The Ralston Tribune (Ralston, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, April 12, 1918 Page: 2 of 10
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THE RALSTON TRIBUNE, RALSTON, OKLAHOMA
EXPANSION OF ARMY AND NAVn WORK
RIG FEATURES OF FIRST YEAR OF WAR
Official Statement* of Government Department* Disclose Activities
of United States in Past Twelve Months —Land Forces
now Aggregate More Than Million and Half
Men—Navy Personnel Tripled.
The United StotP* has been at war
for one v**ur. Wliat has It accom-
plished In that time? The govern-
ment's committee on public Informa-
tion answers that question In a re-
view of the first year of the war which
It has Issued on the first anniversary
of the beginning of the war. The war
and navy departments, the shipping
board and the treusury department
have authorised the statements con-
tained In this review, It Is declared.
The outstanding feature of the first
year of war, It Is pointed out
In the review, has been the transfor-
mation of the standing army and Na-
tional Guard, composed of 9,524 offi-
cers and 21)2,510 men Into a fighting
force that now aggregates 123,801 of-
ficers and 1.528.924 enlisted men.
A statement of the adjutant general
•bows that the regular army which In
April, 191T, comprised 5,701 officers
and 121,797 men, now Is made up of
10,608 officers and 503,142 men. The
National Guard In April, 1917, Includ-
ed 8,738 officers and 70.713 men, while
now It comprises 10,893 officers and
481,588 men. The reserve corps In
service one year ago Included 4,000
men. Now It Includes 90,210 officers
and 77,300 men. The National army,
which did not exist one year ago, now
Includes 510,839 men.
A substantial vunguard (military
expediency prohibiting publication of
actual numbers) of this army Is meet-
ing the enemy In France today or Is en-
camped there awaiting the call to the
trenches; In IS cantonments and 10
camps and on numerous aviation fields
and In a variety of other schools In
all parts of the United States the men
of the remaining army are hardening
and training for their part In the great
contest overseas.
Behind the activities of this vast
force lies a great Industry organized
to produce an adequate supply of mu-
nitions, equipment, and provisions,
and to provide transportation to the
firing line, almost every branch of
essential Industry of the country hav-
ing been drawn upon to produce these
material requirements.
Expeditionary Forces.
Military necessity particularly for-
bids a detailed review of the activities
of the American expeditionary forces.
General Pershing and his staff ar-
rived In Paris on June 14. 1917, 09
days after the declaration of war. The
first American troops arrived In
France on June 20. On July 4. In cel-
ebration of our natal day and a new
fight for liberty, American troops pa-
raded the streets of Paris and were
greeted as the forerunners of great
American armies and vast quantities
of supplies and ammunitions.
On October 10, 1917, 187 days after
the war was declared, American sol-
diers went on the firing line. In Jan-
uary American soldiers took over per-
manently a part of the line as an
American sector, and this line Is grad-
ually lengthening.
Behind the fighting line In France
the American forces have scientifically
prepared a groundwork of camps, com-
munications, supply bases, and works
In anticipation of operations by the
full force of the array. They are
building and have built railroads, hoa
pltals, ordnance bases, and docks In
France. They have constructed Im-
mense barracks, erected sawmills, re-
claimed agricultural lands, and car-
ried forward many Incidental enter-
prises.
The construction of an ordnnnce
base In France, costing $25,000,000, Is
now well under way. Great quantities
of material used In the foreign con-
struction work have been shipped from
the United States—from fabricated
Ironwork for an ordnance shop to nails
and crossties for railroads, and even
the plies to build docks.
All the while there has been a fairly
even flow of men and materials from
the United States to France. The men
In the trenches, back of the lines, on
the construction projects, and In the
hospitals have been steadily supplied.
Our losses at sea. In men and mate-
rials, have been gratlfylngly small.
The greatest single loss occurred on
February 6, when the British ship
Tuscanla was torpedoed and sunk.
The bodies of 144 soldiers, en route to
France, have been found and 55 others
were still missing on Murch 10.
To secure an adequate number of
competent officers to lead the new
armies various plans were devised.
Two classes at West Point were grad-
uated In advance of the usual gradu-
ating dates and special examinations
were held In various parts of the coun-
try for appointments from civil life.
