The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-06-19
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. NOTES
Effort to be Made to Have Army
Camps Purchase Supplies Locally.


Senators Il. r. Tillman and e. d.
Smith, Congressman A. F.. Lever,
chairman of the house of representa-
tives committee on agriculture, Chair
man ID. Il. Coker of the South Caro-
lima Council Of Defense, Mr.. William
Elliott, Federal Food Administrators
for South Carolina. and United States
Food Administrator Herbert Hoover
the question of army cantonments in
South Carolina, Georgia, and North
Carolina, and in other Southern States
using Southern grown corn, oats, oat
straw, corn meal. wheat, vegetables,
canned goods, meat, ETC., instead of
taking up transportation space, equip
ment, time and money unnecessarily
shipping to these cantonments thou
sands of tons of these commodities
from distant western and northwest
ern States, when these necessities that
can be bought right within few
miles of the army cantonments, and
thousands of dollars of freight money
saved to the government, and thou
sands of box cars saved for the trans
portatiOn of food and feedstuffs to
and from other points in the country
by the short hauls which would have
to be made by purchasing these COM
modities that are produced right at
the gates or confines of the canton
ments within 10 to 100 miles of the
military camps.
The Sumter Chamber of Commerce
wrote the quartermasters of Camp
Sewer at Greenyille; Camp jackson,
at Columbia. Camp Wadsworth, at
Spartanburg, and Camp Hancock a.
Augusta offering thousands of bush
els Of corn and oats, and other for
age and food and feed stuffs. but re-
ceived no satisfactory replies owing to
the fact that as the office of the de-
pot quartermaster at Atlanta writes,
the requirements of the various
camps are purchased by the office of
the quartermaster general, subss-
tence division, Washington, d. c., By
months, after securing prices If the
Facilities at Sumter warrant, it might
be advantageous to have corn ground
or milled. submitting prices to the Of
flee of the quartermaster general"
The specifications for furnishing
flour. corn (no information submit
ted about Oats) are as follows:
Must be degerminated.
Must not contain moisture to ex.
ceed IL per cent.
Must not contain fat to exceed 2.5
per cent.
Must be made from corn reasonab-
ly clean, free from smut or deteriora-
tion Of any kind.
Packed in 9S Id single sacks for do
mestic use, and in 100 Id double osna-
burg sacks for export.
No statement about oats or wheat
have been given.
Mr.. Henry j. McLaurin, Friday
in addressing the Chamber of Com
merce letter asking that this organ
ization try to do something for the
relief of the farmers, writes in part
as follows:
II feel that this Is a matter of vi
tai importance to every farmer who
has complied with the request of tht
food administrators and the Council!
of Defense, and in consequence o..
same heavily increased their acrcages
in corn and oats.
Il have today four carloads thresh-
ed oats, put up in standard bags and
ready for immediate shipment; also
four carloads of baled oatstraw.
have written to each of the three
camps in the State and to the camp
ut Augusta, also to the chiefs of the
forage departments in Kansas City
and in Chicago. They all advise that
they are not in the market for any
oats at this time. 1 understand that
you have written to these officials
also.
IT do not think 1t exactly right for
the administration to urge us to
plant heavily in grain unless they are
willing to cooperate with us in the
marketing of the same.
IF you will compare the difference
in the amount Of equipment and
freight charges necessary to transport
the grain for the four camps referred
to from the west, as compared with
that necessary to supply same from
South Carolina, you will readily rec
Ognize the enormous saving in equip
mont and freight tO tho pOyprpn,ppt