The Washington herald., 1917-05-01
Army and Navy News
Best Service Column In City.

Maj. Gen. Wood yesterday turned over
the command of the Department OF the
East to Mai. Gen ]. Franklin Bell.
Gen. Wood left last night for Charles
ton, S. c., where he will assume com.
mand of the recently formed South
astern Department of the United States
army. He will take with him the officers
who have been serving as his personal
aids. Maj. Gen. Bell will bring his stag
with him.
Gen. Wood, in the three years he has
been stationed in New York, has won
many friends, not only in military circles
but also among men prominent In State
and municipal affairs and in the social
world.
He has been among the most earnest
workers in the cause of military pre-
paredness, his work in this respect being
compared with the earnest campaign
which the late Lord Roberts led in Great
Britain before the beginning of the pres
ent war.
He was regarded as one of the main
factors behind the PIattsburg training
camp idea, which has now spread over
the United States. similar camps being
established in many points for train
ing young men and fitting them to as
sumo the duties of officers in the differ
ent branches of the service.
II success in war is a matter Of steel,
as the experts insist, then the entrance
of the United States into the war is of
paramount Importance.
In August. 1914 the steel-making coun-
tries stood as follows: Entente Powers
Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, France
and Russia; Central Powers, Germany
and ustria-Hungary; neutraIs United
States, Italy and Sweden. The worlds
steel made elsewhere was not l per cent
of the total. The alignment as to steel
making capacity was as follows:
Per cent
Entente Allies ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. rs
Central Powers ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 2Ss
The German purpose, as was readily
recognized very early in the war, was to
occupy Belgium, comprising 33 per cent
OF the worlds steel-making capacity, and
the eastern portion Of France, in which
about three-fourths OF the French steel
making capacity was located Thereby
the Entente lost about SO per cent OF
their rs per cent: but Italy's entrance
into the war gave them IL per cent,
leaving them 2o7 of the total. against
their enemy's 81.
Putting the United States into the war,
the alignment of production comes out
as follows:
Per cent
Entente Allies .....-.................. 736
Central Powers Observation-Disclosures. 257
Neutral .............
The neutral Is Sweden. All other coun-
tries that poduce steel worthy of mem
ton are at war, and the proportion is
almost three to one against the Central
Powers.
A unique campaign hat for army use
has been invented by Policeman l.
d. Mahan, of the District of Columbia
police force, who served one enlistment
Of three years in the Forty-seyenth
Company of the United States Coast Ar
tillery Corps. The campaign hat may be
used as protective helmet. an emer-
sency tntrenchfng tool water bucket
wash basin, or bailing implement
Trench helmets require stout lining
to minimize the shock from the i'm
pact OF projectiles striking them. In the
English and French helmets this lining
Is permanently attached to the inside of
the helmet, which cannot. therefore. be
used for subsidiary purposes. With the
Mahan helmet the lining is easily de-
tachabie When not on the hat the he'll
met may be carried slung upon the
pack on the back between the shoulders:
and when required for protective pur-
poses 1t may as readily be attached to
button, which operate through the stiff
brim, thus giving the helmet a certain
additional amount of elasticity of move
ment to Withstand shock.
The material is steel, about .05 inch
thick, and believed sufficiently strong
TO prevent the penetration of small
caliber projectiles and shrapnel bullets
and fragments
The helmet is not intended TO replace
the regulation intrenching tool, but in
emergencies, as, for example, in dig
sing a rifle pit, it may be used for that
purpose. 1t may also be set up in front
of the head of a prone soldier as a shield,
the sharp edge partly embedded in the
ground.
AS a bucket for watering horses at a
well or spring and for carrying water
from the source to the camp fire or
kitchen this helmet is admirable. 1t is
also an excellent wash basin. especially
for tired and dusty feet after a hard
days march when It is not permitted to
pollute the water OF small streams for
sanitation purposes: AS a bailing i'm
plement in trench or boat this helmet is
said to have no superior.
ARMY ORDERS