Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-10-31

grope amid the wreckage and debris
and save it from complete abandon
ment and loss. Each detachment COM
prised 20 enlisted men and an officer.
They had trucks and derricks and all
the paraphernalia for gathering brok-
en- down cannon, rifles, cartridge belts.
helmets, clothing, and the vast stores
OF abandoned arms and material left in
the track OF a contest, and to send it
back to the salvage depot here.
Strange things have come out Of this
war. but none stranger than this gil
gantic salvage plant where everything
from crippled guns m cannon to old
army o n cups is saved from
total loss and turned back to some USE
ful end at the front. At first people
looked at it as a freak. There was
nothing X 1t in the civil war or the
more recent modern wars. It started
on q small scale with 200 hands.
Make Monster Saving.
But now. after a few months, it 10 q
monster industry, with huge buildings
and towering stacks. 1t will save the
government $35.000,0 900 the first year,
and it may reach $780, 900, 900. THIS is
no freak; it is cold, hard saving of
millions OF dollars. at a time when ma
terial Is scarce and shipping difficult.
1t Is the anti-waste campaign brought
to it's highest development by a huge
government undertaking.
Going over the plant there was an
opportunity to see the remarkable de-
tails of this salvage. The wreckage Of
the battlefield is only one of the sources
of this salvage. explained our escort.
but it is the greatest source. AS men
spring into action. they throw aside
everything not absolutely essential.
There Is besides the litter Of the actual
fghtinE. broken and abandoned goods
OF every conceivable nature.
If it mn 0v,1,y ,,n1A a. N.AA -
troops, but what is left by the enemy,
OFTEN great stocks. Of guns, ammunition,
bayonets and every kind Of fighting
material.
Even when there is no battle, the
mere shift of a division Of troops leaves
an enormous stock Of abandoned goods.
Moved on short orders, the men pick
up = few fighting essentiais-guns,
blankets. emergency rations-and leave
the rest behind, books. extra cloths,
shoes, etc. The men arrive from AM
erica with an undue amount Of cloth
ing; 1t is trimmed down at the first
training camp; again II is trimmed
new trimming of thousands of men
means another huge stock for salvage.
Like Great Factory.
In the main building, a quarter Of a
mile long, there was a roar of a vast
and diversified industry, with over
1000 women workers and a thousand
men, with long batteries of sewing ma
chimes. shoe machines, rubber and har-
ness-Hachines such az n sees in the
huge Installation of engines. boilers,
disinfecting plants. laundries; and the
whirr of big metal machines for maxi
ing over h many branches of ord
nance.
Hundreds of ONE were sorting
tho prnifornoS ori MISUNDERSTANDING met
come from the salvage processes.
There were some 100000 blouses. on
these towering shelves, and as many
more of all the othe7 articles Of soldier
wear. They were In bundles. looking
very fresh and clean. quite, like the
Enlistment. The women were ar
ranging the garments in three classes:
Class A-Garments in good order,
practically the same as new, to be sent
back to h front al part Of the supply
for fighting troops.
but fully repaired. to be sent to the
base ports on the coast, for labor
troops and ~stevedeEes.
Class C-Garms;ats much worn but
in a fair state os preservation, to be
sent to the prisoA camps for German
prisoners.
This was significant of what the
German prisoner,i were getting; not
the best, to be sure, and not the same
goods as u w men, but worn goods
! n a fair state OF preservation. 1t
seemed to be an answer to the outcry
that the German prisoners were get
ting the same as our men.
One could follow the stages of the
huge stacks Of hob-nail army shoes
from the time they arrived. covered
with the mud and CRIME Of the trenches
and the battlefield. through process
after process Of disinfection. cleaning,
repairing grading, until they finally
wear. Like the garments. these were
classed t. go back to the fighting
troops. or to the s~teved0res, or to the
German prisoners.
Infinite Variety Of Things.
It was the same with the infinite
variety of army equipment going
through the salvage process. rubber
ness for artillery. saddles. brides.
stirrups. All ek it was on asprodigious
scale. $4,000 garments q day: 1000
pairs Of rubhSr boots a day at the
army price Of $2.65 a pair. The sal
wage Of all kinds Of rubber articles
was 80 per cent, or almost a complete
saving Of everything received.
ing was saved last month, and the
magnitude of the work as a whole can
be Judged from these figures of the
output: Shoss,. $325,12 clothing.
5 1907, O26; harness and leather. $751;
900: rubber. 100000: canvas and web
bling. $4,000.
There are soSae curious things gath
cred up in this litter Of the camps and
battlefields: for example, three flreless
cookers. Enough books and magazines
are left behind to stock several II
bsaries. Pictures and knick-knacks