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MERICA'S greatest epic has been written into her trails since the elks' paths or hoof torn ways of buffaloes marked the lines to water. Indians later found these easier to use and they preceded scouts, such as Kit Carson, guarding emigrant wagons creaking along or the stage coach carrying mail and treasure. Loading rifles as the leader horses began to scent hostile Indians, knotting lines between the teeth, the old-time pioneers set forth with magazines or carbines, for the unwritten law of the day gave a man with a gun possession of a pass as long as he could hold it. It was here that four hundred years before Alvar Numez Cabeza de Vaca staggered across the deserts. Here also the rapid destruction of the Indians' commissariat, buffalo meat, left windrows of bones bleaching on the plains.

Chicago was a trading post in 1835, when the Baldwin Locomotive Works unloaded their eightieth locomotive from a sailing vessel at Toledo. The engine would scarcely make a goodsized threshing machine of today, but the engineer who ran it 33 miles in three hours was sharply reprimanded for "hazardous velocity." Road beds in those days were strap rail, one half inch by two inches with twelveinch mud sills and stringers keyed to slots in the cross-ties. At intervals the strap rails loosened, the rail followed the wheel, driving it through the floor of the car which was a

By BELLE MALTBY.

A large part of our Army is generally located in the southern section of the United States, particularly in the vicinity of the Mexican border. Sooner or later, it seems, all soldiers serve in the Southwest. Hence this article will be of particular interest because it deals with fascinating history and the famous landmarks of that region, adjacent to the Old Spanish Trail, which has been and is still destined to be the station of so many soldiers.

constant dread to the passengers. In 1851 strap rails had been laid over 9,000 miles of road, when "T" rails were installed.

Some years later, in planning a transcontinental railway, Thomas Jefferson favored a Northern route, but Jefferson Davis, when Secretary of State in 1853, set five different expeditions to work upon a Southern route. Where moguls scream along today over the shining steel rails, the pony express was inaugurated in 1860, making weekly trips across the desert of California. Riders frequently found relay reliefs scalped and had to ride on continuously, perhaps 300 miles before being relieved. Mormon girls, pushing hand carts as "off wheelers," were often married by stage coach drivers and released from

bondage. Next appeared the civil engineers developed by the Civil War, filled with the fire of heroism, along the old Santa Fe Trail.

Today public enthusiasm is aroused to the national engineering feat of making a road, capable of carrying heavy and light traffic, from Jacksonville, Fla., the Atlantic terminus. to San Diego, San Antonio, and down through New Mexico, Arizona and California, to the Pacific Coast, with standardized steel markers wherever necessary.

The Old Spanish Trail system links 4,000 miles of trunk lines reaching from Pensacola, Fla., to Yuma. Arizona. It crosses great waterways and basins along the Gulf and presents serious problems to engineers who are doing construction. The highway project received an impetus when the War Department recognized it as a military necessity and decided to nationalize it in interests of defense. Senators and Congressmen signed statements coincidently with this decision to the effect that "considered as a whole, the proposed transcontinental trunk highway with its connections to border points should be completed without delay according to the best Federal standards for road construction." Millions of dollars thus became available for the work.

Good roads have greatly assisted the operations of an army in the field. George Washington's gravest problem was the transportation of food and ammunition, due to bad roads.

Military leaders since have viewed with anxiety the lack of roads for southern defense but unity was absent until the plan for this Federal standardized road to cost many millions of dollars was conceived.

Today the United States is spanned by thousands of miles of good roads and the states and counties forming the various links will be assisted by the Government. The American Automobile Association rejoices that thousands of tourists in pleasure cars will make the tour for climatic conditions, scenic value and historical interest. The Old Spanish Trail has revived the early days of Spanish splendour, of Cortez, Ponce de Leon, de Sota, Coronado and the great order of Franciscan monks, whose missions are scattered along it. stories, legendary and historical, awaken thrills as the modern explorer speeds his car over the part of the hard surfaced road already completed. There is a sincere camaraderie of the open road among those who make camp together in this section where one can still see many miles of pioneer country.

The

The country through which the Old Spanish Trail runs is rich in natural resources as well as tradition. East Texas is practically virgin fishing ground, the rice fields along the Gulf are happy hunting grounds where the hunter finds millions of

ducks and geese. Farther westward

are wild animals such as bear and panther. Texas is fast becoming

awakened to the possibilities in her game and fish resources; there is more protection than in the past and small deer and wild turkey are plentiful. Government preserves are at Point Isbell where frequently from Bird Island a rise of ten thousand birds may be seen. Medina Lake, San Antonio, holds in check that lake and is the finest fishing ground in America.

