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Image provided by: New York State Military History Museum
GAS ATTACK 19 THE WAR SITUATION. T h e re has been no decisive stroke as forces can he seen by the laym an up to this tim e along the W e s tern front. W h ile Ger m any has driven back the Allies lines a dozen miles and is still slowly crowding them backw ard inch by inch there is no doubt but th a t it is costing Germany far too much for the gain she gets. Germ any did not get w h a t she set out to get. She can not gain a final victory unless she gains a decisive victory w ithin the next six m o n ths for division after division m u st be going across the A tlantic from America. M unitions are being rushed to France and the Allies need not fear a lack of food. The Allied side of the w ar is a growing factor while the German side m u st be a decreasing factor, therefore it is now or never for the Germans and they are using their suprem e efforts to win before the A m ericans can be of much aid to the Allied cause. But they will not win. They will find th a t Allies are better fitted than they were two years ago at V erdun w h en they clopped the Teutons. Many seem to think th a t the Germans are preparing for a great naval battle for reports are coming to the Allies th a t they are coaling all the navy and they are pre paring for a dash outward. E stim a ted total expenditures of the Navy during first year of w a r: D isbursem e n ts and outstanding obligations, $1,881,000,000. Am erican destroyers arrived at a B ritish port to assist in patrolling E u ropean w a te r s 28 days after the declaration of war. T h e re are now four tim es as m any ves sels in the naval service as a year ago. N early 73,000 m echanics and other civil ian employees are w o rking at navy yards and stations, E stim a ted pay of officers and men of the navy for the first year of the w a r $125,000,- • 0 0 0 . W h en w a r was declared, 123 naval ves sels w ere building or authorized, and con tracts have been placed since that tim e for 949 vessels. More than 700 privately owned vessels have been purchased or chartered by the Navy. The Navy ration in 1917 cost $.438, as against $.37648 in 1916. During first three m o n ths of 1918 Navy Paym a s ter cleared $185,000,000 for Navy supplies and contracts. P a y m a s ter General of the Navy drew checks for more than $30,000,000 in one day—F e b ruary 23—for m u n itions; total ad vertised purchases for the Navy for 1915 were $19,000,000. Total w eight of steel throw n by a single broadside fror# the Pennsylvania to-day is 17,508 pounds; maximum broadside of T^HE keen judgment that is going to “make the world safe for democracy” is the same judgment that selected uniforms tailored by The House of Kuppenheimer Gabardine Serge Whipcord Khaki Copyright 1918 The House of Kuppenheimer PRICE’S 116 E. MAIN STREET PHONE 237 largest ship during Spanish-Am erican W a r was 5,660 pounds. More than 11,000 m a n u facturers bid for Navy business. Six new authorized battleships are de signed to be of 41,500 tons, the largest bat tleships in the world. Our 35,000-ton cruisers, 35 knots, will be the fastest in the world, their speed equal ling the fastest destroyers. Prom p t repairs of 109 interned Germ an ships, partially w recked by their crews, added more than 700,000 tons to our avail able naval and m e rchant tonnage. During the year nearly 60,000 letters, many including detailed plans, were re ceived from the inventive genius of the country by the Naval Consulting Board con cerning m ethods for com b a tting the German U-Boats. The Navy has developed an Am erican mine believed, to combine all the good points of various types of mine, and is m an ufacturing them in quantities. Naval com m unication service operates all radio service; 5,000 youths are studying radio telegraphy at two naval schools. Medical officers num b e ring 1,675 are mem bers of the Medical D e p a rtm e n t of the Navy. Navy m a intains 12,000 hospital beds and 5,000 are being added. C a sualties in the Navy and M arine Corps from April 6 to D ecem ber 31, 1917, include 5 naval officers and 139 enlisted men, killed or died from wounds. No officers w ere re ported as wounded in action, but 10 enlisted men w ere so reported. Before the w a r a total of $1,500.00 had been appropriated for air service. Con gress has m ade $691,000,000 available for aircraft production in the first year of war. More than 70,000 acres of land in this country has been planted w ith castor-bean plants to produce sufficient oil for aircraft. Air personnel increased from 65 officers and 1,120 men to 100 tim e s th a t num b er in first year of war. Eleven kinds of schools have been installed. Over 20 large companies are m a n u factur ing airplanes, 15 are producing engines, and more than 400 are producing spare parts, accessories and supplies. CAPT. HOLBROOK RESIGNS, The resignation of Captain R o ssiter Hol brook, of Company C, 106th Infantry, has been accepted by the W a r D epartm ent. Captain Holbrook tendered his resignation to Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Tuck, acting com m ander of the 106th Infantry, on March 23,