Gunnison news-champion., 1917-09-21
oU|lDIIe OF ARMY CANTON
MENTs INTERESTING STORY

As 65 Of our Gunnison boys will
shortly be housed at Camp Funston
some seven miles from Fort Riley in
Kansas, this vivid account of the
wonderful speed in construction Of
these ''army cities" will be Of inter
est to News-Champion readers.
with the arrival of the first con-
tingent of the new national army at
the cantonments today, said Colonel
]. w. Littell. in charge of the can
tonment construction for the United
States Government, the status Of
construction at the various canton
ments will undoubtedly be of public
interest. Altogether sixteen military
cities have been built by the Govern
ment to house the 6S7 900 citizen sol
diers selected for service by the draft.
OF these cities seven were ready to-
day to receive their entire quota Of
officers and enlisted men. These sew
en- included Camp Taylor at Louis
vile. KY, Camp Travis At Fort Sam
Houston, Texas, Camp Lee At Peters
burg, Va, Ohio, Camp Dcvens at Aver,
Massachusetts,, and Camp Grant at
Rockford, III. Seven other canton
ments were ready this morning to re-
ceive all the officers and two-thirds
or more of the quota of enlisted men.
These comprise Camp Dodge at Des
Moines, Iowa, Camp Funston at Fort
Riley, Kansas, Camp Custer at Battle
Creek, Michigan, Camp Pike at Little
Rock, Arkansas, Camp Dix at Wrights
town, N. j., Camp Jackson at Colum-
bia, South Carolina, and Camp Cor
don at Atlanta, Ga. The two remain
ing national army cantonments, Camp
Upton at Yaphank, Long Island, and
Camp Mead at Admiral, Maryland,
have already received and are taking
care of more than their full quota of
officers and are ready to receive the
number of enlisted men originally or
dered there on September fifth.
"An army of approximately 10000
men was employed in the construc-
tion of the sixteen national army
cantonments up to the first of Septem-
Der. Since that date the force has
been gradually reduced. There are
certain units in connection with each
of the cantonments which were added
after the original scheme was under
way and which are ip most cases not
completed. The completion Of these
buildings, however, will not inter-
fere with the reception Of the citizen
soldiers on the dates they have been
ordered to report at the respective
cantonments.
"A typical layout for one Of these
cAntonments comprises in round num-
bers- fifteen hundred separate build
ings, requiring approximately thirty
million feet Of lumber. Each canton
ment requires complete system of
water supply and sewage disposal, the
piping alone for which amounts to
more than fifty miles. Ten general
warehouses with trackage have also
been provided. where the facilities are
not available in nearby cities. Com
plete refrigerating and laundry plants
have been built at each cantonment.
Up to September first it was neces-
sary to complete an average .of one
building per hour, or for all the can
tonments an average of one building
every four minutes. In the construc-
tion of the cantonments to date over
fifty thousand carloads Of material
have been transported to and deliv-
cred at the cities, an enormous tax
upon the already overburdened rail-
road facilities Of the country. The
railroads, however, have given SPLEEN
did service. All Government orders
have been given preference and the
lumber and other supplies have been
rushed to the cantonments in rec
ord time. At every cantonment APP
proximately four thousand officers
and enlisted men have arrived and
are being cared for"
GRAPHITE WITHIN PIT.