The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-02
WITH OUR ARMY OF OCCUPATION
General of Burg Coche Fourth Army
Ccchem Gerrna

WITH OUR ARMY
General view of Burg Cochen
Ccchem. Germany.
10 the American army. 1t included
the operation of salvage shops and
depots, of rendering plants for the re-
covery of waste fats and kitchen
economies, of laundries and disin-
fectors, and the police of battlehelds
According to its last report it has
saved the government and the A. f.
+. ss5,46a,5734 recovering on 81
per cent of the thousands of things
from tanks to shoe iaces thrown in
the A. E. F. scrap pile. Its work of
reclamation and repair was done in
EOS large buildings with a floor space
OF 9S9S60 square feet. The plant at
St. Pierre Corps is considered one
of the show places of the entire A
Il. F.
Without casting any reflections on
anybody's baggage. the salvagers are
also charged with the handling Of all
baggage in the A. E. F. and a spe-
cial baggage service was set up to do
the work. This service is responsible
for the movement of all baggage I'M
I'll ii Is turned over to the owners, the
finding of lost baggage and it's return
and many other details similar to an
ordinary commercial baggage service.
including the instruction of the A. f.
F. in the way TO mark baggage prop
erly and the baggage rules and regu-
lations, There have been as many as
242 900 pieces of baggage stored in
the baggage ONCE at Gievres at one
time.
The Effects Depot AT st Nazaire
has received -. aoo packages or the
effects of deceased members of the y.
r. f.. and 900 have been forward
ed to Hohoken, y. j. More than a
half million dollars was found among
these effects and about 1.1o0 letters
are received every day from relatives
and friends in regard TO them.
One OF those things which most in
timately touched about 90 per cent
OF the A. f. +. has been the work of
the delousing and bathing section OF
The Salvage Service. This section has
kept 2S2 officers aud $3.50 enlisted
men busy keeping the 4. F.. F. Gle an
and numbering coolies, II kept the
hot water running in h45 stationary.
5l7 portable and twenty -one mobile
baths. with SAL shower heads To
disinfect every nook and corner Of
ceotie might take refuge. it operated
seventy-four stationary, fifty-eight
horse drawn. EST improved and
seventy-nine hot air steam s,erilixers.
AS q fair example of its work, 1t
might be mentioned that during the
ten days prior TO March /. 1912, II
bathed s2s.452 members OF the A. E.
F. and disinfected l.550,a22 articles
of clothing and equipment.
Despite marvellous motor develop
ment in the war and the motorigation
of everything from howitzers TO soup
kitchens. the horse and the mule
played q. big part in the long pull to-
ward victory and their work was I'M
der the Remount Division of the
Quartermaster Department. Through
this division the A. f. T. was pro-
vlded with a42.sss horses and mules,
10, 645 Of which were sent from the
state. i35,72e bought from France,
2l,oso from England and asa from
Spain. II is interesting to note that
OF the -. 645 horses and mules
brought from the state : ninety-tiv
ship loads. not horse was lost by
the submarine warfare. The i'm
portance these animals played in
great offensiyes in bringing up sup
plies and equipment can he judged
from the action of Marshal Foch in
turning over to the American forces
$4,000 animals belonging to the
French command for the .Argonne
drive.
The Quartermaster Department
comes in intimate contact with a SOL
dter every day from the time it issues
him his first suit OF Q. DIS until the
property slip is checked for his dis
charge papers. And for the $4,000 Of
us who sleep on foreign soil. from the
sunny shores OF the Mediterranean to
the icebound shores of the Arctic. il
has ben the old much abused, terribly
prosaic. and everyday @. NJ" who
did all that could be done Under the
circumstances and at the time, and
who now. through its Graves Regis
tration Services, is gathering and
guarding the dead in places worthy of
their great sacrifice. This branch of
the Quartermaster service is charged
with the. care of zoo military GENE
teries in France. eighty-tive in Great
Britain, about the same number in
Italy and Belgium, several in I4uxem-
bourg and Germany and a few in the
Murmansk regions on the shores of
the Arctic ocean in northern Russia
In concluding this fragmentary
sketch of an organization which from
every point of view was the most i'm
portant in the service of supply for
the American army, some reference
should be made To the fundamental
cornerstones of its success.
Three Means OF supply.
The American ARMY was supplied
by three means with auartermaster
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. on the United
States, acquisitions on the French and
British armies. and purchases in Eu-
rope. There was board, called the
master card record board, in the Of
fee of the Chief Quartermaster at
Tours, by which at a minutes glance
the exact condition Of supplies in the
A, e +. could be told. 1t was the aim
of the department to keep supplies
for ninety days on hand at all times,
forty-five OF which was to be in the
base sections. thirty in the interme-
date section. and fifteen in the ad-
vance section. The great problem Of
the Quartermaster Department was
first to get the supplies to France, in
emergencies to requisition the French
and British Armies for help. and at
all times through the Office OF the
General purchasing agent to do as
much marketing as possible in Eu-
rope in order to save shipping space.
Even after 1t had gotten its sup
plies in the great warehouses at the
base ports. difficulties of distribution
were found that seemed almost in
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