The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1917-03-02
HANDLING OF U. S. TROOPS
WAS BEST IN ALL HISTORY
Report Of Quartermaster General Com.
pIiments American Railways.
MILITIA MOVED PROMPTLY
Splendid Results Attained by Cordial
Cooperation of Railway EN-
pIoyees and Officials With
War Department

Washington, ID. C.-(Special.)-
There has been no case in history
where troops have been as we'll han
died and cared for as in the move
ment to the Mexican border during
the summer of 1916, says the annual
report of the Quartermaster General
of the U. S. Army, which has just
been made public.
On behalf of the railways, super.
vision of moving the troops was in
the hands of special Committee on
Cooperation with the Military Author
tiles appointed by the American Rail-
way Association, at the request of the
War Department, and composed of
Fairfax Harrison, president of the
Southern Railway, chairman; R. H.
Ashton, president of the Chicago and
Northwestern Railway; A. w. Thomp-
son, vice president of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad; w G. Besler pres
ident of the Central Railroad of New
jersey.
The report tells Of the uniformly
excellent handling given troops and
supplies through the cooperation of
railway officials and employees of ey-
cry rank with the War Department
officials. 1t states that to carry the
first 100000 of the National Guard
moved to the border, 35O>trains, which,
if combined, would have been nearly
80 miles long, were required, and that
they included 5000 passenger cars
400 baggage cars, most of them equip
ped as kitchen cars for serving hot
meals en- route, 1900 box cars, 1000
stock cars, and 800 fat cars Approx
imately 1900 road locomotives and
crews had a part in handling this
movement, in addition to large mum
Der of yard engines and crews.
Striking sentences from the report
are as follows:
Considering the great distances
travelled by the militia from the vari.
Gus camps to the Mexican border, the
fact that there was but a single &C
cident, and that of minor character
the celebrity with which the trains
were moved and the entire absence
of congestion or delay, it is believed
that there has been no case in history
where troops have been as well and
safely transported or as we'll cared fol
while en- route as in the recent mob
iliZation."
Every assistance possible was rem
dered the Government by officials anC
employees of all railroads concerned
from the presidents Of the companies
down to the minor employees"
Although the movement of the Or
ganized Militia to the border came
at time when the commercial traf
fic on railroads of the United States
was the largest in years, the trans
portation of the militia was performed
with very little interference with reg
ular train service and with no conges
ticn whatever, either at initial or ter
minal points or en- route"
at is, of course, impossible to com
pare the concentration of the United
States Militia on the Mexican borde,
with the mobilization in Europe in tn;
summer of 1914. In Europe all civil
traffic was stopped and the entir
railroad system given ever to the mil
itary movement. The distances in
volved in this movement of the Or
ganized Militia are very much greater
than those in Europe, the longest run
in the German Empire, from enc from
tier to the other, being about 700 miles
and those in France much less. The
distances travelled by the militia or
CARNATIONS of the United States vary
from 6O8 miles, in the case of the
Louisiana troops, to 2,916 miles in the
case of the Connecticut troops. The
majority of these troops came from
North and Northeastern States and
were carried over 1000 miles; in
most cases in remarkably fast time
when it is considered that these
trains were, as a rule, heavy trains
of from II to % cars each, and were
composed of freight, passenger and
baggage equipment (Which was nee
essary in order to enable each unit
to proceed to it's destination intact
with all its equipment and impedi
ments), it will be seen that the move
ment was made with exceptional ia,
Didity."