Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-10-17
YANKS' FREIGHT
HANDLING ASTON
ISHES THE FRENCH

American Port, Southwestern
France, Sept. 27.-(Correspondence) !
Eighteen big steamships of 5000 to
5000 tons each were unloading
American army goods at the rate of
10000 tons a day along the three
miles of American docks here today.
The spectacle was a stirring scene Of
activity. Crowds of enlisted men as
sisted at the matches and manipulat-
ed the giant cranes as big steel motor
trucks were lifted out bodily, along
with parts of locomtives and railway
cars, and all the miscellaneous
freight Of an army, while an army of
negro stevedores kept the steady
stream of goods moving back to the
nearby warehouses and trains.
Taking care of this avalanche Of
army goods coming from America. is
quite as much Of problem as TAX
ing care of the arriving troops. Here
one obtains an idea of the mammoth
proportions Of the equipment which
, the Americans have been compelled
to set up for this branch of the eX-
petition. Coming from a northern
port. a succession of big American
establishments was seen at every port
along the western coast. At one
port We're II American docks or
berths, at another port eight, at a
third four, another three. Here at
this main port are 16 American docks
each with 1000 feet of frontage.
These As docks at the five main ports
represent a dock frontage of about
ten miles. capable of unloading 10000
tons of army goods every day, or an
average of about SO pounds per man
for everyone serving in France.
And vet, great as this present
equipment IS. it represents only about
third of The vast installation which
IS moving steadily forward to COM
pletion in order to meet the needs of
an army of several million men. The
basis of calculation for this huge
work is SO pounds per day per man
this being an average covering the
whole range of military supplies. in
dividual and general food clothing,
ammunition, guns, and all other army
requirements.
On this established basis of so
pounds per day per man, an army of
million men requires $4,000, 900
pounds of goods daily. or $4,000 tons.
But as the American army in Europe
has long exceeded the million mark,
the scale of preparation must be far
In excess of this Is, 900 tons a day.
reaching not far from the gigantic
total of 100000 tons daily, to be un-
loaded from ships, stored in ware
houses and trains, and started on its
way to the men at the front. 1t is
THIS colossal daily requirement which
stfrs into intense activity these
miles on miles of American docks
where three shifts of soldier work
men, WORKING night and day, are un-
| loading scores OF steamships.
Seven miles back from the water
front there is another huge American
installation where goods from the
ships are stored on their way to the
'front.'. 1t is gigantic, like everything
IN this vast military influx, and when
we visited it today the 147th ware
house had just then been completed.
Each warehouse is 500 feet long and
together they stretch along four
miles of front.
~ Tic HeiSHDoTIHR camp were 1000
negro troops and laborers engaged in
the warehouse work. An American
railway system connects the water
front directly with this storage plant
and incessant streams of army goods
keep moving forward to the ware
| house plant. The whole place fairly
throbs with animation, and besides
the enormous industry there is the
bustle and activity of countless
camps with their khaki tents dotting
the fields fer miles along the rail-
way.
Altogether. on the water front and
receiving plant, the working force
incindes $4,000 engineer troops, 1000
stevdores, 5000 civilian laborer, 1000
German prisoners and 1000 infantry,
IN all $4,000 men carrying on the