Three series of officers' training camps
have been held. Of 03.203 candidates
In the first two series of camps 44.578
qualified fifid were awarded comiula-
•Ions. In the third series of camps,
opened January 5, 1918, about 18,000
candidates, consisting largely of en-
listed men, have been In attendance.
Corps of Engineers.
At the beginning of the war the en-
gineer troops consisted of three regi-
ments of pioneer engineers, with
trains, one mounted company, one en-
gineer detachment at West Point. The
aggregate strength was approximate-
ly 4,125 officers and enlisted men. At
present the aggregate authorised
strength is over 200,000, with an act-
ual strength of approximately 120,000.
Of the special engineer units re-
cruited for service on railways and In
the maintenance of lines of communi-
cation, many are already In France
and others are awaiting recruitment
to full strength In order to be ready
for overseas service. The first en-
gineer troops, 1,100 strong, to be sent
abroad, arrived In France about three
months after war was declared. Since
that time the number has been greatly
augmented. These troops have been
constantly engaged In general en-
gineering work, Including the con-
struction of railways, docks, wharves,
cantonments, and hospitals for the use
of the American expeditionary forces.
They hnve, In some Instances, In the
performance of their duties, engaged
In active combat with the enemy.
Ordnance Department.
Since the outbreak of war the
commissioned personnel of the ord-
nance department has expanded from
97 officers, operating with yearly ap-
propriations of about $14,000,000 and
with manufacture largely confined to
government arsenals, to 5,000 officers
In this country and abroad, transacting
an unprecedented war program for the
supply of ordnance, the tota^ direct
appropriations and contract authoriza-
tions for one year having been $4,-
756,503,185.
While building the foundation for
greater production, the ordnance de-
partment has provided 1,400,000 rifles;
has brought the rate of rifle production
up to 45,000 per week, suffldfipt to
equip three army divisions; secured
deliveries on more than 17,^00 ma-
chine guns; brought the rate of pro-
duction of machine guns from 20,000
to 225,000 per year; Increased the rate
of production of to 9-lnch cali-
ber guns from 1,500 to 15,000 per year;
and has arranged for the manufacture
of some 35,000 motortrucks and trac-
tors for hauling heavy guns and am-
munition, which are being delivered
almost as fast as they can be shipped.
One billion rounds of ammunition
has been purchased for the training
of troops In the cantonments alone.
An Idea of the extent of the ord-
nance program may be gained from
the following few Items of purchase;
Twenty-three million hand grenades,
725,000 automatic pistols, 250,000 re-
volvers, 23,000,000 projectiles for all
calibers of heavy artillery, 427,246,000
pounds of explosives, 240,000 machine
guns, and 2,484,000 rifles.
Quartermaster Corps.
The magnitude of the work of the
quartermaster corps Is Indicated by
the operation of the subsistence divi-
sion, which Is charged with the re-
sponsibility of seeing that food sup-
plies for the anny are available at all
stations from the Philippines to Lor-
raine. Purchases recently made In-
cluded 40,000,000 pounds dried beans,
116.000. 000 cans baked beans of the
1917 crop. 65,184,475 cans of tomatoes,
91.000. 000 cans of condensed milk, and
20,237.000 pounds of prunes.
The establishment of the subsistence
division centralized the purchases of
foodstuffs for the army, previous to
which such products were distributed
through the depot quartermaster. Ef-
fective January 1, the central control
system has resulted In greater effi-
ciency and a big saving. In January,
for Instance. $100,000 was saved under
this system as compared with the
prices obtained by depot quartermas-
ters, and In February a saving of
$39,740 was made on potatoes alone.
The central control system Is still be-
ing perfected.
Production of 10.000 new automobile
tracks Is In progress for the army, In
addition to purchases of 8,520 passen-
ger cars, 6,126 motorcycles, and 5,040
bicycles, with appropriate repair and
replacement equipment.
In three months the cantonment di-
vision of the quartermaster general's
department built 10 cantonments, each
one practically a small city, compris-
ing about 1,400 separate buildings aud
providing quarters for 47.000 men.
Air Service.
The air service has been called
upon In the puat 12 months to build
an enormous structure of the most
highly trained personnel and the most
Intricate equipment with practically
no foundation to start from.
Three large appropriations. Includ-
ing the $640,000,000 act passed without
a roll call, made a total of $691,000,000
available for the first year. All of this
has since been obligated.
