ALASKANS WANTED
TO ENLIST IN THE
NCINEERSSERVICE
Alaskans are wanted to enlist in the rI wentieth En
gineers (Forest) Service. \V. G. Weigle, forest Super
visor for Alaska, with headquarters at Ketchikan, has
sent the Gateway a copy of the call and particulars le
garding the,service and it is herewith published in order
that enlistment may be expediated. Men wishing to en
list should apply to the forest supervisor at Ketchikan.
The following is the information regarding the service
issued by the government:
What They Are
Forest battalions in this regiment are composed oi
woodsmen and sawmill men, who will go to France ana
get out of the forests lumber a:ul other timbei pioducts
for the use of the American, British, and French armies.
They are regularly organized units of the Engineer Corps
of the American Army. One regiment, the lenth Engi
neers (Forest), has already been fuh\ leciuittd. A
number of additional battalions have been called for and
are to be recruited at once. 1 lie first units will be as
sembled at the training camp at the American l niversity,
Washington, D. C.
Where They Will Work
The various companies composing these battalions will
he scattered widely throughout the forests of I' ranee.
Not much, if any, of the work will be near the battle lines.
Kinds of Timber
The forests in which the work will be done consists
of pine and fir in some sections, and of oak, beech, and
other hardwoods in others, f he forests are generally not
extensive; the trees are smaller than in virgin American
forests but the stands are often quite heavy, lhese for
ests resemble the woodlots of southern New England, the
operations will be similar to portable sawmill logging and
tie cutting in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, and
Virginia. The larger logs will be sawn into boaids and
dimensio ■ trees will be cut into
hewn ties, poles, props, etc. 1 he closest possible use of
timber will be required.
The French forests have for many years been man
aged with great care and skill. 1 he American forest bat
talions must be able, if they are to do creditable work, not
only to cut anil manufacture the timber with high effici
ency, but also to avoid waste and leave the forest in good
condition for future production.
Kinds of Men W anted
The commissioned officers of the forest battalions
will comprise 50 per cent practical lumbermen and saw
mill operators, 25 per cent technical foresters, and 25 per
cent men with engineering and military training. The
technically trained foresters and practical lumbermen
and sawmill operators will be selected by the War Depart
ment upon the recommendation of the Forest Service
working in cooperation with representative lumbermen’s
associations; the men with engineering and military train
ing will be selected directly by the War Department. To
be eligible for the position of major, applicants must be
between the ages of 40 and 58, and must be men of broad
and successful experience in some phase of forest work
who have fully demonstrated their qualities of leadership
and gained something more than local recognition of then
ability. The captains and lieutenants will be appointed
from the men over 31 years of age who have had exten
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sive experience in the lumber business and have proved
themselves capable of leading men and of filling positions
of responsibility.
The enlisted men will be picked woodsmen and saw-;
mill workers. Service in these units will give such men a
chance to take the part in the war for which their life and,
training have peculiarly fitted them. For the logging:
crews, skilled axmen, woods-sawyers, crosscut-saw filers,
tie hewers, skidders, teamsters, and blacksmiths are in
demand. Millwrights, mill sawyers, circular-saw filers,
engineers, and experienced mill hands are needed to op
erate the sawmills which will form part of the equipment;
carpenters, machinists, and charcoal burners are wanted,
and helpers are required for the various activities con-i
nected with woods operations and the maintenance of
large camps. There is limited need for motor truck and
motorcycle operators and motor truck repair men, as well
as for experienced clerks and cooks. The number ol
clerks, cooks, and general teamsters required for the first
two battalions has been secured by the War Department
so that listing officers should not send men o! these quali
fications to the Recruiting Officer until the first two bat
talions are recmited. Logging teamsters are needed,
however, and should be listed.
How to Join
To join a forest battalion, applicants can first be list
ed by a listing officer appointed by the Forest Service or
go direct to any U. S. Army recruiting officer. The list
ing of applicants by listing officers does not insure their
final acceptance. It may be necessary subsequently to re-j
ject some of the men who have been listed.
Conditions of Enlistment
Applicants must have reached their 18th birthday and'
not have'passed their 41st birthday. They will be subject
to the same physical examination as required for the reg
ular army. Men of draft age whose names have been
posted by the “Local Board” for service in the National
Army are not eligible for enlistment.
Enlistment will be for the period of the war.
Men with dependents will be required to give a cer
tificate signed by them and their adult dependents that
they will not call upon the United States for financial sup
port during the period of the applicant's enlistment.
All recruits will be enlisted as privates. Warrants for
noncommissioned officers are issued if a man is found I
qualified by the regimental commander ;tfter joining the
battalion to which he is assigned.
