Omaha daily bee., 1918-09-16
MILLIONS SAVED
IN WAR SALVAGE
Behind US. ARMY

Material Saved Behind Ameri.
can Advances Amounts
to S2,500,000 During
August.
American Supply Headquarters
Tours, France, Sept. 1.-two car.
loads of hair BRUSHES abandoned by
American soldiers in camps were
among the wreckage' of battle
brought today to the great salvage
depot of the American army here
This was only one little item in the
grist of debris and litter from the
fighting zone which has been care
fully gathered up and sent here for
restoration. Five thousand persons
are employed in renovating and re-
pairing this wreckage. The ma
terial thus saved and restored to use
or sold amounted in value last
month to $2,500.000.
In the big battle around Chateau
Thierry, as our fighting men went
over the top they were followed
closely by attachments of nom
combatant troops to grope amid the
wreckage and debris and save it
from complete abandonment and
loss. Each detachment comprised
% enlisted men and an officer. They
had trucks and derricks and all the
paraphernalia for gathering broken
down cannon, rifles, cartridge belts,
helmets, clothing. and the vast
stores of abandoned arms and ma
teriai left in the track of a con-
test. and to send it back to the sal
wage depot here.
Salvage Big Industry.
Strange things have come out Of
this war, but none stranger than this
gigantic salvage plant where every
thing from crippled guns and can
non to old army shoes and caps is
saved from total loss and turned
back to some useful end at the
front. At first people looked at it
as freak. There was nothing like
it in the civil war or the more re-
cent modern wars. 1t started on a
small scale with 200 hands.
But now, after a few months, it
is a monster industry, with huge
buildings and towering stacks. > 1t
will save the government $l5 ,000,-
600 the first year, and it may reach
$50, 100000. This is no freak; it is
cold, hard saving of millions of
dollars, at a time when material is
scarce and shipping difficult. 1t is
the anti-waste campaign brought TO
its highest development by a huge
government undertaking.
Going over the plant today there
was an opportunity to see the re-
markable details of this salvage.
The wreckage of the battlefield is
only one of the sources of this sal
wage, explained Our escort, but it is
the greatest source. As men spring
into action they throw aside every
thing not absolutely essential. There
is besides the litter of the actual
fighting, broken and abandoned
goods Of every conceivable nature.
Arms Are Recovered.
1t is not only what is left by our
own troops, but what is left by the
enemy, often great stocks of arms,
ammunition, bayonets and every
kinds of fighting material
Even when there IS no battle, the
mere shift of division of troops
leaves an enormous stock of aban-
doned goods. Moved on short
orders, the men pick up few fight
ing essentials-guns, blankets. emer-
gency rations-and leave the rest
behind, books, extra clothes. shoes,
etc. The men arrive from Amer
lea with an undue amount of cloth
ing; it is trimmed down at the first
training camp; again it is trimmed
down as they go to the front; and
each neN trimming of thousands of
men means another huge stock for
salvage.
In the main building, a quarter
Of mile long, there was the roar
Of vast and diversified industry,
with over 1000 women workers and
i thousand men. with long batteries
IF sewing machines. shoe machines,
,ubber and harness machines such |
is one sees in the great factory dis
riots; with the same huge installa-
ion of engines, boilers. disinfecting
plants, laundries: and the whirr Of
zig metal machines for making over
he many branches of ordnance.
Women Aid Work.
Hundreds of women were sort
ng the uniforms and undercloth-
ng just come from the salvage proc
,ss. There were some 100000
on these towering shelves,
md as many more of all the other
articles of soldier wear. They
we're in bundles, looking very fresh
md clean, quite like the stock Of a
we'll equipped clothing establish
nent. The women were arranging
he garments in three classes:
Class A-Garments in good order,
the same as new. to be
sent back to the front as part of
he supply for fighting troops.
Class B-Garments partly worn
,ut but fully repaired to be sent
% the base ports on the coast for
abor troops and stevedores.
Class Garments much worn,
out in a fair state of preservation,
% be sent to prison camps for Ger
nan prisoners.
Il