Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-11-21
PERMIT VIEW
OF HUGE us,
WARMACHINE
Details of Vast Army and
Equipment in France
Allowed Published.

American Headquarters in France,
Nov 19.-tBy the Associated
Press The extent of American
zeal and ingenuity on in front the
armistice was declared is shown by
statistics which the Associated
Press is now permitted to make
public While the figures required
to tell the story are in themselves
amazing, it should be remembered
that they show only part of the
! great effort in war preparations in
men, money and material.
On the morning of Nov. II, the
United States had IN France 1881
officers and 1,SS1,376 men, a total
of almost two million. As has al
ready been announced there were
. 1900 combat troops in the Ar
gOnne, action. This number does
not include the American units en-
gagged on other parts aof the front.
The American army has brought to
France and has in operation 967
standard guage locomotives and
13,174 standard guage freight cars
of American manufacture. In ad-
dition it has in service $50 locomo-
tives and 973 cars of foreign or
igin. To meet demands which the
existing French railways were un-
able to meet S43 miles of standard
guage railway were constructed.
Five hundred miles of this have
been built since June l. On top of
this the department of light rail-
ways reports the constructions of
115 miles of road and 140 miles OF
German light railways were repair
ed and put in operation. Two hun
dred and twenty-five (225) miles Of
French railway were operated by
the Americans.
Work Day and Night
In building new roads as the exi-
gehcies Of battle operations requir-
ed, in keeping French roads re-
paired under the ceaseless tide of
war transport. and in constructing
bridges in devastated battle re-
gions, American engineers worked
day and night The whole region
behind the American lines is full
of typical road machinery, much Of
It a character never before seen in
Europe. To do this work the Amer
lean expeditionary forces had In
operation Nov. II more than fifty
three thousand motor vehicles of
all descriptions.
Even at the present time IT is not
permissible to hint at the vast
stores OF munitions and armament
brought over and held in readiness.
The Associated Press, however, is
allowed to give approximate fig
ures showing what has been ac-
Complished in the accumulation of
food supplies. 1t will be seen that
American expeditiOnary forces were
in no danger of being placed on
short rations, had the war conttn-
ued, although the Americans had
promised the allies vast quantities
of food.
Mountains of Food.
In army terms, one ration repre-
sents the quantity of each article
each man is entitled to daily. 1t is
interesting to note the supply Of
some of the principal ration com
pOnents.
Today. for instance. the Ameri-
cans 300000.0OO rations of beans
alone, 1S3 100000 ratiOns of -four
and flour substitutes, 267OO0,000
rations of milk, 161 ,O00,00 rations
of butter or substitutes. 143,000,-
600 ratiOns Of sugar. S9000,00O ra-
tiOns of meats, 57,O0O,OQ00 rat1ons
Of coffee and $4,000, 900 ratiOns OF
rice, hominy and other foods. There
are requisites such as flayorings,
fruits. candy and potatoes in pro-
portion while for smokers there
are 76l,000O0 rations Of cigarers
and tobacco in other forms.
Result of Home Economy.
Army authorities point out that
these vast necessary supplies for
the army represent food economies
on the part Of the people at home.
without such economy the work
would have been seriously hindered
nor would America been able 10
promise certain of the allies great
assistance in meeting their require
ment5 during the winter The AS
sOciated Press is informed that the
American army had engaged to give
the French 100000 pounds of
meat. $500. 900 pounds of beans
and rice. -four and milk in proper
tion To the British 5000 900
pounds OF meat were promised
while the Beleians were assured
that they would receive 500 900
pounds OF ratiOns Of all kinds
Docks Foil Foes Aims.
Ten steamer terjhs have been
built at Bordeaux. having a total
length Of 400 feet At MOutoire
near 81 %aZario, eight berrhs are
under construction with total
length of over thirty-two hundred
feet. These. however. do not indi-
+ cate the magnitude Of the effort Of
The engineer corps. Iu this phase
of Improvement to French ports
great labor has been expended in
dredging operations. repairing
French docks and increasing rail
way terminal facilities. Ware
houses having an aggregate floor
area of almost twenty-three million
square feet have been constructed
This development OF French ports
/ increased facilities 10 such an eX-
tent that even il the Germans had