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Show I HIGHLIGHTS OF ARMY NEWS With Uncle Sam's army at iti peacetime peak size and with increasing in-creasing activity in military developments de-velopments many stories of wide interest develop in army camps throughout the nation. Herewith are presented a series of articles depicting various phases of army activity. The army is in the Junk business to save Uncle Sam millions of dollars. dol-lars. In an out-of-way section of Philadelphia, Phila-delphia, a little group of men and women spend their work-days picking pick-ing over a pile of woolen and cotton cot-ton scraps. They are salvaging waste material from the cutting and piecing machines used in making mak-ing millions of army uniforms. Saving these cloth scraps last year saved the government more than $1,500,000. To provide uniforms for the army's million ond a half soldiers, the quartermaster depot buys the uniform material, then sends It to manufacturers who have contracts with the army to make the soldiers' trousers, coats, shirts and other clothing. Scrap cloth that accumulates accumu-lates during the manufacturing process proc-ess is returned to the depot, carefully care-fully sorted, baled and auctioned to the highest bidders. The army knows to the penny how much scrap material is saved In the manufacture of each piece of clothing coat, 10 cents' worth; overcoat, 14 cents; trousers, 5 cents; field jacket, (J cents; field cap, .6 cent. Army Musicians Army musicians will soon be playing play-ing new Bell Lyra's, a variation of the glockenspiel popular in European Euro-pean military bands. The instrument contains a keyboard key-board similar to that of a piano, but is played by striking 22 metal bars with a small mallet. The tonal and harmonic effects have a tremendous tre-mendous carrying range and add possibilities for musical variations. The Bell Lyra player carries the SO by 22 inch Instrument in an upright up-right position by means of a shoulder shoul-der strap. For concert work it may also be played from a stationary rack. The Bell Lyras will replace chromatic bells, now used in U. S. army bands. The new instrument can be played on the march. Fashion Notes Soldiers riding the iron steeds of the army's armored force are assured as-sured ample protection this winter for fingers and hands operating weapons and equipment. A twin glove of wool and leather has just been perfected for the armored ar-mored force by the quartermaster corps. The outer glove has leather palms and thumbs. An inner glove is fashioned of knitted wool. A strap fastens the twin glove's large gauntlet gaunt-let over overcoat sleeves to keep out cold air. When necessary for the soldiers to adjust equipment, operate a radio ra-dio or do anything which requires free movement of the fingers, the outer glove can be pulled off. The wool inner glove will still provide protection. Motorcycle riders may soon have lambskin lined muiTs fastened on their handlebars, into which they may slip their hands, if tests now under way by the quartermaster corps prove successful. Portable Pipe Line Portable pipe lines that can be readily moved for installation over difficult terrain to carry gasoline supplies to motorized units In the field, have been developed recently by the army. The new pipe line comes in self-contained self-contained half-mile units, each complete com-plete with a centrifugal pump driven driv-en by a 20-horsepower gasoline engine, en-gine, according to Army Motors, the publication of the motor transport trans-port school at the Holabird quartermaster quarter-master depot, Baltimore, Md. Each half mile unit can be moved by cargo car-go trucks and used independently of any other unit These self contained sections, alone or in combinations, are said to be able to deliver gasoline through swamps and forests or over mountains moun-tains at a rate of approximately 200 gallons per minute. The pipe can also be used to assist or even replace floating gasoline tanks for ship-to-shore operations. I Army Food Supply During last summer's maneuvers in Louisiana, 40 freight cars daily were necessary to bring in rations at 12 railheads for the 123,000 men in the Second army. Here is what they ate each day: 270.300 pounds of beef 202,748 pounds of bacon 81,099 pounds of potatoes 275,737 eggs 13,517 pounds of coffee 167,605 bananas, apples, oranges Horses, too, had healthy appetites. Cavalry units consumed 33 tons of oats and 39 tons of hay daily and as for motor vehicles nearly eight gallons of gasoline were used in each during a day's operation. More than 10 per cent of the men walked holes Into the soles of their shoes by the time the final phase of the maneuvers was reached. An emergency supply of 30,000 new pairs of shoes was kept on hand for replacement. Railroad Fares Army personnel traveling by rail in uniform on ofneial leave, furlough fur-lough or pass at their own expense, will benefit from reduced fares for another year. The present reduced fare arrangements made last May and due to expire this month, have been extended to October 31. 1942. H. W. Siddall, chairman of the railroad rail-road interterritorial military committee com-mittee representing all of the railroads rail-roads in the United States, has notified noti-fied the quf rtcrmoster general. |