El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-26
Bis
MAN ON BIC JOB
AS Gear of Panama He
Got Results Where
Others Failed.
By FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

by EAEDEhAG d hAaAANa
Washington. D. c.. April a5.-There
is a good man with a shovel in the
! office Of the quartermaster general
a decade ago he was engaged upon
the task OF cutting two continents
Z apart and in so doing ruled like a
/ car over Panama. George W. Goe-
I that's is his name and in the army he
ranks as a major general BY instinct
and training he is an autocraL
There are jobs in the world which
require such men. Executing the
3 greatest engineering enterprise since
3 time began and In jungle land was
3 one. Roosevelt appreciated the need
and found The man. The car OF PAN
ANA got results. The canal is in op-
] GRAFTON
Then FOR a time one Of the best
/ executives in the world was out Of q
/ job. Last year the government at
tempted 90 use his talents in the vast
task Of getting ships. But he shared
authority with another man. 4 dead
I lock ensued and the president re-
moved both men. GOefh, De-. trained
as q soldier. took his orders and said
nothing
There was then chaos in the war
department among those agencies
which supplied the armies in training
and the armies in France. Who could
penetrate this tangled jungle Of red
tape, dram the miasmic swamps OF
inaction. provide a clear channel
through which purchases for the
army might flow2
The Man for the Job.
Someone thought OF Cocktails. He
was made Daymaster and acting guar
termaster general with a degree OF
authority never before given a man
in those positions To this assign
ment were added the title and task
Of depot quartermaster. and the new
place and ,itle OF director OF storage
and traffic for all the armies.
Gen. Cocktails now has a task
greater than that OF digging a Pam
anna canal In its execution he spends
8 much in a month as he spends IN
Panama in q year.
And things are looking different
around the war department Many
officials have fallen. The quarter
masters corps has offered a refuge,
zone OF safety, to so many men
who covet the distinction Of a MILF
tary handle to their names but banker
not for the land OF the whiz-bang
and the carry on The Cocktails
regime is an unhappy time for them.
GoethaIs' Best Job.
But to get al what GOethars job
is like; In the first place. he is pay
master for more than a million men.
He is also their grocer, baker. butch
er, cobblef laundryman and tailor.
For maintenance alone he must
every year buy 100000 blankets.
5000. 600 breeches. Loot, 900 coats. 34.-
100000 pairs OF socks.
Then, Of course, a million men eat
a lot II takes inuumeFable kettles
in which 70 cook IL. motors 20 haul
II, fuel 20 drive them. Altogether,
there are 5000 separate and distinct
articles that must be bought for the
3 rrrrr- f-nnHhnTu hrrrru #hnur all
This one-man purchasing plan is
new. It was created by an executive
order OF the 9th OF February. Previ- I
Gus 10 that time the ordnance corps.
the engineering corps. the signal
corps. the medical corps. ana the I
quartermaster corps. each bought for
itself Each went into the market I
and bid against the other
No Conflicts Now.
Another rivalry that existed be-
tween the different bureaus Of the I
army during the first eight months I
Of the war. and which is being elimi- 4
mated BY letting George lin this case
Goethals) DO 10, Is that OF fascilitat- I
ing the shipment and storage OF sup Z
plies for all Formerly the bureaus
ran races with each other for cars /
and promptly filled them and shuttled I
them 70 terminal points. There ]
might OF might not be warehouse ca /
pacity for the material shipped. /
4 --lA q were many l1Ae4lG1 VI leLA = D
standing on side tracks. creating con- I
gestions when their contents were 4
sOrely needed Gen. Goethals was /
made director OF storage and traffic I
and has relieved the situation.
whenever there IS an elevator full I
OF wheat, or q warehouse fun Of I
timed meats. or q cantonment full OF Z
recruits fit TO fight. and Gen. Per- [
shing wants the material transferred I
from over here to over there. it is ]
Gen. Goethals who hires the railroad I
cars for the first stage Of the journey /
and the ships for the second.
Title ChauEeEt Authority Remains.
When the Sammies or their supplies I
rector Of storage and traffic ceases. !
The acting quartermaster general /
camp quartermasters. then /
takes charge. 1t must be remembered /
that the acting quartermaster general 4
Is also one George W Cocktails. He ?
is commanderinchief OF all the cooks t
Of the army. He conveys the cloth .
ing 70 the very backs Of the men and I
the food TO their mouths
But his task is not over even then Z
He also has authority over the recla-
nation division. he is laundryman in
chief 70 tire army and mender of the
holes in fits socks. When its clothes
become rags he gathers them up and /
picks up the bottles. tin cans. Gunny
sacks. and the scrap iron. All goes (
10 the rear % be used again.
such IS Goethals' new JOB. Meas I
lred from the standpoint Of expendi-
lures alone, 10 is four times as great I
rs the operation Of the entire govern I
nent before the war. 4