The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-10-07
TRANSFORMATION AND
 LANDING OF YANKEES
NO. g.

NO. g.
 AMERICAN SUPPLY HEADQUAR- TIERS. TOURS. France.-Two car loads of hair brushes abandoned by American soldiers in camps were among the wreckage of battle brought today to the great salvage depot of the American army here This was only one little item in the grist of debris and litter from the lighting zone which has been care fully gathered up and sent here for restoration.
 Five thousand persons are en- ployed in renovating and repairing this wreckage. The material thus saved and restored to use or sold amounted in value last month to $2.5OO.OOO.
 In the big battle around Chateau Thierry, as our fighting men went over the top they were followed closely by detachments of non-com- blatant troops to grope amid the wreckage and debris and save it from complete abandonment and loss. Each detachment comprised twenty. nine enlisted men and an officer. They had trucks and derricks and all the paraphernalia for gathering brok- en-down cannon, rifles, cartridge belts, helmets, clothing and the vast stores of abandoned arms and ma terial left in the track of contest, and to send it back to the salvage depot here.
 Strange things have come out of this war, but none stranger than this gigantic salvage plant where everything from crippled guns and cannon to old army shoes and caps IS saved from total loss and turned back to some useful end at the front. At first people looked at it as a freak. There was nothing like 1t in the civil war or the more recent modern wars. It started on a small scale with 200 hands.
 But now, after a few months, it is monster industry, with huge build ings and towering stacks. It will save the government $35 ,OO0,0 ,0O1 the first year. and it may reach $5O,OOO,- OOO. This is no freak; it is cold, hard saving of millions of dollars, at time when material is scarce and shipping difficult. It is the anti waste campaign brought to it's high est development by huge govern ment undertaking.
 Going over the plant today there was an opportunity to see the re- markable details of this salvage. The wreckage of the battlefield is only one of the sources of this salvage, ex- plained our escort, but it is the greatest source. As men spring into action they throw aside everything not absolutely essential There is besides the litter of the actual fight ing, broken and abandoned goods of every conceivable nature.
 ! ~ 10 Aot OAiy WAdJ lS lClI Uy Oul own troops, but what is left by the enemy. often great stocks of arms, ammunition, bayonets and every kind of fighting material.
 + Even when there is no battle, the mere shift of division of troops leaves an enormous stock of abandon ed goods. Moved on short orders, the men pick up a few fighting es- sentials-guns, blankets, emergency ratiOns-and leave the rest behind, books. extra clothing, shoes, etc The men arrive from America with an un- due amount of clothing; it is trimmed down at the first training camp; again 1t is trimmed down as they go to the front. and each trimming of thousands of men means another huge stock for salvage
 In the main building, quarter or mile long, there was roar of vast and diversified industry, with over 1000 women workers "and thousand men. with long batteries of sewing machines, shoe machines, rub Der and harness machines such as one sees in the great factory dis tricts; with the same huge installa- tion of engines, boilers, disinfectng plants, laundries; and the whirr of big metal machines for making over the many branches of ordnance. Hundreds of women are sorting the uniforms and underclothing just come from the salvage processes. There were some 100000 blouses, on these towering shelves, and as many more of all the other articles of soldier wear. They were 'n bundles, looking very fresh and clean, quite like the stock of well-equipped clothing establishment The women were arranging the garments in