The Washington times., 1917-09-06
ARMY AHEAD HAS
DUTY OF ROMANCE,
PER!L,A ANDSECRECY

Romance, mystery, and peril blend
In the tremendous task OF "the army
ahead Of the army" which today is
blazing = trail 70 the French front
for Americas million men.
It's the Job of the Engineers, and
tt means that every step OF the bar
ren way from French port to French
front must be modernized into an
elongated American city.
First, they must macadamize the
highway, every foot OF II. And over
an area OF several miles in the vicin-
fly OF the port and behind the front
an intricate system of perfectly
paved streets and avenues must be
built.
Winding in and around both these
terminals the engineers are fashion
ing a complicated system Of rail-
roads, both narrow and standard
gauge, for switching, transferring
and caring for troops and supplies.
Wooden Cities Rise Up.
Connecting these two webs is q
ribbon of track paralleling the miles
OF paved roads, with branches and
spurs shooting off here and there on
both sides. Every tie, every rail,
every spike, every engine and every
car for this system Of railroads is
being taken from this country. Not
one bit OF material, not a single man,
Is being supplied by France.
Great wooden camp cities are ris-
ing at both ends of this line. Power
houses, permanent repair gang camps,
houses for maintenance-of-way Of
ficials, water reservoirs will be
strung out along the line and at the
terminals. The lumber for those
structures is being hewn from the
forests OF France by regiments of
American foresters. other regiments
are rebuilding and enlarging docks
and wharves at the port of arrival,
and dredging and opening new ap-
proaches in the bay for the big gray
transports.
SawmiIls carried from America are
springing up in the French forests,
American-made well-digging ma
chimes dot the line OF communica-
tion. Electric light plants are bios
Boming forth to supply the trenches,
dugouts, ,=storehousCs and cantonments
with illumination.
Miles and miles Of water pipe are
being laid.
Special regiments Of American
pAGhNA AAAo eAdA AAb
gers OF every State in the Union are
in charge OF the American system of
trenches, saps, transverses and ap-
proaches. Expert companies OF cleo
tricians are putting in an intricate
system Of battlefield illumination, in
cluding searchlights, trench lights,
Elare-light apparatus and great piles
of star bombs and rifle grenades.
U-ornr r. -. nrfNaf.
But none of this complicated sys.
tenn of communication and approach
must be visible to the enemy. II
must all be dug in, buried or con-
cealed by camouflage. The high
ways must be neutraliEed IN color
TO blend with the landscape. The
railroad tracks must not glisten.
All buildings must be half buried
IN the ground and the above ground
portion disguised with bushes and
shrubs and neutral colorings until
they are invisible.
This is where the American artist
does his bit. A number of we'll
known American masters OF color.
combinations are employed to pre-
cede the engineers and study out the
problems OF obscuring our operations,
our troops and artillery and our lines
OF communication from the enemy.
Tho actual work will be done by
American sign painters and soldiers
trained in the craft.