Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1919-04-05
ISlO,OOO,OOO Is BIG WAR
CONTRACT OF VELIE co.
VeEe Company In Wonderful
COntrihHicn To Winning
Of World Conflict.

On the outbreak of the great war in
1914 the French government sent repre-
sentatives to the Velie factory TO in
speet the Velie line Of motor trucks and
determine whether they were built prop
erlv to withstand the severe demands Of
war.
AS a result Of their inspection, ord
were placed for nearly two thousand
standard Vehe trucks to be fitted with
the accepted type of covered transport
body. All these trucks were shipped
within due season and later evidence
proves that they served nobly In the de-
fense Of Yerdun; that they were a great
dependence in the second battle of the
Mame and even now Gre a principal
part in the motor equipment OF the
French army.
Sent Into Mexico.
Trouble broke out in our own eOun-
try early in 1916. Villa raided our bor-
der and made it necessary to send an
army into Texas to protect our citizens.
An expedition was sent into Mexico as
a warning Of what might happen If the
deprcdations of the outlaws did not
cease.
Again Velie answered the call. In an
incredibly short time trainloads of Velie
trucks, each provided with driver,
were on their way south. Velie trucks
carried our soldiers over roaus winch
existed in name only and maintained a
constant source Of supply TO Pershing ;
base of operations-nearly two hundred
miles into the Mexican interior.
The success of Velie trucks in Mexi-
co, as well as in France, placed the
stamp of military approval on Velie
truck construction even when applied to
war purposes, and no doubt this had a
bearing on later events.
y The rapid growth of the aviation sec
tion of our army demanded a motor
truck particularly adapted to the special
needs of that department. Here Velie
was signally reeognized-the truck fl
nally decided upon being the standard
Nelie truck in all major features-only
some minor additions being necessary
to better adapt it to the special work
required. The local concern was award.
ed contracts totaling well over $3,000,.
600 on this one type of heavy aviation
truck alone.
Design Liberty Truck.
The engineers of the motor truck in.
dustry, known as the society of auto.
motive engineers, were called to Wash.
ington to confer with the war depart.
ment and design a special Liberty truck
that would be standardized in all fac.
tories-this truck to be the basis Of the
Artermaster's transport division in
France.
The Liberty truck was a wonderful
success. They maintained fershing i
army on all fronts. They carried oui
boys to Chateau Thierry. They helped
close In the st. Mihiel salient. They
. backed up the drive in the Argonne see
tor and were first in Sedan. Never
has IN army had such dependable trans
portation. Even now the American
army of occupation relies confidently OF
never failing source Of supply ant
maintenance. Velie alone was given or
ders for more than three thousand Lib
erty trucks.
Many Trailers Made.
To round out the local company 4
motor truck activities it received addi
tional orders for thousand small
trucks of q ton capacity, used in al
lighter forms of hauling where The
large trucks would be unwieldy or cum
bersome, and an order for thre.ton trail
ers exceeding a half million dollars il
value. The trailcrs are used in con
neetion with the heavy aviation truel
and by an ingenious stering arrange
mcnt follows the course Of the truck it
self in all Of its travel aor deviations.
The machine gun is considered one oi
! the most necessary weapons in modcrr
warfare and the Velie company lent it
aid TO the effectiveness Of that equip
ment
Small carts are required to carry thr
! guns to their emplaeements, to carry
spare guns and extras, and Of perhapl
greater importance-to carry ammuni
tion itself. These carts are substantial
ly built to stand the rigors Of war snC
are very elaborate in their equipmen
. md fittings. Orders for more than 25,
|, 600 machine gun carts have been han
died by the Velie concern, a production
in itself, greater than that handled. by
many concerns Of considerable war tint
, activity This product alone represent
volume nearing 100000.
S1O,000,OO0 All Told.
/, Summing up the wartime effort of th'
, Velie Motors corporation since Ameriei
entered the great war-tbe aggregate
Of contracts handled exceeds $10,000,00t
! and this entirely apart from the alice
+ and United States army deliveries mad