The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1917-07-27

the entire United States of greater
populnton-are now In process OF
construction. These cities are the can
tOnments In which the first American
Selective draft army of between 9oO'-
900 and 100000 men, will receive their
preliminary training in this country
prior to their transfer overseas to the
allied battle fronts in France. The
contractors to whom the contracts
have been let for the building "over-
night" so TO speak, of these l6 army
cities, are already hard at work, ana
they must finish their Jobs by Septem-
ber /.
That the war department will sue
ceed In making good and that each OF
these new cities will be ready on
schedule time for the more than 3O,OOO
draft men who will be ordered TO them
for training, is the belief of every OIL
Ger In the army. Army officers and reg
ular army enlisted men, with several
thousand civilian employees added,
will bring the population of each can
tonment to about 10000 men, necessi-
tating a building problem involving
the construction Of about 1000 houses,
all of them Of considerable size, In the
space of n few weeks. The average
ground area covered by each canton
ment will be between 1,5OO and 1000
acres, and the maintenance of the 10
cities is expected to entail an eXpendi-
ture which in one year will probably
total more than $120000,000.
To feed the soldiers alone, who will
be trained in these cantonments Will
require in one year more than 2OOO,-
coo bushels of wheat, more than S4,-
100000 pounds of fresh beef, and A.
100000 pounds of fresh pork. The
milk needed will total in year more
than 10500,000 gallons, and there Will
be needed probably 100000 bushels
of Irish potatoes, over 325,0OO bushels
of onions, and over 275,0OO,000 pounds
Of other vegetables, such as cabbage,
spinach, turnips, etc. In addition to
all this food for man are the oats,
hay and other feed which will be
needed by the more than 10000
horses and mules which will be en-
ployed at the cantonments.
Location of the Cities.
The 16 army cities will be located
near Aver, Mass; Yaphank, l.. L.;
WrightstOwn, N. j.; Annapolis inc
thOn, Md. Petersburg, Va; Columbia,
S. c.; Atlanta, Ga; Chillicothe, o.;
Louisville, KY; Battle Creek, Mich;
Des Moines, Ia. Fort Riley, Kan.;
Fort Sam Houston, Tex; Rockford,
ILL.,; Little Rock, Ark, and American
Lake, Wash.
What the emergency means which
faced the war department following
the passage of the selective draft law
and the announcement by President
Wilson that he would call to the col
ors the FIRST 100000 men of conscrip-
tion age on September l, can be under
stood as was pointed out by an officer
of the quartermaster corps, by keep
ing in mind what happens in the Ordi-
nary run of affairs during the con-
Struction of the average living house.
The architect takes his time over tie
plans, there is plenty of time to look
about for a contractor, and much time
is wasted waiting for materials.
Compare" says Il war department
memorandum, this everyday expert
ence with the governments task of
providing in about twelve weeks bar
racks for about G00,000 men, with wa
ter supplies, plumbing and heating
equipments hospitals, storehouses, sta
bles, and shops in locations where
there was nothing at the time the site
was selected but meadow and grove.
What private citizen would expect to
move into house ON September l on
which not q stroke of work had been
done on June II"
Each cantonment will 5e a city of |
orderly and properly laid out streets
and blocks, with complete sewerage
and electric lighting systems, railroad |
yards, water lines and fire depart
ments garbage incinerators, and hun
dreds of other cOnveniences necessary |
in the life Of any well-organized mod
ern settlement.
/ In the construction of the Panama |
canal the governments expenditure
amounted to about $40,000,000 a year,
and for the cantOnments probably as
much will be expended in four months.
Just about one month ago the officials |
on whose shoulders was placed the
burden Of making the cantonments
ready on time, started to solve the
problem. Involved in the task was
first of all the selection of the 16 sites,
the scientific planning and laying out
Of the 16 cities the purchase and the
assembling of the materials, the draw
ing up of the contracts and the signing
up of the contractors. Also there was
the mobilization of the thousands of |
carpenters, mechanics and other labor /
ers, skilled and unskilled, and hun
dreds of other matters, some big 9TH
erS small, and all of which had to be
settled in the shortest possible time.
Job Measured in Carloads.
To construct each cantonment were
required about 1000 carloads of ma
terials AS soon as the site was deter
mined upon, sanitary engineer, a city
planner, and an army officer represent
ing the war department proceeded to
the place selected and started the
work going. They were followed by
O~O~~--O~Oo-~~--~