Military Training and Regulations
While designed to serve primarily as mobile logging
and milling crews, the battalions are organized on mili
tary lines, subject to regular army rules, regulations, and
administration; and their members will be armed and
uniformed. The first-duty of the officers and men will be
to learn military discipline and teamwork through thor
oughgoing drill at military training camps.
Pay
Pay will begin at the date of enlistment. 1 transpor
tation and subsistence will be furnished to recruits by the
recruiting officer.
Enlisted men may arrange to have their families re
ceive all or any portion of their pay during their absence.
HUSBAND SHOULD NOT BE
DRAFTED FOR THE ARMY
IF THE WIFE IS REQUIRED
TO WORK FOR SUBSISTENANCE
The following statement has been isstied by the Pro
vost Marshal General, Brig. Gen. Enoch H. Crowder,,
alter a conference with the Secretary of A\ a 1.
2 A feeling has been expressed that, in passing on
claims for discharge on the ground ot dependents, local
boards ought, in no case, to refuse a discharge to a mar
ried man or to the head of a family. The law under which j
local boards act requires that, before such a discharge
can be granted, dependency as well as relationship must
be established. The matter having been presented to the
President the following are his ordere thereon:
“We ought, as far as practicable, to raise this new
National Army without creating the hardships necessarily
entailed when the head of a family is taken and I hope
that, for the most part, those accepted in the first call;
would be found to be men who had not yet assumed such
relations.
“The selective service law makes the fact of depend
ents, rather than the fact of marriage, the basis for ex-;
emption, and there are, undoubtedly, many cases within
the age limits fixed by law, of men who are married and
yet whose accumulations or other economic surroundings
are such that no dependency of the wife exists in fact'.
Plainly, the law does not contemplate exemption for this
class of men.” •
The regulations promulgated on June 30,1917, should
be regarded as controlling in these cases, and the orders j
issued under that regulation directing exemption boards
to establish the fact of dependents in addition to the fact
of marriage ought not to be abrogated.
H. V. Hobkn A. F. Davis
ALASKA TRANSFER
H. V. HOBKN, MANAGKR
Coal, Wood and Ice
General Transferring. I'hones, Main 17 and 41
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SEWARD, * - - ALASKA
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Should Not Force \\ ife to Work
2. The attention of this office lias been invited to
the fact that, in a few instances, local boards have certi
fied to district boards as held for military service, men
whose families are actually dependent upon them foi sup
port on the theory that the wife is able to work and should
he put to the necessity of going to work to support hei -
self and children. This situation is addressed in the fol
lowing, opinion of the district board of New York city, in
which opinion this office concurs, with the undeistanding
that the phrase “support available from relatives” is sup
port partial or total previously extended to the applicant
himself.
“We do not concur in the view suggested in some
quarters that in case of wife and children actually depend
ent on applicant’s labor for support, and where there aie
no other means of support, the wife should be put to the
necessity of going to work to support heiself and chi.
dren. Bona fide dependency of wife and children on labor
of applicant where in his absence they will be left with
out reasonably adequate support, after duly taking into
consideration soldier’s wage and support available fiom
relatives, as stated in the rulings of the Provost Marshal
General, is ground of discharge.”
This opinion clearly and adequately expresses the in
tent of the law in this regard.
Recent Ruling Explained
3. Paragraph B, compiled rulings of this office, No.
6. addressed a state of affairs where the parents or other
relatives of the wife or husband are able, ready and will
ing adequately to support the wife and children, if any,
during the absence of the husband. This iuling was ie
sponsive to a class of cases that had been bi ought to the
attention of this office where claims of discharge had been
made on the ground of dependency on a husband, who,
as a matter of fact, was not dependent upon himself. The
ruling directed the attention of local boards to the fact
that scrutiny of cases of this kind'might disclose that no
discharge was advisable.
It was not intended that paragraph B of the compiled
rulings should apply to the case of the head of a family
whose family, at the time of his summons and prior there
to, were and had been mainly dependent upon his labor
for support.
Instances of Error Rare
4. Instances in which local boards have been in error
in respect of these two classes of cases are rare. It was
to be expected that with some 4,500 local boards theie
would be some ununiformity of decision in this regard.
To provide against this ununiformity, section 27 of the
regulations provides for the automatic appeal of all de
pendency cases to the district boards. Distiict boaids
should scan the decisions of local boards on questions of
dependency and wherever it appears that such decisions
are illegal (as in the two cases just mentioned or other
wise) or \Vhere these decisions seem to be so ununiform
as to result in an unequal operation of the law, the dis
trict board should reverse or modify the decision of the
local board.