Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-06-02
GEN. ATTERBURY
TELLS OF WORK
BEHIND FRONT
Iauds Spirit of the Men Who
Toiled in Transporta-
ton Service

The achievements of the United
States transportation service IN
France were praised yesterday uS
.Rrigadier General William w. AT
terbury. who reached his home IN
Radnor after nearly two years serV-
ice in France. His staff ofhcers' az
from Philadelphia, returned Win
him.
He returns with the Legion OF
Honor medal which was awaroeu
him for services in France, the DIS
tinguished Service Medal aWarueu s.,
bv the American Expeditionarg
Force. and the Honorable Order OF
the COMPANIONS of the Bath given py
the British government. The Generdl
gave the following outline OF MS
work overseas:
.sThe transportation problem that
confronted the American eNpeul-
tionary forces. briefly and generaily
stated, was as follows: ,.
First. Ports-It was pertectiS
clear from the very outset that' 10
take care of the tonnage the A H. + ,
would bring into France, IL Wouiu
be necessary TO utilize to the maxi
mum every berthage accomIhou%-
ton not already in use by the frehch
or the British that was avalianle U,
that could be made aVailaoie' am
that bevond and additional to all OF
this. it would also be necessary "
provide new port facilitles.
eft was with this understanding OF
4be situation that, in con1uncuoh
with extensive Improvements MADE
at existing ports in France. the spieh,
did dock project at what we calleu
American Bassons, just OUTSIDE OF
bordeaux. was undertaken ana car
ried out to completion. Here Was
arected out of the mud bank or the
Coronne river a modern ten-oerth
dock. which was equipped Win
forty electric gantry cranes. Inls
proiect constitutes one or the uiS-
+inctive achievements of the y. r. r
In France. .-,a
Second. Personnel-A the time
America went into the war the si.-
nation on the French rallroaus III
the matter Of transportation person
mel was becoming serious. rms w.
due 10 the fact that by reason o!
tho 1,ar there existed no source or
srnnIv from which could be recruit
Cd an ADEQUATE number of sultap.e
emDIoves 10 meet the constant needs
81 tba railroads. the strain OF three
wears of work under war condluohS
was telling on the men, ana con-
seouentlv. tho caliber OF the person-
mel on an average was not so Alsh
as in peace times.
| THE plan of the a. +. F. was 10
provide transportation torces con-
1nensurate. with the added burden
that the traffic of the a. r. +. placed
11pon the French railroads, ana IN
addition, to provide such supple
mental forces in the way OF car ana
locomotive repairmen, malntehahce
of way men. etc, as could be pIouen'
over from the States consistent WIN
the requirements of the comoatanI
troop program.
Fouipmcnt Also Furnished
Third, quipment-LKeWlse IN
tba line of railroad equipment the
Frencb had reached a rather serious
stage when the Americans began 10
arrive in France. A considerable per-
centage of the Allied equipment had
hcen captured by the Germans IN the
big drive at the beginning of the
war. and in the stress of warfare IL
had been impossible for them to give
their locomotives and cars the at
tention they should have received,
with the result that an excessive
number of bad order cars and loco
motives had accumulated.
Zone of the first steps taken on
behalf of the A. Z. f. was to ar
range for the shipment to France
of experienced car and locomotive
repair forces to restore this bad
order equipment to working condl-
ton.
Largest Yards i'm World
1T would be difficult for one who
has not gone over the army develop
ments in France to get n reasonable
idea of their scope, and this is par
ticularly applicable in the case of
these yards. Several of them are the
largest in the world and in general
they represent the last word in mod
ern yard construction. The plans
for the development at Gievres call
ed for 264 miles of track, 1852 turn
outs, 4.41O,000 square feet of covered
storage and 0,SS7,000 square feet
of open storage. At the time Of the
armistice 1872 miles of track, 3,552,-
600 square feet of covered storage
and 100000 square feet of open
storage had been completed. The
project covers an area of $500 acres.
Transportation Corps Praised
II cannot speak too highly of the
work of our transportation men in
France. No body of men worked
harder or more industriously, and
no body of men is entitled to greater
credit.
I'm the corps we had some of the