Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-08-10
SIXTEEN MILITARY CITIES TO Be
BUILT IN RECORD-BREAKING Time
Homes to Accommodate 100000 Soldiers of the National Army
Must Be Ready by September Each Cantonmen Is to
Have 1000 Houses With Population Of 10000
Men-Food Needed for Army.

the contracting engineer. who holds a
majors commission, and under whose
supervision the city is now being built.
An idea of the size of this job may
he gained at glance at the material
estimate for IL typical cantonmeRt.
Lumber is the big item, some 10000
900 feet or 1.325 carloads being the re-
quirement. Roofing nails alone will fill
one modern freight car. Crushed stone
for the roads will make SD carloads.
Here are some of the other items ::
$4,000 squares of roofing, 60 cars; 20
carloads of nails and hardware; 20
carloads plumbing; 1872 carloads of
tanks. heaters. stoves, ranges. piping,
electrical materials, refrigerators, and
the like; railroad materials for five
miles of track. divided into 80 car
loads Of ties and other timber. 20 car
loads of spikes, rails, fishplates. etc..
and ia carloads of ballast; 10 car
loads of electric light poles, wires, in
sulatOrs, etc. Materials for 1900 cubic
yards of concrete will make 40 car
loads of cement. $50 carloads of stone
and 17J carloads of sand.
The men of the environments will
sleep in double-deck hunks. This
means there will be $1,000 separate
hunks, each with its mattress. To
transport the mattresses, 123 cars will
be required. and the hunks will take
81 more. Water and sewer lines will
make % carloads each, and $50 car
loads of hospital equipment will be
necessary. Three carloads of screens
are also included in the estimate, as
are 20 carloads of construction tools.
Where water cannot be obtained
from already utilized sources wells
must be driven or reservoirs construct
ed. The problem of sewage disposal
will be met by connecting cantOnment
sewage mains to already existing sew
age systems where possible, or by
building reduction stations where nee
eSsary.
Provide Rifle Ranges.
Areas of the environments will vary
with the topography, the minimum be-
ing from 1900 to 1000 acres. In addi-
ton to the city itself, parade grounds.
maneuvering spaces and rifle ranges
must be provided.
Each environment will contain close
to 1000 buildings. the typical company
barracks being a two-story structure,
built of wooden frame, covered with
matched boards. Roofs will be we'll COW
cred with prepared roofing. They will
be well ventilated with fiues, lighted by
electricity, heated in the North by
steam and in the South by stoves.
Each will have kitchen and mess
hall.
Col. 1. W. Littell Of the quartermas-
ter's department Of the army. who is
i'm charge of the work Of building the
environments, made public the fee sys-
tenn of the cantonment contracts. The
fees vary from 10 per cent on small
contracts Of 100000 or less to 6 per
cent on contracts of more than $780,
900, with a final upset limit Of $780,
600. The fees i'm all cases cover both
profit and overhead expense. They
were fixed upon by the department
acting with the assistance of the emer-
gency construction committee Of the
general munitions board and other
civilian advisers.
in deciding on the cantonment con-
tracts we have had to consider three
main points of practically equal i'm
pOrtance," Colonel Littell said. THE
first has been the absolute necessity
of speed, the second, proper cOnstruc-
ton, including sanitation and commu-
nication and transportation facilities ;
the third. economy. Taking all three
into consideration and also the fact
that time will not permit the compile
ton of drawings and specifications
which would be necessary in order to
ask for competitive bids before the
work must be started, the Quartermas-
ter's corps, acting in conjunction with
the emergency construction committee,
decided to make contracts on the per-
centage or cost plus basis, at the
same time using all possible safeguards
in the shape of guarantees from the
contractors as to their capacity and in
tegrity.
THE profit system has been decided
on only after weeks Of study to find a
basis for the fees which would assure
the country of the highest grade of
work from the contractors and at the
same time prevent extravaganza
through the payment Of excessive prof
its. 1t Is pleasure to pass tribute to
the loyalty and patriotism of the great
majority of contractors who have come
here to discuss the question with u.s.
With few exceptions, they have &C.
Quiesced willingly In our contention
that the profits must be kept down to
the lowest level consistent with high
grade work. Some firms have offered
to do the work on cost basis, but we
have considered this an unwise policy
both economically and nationally. The
utmost speed and efficiency must be
developed in these and future build
ing jobs for the government, and the
acceptance of offers of free service
might easily disrupt the high-grade
contracting firms best qualified to dc
the work effectively.
ION all amounts between 1855, ia.
% and $3,OOOOOO. which will probably
cover the ma iOrity of the imports nj
contracts, the fee. including the con