350 



THE AMERICAN FOREST ENGINEERS IN FRANCE 



In the face of the enormous quantities of timber required to carry for- 

 ward the work of the American Army in almost all of its branches, 

 every possible effort was made to speed up production at the forestry 

 operations. Practically all of the sawmills were operated day and 

 night, some of them on three 8-hour shifts. More than double the 

 rated capacity of the plants was obtained currently at many of the 

 forestry operations — by continuous hard driving. The following 

 figures, covering 7 months in 1918, illustrate the rate at which mill 

 capacity was increased during the critical period of the war and also the 

 actual output of sawed products as compared with the rated capacity 

 of the plants. 



Month 

 (1918) 



Number of mills 



Average rated 



capacity per 



10 hours, 



M ft. b.m. 



Average 



cut per day, 



M ft. b.m. 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



33 

 41 



48 

 54 

 64 

 68 



77 



255 

 303 

 402 

 542 

 757 

 797 

 850 



302 



560 



665 



835 



1,215 



1,550 



1,700 



The last column contains the actual daily output, including time 

 lost from breakdowns, shifts in location, and delays incident to the 

 operating of new mills. 



The principal thing which made such a showing possible was the 

 experience and skill of the men comprising the forestry companies and 

 the esprit de corps which actuated their work. These quaUties in its 

 personnel were by far the greatest asset of the Forestry Section. The 

 actual accomplishment of the Forest Engineers as a distinctive unit in 

 the American Army was summed up in these words from their command- 

 ing officer, shortly after the armistice was signed: 



"Recent reports from the various depots and construction projects 

 of the American E. F. show that the Army was at the time of conclud- 

 ing the armistice well supplied with lumber. When ties were called for 

 in large quantities to support the advances of our troops at St. Mihiel 

 and in the Argonne they were ready. At practically every dock project 

 deliveries of piling and lumber were well ahead of the construction. In 

 other words, the Forestry troops have made good on the work for which 

 they were brought to France. Notwithstanding the difiiculties in 

 obtaining equipment and transportation, notwithstanding the enormous 

 increase in the size of the American E. F., and the work which it under- 

 took over the original estimates, the Army has been given the lumber 



