Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1918-06-20
ARTILLERY NEARLY
ALL IS MOTORIZED.
AMERICAN ARMY TO GO FURTHER
!. IN THIS RESPECT THAN HAS
! ANY OTHER. lSsl
NOTIFYING Of CASUALTIES

NOTIFYING OF CASUALTIES
How the War Department Informs
Rsiattvss Of Killed and Wounded
eeldlsrs-Radlo and Buzzer Opera
elen Taught In 600 Schools.
Ufom Committee on Public Information.)
Observation-Disclosures of field
ARTILLERY will be carried to a greater
sxtsnt h the American army than in
nv other army engaged in the war.
ysot only win far greater amount of
mseor equipment be provided in pro-
peEdon to the strength of the army,
~ It will be used for work where
almies now In the field depend solely
upon horse power and man power.
The ordnance department has sue
cssded in developing such types of
zactors that exclusive Of the heaviest
Asad artillery mounted on railroad car
kaageA all American artillery will be;
tnetcFized, with the exception of some
e3 the three-inch gun batteries. The
Deoelem Of motorization of field artil-
1ary is difncult one, which explains
why It has not been carried out to Il
greater extent than has. been the case
!Weh the armies that have been fight
Ing n Europe for the last three years.
Ihe possible output of tractors for
~ lxansport Of field artillery in the
iUntted States Is practically unlimited,
whereas the supply of horses is at
present limited and is becoming more
20 each month.
Relatives Of soldiers named in cas-
ualty lists forwarded from France or
dinarily are notified within "a hours
after receipt Of the lists, according to
. statement authorized by the war de-
partment A statistical division"
with stan Of officers and a corps of
stenographers, gives all Its time to
ths maintenance IL fAes of soldiers
names and addresses. This division
no1ifa0 relativeA
A copy Of the roster of each contin-
oant aailipg to join the expeditionary
1peces is fled In card index fashion,
sacA card bearing the name of one SOL
disr.. his organization, and the name
and address Of parent or other relative
g friend designated by him to be noti-
Aees1n emergency. When a casualty
~ = received from General Pershing
GneA name cabled from the American
sxpeditionary force is listed with the
emergency address on file in the card
index. Al rapidly as the new list with
emergency addresses is built up the
telegraph clerks get duplicates. These
clsrks already are supplied with blank
telegrams which require only the rela-
dvs's address, name of sender, nature
oe casualty and the date, and filling in
the blank spaces they get the tele-
grams of as quickly as possible. In
addition to maintaining the telegraph
blanks for the sake of speed the statis-
ttcal division is supplied with sets of
form letters to be filled in and mailed
when further details are available.
While relatives are generally in re-
celpt Of information within "a hours
after the cables are received, delays
are sometimes due to clerical errors
caused by the fact that names must
pass through so many hands in France
and In America, Incorrect emergency
addresses turned in by soldiers. re-
moval of families to addresses other
than those listed, and the occasional
necessity for cabling back to General
Psrshing to verify a name or to obtain
~ address.
Aside from these four causes of de-
M the only reason for the failure Of
relatives to receive word at once is
military consideration. General Perish
Ing may, at his discretion, withhold
casualty list until he is positive
Il will have no military value to the
enemy.
Through the operation of repair
shops for clothing and other articles,
. considerable saving in reissue of new
equipment has been made at army
camps. One camp quartermaster esti-
mates the Issue of new clothing has
decreased one-third, and of shoes 40
par cent.
At base repair shop for clothing
IN average Of 1881 garments were re-
paired daily during the first 1S days of
Nay. In addition to the work done at
bese repair shops, many thousands of
garments are repaired at camp shops,
sas shop being located at each large
camp:
, During April nearly 10000 pairs of
shoes were repaired in army repair
shops. At present practically all hat
repairing is done by contract, the
price varying from so to 80 cents per
hat.
This work is in charge of the conser-
vation and reclamation division of the
euartermaster corps, which has been
81 operation only during the last four
nonths.
The food administration is making
careful survey Of the national ice stu
alton In order that 1t may be prepared
u meet any sudden shortages in par
ticular communities. The destruction
~ ice plants by fire, breakdown of ma
aehlnery, or the exigency of the weather
= - at any time cause a serious short
ess.
! lncpmplete returns from 25 states
sAow that nearly 3.4O0. 600 women have
reaiatnrAd for war work under tho