The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1918-01-10

The Paris edition OF the New YORK
Herald, issued November %, contained
the following interesting story relative
TO the American engineers now "some-
where In France" under date Of No
yember 20, and while the letter makes
no mention of the Idaho boys who are
i'm the 10th Engineers, will be read
with more than passing interest:
Somewhere In France,
November g.
Rumors reach Americans in Paris
from time to time of the arrival of
army engineers for the purpose of pre-
pairing the way for the balance of the
troops on the way. A Herald CORES
pondent looked into this, with the re-
suit that he was amazed at what the
United States is doing.
ALI along a waterfront engineers are
draining marshes, pumping sand in,
sluicing draining the water from the
sand, dwelling the sand down to the re-
quired level, sinking piles, erecting
wharves, all taking up at the present
time about seven miles of frontage
This length can be increased to twice
the figure. Working with this corps of
engineers Is an American company well
known in New York City. The men are
the experts of experts I'm their line and
paid enormous wages. They work in
cessantly, without holidays or day Off
unless they wish to have the same de-
Quoted from their wages. saw a crane
capable Of lifting seventy-five tons at a
time. The whal yes now under cOnstruc-
ton will be finished for a length Of two
miles in six months hence. On these
wharves will be erected enormous ware
houses to house provisions of all kinds
and ammunition, guns clothing, and so
on. Already as much as two miles of
marsh have been converted into good
land.
Saw mills are in full whizz, gasoline
engines send wheels revolving just as
at home, air cOmpressOrs whirl noise
lessly turning great boring machines
and anything turnable, all silently di-
rected by American experts at 70 cents
an hour. Some were actually construct
ing an enormous boat or scow for pile
driving operations to prepare the way
for the platforms of the wharves.
Lumber was piled up all along the
waterfront, having been switched off
from q main line on to a subsidiary
line erected for the purpose. / saw as
much as 650,0O0 feet or Southern pine
which would delight the eyes of any
one from south Of Mason and Dixons
line The section of wharves referred
to would represent a frontage of
wharves in New York from Fourteenth
street to Twenty-third street. And more
is coming.
recognized an old acquaintance in
Mr.. Louis Lande, general superinten-
dent Of the Phoenix Construction Com
pany, of New York, who was directing
his men with mastery skill. Replying
to a number of questions, Mr.. aLnde
said:
I'VE are going to have twelve more
enengines In few weeks, which will
give us more power to work by. We
are filling up about $4,000 cubic feet of
marsh at this point with sand from the
sea bottom. Right here we are filing
up about 1000 It. in length, 200 IT. in
width and 8 IT. or 10 IT. In depth. We
have eight lighE pile drivers already
here and a couple of floating pile-driv-
ers, two floating derricks, four skid
derricks, two sawmills, three air COM
pressors ard several bOlt-threading
machines, and this is only one part of
what you see before you. Yonder there
is more going ON. Our company is
paid by tn Government, with percen-
tage on the total cost"
Inventive fsenius.
On these wharves will be the ware
houses, and back Of this monstrous un-
dertaking will be a network of railway
lines, all serving to transport the goods
from the warehouses, to shift them on
to other lines and direct to the front
Terminal arrangements are just what
they are in any great city in the Unit.