The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1917-08-14
Especial Cor. to New York World.)

d
ly comprehensive inquiry into ths
problems which must be solved ane
the things which must be done befors
the American expeditionary force car
strike at the enemy with strength
equivalent to that of an equal numbei
of their French and British comrades
Now that month has passed and the
rudiments of soldering have beer
solidly implanted, every officer who is
not directly busted with the actual
routine of training is throwing every
ounce of energy and brains he pos
sesses into the transcendently impor-
tant task of organization.
From talks with many officers thus
engaged and from my own knowledge
OF the American army's needs, / am
able to sketch in broad outlines the
colossal machinery which must be set
in motion before the American troops
can participate in an offensive like
that recently undertaken in the Ypres
and User sectors.
Chief Things to Be Done.
General headquarters must be es-
tablished and linked up with all the
units, including the hospital units and
the maritime base.
Details and arrangements for feed
ing and munitioning the men in the
trenches and for carrying back the
wounded and disposing Of the dead
must be worked out.
The operations department of the
general staff must have familiarized
itself with every square yard of the
territory upon which our men will
fight.
Artillery officers and men must have
learned all there is to know about the
French "sevnty-fve" field pieces as
well as the fine art of creating acreep-
ing barrage fire just ahead of their
..cs,a advancing as nv without drop
ping shells among the latter.
There must be an adequate engineer
ing free for lacing barbed wire in
front Of the trenches and constructing
of small forts, machine gun redoubts,
vast subterranean shelters and all the
other complicated defenses necessitat-
ed by trench warfare.
For every regiment in action re-
serve battalion, from which can be
drawn the drafts of men required to
keep the unit up to, full strength, must
be created in the United States.
A reserve store of ammunition of all
kinds must be got in readiness suffi-
Gent to guard against every emer-
gency.
The number of horses and mules now
available must be increased and so
must the number of motor trucks.
Situation Grave but Not Gloomy.
These eight essential cogs in the
mighty engine behind the firing line do
not by any means complete the list OF
requirements. They give fair idea,
however, Of the magnitude of the job
that is being tackled by Major Gen
Pershing and his assistants and ought
to give the people at home an mixing
Of what it is going to mean to the
whole nation.
The situation, as it is painted to me
by men familiar with every phase OF
it, is grave but not gloomy. All the
things have set forth above are go.
ing to be done, provided only that the
country supports its soldiers with al
the means at its disposal.
MANY of them are well on the roae
to accomplishment already. An Officer
Of the quartermaster's department
who has just returned from visit tt
the front has gained clear concep
ton of the way he is going to looi
after the mems bodily welfare. Hs
traversed miles of marvellously bull
trenches and tunnels, all drained BY
special system newly adopted ant
hygienically treated along every Incl
Of their length. He studied tn
method by which food is brought t
the men in the front line, piping hot
from kitchens two or three miles i
the rear. He inspected all the lates
improvements, in miniature railway
and trolley lines and acquainted HIM
self with the intricacies Of donke'
transport under heavy fire.
aWithin a week." he told me, !"
will guarantee to have things or
ganized SO that our men will get a.
Irish stew-all the ingredients 9
which viii have come from the Unite
States-within fifty yards OF tn
Germans This does not mean, 9
course, that the American troops WI
be as close to the enemy as that IN
weak but merely that the quarter
master will be ready for them whe
they do get there.
Ration d Wholly American.
The field bakeries having got unde