The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-10-16
BY Mabel Abbott


Americas biggest national
army cantonment--NaJor Da-
vid l.. Stone.
War department figures show
that Camp Lewis IL not only the
biggest cantonment, but that 1t
has been constructed at lower
cost per man to be trained than
any of the others.
Major Stones cor"truction fig
ures include 1900 buildings put
up, los miles OF road made, 36
miles OF sewer built, rs miles Of
water line laid, 10000 laborers
employed, 100000 feet Of
lumber-12,00O carloads--bought,
delivered and used. and $4,000
900 spent, in two months time.
During Strike, at That.
And all this has been done
while lumber yards and mills and
logging camps all over the north
west were tied up by a general
strike, and the labor market was
running around in circles!
WHO is MAJOR STONE?
Well, he is a small. quiet Off
Ger, with hair grazing little at
the temples already, tho he is
only Al years old.
He Is usually to be found at his
desk in a small room in one of the
implanted. rough board buildings
of the new army-city, crowded by
his staff and a constant stream of
contractors, engineers. officers,
committees of business men, and
everybody else whose interests in
any way touch the construction
of the cantonment.
Not q New Hand.
The rest of the time he is hus-
Ting around the three-mile long
and two-mile wide camp in an au-
tomobile as energetic and unos-
tentatious as himself.
For large additions have. re-
Gently been ordered, and he is still
on the job.
Tho the record he has made at
Camp Lewis is attracting special
attention, because everybody has
been holding the stop-watch on
the country's race against time in
Its war-preparation, this Is not
the first big construction Job
Major Stone has had charge Of.
He has been building big things
for the government for IL years.
Some of them are:
Many Achievements.
Rebuilding Old Fort Omaha, at
Omaha, Neb.
Installing electric lighting sys-
tenn at Fort Crook, Neb.
Constructing reinforced con-
crete post of Fort Sill, Okla.
All construction work in the
various posts In the Hawaiian de-
partment, while stationed for some
years at Honolulu. This included
building Fort Kamehameha, at
the entrance to Pearl Harbor,
building Fort DeRussey, In Homo
lulu; completing work at Forts
Ruger and Shafter, and planning
and carrying on the building at
the large post of Schofield bar
racks, near Honolulu, including
an extensive water system of nine
dams, 1S tunnels and five and a
half miles of concrete bitches.
Came Here From Honolulu.
He was ordered to American
lake Immediately at the close of
this work In Honolulu.
But before Major Stone began
building army posts, he was doing
an entirely different kind of
work.
From the day his class at West
Point was graduated three
months ahead of time in order to
take part in the war with Spain,
to the day, six years later, when
he fell wounded by a Moro
weapon in a rush on the Gotta"
or fort, of the sultan of Cato,
Mindanao, he was in about all the
fighting the United States did.
With his regiment, the 22nd
infantry, he went straight from
| West Point to Cuba as part of
Gen. Skaters expedition, which
resulted in the capture of Santi-
ago and the end of the Spanish
| American war.
Saw Much Fighting.
Some months later, the regi-
ment was sent to the Philippines,
arriving in Manila, with the ma
jor's usual luck, Immediately after
the outbreak of hostilities.
AS an officer of this regiment,
he was in the field against the
| insurgents for three years, and
A rrnnrN a Hr rHrvyEHymcs =