The times., 1898-08-18
GOULD NOT Be ENLISTED
Lack Of Inches the Fault of the
White Men.
4 FOURTH WERE DEFICIENT
The CoiOred Applicants Were More
oTten of the Required Height
Their Teeth. Too, Were Better
Than Those of White Recruits.
Mans Height Getting Less.
(From the Baltimore Sun }

IL ne cal! Tor m for the regular army
in the war with Spain has, it is said. dem
| onstrated that the average size Of man is
gradually becoming less than il was in
former years. At least, this has been
shown by the percentage Of applicants at
the various recruiting stations in the
! East
For the volunteer service the subject of
| height was not made as essential as it is
| for the regular army The volunteers III
most cases were members of State militia
organizations, and their ply. Ical devel-
opment outside of height was above the
| required average. No one was taken in
even the volunteer regiments who was
less than five feet four inches in height
or weighed less than one hundred and
| twenty pounds, the minimum established
by the War Department.
In the regular service it is to be noted
that the majority of men measure less
than five feet eight and half inches,
which is the average height. This is said
10 be due TO number of causes. which
nave been the study of scient ssts fer some
years. At the Baltimore recruiting. office
OF the United States army, 10l West Fav-
| cite Street, which was opened on March
~ last, with Lieut.. Charles Miller. of the
sixteenth Infantry, in charge. at least 90
| per cent of applicants were less than the
average height, while about Der cent
! OF The applicants were below the m nfrnIrm
| height and were rejected on this cause.
From the opening of the office until
the lst of August 2,17I applications were
received, of which number l67s were
Wnite ana 4s3 colored. These include ap-
| plications for both foot and mounted
service, for white and cofored. About
81 per cent of this number. or 500 appii-
cants OF whom s5S were white and Jas
1 colored, were accepted. This is consid-
cred by army officers not 10 be a good
showing, as at least 50 per cent We're ex-
pecled TO pass the examination.
The total number Of applicants fntlud-
ed la5 minors ard forty-four persons who
were under the influence OF liquor. None
OF these were examined because aDplf-
cants must be between the ages of eigh-
teen and rhirty-fve, and perfectly So
bez when they apply. In the report OF the
recruiting officer they have to be inciud-
4 ed. although not examined as 10 other
4 qua iiicatioEs. All minors must have let
teis from parent or guardian consanting
to their enlistment When supplied with
such letter they are not recorded as
minors Incorporate people or those
showing signs of Aquo. at the time ap-
piicaion is made are not taken under
any consideration.
After The name OF the applicant has
been recorded, together with his age. and
address, the height is taken This is
| where the majority fail. no1 being able
/ 10 reach i've feet four inches. OF the to-
tai number examined by Lieut. Miller,
about one-fourth. or in numbers 525. were
| below the minimum. The next require
ment was age, l5S being refused because
they were over fhirTy-five years.
| For defective eyessght las were rejected,
while SO were refused for having an i'm
perfect knowledge of English. These are
the first questions asked, and when an
applicant is not able to reach the stand
ard, he is rejected without further exami-
nation. Many were able to pass this part
OF the examination. but fell later when
! physical disability was taken into con-
! sidera ton. This part of the examination
/ is made more rigid. for the soldier can-o.
/ elect where he is TO go or with what n
might have TO contend Teeth are re-
| quired 70 tie unimpaired for without good
! teeth ii is Impossible to rnastcate army
4 food perfectly. and if the food is not prop
! eTly digested the army hospitals would
always be full. A very small percentage
OF the applicants in Baltimore were re-
/ Jected on account of bad teeth ard all
these were white men
Deafness was the cause Of the reject
ment Of % and 10 on account of heart Il s.
eases Ninety-three married men. who
seemed anxious to go to the front. were
not considered because they had famiI es
depending upon them. Most of these de-
sired TO give up their work in the city
E'aY-T pirpt1e lisa-,r-
small number suffer ng wi h d:sea7
would seem to show that the majority of
| Baltimore9ns are healthy.
! IL was noticeable fact that the ma
jority Of colored men who presented Them
| selves for enlistment were physically in
better condition fer service than the
white men, BESIDES having better teeth.
( their general health appeared better
! said Lieut.. Miller yesterday. MANY of
/ the colored men were above the avera ge
! size required by the army he continued,
which in making up the totals keep the
| percentage of the average above that
! what it would be were we dealing with
white men alone. Most of the white men
who have come in for enlistment have
been about feet inches in height II
we look back over the records of ancient
armies we viii find that the average man
was at least 6 inches taller than that
There has been compiled book for
/ the army which gives the relative per-
centage of the heights of various people
and nations, and it is shown that the
American Indian is the best specimen of
manhood. Tallness physical strength and
4 health are their characteristics Our race
should be the same. We are going back
ward in regard to height. and if this con-
times the standard for the army will
/ have TO be reduced.
''of course there are many tall and we'll
i built men in the community. but the ma
iority of those who apply for enlistment
| are small men. Of the 2171 men who ap-
1 piled at this Office since we opened we
should have enlisted at least 100 instead
of the COG. The percentage of those suf-
| fering from disease was small, and no
serious conditions were run across.
Recently The daily average of appli-
cants has fallen off. witch ] think is due
| to the fever scare. Just after the bat
/ ties of Manila and Santiago we were be-
/ sieged with applicants, hut as soon as it
was runaored that fever had struck the
Cuban army of invasion there was a lack
| of enthusiasts. However. it is again pick
1 ing up Some of those who came in
thought they would be sent at once to
Cuba or the Philippines. while many 9TH
ers wanted particular garrison duty We
are now sending recruits TO Fort Hamii-
| ton New York and Delaware City for
| artillery and the Sixteenth Infantry"
No Prefectis
(From Puck.)
First Teteran-I tell you, these modern inn
md u faal