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FRANCES FAMOUS TREES BEING FELLED Correspondence from France brings the news that many of the giant trees highly prized and long safeguarded by France sire being felled oil u large static for building operations of the American forces A recent letter treats on this subject interestingly It raids as follows followsTimlier Timlier cutting for the use of the American army is proceeding on a vast scale in some of the great fonst regions of France as well as in Switz ¬ erland and Spain The cutting of a tree in France has been in peace time a little short of felony and no tne could be removed until another vigorous sapling was ready to take its place But the stern requirements of war have compelled a change in this conservation of the forests and the French arc yielding the trees they have so long safe ¬ guarded guardedGreat Great as the sacrifice is it has been recognized as a war measure since the bringing over from America of the vast amount of lumber required would stop the transport of troops So the forests are going and for the first time solid stone con ¬ struction is giving place to the lighter and much more rapid wood construction constructionBesides Besides the gathering of this huge stock of material requiring thousands of foresters there is the work of building the hospitals docks barracks etc The vastncss of these building operations can be judged from the one item of building hospitals hospitalsHospitals Hospitals are built m the basis of beds for 10 per cent of the strength of troops so that with tin army of 1000000 men the hospital provision must be for 100000 beds and with a prospective army of 2000000 men in sight the actual estimate for hospitals is 200000 beds As there are as many attendants as wounded occupying beds this makes requirements for 400000 or the size of a great metropolis in the one item of hospitals hospitalsSeveral Several 10000 bed hospitals are under way and two 20000 bed hospitals are being provided One of these 20000 bed establishments with its 20000 attendants makes a large village of itself of 40000 people with their own electric light water and sewer systems and all the organization of a large municipality municipalityTh Th buildiug of warehouses docks etc is on the same gigantic scale as hospitals At three different points there is an average construction of three warehouses put up each day and each 500 by 50 feet in dimensions Ten miles of docks is about keeping pace now with the requirements of an army of 1000000 men but with a prospective army much greater than a million thirty miles of docks is the minimum requirement Much of the barracks and trench construction is rush work which will have to be completed before winter These are some of the outstanding features of tliis huge work of army construction vanfed on by thi engineers far exceeding the work on the Pan ¬ ama Canal or any other engineering operation the United States ha ever before undertaken
