The Alaska daily empire., 1918-12-13

ment TOT the ATHy, MI bdhef BlVeS summary of what was accomplish ed in providing ordnance for the Army. When the armistice was signed 30,SS1 complete units had been contracted for On November 1, 10,634 had been delivered as fol- lows Trench 5000; light (field guns), 3,S5O; medium, 1,o7o; heavy, 695; railway, 19. The contracts were divided as follows: Trench 11.700, light, 10,113; medium 5,3S5; heavy, 3,472; railway, 211
 As to rifles, Mr Baker shows that 2,137,O25 of the modified Enfields had been accepted prior to Novem- Der 1. Browning machine guns pro duction is given as follows: Light, 47,019; heavy, 39,546. The following cablegram is quoted to show the per formance of the Browning guns in action:
 Experience of the Seventy-Ninth Division in offensive operations Sep. tember 25 to October 21, Browning machine guns Thirteen machine gun companies engaged, weather con ditions continuous rain and mud There was not one instance where the guns failed to operate due to muddy and wet belts. On the whole it may be said that the performance of the Browning machine gun aud automatic rifle in active operation has been so satisfactory as to create m insistent demand for these welp- )ns from machine gun units and from Division Commanders
 Mir. Baker gives much space to air
 raft problems, including the pro- luction figures published from time
 time in the past. He shows that },1S9 DeHaviland and 101 Handley-
 age machines were produced in this ;ountry and 1900 planes had been
 hipped to France before the armis-
 ce was signed. On the other side,
 676 planes of service types had cen provided for the American air ,quadrons by the French Govern nent. On September 30 General Pershng had 32 air squadrons at the front. the first of them to be equipped with American planes hay ing reached the battle areas in July
 Air service casualties, the report 3ays, have been higher than in the artillery and infantry and reports to October "A showed 12S battle fatalities and PA by accidents over 7eas. A total of 262 men had lost heir lives in this service while ill raining in the United States, mak- ng the total GA
 The general health of the Army has been surprisingly good, the re port shows, the death rate for all forces, at home and abroad, up to August 30 having been at the rate of 5.9 per 1000 per year, or little more than the civilian rate for men )f the same age groups. It compares with rate of 65 per 1000 per year turing the, Civii War and 26 during he Spanish War. Pneumonia caused j6 per cent. of the deaths.
 There were 316,00O cases of in fluenza among the troops in the United States during the late Sum. mer and Fall, and of the 20,500 1eaths between September IA and November 8, 19,S00 are ascribed to the epidemic.
 Discussing the embarkation ser vice, MT. Baker says that in 19 months a total of 2,075,S34 men and 5,153,000 tons of cargo were shipped overseas, the great bulk of these movements having been handled af ter January 1 of this year. When hostilities ceased, the service was engaging 3,O00,O00 deadweight tons of American shipping and S0O,OO0 more tons had been allotted it's use, with a half millions tons additional per month being delivered.
 In closing his report Mr Baker speaks this word for the men who fought the war at home:
 T desire again to express regret for it's (the report's) insufficiencies am conscious of how far it falls short in the matter of just recogni- tion of the accomplishments of my associates, of exhibiting in adequate measure the heroic achievements of our soldiers abroad, or of our sol diers and civilians at home, who have worked together to make this demonstration of Americas purpose and efficiency successful.
 Perhaps a special word ought to be said in recognition of those who from civil life have come at the country's call to places of exactng toll and have been denied the oppor- tunity to participate abroad in the heroic adventure, but have, neverthe- less, worked on, sometimes in uni form and sometimes without even that badge of distinction. Theirs has been in an unusual degree the call to self-sacrifice, but they have been none the less soldiers and have contributed in no small way to what ever, success has attended our arms
 TAkU IS IN BLOOM"
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