El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-10
BAKER REVEALS
ARMY FIGURES
US. Has Army of 1, 800, 900
Under Arms; Force in
France Ready.
CCOatinued from Page One

OF the army Of the United States at
that time
On the S1st day OF December. 1917,
the regular army consisted OF l0--5l
officers and $4,000 enlisted men; the
national guard 1901 officers and
100000 enlisted men; the national
army Of 100000 men; and the reserve
OF S4,575 officers and 72,750 enlisted
men. IN other words. in nine months
the increase has been from 1924 Of
ficers to 110.S56 officers and from
202,51O 10 1.42S,650 men
Largest Force Raised by L. :.
During the war with Spain. the
army Of the United states at its
maximum strength aggregated 2I2--
600 men and officers The total num-
Der already in the military service
is one and a half times as large as
any force ever modified by this ma
a substantial part Of our military
forces was selected by the operation
OF a draft law. the execution Of which
has demonstrated both the economical
and the efficient way of selecting sol
diers. The law itself was drawn. its
execution carried to a successful con-
clusiOn and the theory Of the law
novel TO our people, explained and
made popular, because of its demons
trated fairness both in plan and exc
cution.
HFhsUWV 4 rum lamps
For the training Of officers two
series of training camps were held
from which about $4,000 officers were
commissioned from civil life This
number is nearly eight times as great
as the number Of officers in the reSu-
lar army on the first day of April
For the training Of these soldiers
16 cantonments have been built, cost
ing s134. 600. 600, with an average prof
it TO the contractors of 2-9S percent.
Death Rate Is Low.
The death rate in our forces in the
United States from mid September 10
the end Of December averaged 10 pei
thousand and is slightly less than
would have been the death rate OF
men OF the same age at home. In 1895
the death rate per 1000 was 2Q.l4. OF
nearly three times as great our
death rate in the army during 1916
just before the war. was five per
1000. Leaving out the deaths due to
measles and its complications. our
rate among all troops in the United
States since September I has been
about two per 1000.
80 Times Usual APPROPRIATION.
For the fiscal year 1915 congress
appropriated for the war department
SI5S, 100000: for 1916. sos, 100000, for
1917. S402. 600 600; for 1913. $751;
S3S716. In other words, taking 1915
d1 AAD4 MAI ear AAAE aAl AA U ~ ID LAAi lAs
for 1918 are nearly 80 times as great
The regular appropriations made
by congress for all government pur-
poses for the fiscal year 1915 were
S720, OOO, 600. or nearly one-tenth the
1918 appropriations for the war de-
partment alone. OF the total war de-
partment appropriations for 1918, So
200 100000 was for the ordnance de-
partmeut. OF which contracts amount
ing TO sl.s77, 100000 already have
been placed.
1904 Officers in Ordnance Dept.
"On the first day OF April. 1917. the
ordnance department consisted Of %
commissioned officers Now It con-
sists Of 5000 officers and in addition
has $500 enlisted personnel.
IN addition 10 the selection and
training OF this new force. the max
ing OF these great contracts and the
follow Up necessary in the manu-
featuring process, a continuous study
OF new weapons and instFumentalities