The Washington herald., 1917-05-31
Army and Navy New.
Best Service Column in City.

Before the government decided to man
ufaeture small arms OF the British En-
Held type for the American army many
factors were taken into consideration.
The concerns in this country that have
had small-arms contracts with the Brit
ish government are equipped for the pro-
duction Of the Enfield shoulder rife Of
caliber .303. The American Sprinfeld RI
fe is callber 30 representing a differ
ence of .O03 OF an inch over the British
piece. It was estimated that It would
take about ten months to change the En-
field manufacturing equipment to make
II available for the production OF Spring
field rifles, but that the difference of .O03
OF an inch in caliber could be quickly
provided for, so that Enfields adapted to
fire the American ammunition could be
produced. This Is the reason It was de-
cided to equip the American troops with
Enlelds, which do not differ essentially
from the Springfield. Indeed. both Of
them may called first cousins TO the
Mauser In view of the large amount OF
caliber 30 reserve small-arms ammunition
on hand, II was considered preferable to
make the slight change in the caliber OF
the Enfields rather than continue making
them Of caliber .Sos.
Besides the camps to be established at
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.; Leon Springs,
Texas, and Preside OF Monterey Cal, for
the training of the personnel OF the new
signal corps organizations OF the regular
army and of the reserves, a camp for the
same purpose will he established at Mon
mouth Park. near Long Branch, n. ].
To each OF those places will be sent
field battalion and telegraph battalion Of
the regular army. the personnel Of which
will be employed IN training reserve on
GERS and enlisted men and which Will he
used as the nucleus in the formation Of
additional organizations.
OF the reserve personnel, only the ON
GERS will be sent to the training camps.
about 200 going to Monmouth Park, 1oo
to Fort I.eavenworth 80 to Leon Springs.
and 20 to Monterey. Arrangements are
going forward for the preliminary train
ing Of aviators at the big universities re-
Gently designated as training centers, and
aviators have been ordered detached
from the signal corps aviation school at
San Diego. Cal. and HssiEncd to the uni
versities as instructors,
For the great mobilization canr 10 be
established at Burlington. n j. Uncle
Sam will take over between 4HNo and
500 acres Of the richest agricultural land
in New Jersey. The government, Il Is
understood, WILL pay the farmers from
s3S down to SIS an acre rent for their
farms during the first year Of occupancy
and $50 an acre per year thereafter. and
the leases will be written 10 extend one
year after the close of the war.
The camp, IT is expected. will be ready
for occupancy by August Il. A big corps
of army engineers will reach there this
week to plan the operations. The camp
will be more than three miles long and
at least a mile in width. Providing the
water supply for the camp will be one
OF the biggest problems confronting the
engineers. Several excellent artesian
wells have been drilled in the vicinity
and II is understood that further we'll
drilling will be one of the first activities
Of the Engineering Corps.
While the general character Of the land
is nat, there is sufficient undulation TO
make It easy for the engineers to drain
the site. The soil is a sandy loan. 1t
probably will be necessary to build grav-
ell or concrete roads Mosquitoes are no
more numerous than In other interior
sections Of the State. To provide the
necessary transportation facilities to and
from the camp officers figure that It will