Last April the air service had an
almost negligible force of 65 officers
and 1,120 men, S small flying fields,
less than 800 second-rate planes, prac-
tically no aviation Industry, and only
the most scanty knowledge of the ka-
leidoscopic development abroad. The
first two months of war were required
to secure Information, establish a staff,
and work out the program finally
adopted. The problem was twofold—
first, personnel; and, second, equip-
ment
Today the personnel Is over 100
times that of a year ago. practically
every member a skilled man who has
gone through an Intensive course of
training. Schools of 11 different
kinds have been Instituted, courses
of Instruction laid out and Instruc-
tors secured. Including foreign ex-
perts in • score of lines.
Development of Navy.
The development of the navy during
the first year of war has given the
greatest' satisfaction. Its growth and
achievements during this period may
be epitomized In the following para-
graphs:
Strength of the navy today Is
nearly 21,000 officers and 330,000 en-
listed men; strength a year ago was
4,792 officers tytd 77,016 enlisted men.
Estimated total expenditures of the
navy during first year of war: Dis-
bursements and outstanding obliga-
tions, $1,881,000,000.
Total naval appropriations, real and
pending, $3,338,171,005.04.
American destroyers arrived at a
British port to assist In patrolling Eu-
ropean waters 28 days after the decla-
ration of war.
There are now four times as many
vessels In t|ie naval service as a year
ago.
Nearly 78,000 mechanics and other
civilian employees are working at
navy yards and stations.
When war was declared, 123 naval
vessels were building or authorized,
and contracts hnve been placed since
that time for 949 vessels.
More than 700 privately owned ves-
sels have been purchased or chartered
by the navy.
Six new authorized battleships are
designed to be of 41,500 tons, the larg-
est battleships in the world.
Our 85,000-toa cruisers. 85 knots,
will be the fastest Ip the world, thajt
sp»cd equaling the fastest destroyers.
Prompt repairs of 100 Interned Ger-
man ships, partially wrecked by their
crews, added more than 700,000 tons
to our avallnble naval and merchant
tonnage.
The navy has developed an Ameri-
can mine believed to combine all the
good points of various types of mines,
and la manufacturing them In quanti-
ties.
During the year the latest type of
naval 16-Inch gun was completed for
our new battleships; It throws a pro-
jectile weighing 2.100 pounds.
Navy has In' Its possession now a
stock of supplies sufficient for the
average requirements for at least one
year.
Several hundred submarine chasers,
built since the war, have been deliv-
ered to the navy by 31 private con-
cerns and six navy yards; many of
these boats have crossed the Atlantic,
some In severe weather.
Naval training camps have a ca-
pacity of 102,000 In summer, 94,000
men In winter.
Shipbuilding Progress.
Up to date congress hns authorized
$2,034,000,000. of which $1,135,000,000
has been appropriated, for the
United States Shipping board and
Emergency Fleet corporation; on
March 1, $353,247,065.37 of this sum
had been expended.
The Emergency Fleet corporation
had requisitioned March 1, 425 steel
vessels and contracted for 720 steel
vessels, making a total of 1,145 steel
ships, of an aggregate dead weight
tonnage of 8,164.508 tons; It had let
contracts for 490 wooden vessels, ag-
gregating approximately 1,715,000
dead-weight tons; It had repaired and
put In operation 788.000 dead-weight
tonnage seized from Germany and
Austria.
On March 5 the building program
of the Emergency Fleet corporation
was being carried on In 151 plants.
First Year's War Coat.
Total estimated expense of the
United States government In the first
year of war, without loans to the
allies. Is $12,067,278,679.07.
To help meet this expense, the treas-
ury department floated $6,616,582,300
subscriptions to Liberty bond*.
Bonds, certificates of Indebtedness.
War Savings certificates, and Thrift
stamps Issued by the treasury up to
March 12, totaled $8,500,802,052.00.
The United States government had
loaned to foreign governments asso-
ciated In the war on March 12, 1918,
$4,436,329,750.
To March 12 the war risk Insur-
ance bureau bud Issued policies for a
total of *12,405.116,500 ts the armed
forces.
GAVE HIS MESSAGE
“Poppa” Just Had to Speak to
Station Master.
Had to Held Up the Train to Do It, but
Now Hot-Tempered Official Knows
Exactly What Murphy
Thinks of Him.
mrtoro tnoroiN nmiiuTiMit
wsoiool
Lesson *
(By REV. P. B. F1TZWATBB, D. D..
