Show r. r r t I f. f Y t j J m J 1 I f S r 4 Al T LA ele Ordnance Depot i 11 ees Long Peace Role 1 1 t Nofe T k h. th hP rd fl-rd Of ft ea Ill f UtI th It IteI eI be rn except Pt i la were tbt hll war r. 1 I t ICKE CK IDI N NELE ELE ORDNANCE DEPOT Help Wanted sign still stands 8 at at t the entrance e to Tooele ordnance ordnance depot three miles south of Tooele It Is a mute answer to the 35 35 question which since early 1942 1912 has hai troubled tr d everyone e who has Bee seen tho e massive e installation sprawling for the God knew how many any miles Into the distances distance going to become of It when the war is all over It I Is going to remain Intact to serve a a peacetime army accord- accord I I ng to Co Col Henry E. E Minton l commanding commanding com corn manding officer who predicted Monday that T TO TOD 0 D will play an important part In the postwar economy of Utah for many years year to o come As the greatest If not the only depot deVot of f i its r kind in in th the west he said sald aid it will continue to employ thousands of workers and Its present present pres- pres ent nt peak employment nt will be maintained main main- tamed until all nIl the unused war materiel in the tho Pacific theater has been jeen returned repaired and stored Hire Civilians At present there are 2000 lana fans ans 1200 soldiers and 1000 ItalIan Italian Ital- Ital ian an prisoners of war working at athe atthe atthe the he depot Civilians will wUI replace the he soldiers and prisoners as rapidly rapid rapid- I i ly y a as j the man pow power r becomes available avail avail- able able able-a a bright spot In bi the troubled view of things to to come when contract contract con- con tract cancellations begin shutting down and slowing down war-born war Industries Under the necessity for fort military s security only the most general description of the activities and size izo of this immense depot could be e given to the public Few outsiders outsiders out- out siders iders realize how large an Installation laton lation it really is There arc arcS acres or over 42 square miles of land within th the Irregularly shaped boundaries of I the he depot Units are widely scattered scattered scat- scat ered connected by 80 miles of at railroad tracks miles of hard- hard surfaced roads and over miles ot of f graveled roads Most dramatic of the many tEens ions is the ammunition storage area rea Here 12 square miles are neatly dotted at foot intervals with igloos arched reinforced vaul vaults covered with dirt and open pits its each capable of at storing 00 pOO pounds of high explosive Store D Destruction After fter the fall of Germany as many as 50 or 60 carloads of at ammunition a a. day were shipped here ere fr from m eastern depots to be stored for to the Pa- Pa chic The Japanese e surrender left nearly carloads of this death and nd destruction on hand It will probably remain in storage In case of f another war unless the atomic bomb completely revises military strategy These inconceivable quantities of explosive were handled without a a. single sIngh serious mishap or fatality Indicating the degree of prec precaution eXercised Strict storage regulations regula- regula lions lons prevent an at any anyone one spot and the Igloos are areo areso areso so o designed and spaced that the detonation of one would not set Bet setoff setoff of off the surrounding magazines Naturally rio Is per per- mUted m matches and ret lighters lighters light light- ers must be left with the guards at the gate to the area Rivaling the ammunition area arean in n size and importance are the huge facilities facUlties for repairing and storing combat vehicles artillery and spare parts In buildings hundreds hundreds hun bun of feet wide and long IonS tanks can be rebuilt repaired or over over- hauled Antiaircraft guns now receive receive re re- the most attention since the thelow flow low of tanks from the European theater has dwindled Repair Materiel Special units remanufacture batteries batteries bat- bat teries erics one department repairs and adjusts nearly-human nearly rangefinders and and there Is even a shop for the repair of at go gov gov- v- v issue watches Near by are arc dozens of great warehouses packed with spare parts and general supplies includIng IncludIng Ing ng cleaning and preserving material materials materials mate mate- rials rial machine tools packing equip equip- nearly nent-nearly nent nearly everything except quartermaster supplies In open storage are acres acre of tan tanks anks and trucks parked tread to tread read and bumper to bumper ar artillery artillery ar- ar tillery pieces of every description and piles of or aU all miscellaneous equipment which can be stored safely in the dry Utah air The reclamation unit punctures the belief that the army anny is Inherently inherently Laker- Laker e wasteful Fired she shell cases shipped in from battlefields and training c centers e c n t e r s IS are arc sorted cl cleaned and shipped to the smelters Over pounds of brass bras's have been so BO recovered actually actually actually ac ac- ac- ac bringing the government enough revenue to pay for the theo o operating cost ost of at the he entire depot Italian Prisoners Much of this bra brass Is used In minting p pennies the thc tho elimination of at the abhorred steel penny was largely owing to this process Another process perfected at T TO TOD 0 D reclamation unit was the recovery of at solder from ammunition ammunition ammunition tion box liners at tho the time solder became a critical Item Four bundred hundred hundred hun bun dred liners an an hour can be put through the unit and ounces of solder Bolder regained from each liner Obsolete or or equipment equipment equip equip- ment meat Is salvaged for whatever parts can be used and the rest Is IN converted Into scrap Iron Even wooden packing boxes crates and dunnage are saved and reused or sold Bold Tucked away nearly unnoticed In one corner of the depot Is the complete war prisoner camp The Tho Italian prisoners were brought broughlIn In nearly a a. year ago and have proved more satisfactory than the troublesome Germans who were first used I In another large cluster near the entrance arc are the tho administrative tive tivo buildings tho the barracks and the hospital Just off oft the tho depot area but contributing to the cumulative cumulative cumulative effect of at overwhelming size is T 0 O D Park with Its more than 1080 housing units now 75 15 occupied oc oc- oc- oc |