Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-01-28

shop which commands north, south
and west lights, and was Uttered
In m orderly manner. IL such b
possible, with mAps and blueprints.
Here Colonel Jordan faced the lit
tie group 81 business, Newspaper
and military men, and pointing to .
blueprint spread over . nearby
bench. said:
Gentlemen, these are the plans
OF . storage project, a. some Of
You know, which will cost some
thing over eight millions OF dol
lars. 1t will house 66 20 per cent
all the artillery and small arms
ammunition in the hands OF the
war department Of this country
when the armistice was signed"
Figures Of this size needed several
minutes to be mentally digested.
Four Days from Coast
Then the colonel went on to say:
while this project has not been
authorized by IN appropriation. we
consider 1t probable that the money
needed will be granted, to make
this big depot an Institution at Sa-
wanna. The proving ground is most
logically placed for such . use, be-
ing four days by train from either
coast, the Gulf Of Mexico, OF tho
north boundary. In any eventual
ity the ammunition could be rushed
to these points within . maximum
extent OF time. At present this
ammunition, of all kinds and cali
bers, is stored IN the east, tempor-
arily, IN tented quarters. When
this project nears completion its
movement here will start"
This was another reason for the
invitation extended to the business
men of this city. 80 that they might
appreciate the importance Of the
proposed plant.
Later. from a high tower on the
bill, which Is occupied At all hours
Of the day and night by IRE guard
posted to prevent connagrations,
the party viewed the proving
ground for several miles in each
direction. The surface Is. fiat, for
the most part, rolling into the one
single spine stretching up the mid
die of the tract, and is wooded in
the vicinity of the river and the
slough. On the hill stand the
three buildings seen In the accom-
panying photographs, together with
hospital where all cases Of illness
or injury are treated and bar
racks formerly housing enlisted
men and now used as a dormitory
for the civilian workers. These
structures are all of similar archi-
lecture, red brick trimmed with
white.
The most interesting view is that
of the broad plain. where the big
construction project started late
last summer and now nearly COM
pleted. ia spread out. There are "a
big buildings Of corrugated steel
on wood frames, in which the ma
terial shipped into the grounds is
being stored. Their floor space is
9ex400 feet each. In addition re-
pair shop OF similar dimensions and
structure. but with floor and WIN
dows added, Is being put up at
present. Looking down from the
hill the nat space directly beneath
is covered with a seeming litter of
buildings. crates and canvas COW
cred forms which can only be trac-
tors. Nearer view, however, re-
solves these into order, and upon
winding through them on the neat
little roads their evident careful
disposal makes military efficiency
a term more easily understood.
.. Too Much to Describe.
During the afternoon the party
toured the grounds. saw the actual
work of recovering war material
and boarding 1t for future use. and
learned a hundred facts about the
details Of the work. A running
story Of the trip through the bis
storage houses would be too ex.
! haustive to be recounted. However
first hand it proved entirely alb
scrbing, and at every minute Of II
the guests were conscious Of Ar
obligation to Colonel Jordan and
Major Phillips for sanctioning The
trip.
Perhaps the most exciting oc.
currence of the afternoon was {
trip some of the guests took in the
largest tank in the world. The
Mark VIII battle tank is the larg'
est ever developed. 1t is of Eng
lish patterns but those Of the type
used by the United States armies
were made in this country, some Of
them at the Rock Island arsenal
The huge monster kept at Savan.
ma for experimental purposes
weighs 40 tons and in action de-
mands a crew of IL men. THAI
number rode in it's small darl
cabin-the place must be called
with little discomfort that after
noon. H. H. Cleayeland comman
deered the top portfolio, and ad
mired the view in that way. The
others, three newspaper men, three
mechanics, Colonel Jordan, /. S
White, F. W. Bender, Senator Carl
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