Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1919-02-14

acres.
''The Camp is protected from the
air by eight Anti-Aircraft Batteries,
whose most powerful searchlights are
combing the skies at night for enemy
planes. These searchlights are so
powerful that the rays of light
thrown by them can penetrate all the
clouds thus enabling them to locate
a plane that may be in hiding behind
the clouds.
Last but not least, we have the
largest bakeries in the world right
here that has itself played an impor-
tant part in feeding the vast armies
with white bread and all they want
of it. This bakery consumes in one
month fifty-one million pounds of
-four, turning out each day one and
a half million (1,5O0,0OO) loaves of
bread.
Cali this goes to make up Camp
Williams, with much more to add II
Just had the patience to sit here and
write for some more hours. I have
been writing for two hours now"
Mr.. Johnson also included clip
ping describing the automatic
train," which simplifies the handling
of vast quantities of supplies. 1t says:
''The automatic train is one of
the strange devices which has sprung
out of the war, and there is nothing
quite like it in the whole range of
railway transportation.
"It has been developed by the Am
erican military authorities as one OF
the necessities of keeping up an auto
matte daily supply Of food and forage
to every unit of the American Exped-
itionary Force.
"To do this with unvarying regu-
larity each day, so that every man in
every division, stretching over 800
miles of front, would have his daily
needs supplied, was huge problem.
"The only solution was to secure
absolute uniformity, or standardiz-
alton of trains by which the makeup
would be automatic day after day
And out of this has come the 'auto-
matte train," one of the wonders of
American organization.
watching the makeup of the
"antomatic trains as they go for
ward to the fighting front is like
watching some gigantic jig-saw puz-
zle. There is the same fitting to-
gether of confused parts, until at last
all of the pieces form completed
whole of fifteen automatic trains,
fifty cars to train. Here at small
interior village of the American Ad-
vance Force is the center from which
The place is we'll forward in the ad-
vance zone, just far enough away
from the fighting to be out of reach
of hostile raids, and yet near enough
to permit the supplies to move for
ward with facility.
cit was a sleepy little village last
October, with 1000 inhabitants. To-
day it is a center of intense activity,
with an American working force Of
$4,000, eleven times the population
of year ago, seventy-two miles of
yard trackage and forty-fve enor-.
nous warehouses.
"Last month $4,000 cars we're
moved, or more than a thousand a
day.
Colonel Hi1gard, commanding and
Major Bigger, regulating officer, ex-
planned the details of these 'automa-
tic trains The basis on which they
are made up follows:
1.-TWO cars of refrigerated fresh
beef.
1.-TWO cars Of fresh bread.
"Seven cars of food comprised in
the soldiers ration.
-Four cars of fuel for cooking.
Fourteen cars of forage for
horses.
lone car Of gasoline, mineral oil
and lubricants for motors.
Zone car for mail and packages.
'These are fixed and virtually in
varible elements of each automatic
train In addition each division has
varying wants of clothing, ammuni-
ton, and medical supplies. These
varying elements are added to each
train, according to the needs of the
division.
"Thus fifteen trains go out daily
in fifteen directions, each train hav-
ing some thirty to thirty-fve cars. "