10 their elbows, wash these rags
in a disinfectant, freshening and soft
ening them
From here they are taken to the
work shops, where they are made up
again and returned To the army quite
new and ready for use Those portions
which are quite useless are put in
sacks and sent over 10 the mills in
England. so that nothing is wasted.
a crashing thunderous roar. blazing
furnaces. showers OF sparks. the shriH !
cry Of iron under the cutting knife, I
deafeninE roar of copper under n Z
redhOt drill This is the hospital for I!
n
rifles. Those which cannot be recast (
are sent TO England; the remainder are I
rebored. patched up. refitted with new 7
mechanism 10 replace the damaged I
journey from the corps, so that the I
guns which are hOrs de combat today 4
return again in five days 10 their po- 3
sitions in fit and proper state Tor .
battle.
Rifles. Bicycles, Autos Remade.
Broken rifles are collected. and Just 1
as the torn boots. so are the leather
sings treated The butts and wooden
parts are repaired. the damaged metal /
parts are replaced by new ones, the
rusty barrels are freshened up. and
in a day or two these heaps OF old
iron, which seemed TO be quite useless.
return TO the regiments and look like
brand new
Thousands of broken bicycles are
received here The spare parts are I
sent from England and sometimes. al
most on the following day, the broken
bicycles return In a fit and proper /
to their units Motor cars
and motor cycles receive similar treat /
ment There are whole sheds full of /
spare parts-radiators. generators, :
gear boxes. tires, cylinders, etc.-thou-
sands Of them A motor truck is
brought in today in an absolutely dilap- I
dated state; il is ready II the evening. /
cleaned and is tearing again at full I
speed back TO its unit"