The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1884-11-19
AT A RECRUITING OFFICE.
WHAT THE sERaEANV TOLD TO A
RBPoRTER.
Wen who Enlist Causes that Load
Them 80 10 N the Arm why some
Fail 60 be Enrolled.

Wen who En,st-CauSes that Lead
Them 80 10 N the Arm why some
Fau TO be Enrolled.
A Washington Star reporter has been
interviewing the sergeant in charge Of q
United States recruiting office in that
city, with the following result:
'Do we enlist many7 Yes, all we can
get, said the sergeant, in response to
the reporters questions, as he offered
him chair and closed his recruiting
book. owe take all we can get who
can pass the examination
How many applications do you get
in day~
1.-TWO is the most 1 remember of com
ing in one day. Some days none come. :"
DO most of them passl"
''No. Last month we had twenty APP
phcants, and only eight were accepted
as physically sound. The month before
there were only eight accepted out of
thirty"
"What is sufficient to disqualify an ap-
plicant2"
"The absence of molar teeth is alone
sufficient. In old times it used to he
that soldiers had to have good incisors,
or front teeth. That was when they had
to bite cartridges. Now they have car
tridges that don't need biting, and in
oisors are not indispensable in soldier.
Signs OF habitual drunkenness is suffi-
cient to disqualify man for the service.
He will be rejected for any serious physi-
cal weakness. Many are disqualified on
account of big veins in the calves of their
legs-long marching might burst them. I"
"What makes men enlist9"
"Out of work, out of money, out Of
friends. Anything. Some have a lik.
ing for the army. Some have read books
and have romantic idea of frontier sol.
dler-life. But the most of those who
enlist are laborers who get out of work
and have nothing open TO them but to
go into the army. l don't know but il
Is the best thing they can do. For 3
single man without trade the army is
lot better than jobbing. They have their
pay sure and no expenses, and at the
end OF their term they generally have a
snug little sum of money. l have been
discharged twice and each time had $500
due me. That isn't bad"
oh, " he added, after a short pause,
during which he puffed his pipe violent
ly. "They come for various reasons. 1
s''pose some young fellows enlist because
they have had quarrels with their sweet
hearts. Some young fellows have been
wild, and they run away from home and
Join the army. Occasionally an educated,
retined-looking fellow will join. They
generally have good reasons for it. They
have been clerks, and have violated some
trust or otherwise injured their reputa.
ton, or have been ruined by bad asso-
ciates and are flying from them"
Don't recruits of this kind soon get
tired of soldier life and desert before
their time is up9"
''About nine tenths of all the new re-
cruits desert before the first wear is up.
Most of them never join their regiment.
There are over hundred thousand de.
ser,ers at large throughout the country
now."
''Are these what you call bounty
jumpers7"
"No, they get no bounty. They
never get cent until they join Their
regiment. When VIC enlist them we
simply dress them up in uniform and
ship them Off"
=" You say they are all single men.
Don't married men eyer enlista"
"We won't have any but single men.
They don't get pay enough to support a
wife, and the government does not want
to be burdened with their family"
" Don't they ever get married after
enlistment2"
Sometimes, and those who have
served several terms are allowed more
privileges in this direction. But it is
not very good for the new recruits to
get married. 1 remember one recruit
who was placed on duty here, who mar.
rie1 young Washington girl on the
quiet. AS soon as they found him out
though, he was ordered as far away from
his bride as they could get him. Now
his wife lives here dependent upon her
relatives, | guess"