Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-09
@. M. CORPS TO
OBSERVE 146TH
ANNIVERSARY
Indianapolis Dinner June 16
VIII Be Part of Interna-
tiOnal Observance

Indianapolis will Join with other cities
of three continents. June 16, in dinners
to be held in observance of the 146th an
niversary Of the quartermaster depart
nent Of the United States Army. The
dinner here viii be held at the ClaypoOl
Hotel, with commissioned officers and
civilians who held commissions in the de-
partment during the war and large
number of business men attending Gov
ernor Warren T. McCray will make an
address ut the dinner.
Civilians who stood behind the depart
ment. furnishing supplies during the war,
also will attend. John B. Reynolds, Sec
rotary Of the Chamber Of Commerce, who
served as a colonel In the aviation serv-
ice, will give a talk.
OFFICER REVIEWS
HISTORY OF CORPS.
\ brief history of the founding OF the
qUartermaster corps is given by an Off
Ger of the department, as follows:
June 16. 1TI5, in Carpenters Hall.
Philadelphia. the lawmakers Of the fed
Grated colonies, facing the problem Of
supply for the fighting men Of the new
nation, enacted the following legislation :
master general of the Grand Army, and
one deputy under him for the separate
army. That the. pay of the Quartermaster
general he $50 per month ard that Of
deputy by $40 per month Thus came
into being the quarrermaster corps, known
IN the beginning as the military stores
department" Coming into being during
the very days that the Nation was GO
ing through the thrOes OF birth, the
quartermaster corps from an humble and
unpretentious beginning. has grown side
by side with the institutions ana tradl-
tons of our country, until today IL stands
the largest and oldest supply department
Of our Army. and one OF the most i'm
portant in the world.
What the Quartermasters Of the Army
had to do in the limited land operations
OF 1912 was we'll done. and not a little
Of Jackson's victory at New Orleans was
due to the supplies which we're brought
up to him by those entrusted with the
task.
GAVE VALUABLE AID
IN MEXICAN WAR.
The triumph Of the American arms
during the Mexican war was due in no
small measure 10 the fact that the quar-
termaster department was able 10 solve
with success the difficult problems of
supply and transportation that con
fronted it.
In the Civil War an army which had
well clothed, led, sheltered and trans
ported for four years, and this in a thea
ter Of operations where even single-track
railroads were rare. and highways were
little better than glOrified trails.
In our Indian campaigns II was the
faithful, rugged workers Of the quar-
termaster department who supplied the
clothing and transported the food which
made IL possible for our soldiers to fight
beyond the limits Of civilization. that the
rs IN Tn
progress, might wend westward his way.
During the Spanish-AmericaD War our
fighting men in the United States. in Cuba
and Porto Rico and in the far away Phil
ippincs lacked neither food. shelter nor
clothing, thanks TO the ability OF the
Quartermaster and subsistence depart
ments 10 meet successfully tropical and
other conditions that had never before
presented themselves TO the supply de-
partments Of the Army.
The Quartermaster corps has Just
emerged from the mightiest conflict Of
al time with the brilliant achievement
Of having successfully fed. clothed and
otherwise supplied 10000 coo across 1900
miles Of ocean. while caring for an equal
number in camps and environments ar
home. In speaking Of the work done by
the corps in France General Pershing
said:
THE task Of supplying an army the
size OF the American exDeditlODary force
in the field Of operations. so many thou
sands OF miles from home depOts. was
never before attempted. The quartermas-
ter corps carried this task to a triumph
ant conclusion and thereby made possible
TIE success Of the fighting troops on the
arne. st. Nihiel and in the ArgOnne."
~ Again in a report to the Secretary Of
War the commander IN chief of the
American force in France expressed in
the following words his appreciation OF
the work OF the quartermaster corps.
The Quartermaster corps has had a
difficult and varied task, but Il has more
than met all demands that have been
made upon it. Its management and its
personnel have been very efficient and
deserve every possible commentator"
Second only TO the long list OF achieve
ments Of the Quartermaster corps in war
are the services II has rendered our peO-
pie in disasters, during time Of peace.
GAVE sUCCOR IN
JOHSSTOWN FLOOD.
In the Johnstown food OF 1880 It was
the quartermaster department that made
it possible for the despairing Inhabitants
to win their battle while they mourned
more than 5000 dead. After the San
Francisco earthquake and fire fifteen
years ago the Army quartermaster and
cOmmissRry were rushed to the scene
with their tents food, clothing and bed
ding to help the devastated city rise
from fits ruins. When the waters food
ed the Mississippi and Ohio valleys and
the tidal wave engulfed Galveston the
quartermaster corps did heroic work in
sheltering the homeless. feeding the hun
CRY and clothing the naked.
Amongst the several peace time services
that the corps is rendering the country
may be mentioned the benefits that our
farmers and stock raisers are now de-
irving from the activities of the remOunt
service. Primarily functioning as a serv-
ice OF animal supply for the Army, its
experts have already placed more than
$50 stations in practically every State in
the Union for the convenience and use
Of those who breed animals. The light
horse was passing out of existence be
cause Of the rapidly extending use Of
autOm0tive power and the quartermaster
corps has charged itself today with
helping 10 restore that useful animal TO
the place il deserves in our economic
life on the farm and on the road
In fact, the fighting man is dependent
upon the Quartermaster corps from the
day he joins the ColOrs to the day he
leaves the service and should this sew
erence be caused by death. it is the
quartermaster corps that is charged
with placing him in his final resting
place and keeping green the spot In this
respect the splendid work Of the graves
registration service in its reverential
duty Of looking after the soldier dead
Of the Nation during and since the World
War Will ever be q monument 10 the
corps.