The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-05-17
CONSTRUCTION Of
CAN TONMENTS ONE
Of WORLD WONDERS

Washington. May l5. Even
In America the greatest builder
OF the past" no feat OF construction
has ever approached that involved in
the completion in 80 days of l6 canton.
ments for the national army and l6
tent cities for the national guard, says
the official war material history made
public by the war department. The
task involved the erection and equip.
ment of 32 cities capable of accommo.
dating 1000 persons each, with all
the requisite water. lighting, sewerage.
hospital and heating utilities, and in
addition to the preparation of the
strictly military features. such as par.
ade grounds and rifle and artillery
ranges.
The creature comforts enjoyed by the
American soldier of 1917 is contrasted
with those afforded the man 6l.'65,
Substantial barracks, heated by steam
or stoves. took the place of tents;
chemically pure water replaced that Sc
cured from the casual spring or
stream; scientific laundries cared for
the national army recruits clothing,
and field bakeries gave him the modern
successor to the ashy hoe-cake.
Lumber used in the cantonments
alone, the report says, was equivalent
TO a boardwalk IL inches wide and one
inch thick TO the moon and half way
back" while the nails of one popular
size would "girdle the earth l.2 times"
The race between the contractors 10
complete the cantonments in the time
for the initial draft is eloquently de.
scribed, the builder of Camp Taylor,
Louisville, Ky, winning by a narrow
margin The cantonments occupied
1914 acres of land which cost an
average of s3.93 per acre, and the
contractors profits were given as less
than IL per cent of the gross cost
Of construction.
Expenditures for the cantonments
represented 20 per cent Of the total
for the Panama Canal. but the time
consumed was less than 80 days against
10 years for the canal. Supplementary
building projects undertaken by the
department aggregated a much larger
project than the cantonments and in.
cluded enormous storehouses, factor.
les, magazines, railroads, aviation
fields, and hospitals.
Expended $1,000, 100000
"On November IL, 1918" the report
says the construction division was
conducting 535 operations in 442 local.
ties, involving an expenditure of ST.
600, 100000. These touched every state
but one"
As the construction crews developed
teamwork, remarkable instances of
speed We're reported Precautions taken
TO assist the contractors included the
detail of a disbursing officer on the
spot with the check book ready" so
that material could be paid on delivery
and so that special equipment could be
obtained at a fair rental and a steady
flow of building materials be insured.
The last feature finally necessitated
the sending of soldiers into the forest
to cut logs and piles and to load them
on railroad cars which We're guarded
by soldiers TO their destination.
When a shortage OF stoves threatened
the health of the new army, officers of
The construction division We're sent to
The factories to speed up production
With the result that the army obtain.
ed $4,000 in 8 months although that
number is years output of the in
iustry"
Fire prevention at the various army |
projects was so efficient that the per
;apita loss was only 46 cents compared |
With the civilian rate of $2.42.