Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-16
U. s.AR|pY AIDING
WAR ON U-BOATS
Many Ships Released by Bust
ness Methods In Handling
Various Military Supplies.
MUCH BOUGHT ABROAD

BY the Associated Press.
WITH THE AMERICAN. ARMY IN
FRANCE December 15.-The Army 1t
self Is helping to. best the submarine
Figures just made available show that
the American expeditionary force by
paying close attention to the business
end OF. its activities has relieved the
ships of the allies of the task of carry
ing many thousand tons of Army mate
rial, the ships thus released being util-
lied for other services equally i'm
portant
This has been done through the actiyi-
ties of the general purchasing board.
which has bought all the material posi-
BILE ON this side of the Atlantic rather
than order 1T shipped from the United
States The magnitude of the task Is
shown by the figures for the first half
of November. during which one of the
numerous branches of the board bought
in France $4,000 tons of tools and equip
ment, 1000 tons of railway tires and $50
tons of cars These purchases involved
an expenditure OF ls,0o0.0o0 francs.
of France, while at the same time saw
ing the cargo space of some twenty YES
seis of 1880 tons each.
1lluSLldI1Vc OG AL IoIhhChCS.
This saving for single fortnight in a
single Army branch is illustrative of
what has been done in every branch by
the new purchasing service. for which
Gen. Pershing is, utilizing bankers and
commercial experts who are anxious to
do their part in France, and who, I'M
der the direction of Regular Army ex-
perts. are now engaged in work similar
kr-ok =, -. Ia k11>~1 tv,r fxrfI
Long before the American troops be-
gan coming across the Atlantic in
any great numbers, the system Tor
buying supplies of food had oeen
worked out. The railroads had to have
timber for ties, steel rails and rolling
stock. Ships for carrying purposes had
to be listed and so directed that pre-
ferred shipments could be speeded up.
brought TO France for the Army and.
IL possible, the winter needs of the
civilian population.
Allies Sell Their Surplus.
Moreover similar work had to be
done for the British. French and Ital-
ian governments Each army needs all
II can get of everything. and the prob
lem is that of ascertaining where the
need is the greatest. This once de-
termined the next question Is as to the
lowest prices and the largest supplies.
1HIluE tne course OI the tIdhcACtAOhbs
the allies sell to one another their re-
spective surplus and also negotiate
with neutrals-
Fer instance, IL neutrals owning tim
her needed cotton or coal they were
supplied and therey transformed from
complaining traders into appreciative
business friends. The examples where
this has been done are plentiful. but the
details are not available for printing.
Industry Preserved.
1t is a fact. however, that the new
army purchasing system has played
a large part in preserving the leading
manufacturing industry OF neutral
country to which raw material had
been supplied. the army receiving in
exchange urgently needed war mate
rial.
The ,price-fxing policy which the
United States has adopted at home in
certain articles is being carried on by
the Army in France, aided by. shrewd
use of business information and special
aid from, the British and French au-
thorities. In fact. acquisitions are sent
to Washington only when the desired
goods. supplies and materials are not
ootainable in Europe.
Here is what was done about boilers,
the need OF which developed recently:
american factories were ready to sup
ply them and the order was about to
be placed when the board determined
the boilers could be made here II raw
material were available. The raw
material, moreover, would take up one
tenth of the cargo space Of the finished
product, 30 plates were reQuisitioned
and the ship bringing them carried a
large quantity of other materials. The
'boilers now are being built.
Now Getting More Coal.
When the need of coal developed
England had plenty. but bottoms for
carrying It were not available. The
board promptly Communicated Amer
lean vessels and now coal for the Army.
the Red Cross and the French civilian
population is coming across the chan
I mel at an increasingly rapid rate.
Whatever material is needed. whether
food, steel. wool. cotton or zinc, the
board confers with its volunteer advis-
ers selected from the foreign branches
OF American commercial houses and