Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-09-01
EXPECTS TROOPS
TO MOVE SLOWLY
Maj. Won DahImann Reflects
German View of the Ameri-
can Transports.
POINTS TO THE LONG TRIP

Cwhat the Germans think q the diflcultiss
e Transporting troops asToss ,ne MIL
itary authority who publishes his views in Teber
Land ind Nicer shortly before United states
troops reached France
ny MAJ. voN DAHLMANN.
Especial Correspondence OF The Star
and Chicago Daily News.)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark. July IS
On numerous occasions in the present
world war It has become necessary for
our opponents to move large bodies OF
troops from their home bases. across
the seas to places where they are TO
fight.
Thus the whole English expeditionary
corps, which for over two and one-nali
years IS on French soil. was brought
over the English channel and was reg
ularly augmented. so that long ago II
passed the 1000, 900 mark. AT the same
time the entire personnel war mater IA ~ 4 4
medical equipment and ordnance had
to be transported by sea OF course. IN
this instance the trip across tne chah
mel took only a Few hours more uli-
hcult and tirne-wasting was the trans
porting of the ill-fated EngNsh ana
French expeditionary corps to the par
danelles and to Saloniki- In the latter
enterprise the army was several nun
er trips had to be made by the aux
iliary troops sent by the English col
ouies and India. Australian troops
were taken TO Egypt and then TO the
pardanelles. and were ais9 USED en- IN
nadians This admixture Of peoples
was completed by the addition OF the
East Indian troops and negro resl-
men.s Probably the greatest di1 1R oae
which, leaving yladivostok. passed
through the Indian ocean and the Medt-
terranean and finally reached French
soil and gave unity to the whole 'front.',
How Transports Are Built.
When great bodies of troops are to be
get the transports rebuilt. When the
deck Is % meters t7.2 feet) high, every
man is allotted IL 10 IA square meters,
or LA to 1853 square yards horse
10 & square yards With a i.fo meter
deck (nearly 6 feet). the guns are given
square meters az square yarusl
without their carriages. and ) square
for the carriage. According TO the
English regulations the number OF
troops on board is allotted according
to the tonnage of every ship. From
is deducted for machines. bunkers and
the like. The available portion OF the
ship. therefore. is so per cent In a
voyage of about one week one counts
tons for every man and tons for every
horse II the trip is long one these
figures come up to 2.5 and IS tons. for
every gun and carriage 4 to - tons
must be allotted These figures also
include service and equipment For
long trip, 1 ton per man is figured.
When Americans Overloaded.
rh.n ,ba carrnap exnaditionary
corps was transported to east Asia the
space between the decks was filled to
only 75 per cent of the capacity. when
the Americans. on the other hand. sent
ships to Cuba in their war against
Spain, the ships were overloaded 25 per
cent According to the English figures.
a battalion of infantry takes $500 tons.
a squadron, 1900: a mounted battery,
1000: an unmounted battery. 1000 reg
istsred tons. For the shipping of one
division of infantry. with the necessary
hospital service. $500 registered tons
are necessary. The average tonnage Of
from 5000 to 5000 tons. so, in order to
send across one division alone, twenty
eight such ships are necessary It must
also be remembered that ships used for
the transporting of troops are with
drawn for a considerable time from
Transporting cargo, because the troops
sent over for some time afterward must
be provided with the necessary war ma
ler1al. Inc loss 10 the merchant
rine OF part OF the tonnage at its dis
posal will be felt at this time. when
there Is SO little freight tonnage avail
able
One of the several difficulties in the
transporting of troops from the United
States Is that of the passage
across the ocean. Even the escort of
warships does not give entire security
il is well known that of an knglish coal
feet bound for Italy and accompanied
by a large number of warships only a
small portion reached it's destination.
the rest having been sunk.