Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1917-09-21
100000 Selected.
Men Modified
This Week
- PER CENT or QUOTA UNDER
FIRST CALI. On WAY To 10 Ma.
TIONAL ARMY CANTOMENTS.
To Get Part Equipment
Since Formation Of Auxiliary Corps
Men Or First Call May IL 1nsuf.
ficicnt to Fill All Units.

Washington. Sept. 20.--Marshal-
ed for the last time as civilians and
under civilian authority. more than
500. 900 men of the National Army
arc going forward this week, com
moncing Wednesday. to the sixteen
IcantonmentS to be trained for thc
hattie against German autocracy.
,Thoir next move will be as fighting
men toward the battlefields OF
France.
The whole Nation will be astir
with the movement of the selectiv'
forces. The men represent approx
lmatrlv - per cent of the total quo
Ira under the first call from each nj
lnoarlv 5000 local boards. Already
at the camps is the advance guard o
= per cen, Of the total composed OF
,oxprricnced men, including cooks
Out of this has been created skel-
o,on organization into which the sec
ond increment Is being absorbed.
when the last men of this increment
arrive the camps will house half OF
the first call forces. or 3i3.5OO men.
and the other half will follow as
rapidly as quarters ana equipment
are made available.
In a statement this week the war
Department says the task or obtain
ing equipment and supplies for the
army is moving satisfactorily. Some
of the men of the National Army
may be only partially equipped for
some time after they are mObilfzed,
and no attempt will be made to FUR
nish them with full war equipment
until the eve of their departure for
Europe Some civilian clothing.
such as overcoats. will have to be
used for a time, as the clothing in
dustry has not caught up with its
work.
With the mobilization OF One-half
OF the 6S7 900 men Of the first call
under the selective service law In
progress. the question arises as to
whether that number of men will be
sufficient to fill all units Of the for
mer National Guard and National
Army. There are indications that
deficiency in men will be disclosed
when official reports from all the
thirty-two training camps are avail
able.
New Units Organized.
Seventeen divisions Of the former |
National Guard have been organized.
hut with the exception of the New
York. Pennsylvania, and few 9TH !
ers. and the FOrty-SecOnd Division. |
which soon will embark for France. |
they are not at maximum war
strength. The fighting strength of
tha seventeen divisions under tn"
new tables of organization would be
623 900 men. supplemented by many
thousands of auxiliary troops. What
ever deficiencies there are will be
supplied promptly from the National
Army, as the Guard will go first to
the front.
Since the President called the first
6S7. 900 men of the National Army.
the Signal Corps. including the avia-
tion section. has been greatly ev-
panded Nearly 100000 additional
men must be transferred to this ser
vice alone. The Medical Corps also
has been greatly increased and nu-
merous necessary auxiliary units for II
duty abroad. not thought
OF when the call was made, have |:
been organized. Where enlisted men Il
Of the Guard or Regular Army have Ii
been taken. their places will have to
he filled with National Army men Ii
So far as known no definite fig lt
nre as to the total deficiency in men II
has been compiled nor any cstimat" {
prepared in the absence of complete I
reports from all Guard divisions and
auxiliary corps. 1t is not unlikely, II
however. that when the National (
Army divisions are organized many Ii
will he found at the can 7
tonments. ard 1t will he necessary II
either to make second call on the ly
National Army or to train. incom- Ir
plete divisions. Divisions will go to In
France only at maximum strength. In
The War Department says that Il
Ht industries of the country are ex- c
panding rapidly to meet the army I
supply demands and only minor
shortages are expected at the train c
Ing camps. Quartermaster officials I
regard the food situation as salts a
factory. a
Difficulty in Getting Equipment. ie
The problem of obtaining clothing &c
and other equipment. however. has
presented many obstacles. most of
which already have henn oynrcomn