The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1918-04-11

Three large appropriations. inciud
ing the S640, 100000 act passed without
a roll call, made Il total Of 1901 0OOO0(
available for the first year. All of this
has since been obligated
Last April the air service had ar
almost negligible force of GO officers
and 1,120 men, 3 small flying fields
less than 300 second-rate planes. prac'
ticaly no aviation industry. and only
the most scanty knowledge of the ka-
ledoscoplc development abroad. The
first two months of war were required
10 secure Information, establish a STAFF,
and work out the program finally
adopted. The problem was twofold-
first personnel; and, second, equip
ment.
Today the personnel is over 100
times that of year ago. practically
every member a skilled man who has
gone through an intensive course OF
training. = Schools of IL different
kinds have been instituted, courses
of instruction laid out, and instruc-
tors secured, including foreign ex-
perts in score OF lines.
Development OF Navy.
The development OF the navy during
the first year OF war has given the
greatest satisfaction. Its growth and
achievements during this period ray
be epitomized in the following para
graphs:
Strength OF the navy today Ia
nearly 2l,000 officers and $4,000 en-
listed men; strength year ago was
4,792 officers and 77,946 enlisted men.
Estimated total expenditures OF the
navy during first year OF war: Dis
bursements and outstanding obliga-
lions, 1881 ,0O0.O
Total naval appropriations. real and
pending, S3,333, I'll ,665.04
American destroyers arrived at
British port to assist In patrolling Eu-
ropean waters IS days after the decls-
ration OF war.
There are now four times as many
vessels In the naval service as a year
ago.
Nearly 10000 mechanics and other
civilian employees are working at
navy yards and stations.
When war was declared, 1913 naval
and contracts have been placed since
that time for 949 vessels.
More than 700 privately owned yes
sells have been purchased or chartered
by the navy.
Six new authorized battleships are
designed to be Of 1880 tons, the larg-
est battleships In the world
Our 35,000-ton cruisers, 35 knots,
will be the fastest In the world, their
speed equallng the fastest destroyers.
Prompt repairs Of 100 interned Ger
man ships, partially wrecked by their
crews, added more than 100000 tons
to our available naval and merchant
tonnage.
The navy has developed an Ameri-
can mine believed 10 combine all the
good points of various types Of mines,
and Is manufa curing them in quaint
ties
During the year tho latest type OF
naval 16-inch gun was completed for
our new battleships; II throws a pro-
iectIle weighing 2.100 pounds.
Navy has in It's possession now a
stock Of supplies sufficient for the
average requirements for at least one
year
Several hundred submarine chasers,
built since the war, have been deliv-
cred to the navy by 81 private con-
Germs and six navy yards; many OF
these boats have crossed the Atlantic.
some In severe weather.
Naval training camps have ca
pacity OF 100000 in summer, $4,000
men in winter
Shipping Boards Progress.
Up to date congress has authorized
2,O34 100000, OF which S1135,0 100000
has been appropriated, for the
United States Shipping board and
Emergency Fleet corporation; on
March !, $3.50, 247,9 55.37 of this sum
had been expended.
The Emergency Fleet corporation
had reQuistioned March l, 425 steel
vessels and contracted for 720 steel
vessels making n total Of 1,145 steel
ships, Of an aggregate lightweight
tonnage OF S,164,50s tons; 1t had let
contracts for 400 wooden vessels, ag-
gregatlng approximately 1,7l5,00O
dead weight tons; II had repaired and
put in operation $4,000 lightweight
tonnage seized from Germany and
Austria.
ON March 8 the building program
Of the Emergency Fleet corporation
was being carried on in 151 plants.
First Year's War Cost.
Total estimated expense OF the
United States government in the first
year OF war. without loans to the
allies, is s12 ,O67 27s,87907
To help meet this expense, the treas
nry department 1oated S6,616 532 300
subscriptions 70 Liberty bonds
Bonds, certificates Of Indebtedness.
War Savings certificates. and Thrift
stamps issued by the treasury mp to
March - totaled $500, s02 052e6.
The United States government had
lonned 10 foreign governments asso-
ciated In the war on March II, 1918,
50 436, 800, 1850
TO March II the war risk insur-
ance bureau had issued policies for
total of 12.465. t16,5oO TO the armed
forces.
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A large number stepped out and now
nearly all the thermometers for use In