THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



211 



of speed they are showing in the Pur- 

 chasing Board. The chief purchasing 

 officer likes to hustle — and anyhow it is 

 forced on him. 



"The French expect us to hustle Amer- 

 ican fashion," said he. "They would be 

 disappointed if we did not. What else 

 can we do ?" 



EVERYTHING NEEDED AT ONCE 



Everything w 7 as needed at once. Cloth 

 for uniforms was bought in England, 

 along with shoes and hats and blankets. 

 France furnished cannon and tents, and 

 pots and pans, and food. The rooky 

 army was billeted in peasants' cottages 

 until material for huts could be found 

 and the huts built. 



Paris was drained dry of all sorts of 

 office material. I doubt if there is a good 

 desk or filing cabinet or revolving chair 

 to be found there today. The American 

 army reached France as bare as a fish 

 and it had to be provided for. Naturally 

 enough, prices blew out of the chimney 

 in this forced draft of demand. Three 

 times the peace value was a fair price. 



"I must have tents and blankets and 

 cots for 250 men by six o'clock," was the 

 telephone message that came to one buyer 

 at noon one day. 



"There isn't a tent nor a blanket nor 

 a cot in town," said the buyer. 



Usually that would have ended the con- 

 versation. But the man at the other end 

 of the telephone was in earnest. 



"Then 250 men will sleep in the snow 

 tonight and cover themselves with a 

 ditch," said he. "Don't tell me you can't 

 get that stuff. You've got to get it." 



NO ATTEMPT TO SAVE DOEEARS INSTEAD OF 



EIVES 



He got the stuff, of course. That was 

 General Pershing's standing order in 

 those days. He did not attempt to save 

 dollars at the cost of lives and worry and 

 days. If he had tried to save money that 

 way, he would not have been fit for his 

 job. Little by little, order came out of the 

 original chaos. The things that were 

 needed before the army could set up shop 

 in France — before it could even open the 

 shop door — were bought at the best prices 

 possible. Then began the work of organ- 



izing the business. The army began to 

 plan ahead and cut out waste. 



The Purchasing Board was created. It 

 is composed of the purchasing officers of 

 the various army departments, while the 

 purchasing officers of the Y. M. C. A. 

 and Red Cross have a sort of collateral 

 relationship to the Board, for both or- 

 ganizations are often in the market for 

 the things the army needs. At each meet- 

 ing the purchasing officers pool their dis- 

 coveries and their needs. 



Scouts have ransacked France and 

 England and neutral Europe for deposits 

 of raw material. The list of needs is 

 made up in each department for three 

 months ahead. 



"Seven departments want 40,000 fish- 

 hooks each," it might read, it being un- 

 derstood that in verity no department 

 wants fish-hooks. "There are 192,000 

 fish-hooks available at the following 

 prices." 



WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 

 FRENCH MIEITARY MISSION 



The need being imperative, the pur- 

 chasing officers of the seven departments 

 are given permission by the Board to buy 

 the fish-hooks. But before the buying is 

 done, the need and the prices are placed 

 before the French Military Mission, 

 which works in conjunction with the Pur- 

 chasing Board. It is conceivable that the 

 French army needs fish-hooks, or army 

 shoes, or rubber blankets, or whatever 

 the item may be. It has the first call on 

 the material available, but its officers have 

 shown themselves extraordinarily helpful 

 and generous. They have always pruned 

 their own wants to the final hair rather 

 than pinch the Americans. 



"I cannot say enough as to the spirit in 

 which we have been met," said the chief 

 purchasing officer. "The French have 

 placed their entire organization at our 

 disposal and have opened all their rec- 

 ords. Far from asking them to do more, 

 our constant feeling is that we are un- 

 generous in permitting them to do so 

 much." 



The French Mission also passes upon 

 the prices the American officers are will- 

 ing to pay. In some instances purchases 

 have not been made because the price was 

 exorbitant. Throughout all these deal- 



