Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-06-05
had DEVICE TO
warn OF SHELLS
Listening instrument Operated
With Uncanny Accuracy.
GREAT WORK OF ENGINEERS
War Department Relates Astound-
ing Achievements Of Corps at Home
and Abroad-one Device Spotted
III German Gun Positions in Single
Day--corps Also Produced Most
Powerful Searchlight In Use.

foWeTIuI ScdTCnII9HI III OSS'
The war story Of the engineer corps
ut home and in France is told officially
for the first time in chapters of the
war departments brief history of
American war efforts, made public in
advance sheets. Many of the record
ad accomplishments Of the engineers
nave been published before as isolated
incidents, but this is the first COM
nlete and connected story which gives
any idea of the extraordinary scope
of the duties modern warfare laid
upon engineering troops.
Probably the best illustration of this
so far as the troops in France are con-
.erned is the technical organization Of
he units of the engineers which,
coached the other side. There were
seven regiments and two battalions of
.ailway construction engineers, five
battulions for maintenance of way;
Two buttaIions for maintenance of rail-
way equipment; four regiments and
one battalion to operate the main
American railways in France; three
regiments to operate light railways
and their repair shops; two regiments
to operate the regular railway repair
shops: two regiments and six separate
batinli0nS on general construction
work: two regiments for storing and
transporting engineer supplies; for
estr2 regiment; a light railway con-
StrurtiOn regiment; a road building
regiment; water supply regiment;
4 mining regiment; quarrying regi-'
neRt; technical regiment for sur
veying and sound ranging; three sur.
vey and printing battalions; two rail.
way transportation battalions an cleo
ircal and mechanical regiment; sew
eral separate companies to operate
cranes; camouflage service; five in
tand waterway companies to operate
canal boats and the like; five pontoon
trains and pOntOOn park; a railway
transportation and stores battalion
and searchlight regiment.
And Then There Were the Sappers.
These special units, all composed of
men trained in civil life in the United
States for the work they did in France,
were in addition to the fighting en-
gineers with each division, the sappers
who formed about eight per cent of
all OF the combatant troops in France
One section of the report is devoted
to the development of American rail.
ways in France and to the production
of railway equipment in the United
States to meet the call from the front
There were shipped to France 1903
locomotives before the armistice was
signed. of which 908 were in service
Mt that time. In addition, 1898
freight cars were shipped abroad, both
engines and cars having been pro-
duced specially for service In France.
These were employed upon the 937
miles of standard guage track laid in
France by the engineers with equip
ment shipped from this country, and
the rolling stock was In addition to
great quantities of light railway equip
ment for front line work that was also
sent abroad.
Hospital trains were obtained in
England, 10 of them with a total of
3Oi cars having been completed by
December, 1918, with 20 additional
more than $4,000 per car, but it is es-
tmated that to have produced them in
the United States and shipped them
would have cost $4,000 per car.
The report lays stress on the fact
that great progress was made during
the war in the development of road
building. railway, and other engineer.
Ing equipment which will be Of value
commercially in peace time. The mo-
torzcd machine shops alone, it Is
stated. are practically certain to
bring about in this country the use OF
moving shops of this character in agri-
cultural communities as farming ma
chnory increases.
"'Thp day has come" the report
says, "when the travelling machine
shop will be a familiar sight upon
our rural highways"
Among the motorized shops created
were the photolithographic press
trucks, which were able to produce
maps from original sketches within -
hours, as compared with four days
required by similar French and Brit
ish units.
A special chapter is devoted to lis
tening instruments developed during
the war to locate hidden guns. I'm.
proving upon allied designs, the en-.
gineer corps produced machines for
this purpose which operated with 'un-
canny accuracy" one of them having
spotted III German gun positions In
single day. Subsequently these were
followed by instruments Of even
greater power and at the close of the
war there were IL complete outfits,
each covering five-mile stretch OF
front, Mt work on the American lines.
Similar development of instruments
for locating hostile airplanes were
carried out until it was possible to
determine the LOCATION Of raider at
night within an angle of three de-
grees. The American types produced
were easily portable and quickly set
up to aid the searchlights. A hint
ut the scientific developments which
were in sight in connection with these
sound-ranging devices is contained in
the following paragraph:
"When the fighting stopped our mil
itary scientists and others co-Operat-
Ing with them were working on the de-
yelopment of a sound-ranging appara-
tus intended to give troops warning
of shell fired by the enemy in their d.
rectiOn. The preliminary experiments
found that at Al miles these mechan-
lsms could detect the firing Of the gun