The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-11-02
FIRST ALABAMA NEGROES IN
CAMP
loo Arrive at Cantonment Yester.
day and Are Assigned To Duty
s At Once.

more than its full quota, and within
a few days another provisional regi-
ment will likely be organized.
Despite the prediction of many,
that the southern Negroes would ar
rive here poorly clad and half frozen,
the men as whole presented splen-
did appearance. Many had managed
to procure overcoats on the way north
and are at present in no danger from
severe weather.
With the arrival Of the men it be-
came apparent that little heed was
paid to draft regulations by many
;outhern exemption boards. Among
,ose reporting from Alabama were
.nree ministers, about 300 married
men, many of whom have as high as
three children, and innumerable farm
ers.
The ministers when questioned re-
garding their exemption claims said
that they had been filed, but appar-
emily had not been Investigated. How
ever, the men say they are willing to
serve hte United States in the war
on Germany.
Married Men Not Worried.
Married men say they have moth
ing to worry about now. Questioned
regarding their occupation, a large
number of colored men admitted that
they received small pay in the south,
an average of about So per week, up
on which families of three and four
were supported.
= These same men pointed out that
as wife will receive SIS a month
from the government and $40 for each
child for the same period, in addition
to an allotment of SIS month from
their pay as soldiers, their families
will be bettered by the enactment of
the draft law.
Not Much Education.
h That the Y. M. C. A. educational
classes will be filled to overlooking
is the prediction made by registration
officials. Many men as they passed
by in line were asked the amount Of
education, and the almost invariable
answer was "about two or three years
in public school"
When these men learned that class
#es in reading, writing and English
grammar would be established soon
at the army Y. M. C. A. and they
would have opportunity to attend,
men fingered to ask questions, signi-
flying their intention to enroll at the
first opportunity.
Illiteracy among southern Negroes
will place many northern colored men
in line for non-commissioned officer
positions in the regiments.
The average northern Negro has
had at least a common school educa-
ton. Those who do not win out in
noncom jobs will undoubtedly be ap-
pointed company clerks.
A shortage of clerks for the Me-
gro organizations caused registration
officer to ask each man if he is able
to read and write. Fifty per cent Of
the southern men have answered in
the negative, while IS per cent of the
northern Negroes have this accom-
plishment.
Birmingham Quota Here.
Tht city Of Birmingham, Ala, has
furnished a large number of men in
this first increment of Negroes, about
40 per cent coming from that city.
Til remainder of efferson county is
supplying about Is per cent of the
remainder.
Miners, cotton gin workers and
farmers make up the occupation of the
majority of southern men. Only
few specialists have been sent, num-
Der of them being automobile drivers
and mechanics. The latter are to be
sent to the supply and headquarter
companies, in the hope that they will
be of more service there than in plain
infantry organizations.
Morals of Negroes are good, at
least physical examinations point to
that supposition. Medical officers in
charge say that there is little disease
in the system of the Negroes, much
less in fact than among white men.
With muster for pay held in all or
CARNATIONS at the cantonment yester-
day, all Negroes in the Three Hun
bred Sixty-ninth infantry stood the
formation, and although those from
the south reported today, they will be
given four days. pay, it sthought, as
they reported to their exemption
boards last Sunday, starting north
Monday.
Officers of the regiment are doing
everything possible to impress upon
the new soldiers that they are to be
treated fairly while in the service OF
the United States.
Hot Coffee on Arrival.
When the men arrived from Ala
bama, about 2 a. m. yesterday, they