| Value of output, depots and shops | $47,018,374.01 |
| Battle-field recoveries | 15,100,000.00 |
| Kitchen economies | 474,515.12 |
| Waste sales | 39,680.23 |
| Rubber salvaged, 1,591,585 pounds, at estimated value of 10 cents per pound | 159,156.50 |
| Wool cloth shipped to British, 359,920 pounds, at estimated value of 20 cents per pound | 71,984.00 |
| Lumber salvaged, 1,737,940 board feet | 69,025.20 |
| Total | 62,932,735.06 |
| Activity. | Total articles. | Estimated cost of service. | Estimated value reclaimed articles. | Estimated net saving. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clothing, shoe, and hat repair | 12,635,458 | $7,103,940.00 | $37,632,158.05 | $30,528,218.05 |
| Cot repair | 486,892 | 779,027.20 | 1,752,811.20 | 973,784.00 |
| Canvas repair | 122,480 | 611,900.00 | 3,023,418.79 | 2,411,518.79 |
| Total | 33,913,520.84 | |||
| Dry-cleaning operations | 4,686,415 | 2,247,292.52 | [35]166,233.29 | |
| Government laundry operations | 72,263,964 | 1,888,823.93 | [36]3,115,847.31 | 1,227,023.38 |
| Grand total | 35,306,777.51 | |||
| DISPOSITION OF WASTE MATERIAL. | ||||
| Estimated value of material turned over to organisations | 941,709.00 | |||
| Cash sales: | ||||
| Scrap material from June 1 to Dec. 31 | $1,194,395.01 | |||
| Garbage, May 1 to Dec 31 | 414,832.60 | |||
| Dead animals, May 1 to Dec. 31 | 7,043.91 | |||
| Manure, May 1 to Dec. 31 | 225,227.29 | |||
| Condemned hay, straw, etc., May 1 to Dec. 31 | 50,158.92 | |||
| Total | 1,891,657.73 | |||
| Farm products invoiced to quartermaster, May 1 to Dec. 31 | 107,271.79 | |||
| Estimated net saving to Government | 38,247,416.03 | |||
[35] On articles dry cleaned in Government shops.
[36] Receipts and operating credits.
A consolidation of these figures shows that the total amount returned to the Government in money value by the savings of the salvage service of the Army for the single calendar year of 1918 was $101,180,151. With this figure some interesting comparisons may be made.
In 1912, to meet every expense of the American standing Army, Congress appropriated $99,676,767.43; in 1913 the appropriations were $100,292,855.04. Salvage, reclaiming the materials once wasted and using them over again, saved enough in 1918 to have maintained the entire Military Establishment in 1912 or 1913.
But there is even a more striking comparison. During the fiscal year of 1898—the Spanish-American War year—the entire appropriations for the support of the Army amounted to $70,394,739.96. Salvage in 1918 saved $30,000,000 more than was appropriated to fight the Spanish-American War up to July 1, 1898, at which date the fighting was nearly over.
Take the cost of clothing the Army raised to fight against Spain, and add to it the appropriations for clothing the Army and equipping it with shoes, leather and rubber goods, and textile equipment for the years 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917, and you have a total Government expenditure of $100,050,271.65. The savings of salvage in 1918 could pay this entire cost with $1,129,880 to spare.
It cost $20,280,000 for the clothing and equipage of the Army for the year ending June 30, 1917, at which date the war with Germany had begun. Salvage in the United States alone in 1918 saved to the Government $17,967,416 more than this appropriation.