In San Antonio stands the sacred Alamo which was erected by monks in 1718. There in 1836 was fought one of the swiftest and bloodiest battles in history, within walls that had floated seven different flags. There Davy Crockett, Austin, Bowie and Travis made their last stand against Santa Anna. Bronze tablets in the main church commemorate those heroes and all Texans who kept our colors on the sky line in the World War. (It was a long, lean Texan who first planted the Stars and Stripes at Vimy Ridge.) Reilly's standards of the Boxer Rebellion and Spanish War flags are also shown. In the Alamo (which signifies cottonwood) there is much of our history and our character. The Spanish Governor's ancient palace, where Bowie tied his horse, is on Military Plaza and the cathedral contains art treasures, given by the King of Spain to monks who, inspired by Christianity, carried them through the wilderness on their backs.

San Jose Mission, built in 1701, has a hand-carved stairway of live

oak which is unique in construction.

It operates like an open fan, each step working upon a flange. One window required sixteen years' work by Father Huicar, who carved it by hand. Seventeen miles away there was water and aqueducts were constructed to convey it to the gardens. Motorists travel along prairie and hill, seeing vivid color effects, roundups, creosoting, cattle grazing and sheep feeding. The Old Spanish Trail covers a wide panorama, with natural amphitheaters where the gods played mighty parts. It traverses a most interesting and fascinating countrythe Southwest where so many of Uncle Sam's soldiers are stationed.

"Little old San Antone" is as quaint as any city untouched; Mexicans squat about a guitar player, hombres come with game cock under the arm, priests and nuns form a long procession for an hour of piety, darkeyed senoritas sell frijoles at the chile stands, rich men stalk about with arabesques stitched on boots and silver-banded sombreros, while the poor people beg by the roadside. Fort Sam Houston at Government Hill, ranks among the finest Army posts in the United States. The Old Spanish Trail, Federalized, will open up, build up and light up all this contiguous country. General stores, with the signs "Dry Goods, Hats, Notions, Hardware, Coffins, Seeds, Post Office, Justice of the Peace, Licensed to Marry" will take the place of the "First Chance" and the "Last Chance" of former days.

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URING the last twelve months the United States took the lead in practically all phases of aviation, according to the chronology for 1922 issued recently by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. American pilots in American made machines have captured world records held in some instances for many years by Europeans. The Chamber points to the record of the air mail, which has traveled 1,750,000 miles in twelve months carrying 49,000,000 letters without a fatality to a pilot.

"The year has been characterized by remarkable progress in design, construction and operation," the report says. "Nowhere else has there been such startling improvement. American pilots in American machines have obtained such results as to warrant the assertion that theirs has been the most significant series of achievements in the world history of flight.

"During the year many more world's records came to America. In October Brig. Gen. William Mitchell in an Army-Curtiss biplane averaged 224.58 miles an hour over a straightaway course, thereby wresting the record from Sadi Lecointe, who a month before had attained an average of 213.575 miles an hour under similar conditions in France.

"In making this record Gen. Mitchell flew the same biplane and same Curtiss motor in which Lieut. R. L. Maughan of the Army Air Service won the Pulitzer Trophy race, flying 250 kilometers, closed circuit, with fifteen turns, at an average of 205.8 miles an hour. In that race Maughan also broke the international record for 100 and 200 kilometer closed and straight course flying. Six other airplanes had broken the 50 and 100 kilometer records in the same race before Maughan's remarkable performance. All the planes were American with American motors.

RECORD FLYING IN DETROIT RACES.

"In connection with the national races at Detroit there were more than 290,000 miles of flying, two-thirds of it cross-country travel, by civilian, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and

races from all parts of the country. There were no serious accidents. The same applies to the operations of aeromarine airways, the largest and most successful flying boat service in the world.

“Aeromarine airways on its New York-Atlantic City, Key West-Havana, Miami-Nassau and Bimini lines and Detroit-Cleveland service, safely carried more than 10,000 passengers and thousands of pounds of freight. More than 500 civilians learned to pilot their own machines. They were students at civilian flying schools located in a dozen states.

"The United States air mail has continued its wonderful demonstration of practical flying. Its actual operations have been confined to the transcontinental route between New York and San Francisco. Mail planes in July had completed their fourth year of flying operations, traversing 1,750,000 miles in twelve months without a fatality and carrying 49,000,000 letters. Several new planes were developed for mail carrying service.

