El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-02-14
Fort Bliss Officials Plan To Spend
ODer $2,OO0OOO On New Buildings
And improvements During This Year

! their attention toward the southern
border OF the country and plans for
the enlargement and streugt hening OF
posts from Brownsville 10 san Diego
ment had on hand vast St0res Of
building material which Had been
purchased in anticipation Of pro-
tracted war with Germany and her
allies and it was. determined TO use IL
for the Improvement OF established
military posts. which had been
neglected while the war was in
progress. and for the construction Of
auxiliary posts wherever needed for
the purpose OF strengthening the
border guard.
Work Done Last Year.
The figures below cover operations
only at Fort Bliss and in what Is
known as the FL Psso military dis
rrict which extends from the city OF
Ell Pas0 20 Fort Hancock on the east
ern edge Of FL Paso county During
the past year building operations in
that territory embraced he following:
Cantonnent 9Th cavalry. brick,
value. $3.50. 000-
Cantonment SIND artillery, brick,
csntonmeat santa Fe Bridge. value,
$4,000.
Contonment at Tsleta. adobe. value.
$4,000.
Cantonment at Fabens. adobe. value.
$50 00o.
Environment at Fort Hancock,
adobe. value $1,000
District officers clubhouse. adobe.
value. $4,000.
Hangers, 2, for airplauss each,
steel, value, $4,000.
Warehouse a for ordnance dept.)
steel. value, 100000.
Concrete road q miles) concrete.
value. $4,000.
New sewer. value. 100000.
Total value. including sewers and
roads. s2,595,000.
Figures Based on Costs
The foregoing figures are based on
cost OF the materials which were on
hand at the cessation Of hostuities.
plus contract price for the assembling
Of the material and the erection Of
the building or the construction Of the
roads and sewers. The number Of
men to whom employment was given
In the prosecution Of this ambitious
building scheme cannot be given be-
cause statistics covering that phase
Of the question had not been compiled
when the notes for this article were
prepared
II is said. however, that thou
sands OF Fl Paso men engaged in
the building trades were en-
plOyed and under the Gompers
agreement. were paid the union
scale Of wages in every depart
ment.
vernon z. Ware Of Fl Paso. who
had one Of the labor contracts kept
months and distributed approximately
100000 among them.
Plans for 1920.
Building operations for 1920 will
be on a greater scale. even. than were
those Of the year just closed Even
IL the hospital were not included fin
the years operations the value OF new
construction for 1879 wiz. nearly
equal that Of 1913. The plans in
volve the following:
Balloon hangar. e0X220x90 feet
steel, value. $4,000.
Railroad TO connect hangar with
Fort Bliss. @ miles, value, $4,000.
District vocational school, brick,
zone warehouse C24 Of them. sOx
200 feet each) steel. value s1.4O0. 900.
Machine. blacksmith and optical
shop, ordnance department. steel,
value. $4,000.
Seven and one-half miles railroad
trackage for zone warehouse, value,
$4,000.
Laying gas mains over entire post
grounds 70 supply gas for cooking
purposes. value, $4,000.
New hospital, value S1,100,000.
War Material saIvaEed.
As was the case last year the ma
terial viii be furnished from stores
accumulated by the war department
in anticipation OF a prOtracted Euro
pean war but the labor win be found
in Fl Paso and at wages prevailing on
similar work in FL PasO. Il is under
stood that contracts for the 1890 work
have not yet been let
The "a zone warehouses to be built
VIII have capacity TO house all gov
ernme tent property which requires to
be housed necessary to supply the
various units Of military service
which viii be stationed at Fort Bliss.
Their completion and occupancy viii
necessitate the abandonment OF many
Of the warehouses in Ell Paso which
are now used by the government, but
that they viii be needed by those en-
gagged in FL PasO's rapidly expanding
trade Is believed by those who give
study TO such matters and no hard
ship viii follow the removal OF their
contents TO the new warehouses at
Fort Bliss a year hence.
Equipment Tor -Four Divisions.
In addition TO the great stores Of
building material brought TO Fort
Bliss following the signing OF the
armistice, and which are being used
in permanent improvement at that
post there are more than $4,000. 900
worth Of stores Of other kinds filling
the material yards and warehouses in
Fl Paso and al the post. Those stores
include food, feed, forage, clothing.
ordnance, trucks and every other con-
need Of an army in quantities
sulIlclenI IL Is said, 70 equip four full /