Bisbee daily review., 1917-10-14
IMPORTANCE OF
 RAILWAYS MUCH
 GREATER IN WAR
Of Primary Importance to the Successful Operati ion of War Machines is That the Nations Railroads.

LONDON-(By Associated Press
 Correspondence.) )-The railway has
 been one of the primary instruments
 of war from the day war was de-
 clared. and its usefulness has con-
 stantly increased with the increasing
 complexity of wars activities. Even
 in the past four months, the tonnage
 landed at French ports for the use
 of the British forces in France has | increased by more than two-thirds and
 this all has to be transferred by rail
 from French docks to the front. Railways are the arteries of war
 It was railway construction by the South African forces that made pos sible the conquest of German South
 west Africa and again it was railway
 construction that rendered possible the recent operations in Egypt, in Mesopotamia and in East Africa. Sev- eral hundred miles of railways have
 been laid in the Sinai desert with the help of native Egyptian labor, while for Mesopotamia and East Af- rica the necessary material and per sonnel have been mainly derived from India. In Sinai, the line from Fl Kan tara eastward has been extended in the course of six months, and the freight traffic passing over it has increased threefold
 In France railway development has been most extensive. Enormous pro- vision of railway stores and plant for use in France has been made by Eng land during the three years of war. Rails, ties, plant and tools have been delivered in enormous quantities for use on the new strategic lines in the advanced areas as we'll as on the French railways forming the main lines of communication. For three years, rails by the mile, locomotives by the hundred and cars by the thou sand have been pouring in a steady stream into France.
 About half of these locomotives and cars have been obtained from Brit ish railways as result of the restric- tions placed on traffic here. Assist ance has also been rendered by Can ada and the other Dominions, and great quantities of new rolling stock has been specially constructed here and abroad for use on the Continent. Hospital and armored trains have been improvised for heavy siege ar tillery.
 In recent dispatch, placed at the disposal of the Associated Press, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, con- mander-in-chief of the British forces in France, described the work done upon the railways in France during the past year, the success of which, he says, has been one of the contribu- tory causes of British military sue cess.
 By the close of the campaign of 19f6," he says, 'the steady growth of our armies and the rapid expan- sions of our material resources had taxed roads and railways to their ut most capacity. The existing broad gauge and narrow gauge railways be- ing insufficient to deal with the in creasing volume of traffic, an undue | amount of transportation had to be | done by road. As winter conditions | set in the roads deteriorated rapidly | and the difficulties of maintaining and repairing them became almost | overwhelming. In order to relieve the roads, an increase of railway and | light railway facilities became imper- atively and urgently necessary, and | at later date the needs of the army l were considerably augmented by the adoption of a large program of new construction in the area from which | the German armies had withdrawn.
 ''The task of providing additional rails, material and holling stock was one of great difficulty The success ful solution of the problem of railway transport would have been impossi- ble had it not been for the patriotism | of the railway companies of Canada. l They did not hesitate to give up the | locomotives and rolling stock required | to meet our needs. and even to tear up track in order to provide us with the necessary rails. The work of rail way construction had to be carried | out with the greatest rapidity. in or der to admit of a resumption of the offensive in the spring, and at the same time the labor and material had to be found for the necessary repair of roads"