"One of the many improvements is the aeromarine wing, which adds hundreds of pounds to the carrying capacity of a mail plane. Another new wing which increased the performance of certain types of planes was developed by Lawrence Sperry, who also perfected a device by which he successfully dropped the entire undercarriage of his plane, wheels and all, after taking off. He then landed on a skid, which so reduced his landing speed that he was able to alight in very small spaces.

OTHER SAFETY CREATIONS.

"Many other devices were created to make the airplane easier and safer to operate, among them the lateral 'pressure equalizer,' which Grover Loening installed on his monoplane flying yachts. The development of the reversible propeller, the supercharger and the Gallaudet geared propeller mechanism is being carried on in the United States at various laboratories and factories.

"The world's altitude record, made by Lieut. J. A. Macready in 1921 and

super-charger developed by the Army Air Service at McCook Field, has not been surpassed. Parachutes, known as aerial life preservers, have become dependable. While many civilians have contributed much to parachute development, the long jumps have been made by Army aviators. Last June Capt. A. W. Stevens broke the official record by dropping 24.206 feet over McCook Field.

"On April 17, Clifford Webster in an Loening air yacht flew with a passenger from Palm Beach, Fla., to New York between daylight and dark. His flying time was 9 hours and 56 minutes for 1,220 miles, which he covered with one stop for fuel. Another world's record was made by Army pilots in September, when Lieuts. Oakley, Kelly and J. A. Macready flew 2,060 miles between San Diego, Cal., and Indianapolis, Ind.. without stopping. A few days previously they had made another record duration flight, remaining in the air 35 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds, in the same plane, an Army-Fokker T-2 monoplane with Liberty motor.

"The lighter-than-air program has been continued with all the facilities at the command of the Army and Navy forces. The rigid airship ZR-1 is now being completed at the giant hangar at Lakehurst, N. J., and another, the ZR-3, is being built for the Navy at the Zeppelin plant in Germany as part of the indemnity award. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company at Akron, Ohio, is building a large semi-rigid airship 300 feet long for the Army Air Service.

"The experimental aircraft carrier Langley was commissioned early in 1922, and in August two other ships, the Saratoga and Lexington, were started. They will also become aircraft carriers and will operate with the fleet. The catapult for launching planes from the decks of battleships has been perfected, and will be placed on all ships which will have at least one plane ready for instant service. The idea of ship planes is not confined to the larger craft, but even submarines are scheduled to go to sea

162 RECRUITS

In Ten Months is Record of Sergeant Ryan

In turning the little city of Athens, Ga., from an almost complete failure as a source of recruits into one of the Atlanta Recruiting. District's most fertile fields, Sergeant William Ryan, D. E. M. L. (R. S.) F. F., has made a record that will prove a real target for a canvasser anywhere in the Country. Sergeant Ryan enlisted 162 recruits during the first ten months of 1922, 39 during the month of June and 20 during October. His record stands out far in advance of other canvassers in the section and is causing much comment in local army circles.

Since joining the recruiting serv-. ice Sergeant Ryan has continued, through his abundance of enthusiasm to keep up a fine average, even during the periods when recruiting was at a very low ebb. Recruiting officers are loud in praise for his work and he has received many letters of commendation on his successes.

Sergeant Ryan's record for the first ten months of this year follows:

January, 17; February, 8; March, 16; April, 15; May, 12; June, 39; July, 9; August, 9; September, 17, and October, 20.

On one occasion Sergeant Ryan, alone in charge of a sub-station, enlisted 189 recruits in a single month and obtained 37 enlistments in one day. He is an exceedingly conservative talker and rests his case after clearly outlining everything the army has to offer the prospective recruit. He makes no false promises and sends very few men to the main station that are not accepted and sworn into service.

Sergeant Ryan has been in the service more than 26 years. He has been a non-commissioned officer since 1899 and during the war served as a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps. He served in the Spanish-American War in Cuba with B Company of the 7th

Atlanta Recruiter Has Splendid Record.

SERGEANT WILLIAM RYAN, D. E. M. L., (R. S.)

Infantry and also in the Philippines with the 4th and 26th Infantries. Sergeant Ryan is married and has two children. Since being placed in charge of the Athens sub-station he makes his home in that city.

Garrison Caps For The National Guard.

The Militia Bureau has arranged for the issue of garrison caps for the National Guard. Each enlisted man will be supplied with a cap for use at ceremonies, etc. The service hat will be worn at the annual encampments as now prescribed.

To Scrap Wooden Barracks

Wooden barracks in all the Federal camps and cantonments in the country are to be scrapped as soon as possible, according to an announcement made by the War Department. The War Department expects to save annually approximately $50,000,000 by this program. Under the department's scrapping proposals troops of the Regular Army will be quartered in the permanent posts.

