CLEANING ON BATTLEFIELD.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 June 1918, Page 6

CLEANING ON BATTLEFIELD.

AFTER AiN ENGAGEMENT. Wtom the tJida of tbrfitle has eflAted and the fallen fighters have found a soldier's grave, there remam a vast amount of TOcskage tltat well repays salvage. How the work of weeding out what has value the allied front is told by the correspondent of flha New York Gtobe mi the Cbkago Ifeily News. He says: The visitor to a recent {battlefield or a freshly-abandoned line of trenches is immediately impressed by the vast amount of rifles (broken and whole), bayonets, and cartridges, steel helmets, rolls of barbal wire, broken carts, pots, pans, grenades, wood, aaa metaVwtrk of all sorts used in war, that lies scattered helter-akeiter aiboirt, and one deplores that so much useful material slvould go to waste. ' Bat visit the same spot a few weeks later, and one is even more impressed by the speed with which the dribrfe has been cleared way, and of the orfer which reSgns where once seemed bat bopdess ooofasbn. Hie work of dcaitog uj> "btttleSelde m systemaiticffllly oigaaised, special tamssSiovß of men being regularly detailed for it, and is ranged in two cait-egarias: First, gathering up of poutable asms, nwihiae guns, trench mortaft, cannon, mmiiticms, and supplies captured from or aJbandoned by the enemy; secondly, salvaging of the maiterial in the slheitera and defensive organisations from -which the enemy have been driven or from which they bave retreated. Special measures to assure tibia work are taiken after eaoh attack, or after an enemy retreat, suoh as took place at the ofee and the Aiene in Manoh, 1917.

[ The material and munitions belonging 'to the fost caitegoiy are assembled in army parks, where they are examined. Everything that looks interesting because of its novelty, is sent at once to a i special cstaftiliaSHneirt, where it is studied iin detail. Reports concerning these studies are nude, whidh permit the General Staff to *be efficaciously informed conoerning the technical progress realised by tike enemy, and in consequence I to take necessary measures to annul the effects. The material of kind already familiar is partly seat to estsMishments in the interior and placed at the disposition of the War Ministry. Other elements of this material are sold to the allied amies wthio are able to use it; still I others ore saved as trophies or sent to the foundries or destroyed. Another port is conserved for the time being by the French armies, where it serves for I taching the officers and soldiers how to see against the enemy during on action such maiterial a« may be captured in good condition. There are numerous insftajsaea of men thus instructed saving tie day by taming against the foe their own iiiachine guns or hand grenades captured in the course of the action. Tbe material belonging to the second eategory is gathered from the shelters jand defensive works by special crews; ; it is taken to depots behind the front, where it is completely sorted. The wood and iron in good condition are used for re-supplying the army. The materials whacih cannot be utilised are I considered as wraftoge and shipped to | one of the numerous sorting centres which exist all over France. The work of salvage is so splendidly systema/tised that nothing is overlooked, 'and anything that can have any possibility to an appropriate supply-depot. The writer continues:—Because of the increasing needs of the industries working for the national defnee and the diffijcuities in securing the necessary supplies of first-hand materials it has been necessary to intensify the sending from the j front to the interior of all useless materials, of all bits of metal, and in general of all objects likely to be used again after repa'ir or transformation. In '• every sector of the front special crews gather together all abandoned objects and materials and assemble them in depots, where preliminary sorting is made. As soon as sufficient quantity of material is on hand it is transported by waggons or trucks to stations designated for the purpose and sent to one of the sorting establishments in the interior. ... The salvaging of this material is very important as to tonnage, and the nature of the objects is diverse'. The organisation which cares for the work comprises a numerous personnel of officers and men. The sorting centres are arranged to receive and care for large numbers of carloads of material; the sorting of obejets is done m- —Mi-- as possible. The material sorted is then either forwarded to workshops which can put it in shape or utilise certain elements in the construction of new materials, or the metallurgical materials are sent to the industrial centres, where they are sold to metal-working establishments and sent to the foundry. Finally, in connection with the proceeding services, the Minister of Armament and A. ar-manufacturing has instituted a service of requisitions and evacuations which has for its purpose the protection or evacuation of all material and objects existing in places or factories located near the front and exposed to destruction by the enemy's fire. This work is accomplished by accord between the State and the proprietors, or the municipalities if the proprietors cannot be located. The material requistioned is utilised by th® industries working for the national defence; the material simply evacuated is stored in ware rooms in the interior, where the proprietors will find it at end of the war. These measures have been taken to avoid the useless payments to proprietors of large indemnities for war damages, as the erpense of evacuation and storing are much smaller than the indemnities payable for total loss. This salvaging work goes on daily all along the front, and becomes more and more important. An average of 7,800 tons of used shell cartridges alone are sent monthly to the sorting centres, and the amount of various iron runs about 4,500 tons in the same length of time. The salvaging crews are to be seen at their j work no matter how bitter the cold or how hot the sun.