THE GREAT WAR IN THE ZONE OF THE ARMY. 319 



sanitary, but only one, the division sanitary inspector, had nothing 

 else to do and all he could do was request and advise. 



But the Great War promptly threw the spotlight on these weak 

 points and to its everlasting credit the Army began to evolve a plan 

 to remedy them most skilfully. First, labor battalions began to be 

 employed to prepare areas for troop cantonment, as well as to " clean 

 up " after a battle. Two sanitary squads of one officer and 26 men 

 were assigned exclusively to certain divisions for sanitary duty. 

 These men were plumbers, pipe-fitters, carpenters, masons, tinsmiths 

 and artisans of all sorts needed for carrying into effect sanitary 

 plans. Engineer troops, quartermaster troops and even, when nec- 

 essary, soldiers of the line, were to be called upon to help in work 

 clearly beyond the scope and endurance of these two squads. But 

 of all the promising steps taken in these reforms the plan of provid- 

 ing a permanent sanitary organization for Army areas was the best. 

 Instead of a confused and hurried attempt every time a division was 

 moved, to sanitate its new area by its own efforts at enormous ex- 

 pense, such efforts to be repeated more or less by the next division 

 when in a week or so the first moved on, the Army, through its chief 

 sanitary inspector, was to divide up its area into three sections, each 

 of which was to be divided into from 8 to 12 subsections. These 

 sections were plotted out for topographical reasons, and with an eye 

 to highways, and had no reference to the divisions which might oc- 

 cupy them. The personnel was permanent and did not leave when 

 divisions occupying their section left. They were Army units, under 

 the military zone commander. They prepared the sanitary appli- 

 ances for the incoming troops and helped keep them in repair as 

 well as keeping a watchful eye over them. They exercised no au- 

 thority over the troops using them, — they were there to help the 

 troops keep decent and comfortable, as well as to prevent disease. 

 The reason why they were Army units is that an Army is the least 

 mobile unit in regard to its area. The divisions and corps were con- 

 stantly changing. Each section had its chief in a town where he was 

 to run a small school of sanitation and was to have a sanitary squad 

 to build sanitary appliances for demonstration as well as to aid in 

 repairing them in the sections which were being actually used. The 

 sanitary squad at Langres was early stationed at the dump and from 



