The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1918-04-10
Daily Eight Trains Bring Soldiers
| Ruined Equipment to lie
Mans From Front.
5000 Make OVER GARMENTS
Frsneh Redeem 10000 Pairs o.
r. Trench Boots and $1,000 Pieces Of
Outer Clothing Monthiy-osr.
man War Prisoners Work,

material and soldiers ruined equiI
ment. There have been as many q
II trains day heavily loaded wit
this material picked up on battlefield
and around camps. LIE Mans would b
the paradise Of ragmen and dealers 4
secondhand goods were 1t not 70
the fact that the French army is find
ing it's own use for such Of the mate
rial rs it is able to recuperate or n
pair. -
Establishments located here by til
luartermaster's department recGpel
stes monthly $1,000 outer garments
1e5O00 undergarments. $500 pairs o
shoes. $4,000 pairs Of trench boots, %,
900 steel helmets. '270ooo sheepskil
capes ina 10000 pieces of equipment
Theses articles are made ready 70
use again by disinfection. renovation
and repairs. There are, in addition
made each month from pieces Of cloth
ing that are not repaired, 1OO,OO'
pairs of slippers, 10000 cases for sol
diers' canteens. $4,000 forage caps
$4,000 shoe laces, 10000 cloth case!
for bread loaves. and 10000 wash
rags. D..
5000 In Repair Shops.
The recuperation and repair Of worr
and damaged articles began in thu
spring of 1915 in vast warehouses AMI
repair shops in which 5000 persons
Including 1000 refugees, mostly won
en-, are employed.
Here and at Les Murlins. northwest
OF Orleons, among the quays from
which the mobilized men Of the fifth
military region went off to war 10
August, 1914, German prisoners Of
war now line up in front Of incoming
freight trains and unload quantities
of great sacks that look like the prod
net Of = gigantic ragman's shop.
The Understandable mass invokes the
eonfusion. as well as the tragedy, Of
the battlefield. There are pierced and
planted ( helmets, worn. and stained
,pieces of Uniform, forage caps, great.
coats, leEgings, army shoes and trench
boots, some Of them pierced by bullets,
some torn by shrapnel and others
shredded by violent contact with
buried wire. ~
All Of them are covered with. layers
of mud Of varying thickncsses and
not infrequently q garment presents
. stain Of an indeflnable color, always
easily recognized but got rid Of with
difficulty, These garments receive
special treatment. They are first
thrown into q receptacle which they
20 through a long and thorough cleans.
ing before being treated as other gar
Ments.'
lsathsr, Metal and Cloth.
The lirst operation on the arrival Of
a train Is the sorting Of the load into
three piles, leather, metal and Cloth.
Tho cloth and canvas 60 at once into
immense disinfecting tanks that are
IN operation night and day, and from
there to the laundry. Then they 60 to
another warehouse, where they are
separated into repairable and unre'
pn:rable; here there is great deal Of
IAppiks to separate trimmings from
garments and to divide the garments
themselves into pieces Of as nearly uni.
tfSfin stSS % possible to facilitate theil
FaHsfol hStion Into comfortable slip
iSe .iiiEs!. n''sf .':...-.'" - ''".' y
saThe lsteep skins are purified BY 4
sulphur application In the abandoned
vault Of an old cemetery near by,
where 1000 Of them are treated each
day, after which they are made plia.
BILE and ready for wear again by a beat
lng machine. Some of them are able
70 take another turn at the front, but
the most of them. along with pieces Of
uniform, are distributed among the as.
sembling stations at the rear for the
equipment of auxiliaries and among
the hospitals for the clothing Of con.
yalescents.
Rags are sold here at the rate Of
u hundred bales per day, weighing In
the aggregate about u tons. This rep
resents the wear and wastagc of cloth.
ing received at LIE Mans alone; an
equal quantity is received at Les Muir.
Tins. +. ~" y"
Kettles, braziers, lanterns; drums.
musical instruments and all kinds Of
tools also pass through here on their
way to Rennes to be dealt with by spe-
cial establishments where the per-
centage Of; ,recuperation is said to be