Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1919-06-28
HAD DEVICE TO
warn OF SHELLS
Listening instrument Operated
With Uncanny Accuracy.
GREAT WORK or ENGINEERS
War Department Relates Astound
ing Achievements Of Corps at Home
and Abroad-one Device Spotted
~ German Gun Positions in sinaIe
Day-corps Also Produced Most
Powerful Searehlieht In Use.

oay-corps Also Produced Most
Powerful searehlieht in Use.
The war story of the engineer corns
NJ home and in France Is told officially
for til" first time in chnptcrS ~ the
war departments brief history of
American war efforts. mndc public In
adyanc" sheets Many Of The record.
ed accomplishments nf the engineers
have been published before Ms isolated
incidents. hnt this is the first com.
pleie and connected story which gives
any idea of the extraordinary scope
~ tho duties modern warfare laid
upon engineering troops
Probably The hest illustration of this
So FAR IS tho roops in France are con
crrncd is the technical organization 81
The units Of the engineers which
tcached the other side. There we're
seven regiments aud two hatfnlions ~
railway construction engineers. five
hutialious for maintenance of way;
twn hattalionS for maintenance Of rail
way equipment; four regiments and
one battalion to operate the main
Anrric Ii railways Ia France three
regiments ia operate light railways
and their repair shops two regiments
~ uperai" the regular railway rcpaIr
shops two regiments aud SIX separate
batinlious on general construction
work two regiments for storing and
transporting engineer supplies n for.
estry regiment: Il light railway CON
StruCtion regiment Il road building
regiment; u water supply regiment;
a mining regiment: quarrying regi.
ment: Il technical regiment for sur.
vrying and sound ranging: three sur.
vcy and printing haiinlinns; two rail
way transportation haitalonS: an elec.
trical and mechanical regiment: scv-
"ral separate companies "a operate
cranes n camoutlage service: five in
land waterway companies 10 orerate
canal hoais and the like: iivr pontnun
trains aud r"nioon park railway
transportation and stores battalion
and Il searchllght regiment
fNid WIZ WIG SdRRCfS.
ThcS" special units, all composed Of
men trained in civil life in the United
States for the work they did in France.
were In addition 10 the fighting en-
glnrcrS with each division, the Sappers,
who formed about eight per cent OF
all Of the comhaiant troops IN France.
one section nf the report is devoted
20 the development of American rail.
ways in France and TO the production
~ rlilway cqu'pmcn, in the United
States to meet the call from the front.
There wcr" shipped to France 1903
locomotives before the urmiSticc was
signed. of which 9OS were in service
AT that time In addition. 1913
freight cars We're shipped abroad both
engines and cars having been pro
These were employed upon the a37
miles &c 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
mcnt for front line work that was also
sent abroad.
Hospital trains were obtained In
England. ~ of them with total of
304 ears having been completed by
December. 1918, with % additional
trains under construction. They cost
more than $4,000 per car hut II is es.
timntch that 10 have produced them in
the United States and shipped them
would have cost $4,000 per ear.
The report lays stress on the fact
TINT great progress was made during
the war In the development ~ road
building railway. and other engineer
ing equipment which viii be OF value
commercially in pence time. The mo
toriZcd machine shops alone. II is
stated are practically certain To
bring about in this country the use Of
moving shops ~ this character In agri-
cultural communities as farming ma.
chincry increases.
"The day has come" the report
shop will he familiar sight upon
our rural highways"
Among the motorized shops created
were the photolithographic press
trucks. which were able 70 produce
maps from original sketches within II
hours as compared with four days
required by similar French and Brit
ish units.
A special chapter Is devoted To lis
tcning instruments developed during
the war to locate hidden guns. I'm
proving upon allied designs. the en-.
ginecr corps produced machines for
this purpose which operated with "un-
canny accuracy" one Of them having
spotted 1T German gun positions In
II single day. Subsequently these were
followed by instruments Of even
greater power. and NJ the close OF the
war there were |" complete outfits,
each covering n hvemilc stretch Of
front, ~ work on the American lines.
Similar development Of instruments
for locating hostile airplanes were
carried out until It was possible 10