South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-29

perts whom they brought over with
them you did not see much OF. and
vet they distributed themselves
through the war department and
their ordnance experts sat down
with Gen. Crozier. their supply ex-
perts with Gen. sharpe and his as
sistarts their strategists sat down
with the army war college, and all
over this city there were these con-
ddentiai groups exchanging infor-
nation, giving us all that they
thought was helpful. And then came
Jofre. with his wonderful reputa-
ton and his great and charming
personality. and he made "a great
figure here and we welcomed him
With him came this unobserved
staf of - or 20 or 25 young men,
the most brilliant men in the French
army-strategis mechanical eX-
perts experts in arms. experts in
supplies. experts in industry and
manufacture. We sat down with
them in little groups until finally we
COllated. and collected and extracted
all the information which they
could give US from their respective
countries
The one thing they told us from
the very beginning 70 the end was
that this war. Of all others. was
not "a static thing. that our adver-
sary was a versatile and agile ad-
versary: that every day he revamp-
ed and changed his weapons OF at
tack and his methods of defense.
ID. g
weapons Of one kind and another
which they had developed in France
and England and which. even be-
fore they got them in sufficient
quantity manufactured to take them
from the industrial plants to the
front. were superseded by new ideas
ard had to be thrown into the
scrap heap.
Pcrshing Takes over Experts.
Therefore, it became necessary
for US 10 have eyes there in instant
and immediate communication with
us. and we sent over to France Gen.
Pershing. and we sent with him not
merely a division of troOps-tO that
/ shall refer in a moment-but We
sent with him perhaps l can say
safely the major part of the trained.
expert personnel of the army. 1t
was a pitiful handful OF trained
men. and yet it was necessary to
divide them up and send over to
France officers Of the highest quail
ity so that they would be at the
front and see in the workshops and
i'm the factories and in the war Of
fees. and in the armies, and send
us back the details by ca BILE every
day of the changing character of
this war.
Gen. PershinEs staff of experts
and officers over there runs into
the thousands. and they are busy
every minute and every day that
the sun rises. / get cablegrams
from Gen. Pershing from 10 to 10
and 20 pages long, filled with meas
urements and formulas and changes
OF "A millimeter in size, great long
specifications OF changes in details
Of things which were agreed upon
last week and changed this week.
and need TO he changed again next
week. SO that what we are doing at
this end is attempting 10y using the
eyes Of the army there to keep up
to what they want us TO do.
Ordnance Bureau Grows.
The little group which stayed
here has built the great special de-
partments of the army. The ord
nance department starting. / think,
with % or pc officers, has now, as
I recall the figures. something like
5000 officers
I'm the meantime when we start
ed into this war I think it was COM
monty thought throughout the
country that our contribution at the
outset might he well financial and
Industrial The industries of the
country. the appropriate industries
and many converted industries were
! largely devoted TO the manufacture
of war materials for our allies.
las I suggested this morning
when We went into that market we
: found it largely occupied, 50 that
our problem was not going 10 a shoe
( factory and saying make shoes To-
us, but II was going TO a factory
\ which never made shoes, because
4 all the shoe factories were busy
making shoes for people from whom
we could not take them, and saying
I learn how 10 make shoes in order
l that YOU may make them for us
Now of course. that is not true
/ OF shoes but it is true of machine
/ guns. il IS true of other arms, il
is true OF ammunition. il is true
1 OF forging capacity. which was the
/ greatest defect in the country, and
/ all Of this time we had not merely
not 10 disturb the program OF allied
manufacture in this country, but we