Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-09-13
JOTTINGS FROM
MY NOTEBOOK
By RALPH NJ. MORPHETT
Supplying An Army.

very lew people Tedilhe what II
means to feed big army. The fol-
lowing article from the New York
Evening Post supplies the informa-
ton:
Everyone knows that as our
army in France grows, the task of
supplying il becomes even greater.
Upon this the Germans counted as
a factor forbidding our effective
participation in the war. We might
be able to send men across If men
were all, but to send the soldiers
plus the vast amounts of food,
clothing, arms, ammunition, and so
cn-that would be impossible
Prussian pens have doubtless esu-
mated that the meat and potato
items in the ration of an army or
million would alone reach nearly
100000 tons yearly. The war de-
partment has lifted enough of the
curtain upon our army supply to
show that it is going satisfactorily.
1t has even outstripped the trans
Cort of men, making possible the &C
Cumulation of growing reserves AT
the beginning of July our army had
available in France fOOdStuffs SUI
ficient to supply a million men for
a quarter OF a year. There were
canned milk and vegetables enough
for practically one year; there was
butter for 81 days, flour for 1O2
DAYS, coffee for II days, prunes and
lam for 40 days each. There was
hav for the draught animals for
in q
four, The soldiers had shirts
enough for three months, and coats
Cor nearly the same period; they
had stockings for ITO days
breeches for 20 days, and under
shirts for so days.
How huge is the problem of sup
ply when armies of many millions
have to be fed, clothed and armed,
the world still imperfectly under
stands. After the FrancO-Prussian
war. Europe expressed admiration
for the German quartermaster S
work; but he did nothing compar-
able to what all the great Euro
pean nations and the United States
are doing now. The British army
had up to the end of 1917 made
purchases through its contract
branch alone for nearly four billion
dollars worth of goods. The an
nuaI gross outlay, exclusive OF
guns, ammunition, aeroplanes and
motor transport, was then reaching
81. $50 900, 900 a year. Isaac
Marcosson states that each month
this British army was consuming
20. 900 tons of flour, 5000 tons of
- mn
tons of hay. In one year the great
British army had required more
than 100000 flannel shirts, 49,
900 900 socks, some six million each
Of jackets and trousers, 100000
overcoats, and 100000 cardigans.
The puttees required in a single
year aggregated 100000, and
the turkish towels 100000. AS
he says, ponder these figures, and
you begin to think that demands
are written on ten-league canvases
with brushes of camels' hair. The
wool clip of the whole British Isles,
the Australian continent and New
Zealand was swept into the hands
of the government If the United
States is required to place an army
comparable to England's in the field
we shall learn that what seem mere
trifies will often bulk large enough
to require a small fleet OF ships. It
does not seem extraordinary that
up to the end Of last year Britain
had purchased $4,000 tons of cheese
and $50, 900, 900 large tins Of jam;
but we should hardly think OF such
a requirement as 10000 900 horse
shoes, or even 100000 gas helm
cts. The medical supplies alone.
from ether to chemicals that heal
trench feet" make heavy demands
on EnacR