South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-08-11
MODELLING Of
NEW ARMY IS
RAIL PROBLEM
u. S. Transportation Lines
Must Work Out Elaborate
System to Move $4,000
Soldiers in Four Days.
InternationaI Vows service

international News Service
WASHINGTON. Aug. Amer
lean railroads are face 10 face with
their greatest task Between Sat
urday. Sept J.. and Wednesday.
Sept. 8. 229.000 soldiers of the ma
tiOnal army must be modified
They must Doe moved from e 500
cities and towns 20 rs caHtonmeuts.
Troop trains must have the right
of-way. and government materials
must move without a halt.
Half a hundred traffic experts are
at work today ON the plan of trans
pOrtatiOn. Twenty eight railway
executives Of the railway committee
OF the council Of national defense
are scheminE Lieut.. Col Chauncey
T.. Baker OF the quartermaster
corps is working on the problem.
starr experts OF Provost Marshal
Cen Crowdcr are also busy.
Railway men today stated that
the movement of the troops would
Toe accomplished with q minimum of
Inconvenience To- regular passenger
and freight traffic For "a period of
81 hours. however. 10 is highly prob
able that there must zoe some delay
IN the maintenance Of schedule time.
Moving the first third of the ma
tional army 10 the environments win
take about one-eighth OF tho equip
lneut of the 1T6 railroads of the
United States 10 is estimated that
1851 ears will he needed and 1.o9S
locomotives. This means that there
will be .O9S trains Of approximately
16 cars each moving with troops
over 176 different railroads i'm the
United States. simultaneously. This
traffic will require II per cent of
the total number Of locomotives i'm
the country and 12.6 per cent of the
total number Of passenger cars.
Dav coaches viii be used with
possibly a few Pullmans for the use
OF officers and members OF the local
boards. Traffic experts point out
that there will be no haul which
will be longer than IL hours Men
will arrive at cantonements on the
same day on which they leave their
local district
Take Direct Route.
To facilitate the movement of the
troops. a railway expert viii be as
the railway expert the local boards
will devise the scheme OF mobiliza-
ton. Orders have been issued that
the most direct route be used and
no discrimination between roads he
made. In the case of parallel sys-
tens the traffic shall he divided
equally between the two systems.
In some cases IL viii he necessary
10 ration the troops enroute. Pro
vision is being made for this by orr
dering large supplies Of food pre-
pared at points where the troop
trains NAV stop.
u now appears that Sept and
sent viii he the two DAYS ON
which the most Of the traffic will
rau Sept. I. local boards VIII call
FOR the mn 20 mobilize ar che
beadouarters of the board. I'm some
districts this will mean that men
will have % travel several miles 20
the board headqUarters To IS eN-
nerted that a. viii take two DAYS
FOR the quotas 20 he made I'm readi-
DeeS for fnai movement 20 the cam
-o,wents T-ntil actual arrival ne
the cantorment camps the drafted
men will he under the super l~4'H
~ the local boards.
Standardize Costs.
Baggage cars and baggage trains
VII De provided Local boards have
,.eD instructed 90 nee careful or
rroper facilities FOR drinking water
and other conveniences
Routes and time Of departure VIII
81. Kent secret iu accordance with
+ha general policy Of the war de-
partment
The problem Of cost is heavy
one The subcommittee IS at work
IN -be military rate The tariffs
..r,erred 20 tho government VIII ia
srsD5ardized and based or cost plus
~easonable profit These rates VIII
-. sr,br,ftted 90 -ue Interstate COM
..e.