Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-10-28
CASUALTY LIST
TO BRING HOME.
wars REALITY

UHu q ulHLIII
Don H. Bark, Former Unit
ed States Government En-
gineer in Idaho, Tells of
Canada's Lesson.
Dominion Represented at
Front Now by One Out of
Each Sixteen Inhabitants
and Preparing to Draft
More.
1t will take the casualty lists pre-
pared following the battles in which
American troops engaged to bring di-
rectly home to residents of the United
States the enormity of the present
world war. This Is the opinion OF Don
II. Bark, former United States engineer
assigned to Idaho with headquarters in
Boise, now in charge Of irrigation in
vestigations for the Canadian Pacific
Railway company. He draws this con-
clusion from his observations in Can
ada. Mr., Bark visited the Twin Falls
project this week and L. an interview
said:
cANADAs CONTRIBUTION.
Canada has 500, 900 men in her ex-
peditionary forces over seas. This is
one out of every 16 of the population of
the Dominion, men, women and chill
dren. 1t is equivalent to an army Of
six and one-half millions of men from
the United States. And yet Canada Is
setting about to draft another one and
one-half million men. The draft will
take practically every able bodied
man from the Dominion.
"The people Of Alberta, and, I pre-
sumo, of Canada generally, are devoted
to the cause Of winning the war. and
there seems to be no disposition to
svade the draft. The war already has
taken heavy toll Of them, and they
seem to feel that the draft is but an
other. requirement that they must full
Ill to win the war.
FIVE MORE YEARS.
TT is the opinion Of many represen-
tative Canadians that the war must
continue for hve years moro.
only the men who are SO hopelessly
crippled that they cannot be patched
up and sent back into the trenches are
coming back to Canada Several of
these veterans are at work on our
reclamation project in2Alberta- There
are men who have lost legs or arms,
blind men and those who have been
torn and riddled by shrapnel and she'll
The extent to which men can be torn
In battle and still live is unbelievable.
There are stories current az to mu-
tilation of prisoners at the hands of the |
Germans. Personally have met with
none of these cases, but I believe that
the stories are true. OF course there |
Is no provision for the exchange of |
prisoners, and practically none of those |
who have been taken prisoner have es- |
capped.
The reluctance of the men return
Ing from the front to discus tho war |
Is remarkable. They seem to have been |
literally crushed by the experience. 1t |
Is too big for them to talk about
ALL HOMES TOUCHED.
There Is scarcely a home in the
Dominion that has not been touched by
the war. My closest friends in Strath-
more are a hardware merchant and his
family. Two sons of this family en-
listed. One was 90 years old and the
other under 20. The older one had been
with an artillery unit In France for
almost three years. The other day his
name was published In the casualty
lists.
oh NJ t. |
seen threshing crews, getting five dol
lars a day and their board, strike for
six dollars a day-and get IT, Since
the first Of the year have had four
different stenographers. They left one
after another to respond to the call to
the colors. The last one was French
Canadian. He enlisted just before I
left Alberta.
PROVISION FOR SOLDIERS.
1.-THE Canadian soldier and his de-
pendents are well provided for. The
private soldier receives $35 a month.
II he has dependents he is required to
send them one-half of the pay. In adj
dition to this, the dependents receive
$3.50 a month from the Canadian
Patriotic fund and the separation al
lowance provided by the government,
amounting in the case of the wife and
one child to $25 a month, with ad-
ditional payments for second and third
children.
THE financial drain Of the war upon
the Canadian people has been heavy,
but it is met cheerfully. 1t is prac-
tically impossible to pass through the
streets of Canadian town without be-
ing tagged for something. either for
a contribution to the Patriotic fund
tobacco fund, Red Cross or some other
similar purpose.
"The Canadian government has fixed
a maximum price for wheat. as has
been done in the United States. This
maximum price in Alberta this year IL
1921 per bushel, and that is the price .
that is being paid" Il