Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-06
Ei1r,ttttg Gtrat

py war Department off,
GERS that requests for reopening of
cases Of drafted men refused exL
einption by local or district boards
shouId be made by governors and
aoJutant generals only where there
are legal errors or where Ignorance
'hat is not blamable is displayed bW
men summoned under the draft. villa
PROBABLY head off a good manv let.
ters ana visits to the State Capitol.
since IL was announced that the Cow
e@lior @ ana AdJutant General had the
PoWer TO reopen cases there have
peen many mothers and wives ana
@ 9@Iner dependants of men within the
@ uIaLt age visiting the capitol and be-
SoIoiS the intervention of state Of
hclals. The situation finally became
SO pressing that a new rIiling Iuas
mace that sets forth that the a,ItborS
lty given to governors and adintant
generals Is only to be exercised in
extraordinary cases. As n resuIt
many cases which have been cominS
mere pelading dependency and other
lnings TO secure exemption will be
with requests that they go into tbens
carefully. Pending a decision in re-
sard TO aliens the state draft head.
quarters is directing that aliens.
whether Italians, Chinese or men 81
other nationalities, be sent to the
monlllzation camps, where their
status can be later determined.
Frlends of the Eighth regiment
VINO nave been active in the effort
TO have the regiment rehabiIitated
ana notstorn to pieces to make IN
other units of the Army which couId
De formed of drafted men have heard
with interest of the way Pittsburph
people nave gone after the nationaI
ana state authorities to have the
Elghteenth maintained. The Eighth
Is ciose TO this community and 1t
would De natural to expect those i'm
hlgh places to interest themselves To
save 1t. This is the way Pittsburgh
newspapers and people who protest.
eu against the dismemberment oP
tne Eighteenth were answered nv
Mr.. Baker: I'm reply to your tele-
gram september 8, about organiza-
tlon OF the Eighteenth PENNSYLVANIA
lnIantry Regiment, l have directed
consideration to be given to this
matter by the commanding general
OF the Pennsylvania division and
nope that 1T may be adjusted satis-
factorily to all concerned, am
awaiting his report. The reorgani-
zatlon of the division Is a military
necessity to enable it to participate
actively in the war, but il is NV
announced policy that regiments of
shall have their identity preserved
unless compelling military neces-
sity prevents"
While the Pennsylvania State So
clety, composed of the heads of the
various departments and commits
sloners of the state government. has
! given up its annual dinner this fall
| because of the war, it's monthIv
luncheons Will be continued. They
Will be held on the first "Wednesday
or each month in this city and n
number of state officials and promi-
nent men will be the speakers at
the functions. Considerable atten-
ton is to be given to the historical
features of the state government and
the early legislative days.
Secretary of War Baker will be one
OF the first notable visitors to Har-
risburg in a long time to como ia
TINS city by automobile. 1t is under.
stood that he will motor here from
| washington, probably stopping at
| Gettysburg. This city has had MANY
prominent visitors in recent years
but most of them have Travelled bI
| trains. The Secretary will return ia
| washington by train. Years ago dis.
! tlnguished visitors came to Harris.
burg by stage and cavalcades went
out to meet them.
A good story about a man who
| tried to fool Uncle Sam and evade
| the draft has been brought down the
Susquehanna by Deputy Attorney
! General Emerson Collins. 1t appears
| that man was sore distressed about
gong to vDr and to prevent it had
| some teeth, more than necessary, eN-
! tracted. Then he went around to be
examined for the draft. When he
had been put through the test one of
! the doctors said: "What are Won
hanging around here for? We don't
want you. You've got fiat feet"
An unusual number of crank vis-
itors appears to have been making
the rounds of the State Capitol de-
| partmentS since the draft law came
into operation. Some of them have
come here to file protests and others
to declare that they have ways to
search out every man who is eVad-
ing the draft. The number of per-
sons who have such important in
formation that they can only di-
NulBe 1T 10 lne Governor or some
high official has been rather strik-
ing. These people have mysterious
tips and generally demand pay tor
their information. Nine -tenths of
the visitors call at the Executive De-
partment, but seldom get beyond the
door.
Decision of the State Compensa-
ton Board to advance compensation
cases in which aliens are involved
has resulted in numerous calls at the
principal office of the board in this
city to have cases disposed of at
once. There are not many appeals
pending in which aliens are involved
and the great difficulty appears TO
be that tho claimants want cases
passed upon within a week after
filing of claim.
A. Coleman Sheets, Assistant State
Librarian, has won the honors for
bass fishing on Capitol Hill. He went
fishing a few days ago for the first
time in months and near Aqueduct,
short distance above this city,
hooked n bass weighing four and a
half pounds and measuring twenty
one and a half inches long. Curator
Boyd p. Rothrock, of the State Mu-
scum, who was in the boat, did the
measuring.