SALVAGE FROM THE BATTLE FIELDS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 100, 22 January 1919, Page 7

SALVAGE FROM THE BATTLE FIELDS

Major-General Sir P.' B. Maurice gives in- "Everyweek" an amazing story of the. extent of the salvage' rescued from our battlefields by the quarter-master-general in France. . General Maurice incidentally remarks that' the greatest eoonomy of all has been effected by our use of tanks.. "To begin with," says General Maurice, "the tank-is a life saver, and to it has been mainly due the very striking difference between our losses in tire first- battle of the Somme and the third,' which Sir Douglas-Haig opened with, his-brilliant surprise attack'on August 8. The expenditure of animunition'.was enormous, and its cost stupendous. Much of this the tank has'obviated, and the third battle of the Somme.and its greater results has cost us many' tens of millions of pounds less than the first.;

"Now for the quartermaster-general's side of the question. In ten weeks, between May 11 and July 27, close upon £5,000,000 worth of articles were saved from the 'front; 28,500,000-fired cartridge cases were recovered, 11,250,000 rifle ammunition clips, 56,000 rifles and 40,000 bayonets, 110,001) shirts and 45J000 greatcoats, and so on, through a long li6t of'war material of all kinds. These impressive figures concern only_ the debris of the battlefield. "The arrangements for treating the recovered material are on a.huge scale. There is behind our lines a boot-repair-ing factory with an output larger than that of the biggest of our Northampton workSi where every scrap of leather is put to some use, and a cunning machine turns tho uppers of •boots'.-which are too far gone for repair into first-class boot laces. During the same period of ten weeks, 678,0001b.' of food refuse of the Army was salved, and produced 36 tons of glycerine. "Kilns have been established for the recovery of solder, lead and zinc from waste metal, and produced in thOrten weeks 24 tons of solder, 36 tons of lead and 96 tons of zinc.

"The quartermaster-general in France has organised an agricultural department for the cultivation of land recovered from the enemy wliich -is too close to the front to be worked by the French ■ peasants?. Much of tho territory from w-hich tho enemy retired in the spring of IUI7 produced a harvest last year, and as again ploughed and sown this spring. "The largest productive department of all with our Army in France is that of forestry, which produced 130,i;00 tons of timber a month, saving in that period sufficient shipping to bring an additional American division to France.'.'