The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-29
Tremendous Preparation
For American Effort In
France Revealed
s'AMERICANS BUY
THEIR TRENCHES"
French Say British Only
Leased Theirs, But Not
So With Yankees
CBy iRHETA cHlLDE DoRRy

A standard joke, used with seVeraI
variations in French music halls, is
to the effect that 'The English only
leased their trenches for three years,
but the Americans have bought
theirs This witticism is a tribute
to the amount Of solid preparation
the Americans have made and are
making and the marvellous feats of
engineering which are progressing
from southern and western France
clear up to the battle lines. .-<
We own, temporarily at, least, sew
en- miles OF docks and wharves in one
great seaport alone. Most Of these
we have built, and the work is still
going on. B'or forty miles around
the seaport the sound Of hammer
and axe rings day after day as one
after another camp and cantonment
are established. Some Of these camps
are really small cities. In one, for
example, q hospital camp will house
$4,000 people. Provisions for 10000
beds Is being made. It will be, when
completed, the largest hospital in the
world.
A few months ago that hospital
site was q barren waste Of prairie.
y
well. Sewers there were none, and,
OF course, no streets. Now there is
q model drainage and sewer system.
There are a dozen miles Of paved
streets. There is a good water sup
ply, electric lights and telephones.
When visited this camp some fifty
hospital buildings were wholly cor
partially completed, and in the two
months which have elapsed since then
many more must have been built.
Most OF the materials used in this
vast piece of construction came over
seas from the United States, but no
small amount Of lumber was pur-
chased In France. Now France is
very short Of lumber and sells as
little Of it as she can. I asked the
colonel in command of. the work
where he got his building material,
and he replied with broad smile:
well, really stole it. had to
have the lumber, so when I found
out where it was, went over there
and just insisted. You see," he add
ed, ''over here no excuses are ever
accepted from anybody, You simply
have to make good on any job they
assign you to. If for any reason
you don't make good. you get sent
home"
SbetlG S&E3BsElCS FOF SupSs
II we could make up our minds to
apply this memorable method to some
of the people who are doing war work
On this side Of the water we might
get better results. At one Of the
camps in the neighborhood Of this
Same seaport In France they are
building a naval station. When it is
complete there will be provision for
A. 3
white birds that can sail three days
out to sea, that will possess power
to sink more submarines than any
armed vessels. The submarine is
visible from the air at q much great
er depth than it is from a ships
deck, and the seaplanes will carry
plenty OF deadly depth bombs. More
over, they will fly safely. The sub
marine cannot fight back at them.
When this camp is completed and
Rquippe forget that it has to
be equipped-those planes will do
more than convoy vessels into the
harbor, they will be used to train
9liers for a dozen other ports into
which our ships and our allies ships
now steal precariously. There are
no seaplanes there yet. The hangers
will soon be ready, though, and so
win the big repair shops, the bunk
houses for the men, the ammunition
warehouses, and all the other neces-
sary buildings. There is absolutely
no tneffictency over there.
The man who is in charge Of most
OF the mammoth undertakings in and
around this seaport now bears the
title OF colonel. Before he entered
his country's service for the duration
OF the war he was known as one Of
the greatest engineers in America
His largest feat was the canal which
connects Lake Washington with Pu-
get sound. TO build this canal. which
flows through the heart OF the city
or Seattle. the waters Of the big lake,
which is nearly twenty miles long
had 70 be lowered ten feet. To a
man who could not do that without
difflculty or serious accident the
work undertaken by our army forces
an france was a mere matter of talk
ing one step after another The first
was getting men, and there was no.
dlfftculty about that The draft fur
nlsned the men, or ait least the mass
OF them. Voluntary enlistment FUR
nlsneo experts in various lines. And
splendid men they are, those Amer
Acsan builders in France. or one regi-
ment OF engineers working for the
most part as day laborers there fully
Ai1ty per cent are college graduates.
Vast Railway System,
This seaport lies at one end OF a
vast railroad system which is carry y
ing our men and all the army sup
piles from the ocean to the fighting
front. 1t is a good harbor and a
famous one from the time OF the
Romans and even further back than
the Romans. But for present. day
war needs it is not good enough. 1T
hes sandbars and shadows, so one
OF the engineering feats our men are
doing Is the dredging OF that harbor
to admit the largest ships.
Another feat lis the enlarging of
docking facilities so that supplies FOR
an array Of three or four million
men may be quickly l1nloaded. An |
other sttu Is the building OF five
track spur from the docks to the main
line railroad. 1t would take columns
to describe adequately all the con-
Btruction work that lis being done in
and around this one city in southern
France.
Perhaps &c lis nobody's fault on this
side Of the Atlantic that a great deal
Ell the work has been delayed for
Iaclz of tools and machinery, but de-
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