Teacher of English Bible In the
Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.)
(Copyright, 1*11. Western Newepnper Union.)
In Omnlana Mr. J. F. Fuller tells ol
meeting an American tourist In an
Irish train. There Is much In the story
that is not pleasing to on American
reader; but It Is an amusing tale, and
In helping us to see ourselves In the
light In which some of us are seen by
others It shows some characteristics
that we, at least, con avoid.
I soon found myself, says Mr. Fuller,
filling the position of n soit of second-
hand tourist guide without the frogged
frock coat and the cap that lend dignity
to the genuine article.
The conversation dwelt on the differ-
ences between the two continents ant
the superiority of Ammurrlca over
U-rope, and might have gone on Indefi-
nitely had not “I’oppa” put a stop to It
by suddenly ejaculating, as we pulled
up at the next stution:
“Darned If this ain't K—! This Is
K—, mister?”
He let down the window with a bang
and, poking hts head out, shouted to
the guard, gesticulating violently—
bald-headed and hatless:
* “Say, sir, I must see the station mas-
ter right away I”
“You can’t. We stop only a minute.
“Wal, I won't go without,” said hq
Jumping out. "That's a fact.”
“Then you’ll hnve to wait for the
night mall. The station master Is en-
gaged down at the other end,. See him
beyond, shakin’ his fists?”
“Call him up l It’s most pertlkler.”
“Poppa’s” Insistence was so great
that the guard, thinking that there
might be something in It, yielded, and
sent a porter to fetch the official up,
while “Poppa” stepped In again and
waited.
“What’s up?” Inquired the full-
blooded, panting station master as be
arrived.
“Yankee gent wants to see yon, sir;
that’s him with the big head, waving
the umbrella”
“Well, sir, what do you want?”
“This Is K— station, ain’t It?”
“Yes. Can’t you read that slgn-
board?”
American tgnored t?ie question
nnd asked another. "You are Mr. B—,
the station master?”
“Yes, confonnd It I Don’t be keep-
ing the train.”
“You were acquainted with Joe Mor-
phy of Detroit!”
“Oh, yes. He left this country two
years ago. Is he dead—or what? Look
alive r
“Wal, no. He ain’t dead; but he said
to me In confidence when I started on
this tower—nnd they were his last
words at partin’—'When you get to Ire-
land,’ he says, ‘you be sure to look out
for B—, nt K— station, nnd don’t go by
on no account without seeln’ him.’ Let
me hnve the pleasure of shakin’ hands
with you, Mr. B—. I’m vurry plensed
Indeed to make your acquaintance.
‘For,’ says Joe Murphy to me, *B— Is
notoriously the worst-tempered railway
official In the whole of Ireland.’ Ta-
I ta 1” And he suddenly bobbed In, pull-
ed up the window and gesticulated po-
litely ns he sat down.
The objurgations hurled at “Poppa”
by the Infuriated B— were sufficiently
violent, anyone would have thought, to
shatter the glass.—Youth’s Companion.
LESSON FOR APRIL 14
JE8U8 REQUIRES CONFESSION
AND LOYALTY.
LE8SON TEXT—Mark 8:27-28.
GOLDEN TEXT—Whosoever will come
after me, let him deny himeelf. end take
up hie croee. and follow me.—Mark 8:M-
DEVOTIONAL. HEADINGS— Romans
10:8-10; Hebrewe 11:1-2, 12-15.
ADDITIONAL. MATERIAL. FOR
TEACHERS—Luke 8:18-27; 67-82.
PRIMARY AND JUNIOR TOPIC—
Jeeue and the Blind Man.
LESSON MATERIAL—Mark 8:22-26.
PRIMARY MEMORY VERSE-He hath
done all things well.—Mark 7:87.
Real Monetary Difficulty.
“Can you Imagine a billion dollars?”
"Yes" answered the cautious citizen.
"I think I can. All you hnve to do Is
to picture a figure T with n long string
of ciphers after It. A mental grasp of
n billion doesn’t cause me near the
difficulty of a hnnd-to-hnnd struggle
for two dollars and a half.
Germane Practically Slaves.