VALUABLE PUBLICITY

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Sergt. Ludwig in Touch With Kansas Newspapers

A clipping sent this office by Maj. Fred L. Lemmon, recruiting officer for the Seventh Corps Area, indicates that Sergt. Alfred Ludwig, in charge of the recruiting station at Hutchinson, Kansas, has the right idea about bringing the Army to the attention of the local newspapers.

Sergt. Ludwig was quoted in an interview in the Hutchinson Daily News of December 23, in which he told of how well the Regular Army would be fed for Christmas dinner and there was printed the menu of the Service Troop of the Second Cavalry, Fort Riley, bringing out the fact that now that the Army in on a peace basis that the average "chow" is better than during the war when messes were unable to obtain well trained personnel.

The idea put across by Sergt. Ludwig is splendid and his story was very timely two days before Christmas dinner was actually served.

Too many D. E. M. L. men in charge of recruiting stations overlook the fact that local papers are the best means of advertising. The average home-town paper would be only too glad to have a story a week provided it could be made of local interest. Non-coms in charge of stations are urged to make friends with the newspapers and to see that every interesting item of news is made the subject of a local story.

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1922 A Record Year For Panama

The passage of 2,997 ships through the Panama Canal in the calendar year 1922 established a new high record. In 1921, the best previous year, 2,814 vessels used the waterway.

The tolls collected in 1922 aggregated $12,573,407, so that for the first time since the opening of the canal the monthly average exceeded $1,000,000.

The net tonnage of commercial ships was approximately 12,085,000. The cargo carried approximated 13,700,000 tons. The previous highwater mark for tonnage was 11,435,811 and for cargo, 11,599,214.

Recruiters Receive Praise From A. G. O. The following note has been received from Major W. V. Carter in charge of the Recruiting Section, Adjutant General's office, Washington, D. C.:

"Dear Rudd: Please let the Corps Area Recruiting Officers and especially the enlisted canvassers know how much I appreciate the fine work they did in December, in response to my appeal, in enlisting 5,149 men in spite of the holidays. It was a good deal to ask of them but I felt they would respond and they certainly did. We are rapidly getting the Recruiting Service on a sound basis. Of course much remains to be done, but that only makes it more interesting and gives us a chance to show our speed. Ask the Recruiting Service to put on a little more pep this month and see if we can reach 6,000 for January. If every one of our 600 canvassers will bring in two more than he did in December we can do it. Sincerely,

Cash Prizes for Recruiters

Another intensive recruiting drive is scheduled for February. To provide an additional incentive the Infantry Journal, Cavalry Jour

gineer have each offered a cash prize of $20.00 to the canvasser producing the largest number of accepted enlistments for its arm of the service during the month of February. In other words, the Infantry Journal will give a $20.00 prize to the recruiter securing the largest number of Infantry enlistments and each of the other publications will do likewise but no individual can receive more than one prize.

This generosity on the part of these service publications is most timely and very much appreciated. It will undoubtedly greatly stimulate the interest of recruiters in the coming drive and materially help to establish what is confidently expected will prove to be a new monthly record.

The New Deputy Chief of Staff.

Major General John L. Hines, successor to Major General Harbord as Deputy Chief of Staff, has a brilliant record in the Army. Born in West Virginia, May 21, 1868, General Hines was graduated from the U. S. Military Academy with the class of '91, and served in the Cuban and Philippine campaigns. In 1916 General Hines, then detailed in the Adjutant Gen"eral's Department, went into Mexico with General Pershing and the new deputy chief of staff has told the story that while in Mexico as a major, he said to General Pershing that if the United States should ever become involved in a first class war he would like "to have command of a regiment."

When the United States declared war on Germany, General Hines, then a Lieut. Colonel of Infantry, was among the first to go to France. General Pershing placed him in command of a brigade of the 16th Infantry, first division, and within one year he succeeded to the command of a brigade of the first division as a brigadier general. He was soon promoted to major general and given the 4th Division, and finally command of the Third Army Corps. Hence the General's modest hope of some time commanding a regiment was more than amply fulfilled.

Upon his return to the United States General Hines commanded successively the Fourth division, the Fifth division, the Second division and the Eighth Corps area, from which station he was called to Washington to take the place made vacant by the retirement of General Harbord.

General Hines is one of the most proficient officers in the United States Army today. He is a splendid executive and yet a fine type of field soldier who likes nothing better than to handle large bodies of troops. He has the D. S. C., D. S. M., and numerous foreign de