Norwich bulletin., 1918-01-29

 They have been made military inNev- ny sense of the word. They have lot been especially fortunate in .es- ,aping attack from the air, and our aarly losses in this war were the loss IS of Red Cross nurses and doctors and and attendants in hospitals and ambulance drivers who were sent over to assist our allies i'll these nec- essary services, thus not only rend- ering assistance, but acquiring skill | and knowledge of the circumstances | and surroundings, so that when our | own troops came in large numbers they could render like services to our own forces.
 Had to Build Railroads.
 s'But that was not enough. It was suggested that further groups of me chanics might be needed Nay, we began to see that we were going to be over there in large force, and the question that then had to be answer ed was, how will we maintain an army in France? Special studies had to be made of that problem, and this is what they showed They. showed that the railroads; and the facilities of France had during this war been kept in an excellent condition: far better
 
 conditions. And. yet, that those rail- roads were used to the maximum to take care of the needs of the French and the British themselves and that when our army became a great army, it would be necessary for us to build back of our own line an independent line of communication.
 Difficulty in Getting French Parts.
 4tI ,<5-, xxyI,.t .to sheet of paper so far as we were con- cerned and on that we had not only to write an army, but we had to write the means of maintaining that army, and from the first time when a careful and scientific study of the opportu- mites of France to help us were made, from that hour until this. we. have been building in France, facilities, instru- n1ents, agencies, just as many as we are here in the United States and more, many of them of the same character. | For instance the French had natural ly reserved the best ports in France for | their own supply. The channel ports have been reserved for the British. | When we came in it was necessary for l us to have independent ports of en- try in order that there might not be | confusion and admiNture of our SUD- plies, going through these ports of dis cmbarkation with those of other na- tions. We were given several ports As you perhaps recall. the ports o1 France are tidal ports. ports with deer 1 water and tidal basins at high tides with insufficient water for landing al
 the docks when the tide is out.
 Have Had to Build Docks.
 "As a consequence the construction
 of docks and wharves in ports of tha
 Kind is very much more difficult thar where you have a deep-sea harbor, an(
 all you need to do is to erect a pill
 wharf. We have had to build docks 1 we have had to fabricate. in this coun | try and send over dock handling ma
 chinery; we have had to send iron
 tEis country even the piles to build tn
 docks. We have had to have gauntr,
 cranes. manufactured in this country
 rent over to be erected on those docks
 we have had to erect over there ware
 houses at the ports of disembarkatiol
 in order that these vast accumulation
 of stores and supplies which go owe
 can be properly housed and cared for
 until they can be distributed into tn
 interior
 Building Railroad 600 Miles Long.
 we have had to take over, and ar
 in process of rebuilding and ampiify
 ing railroad 500 miles iong in crde
 to carry our products from our port } of disembarkation to our general base
 Of operation. And all of that, gentle
 men, had to be done, not only studio out, as a necessary thing to do, bu when so studied out and here, tn
 manufactures for those things have t bc carried on in this country and tn tthings shipped over there nails. cross
 ties, spikes 1shplates, engines. cars
 buildings. We have had to build ord
 nance depots and repair shops an, great magazines of supply in the in
 terior. All of that problem has bee carried forward step by step. Tn plans for a single ordnance repsI
 shop, which saw some time ago, GOV cred acres and acres of ground, de
 signed over here. the iron work fab rjcated over here; built here, disas scmbled. put in ships and carrie
 abroad to be reassenlbled over there Barracks Have Been Constructed. "We have had to build barracks eve l there for our soldiers and in the mea
 time to billet them around in tn French villages Building barrack over there and building the mhere / q very different thing, gentlemen. When we summoned the lumber in dustry of this country to produce tn l lumber to build our own cantonmcnt. 5 1t came in great and steady strear } from all over the country, but whe : We talk about building barracks i } France, it meaRs this: it means to or l ganize, as we have organized, regi l ments of foresters and sending ther
 over into the forests of France whic
 they, have assigned to us for our us.
 cutting down the trees, setting u sawmills, making the lumber of vari ous sizes, transporting it to the place
 where it is to be used, and then nal y using it.
 g Planted Corn in France.
 t ''We have had to go back to tn l planting of the corn in France in or @ der that we might sometime make f harvest. Our operations began in tn I forests of France, not in the lunbe n yards as they did in this country. d d Great General Staff.
 d That great staff under General Per @ shing's direction, containing so man ? men from the American army, enrich
 ed by captains of industry and mas
 ters of technical performance in tn -, country, all of these large industri; :, operations under general directio y such as the railroad and dock build . ings, under former vice presider e and now a vice president perhaps ', the Pennsylvania railroad. Atterbur and men of that quality and exper = ence summoned in to aid hin1-thos = are the men who are carrying forwar q q these operations, which are quite { ' expensive as those which are carrie on over here. ard of far greater diff = culty, because it. means getting ma $ terial by cable as to sizes and spec a fications, having it fabricated here an sent across through, these infeste Il three thousand miles of ocean an : then set up on that side.
 "In addition to that, on the othe