Evening star., 1917-05-31

RORESTERS TO FRANCE.
By Frederic J. Haskin. II
A new banner has been designed to
accompany the Stars and Stripes to
France. 1t bears a white pine-tree
shield encircled by thirteen white stars
on a deep blue ground. 1t will be the
regimental banner of one of the ten en-
gineer regiments who will be the first
troops sent to Europe-the flag of the
foresters regiment. or, as the forest
service would like to see them called,
the Forest Engineers.
The white shield on this banner is
the shield of the forest service, and
arrangements for selecting and organ
gineer regiments that will be the first
ice hands. But the Forest Engineers
will not be drawn exclusively, or even
principally. from the ranks of the for
est service. Like the other engineer
regiments, this body will be raised by
volunteering among men already
trained to the work
That is why the forest service pre-
fers the name Forest Engineers The
regiment will number among its Of
ficers sufficient quota of trained for
esters. but its ranks will be filled with
practical woodsmen-lumber jacks. saw
yers, fellers, broadax men. drivers of
logging teams, and men of all the 9TH
er trades, allied to the practical busi-
ness of numbering. The regiment will
thus be an engineer regiment in the
strict technical military use of the
term. 1t will have the standard or
ganization of an engineer regiment.
with two battalions instead of the three
of the infantry. and six companies OF
100 men each. Its net strength, includ-
ting officers. will be about 1000 men.
The announcement that a forestry
regiment was to be raised gave rise
Speculation Arises able b Comment Comment
Over Announcement. aha tion sII sneeaiar ovsr
the country. A great many people had
no clear idea as to what forestry reg
iment implied. or what it is supposed
to do. There was even some doubt ex-
pressed as to its Importance compared
with other troops that might be raised
AS matter of fact. no more useful
body of men could be sent to France,
and none that are more badly needed
It is a matter of common knowledge
that the decision to include a forestry
regiment among the engineers was the
result of a direct suggestion to this ef-
feet from the British commission.
The work of foresters and skilled
lumbermen has assumed an entirely new
mands for lumber from the armies are in
cessant and enormous. Lumber is needed
for trench building, for the construc-
tion of warehouses, sheds and shelters
and for the repair and building of rail-
roads. AS the armies of the allies ad-
vance. the network of railway lines
must be kept continually pushed up to
the changing front. 1t is to help build
and operate these lines that the engi-
neers are being sent, and the work of
the Forest Engineers will be an essen
tial part of the service.
The Forest Engineers probably will
be organized into several portable saw
May Form Portable panies. pa These h e
Saw Mill Companies. ha ha"m,ils sat IN walt at
the most convenient point and the
regular operations of numbering will |
be gotten under way. Feliers will
cut the trees. teamsters will snake
the logs to the mills, sawyers will cut
them into p1anking. motor trucks will
haul the lumber to the points where it
Is needed. Railroad ties will probably
be hewed directly from the log by men
skilled in the use of the broadax. The |
organization probably will also include |
a number of motor cycle men for mes
senger service.
When suitable timber has been
depleted in one locality. or when a
change in the military situation brings |
about changed problems in dstribu-
tion, the mill can be picked up bodily |
and moved to a new site.
This method of operation has been |
found most effective by all the bel !
ligerents. Probably the Germans were /
the only ones who foresaw at all |
adequately the great Importance of
lumber in the operations of such war
as this. 1t has been reliably reported |
that the first German force, the gray |
wave that got in motion four days
l4 lDaI t<,, ,f -nyNfl
over Belgium and France, carried it's !
portable sawmills with it.
An additional advantage gained by |
the sending of the forest engineers is |
Men Trained and these the iane men 'aae ase
Ready for Service. alreads and 1sady fTaHed fer
the work in hand. Practically all the |
forest engineer troops Of France are
trained to trench fighting, and are
capable of taking their places in the
front line as soon as relieved. 1t would
take many months to train Americans
to relieve firSt-line-trench troops, but
it takes no time at all to train our
lumbermen for the numbering operations
that are just as essential the trench
fighting. This line of reasoning applies
with equal force to each of the ten
engineer regiments.
It is believed that while American
forest engineers relieve Frenchmen for
trench duty, they also will be supply
ing an actual lack of foresters and
lumbermen in the British forces. With
the exception of the men she trains
for service in India, England has had
no use or need for foresters. The
British Isles are very sparSely forested.
The percentage of timbered area is
only about per cent whereas it should
be about rs per cent. AS a result, Eng
land has had no reserve of civilian
forest men to draw on at home, and she
has had to call on her dominions for
every available man. 1t is estimated
that Canada has sent $4,000 practical
woodsmen, or foresters, as she calls
them, to the front
With the entry of the United States
into the war, however, the needs of
the allies for woodSmen would seem to
be supplied. LAUNDERING is one of our
most important industries. and from
Maine and Michigan and Louisiana and
the whole Rocky mountain and Pacific
coast region, wherever the news or the
proposed forestry regiment has pene-
trated. woodsmen are offering their
services.
It is probable that most of the men
for this first regiment will be drawn
Likely to Draw Men fr0m tn e e
From Hardwood Area. l,,a,,t a I'd d " W. Cd d
regions. This is because the numbering
operations in these regions and in
France are very similar. on the other
hand, men trained to the telling and
handling of the giant trees of the
Pacific slope forests would find them