Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 147, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1917 — CARRY A SIX-TON BUILDING [ARTICLE]

CARRY A SIX-TON BUILDING

Squad of 250 Soldiers Move Structure, 72 by 24 Feet, Without Aid of Any Machinery. Carrying a six-ton building, without the aid of machinery, or other equipment, was one of the unusual tasks performed hy 250 North Dakota soldiers when they were on the Mexican border, according to the Popular Mechanics Magazine. The frame structure that was moved housed the army Y. M. C. A. at Mercedes, Tex., and measured 72 by 24 feet Because its site was undesirable, It was proposed to hire a contractor to move the structure to a new location, but the army engineers devised a plan by which the men themselves could perform the task and so save money. They estimated that with 250 soldiers helping, each would have to carry less than 50 pounds. Accordingly the building was well braced and its walls provided with runners. Since there was no floor the men were stationed along all four walls, inside as well as out, each soldier standing next to a beam inserted beneath. At the word of command they lifted the building from the ground and marched away with it, to a site 200 yards distant.