Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-03
Uncle Sans Big War Construction Program i'm This Country

Philadelphia Another will be created
near Newport News, and others will
probably be built at sixty or seventy
places. scattered here and there over
the country. These cities will be laid
out after the best OF modern civic
planning and they will continue to ex-
list after the war is over as model in
dustrial centers. Great Britain has
already put more than s500,000,000' into
such buildings, and it is said that she
will have to spend at least half bill
lion dollars more.
And now let me say word about the
cantonment cities which Uncle Sam has
already constructed. They have been
built and paid for. Their cost was Just
about $134,000,000, apj that was $l6,-
100000 less than the amount which
Congress appropriated for their con-
struction. The cost of each of these
cities ran into the millions of dollars.
Three cost more than 100000 and the
money spent on each of two others was
upward of s10.o00.Q00.
The military cities had to be erected
in different parts of the country and
under all sorts of physical conditions.
In some places the ground was fat, in
others hilly and in others it had to be
drained. Camp Shelby. which is some
where in Mississippi, covers an area of
forest and the trees had to be cut and
10000 stumps taken out before the
city of $4,000 soldiers could begin to
build.
=
The speed with which these cities were
erected has never been equaled. At Camp
Devens, Mass, for instance, the 1,72S
buildings making up the cantonment city
were erected at the average rate of forty
minutes per building. The whole city was
constructed within eleven weeks. Twenty
portable sawmllS cut the lumber at the
site to save hand saving. The 10000 doors
and 10000 windows required were made
in mills throughout the country. In ad-
dition to the quarters for the men, the
structures included 20 administration
buildings SIS storehouses and 33l stables
During the job 1875 motor trucks and 200
wagons were used. and the work was SO
modified that lumber was shifted from
the cars to the mill at the rate of one
half million feet per day and carted by
trucks from the machines to the buildings
where it was needed. In this way more
than sc. 900 900 feet of hlmber-enough to
make a boardwalk a foot wide and an
inch thick from San Francisco to the bat
tlefelds of France-were carried to the
various units of the cantonment.
The organization and plans for all of
this work and also for other great build
ing schemes which the government has
now under way were created through the
committee on emergency construction of
the Council of National Defense. In order
undertakings and how they have been car
ried out l have had a talk with Maj. w.
A. Starrett. the chairman of that commit
tee. Mai. Starrett is one Of the chief in
dustriaI officers of Uncle SAINTS great
labor army. A leading architect of New
York city at the time the war broke out.
he has been accustomed to dealing with
large contracts. and he understands the
building and labor conditions of the coun-
try He had taken his training at PIatts-
burg and was expecting orders for
France when he was called by the adj
ministration to serve here on this COM
uaitteee at Washington. The first subject
that came before the committee was the
environments; In reply to my questions
rera riding this. Mai Starrett said:
THE problem was staggering The
government had to provide thirty two
great military cities and build them
from the ground up. 1t had to gather
the building materials from widely
scattered parts of the United States
transport them to the places where
they were needed and create the or
ganization and plans for doing the
work. Congress had decided to appro-
pirate ,S15O.000,000 for the purpose, and
this vast sum of money must be eff
GENTLY and economically spent. The
committee had to organize the work
ing forces. and it needed the very best
men of the country; for the job had to
be done within a short space of time
The first thing was to make the con-
tracts and plans. For this purpose we
looked over the United States and call
ed to our assistance the trained ex-
perts of the greatest building and en-
cheering concerns. We inquired as to
the best specialists of many of the
great industrial plants and got them
to send their men to advise and assist
us. They came from all parts of the
United Statesmen who were receiving
salaries ranging all the way from $5,-
listed in Uncle Sans Army and settled
down to work here on the salaries OF
captains and majors. 1t meant their
giving up the greater part of their in
comes but they accepted the situation
on patriotic grounds. These men form
that splendid organization now known
as the Cantonment Division"
FRANK G. CARPENTER,