A confession made by a German
agent when being sentenced In Norway
for espionage casts a vivid light upon
various happenings In this and other
countries since the war began. One
Lawen. who had been convicted In
the Norwegian court*, said:
"Every time a German nbmnd I* re-
quested by n Gorman official or person
In authority to carry out an action
the man In question Is compelled to
obey, no matter whut the nature of the
action.”___
Obeying Orders.
"My dear, don’t you think a gold-
handled silk umbrella Is rather ex-
tmvagnnt for our clrruuistnnres?"
"But. honey, you told me to lay by
something substantial for a rainy
day." ___
Truth Realized.
Street Anarchist—In Ibis fight for
human liberty, ray friends, you will
always ritul me In the van.
Cruel Pollcuuun—Bure. Here’s the
patrol coining now.—Baltimore Amer-
ican.
The time has now come for Jesua
to take account of his ministry. Hav-
ing been rejected by the rulers, he
goes Into retirement wrlth his disciples.
Hie primary object In his teaching
during this time Is to prepare the dis-
ciples for the tragedy of the cross,
which he knew was so near. His
teaching guthers around the great
cardinul doctrines of the Christian
faith. He Instructs them touching his
person, atoning death, resurrection
and glorious coming again. He knew
that In the meusure that they Intelli-
gently apprehended these things they
would be able to pass through the
ordeals before them. The same Is
true today. Those who clearly appre-
hend the Divine Person, the vicarious
atonement, the glorious resurrection,
and second coming of Christ, are un-
disturbed by the world tragedies of
the present hour.
I. Peter's Confession of Christ (vv.
27-30).
Two questions of Christ provoked
this confession:
1. "Whom do men say that I amF
(vv. 27, 28).
This question referred to the opin-
ions of the people regarding Jesus.
Some believed him to lie John tho
Baptist, some Elijah, and some one of
the prophets. They all recognized him
to be a teacher or prophet with moro
than human authority and power. To-
day, as then, there Is a diversity of
opinion among people as to Jesus
Christ. Some think that he was only
a map. others that he was a great
teacher, but nothing more. Jesus was
not content with this acknowledgment.
Had he been satisfied with this, he
would not have been molested In
Jerusalem, for the Jews willingly ac-
knowledged him as much more than a
human teacher,
2. “Whom say ye that I am?” (vv.
29, 30).
II. Jesua Teaching Concerning tha
Cron (vv. 31-33).
Christ charged the disciples not to
make public bis Mcssluhship, us that
would precipitate the crUI*. The dis-
ciples needed much Instruction yet to
prepare them for the crucial hour of
•he cross.
1. What he taught (v. 81).
(1) "The Son of Man must suffer
many things.”
He suffered physical weariness and
hunger, ridicule and contempt, and
even misunderstanding and lack of ap-
preciation on the part of his friends ^
and disciple*.
(2) “Be rejected of the elders, chief
priests and scribes.”
These were the nation’s official rep-
resentatives, the very ones who should
have known nnd received Christ Hiid
recommended Ills reception on the part
of the nation. Truly, he came to his
own, ami his own received him not—
John 1:11. To be rejected by one’s
own friends and relatives Is doubly
painful.
(3) “Be killed."
This announcement was startling to
the disciples. They hud not yet come
to realize thut redemption was to be
accomplished through the passion and
the crass. Jesus now states with
deflnltene** and certainty that he
must die on the cross. This necessity
was due primarily to the fact that It
was the divine purpose to make the
death of Christ the heart and core of
the atonement; nnd also, to human
[ hatred and opposition.
(4) “Hlse again."
Though this was utterly Incompre-
hensible to the disciples, he shows
them that this would ba the glorious
Issue of his death.
III. The Coat of Dlaclptaahip (v. *4).
The law of the ChrUtlnn life ta
suffeAig. To follow Christ means to
turn one’s hnck upon the world. To
repudiate the world means to Incur
the hatred of the world. To be Chris-
tians, therefore, means to share
Christ’s sufferings.
1. There must he denlul of self (. 34).
'fills means the sufferings and shame
which lie In the path of loyalty to
GimI. To live the godly life means
suffering (2 Tim. 8^2).
8. Christ must tie followed (v. 34).
This means to have the mtad of
Christ (I'hll. 2:5) and to perfurui tha
servlet of Christ.
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Browning, Orrin L. The Ralston Tribune (Ralston, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, April 12, 1918, newspaper, April 12, 1918; Ralston, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc907496/m1/2/?q=led+zeppelin: accessed June 5, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.