The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-13
Army Needs Every Conceivable
Kind of Expert Worker.
Even Dog Trainers and Chirop-
Odists I'm Demand.
OPTICIANS ARE KEPT BUSY
Each Division Must Also Have
Its "Cops" and CobBlers.
Men Who Enter Service Can
Choose Own Speciality.

Camp Funston, Kan, Nov. 10
Uncle Sam is on a still hunt for men
from every line of vocational trainins
and there is a place in the army for
men familiar with every kind of work
| ranging from a pigeon carrier expert
to bridge builder.
Capt. j. o. Strutz, chief of the per-
sonnet department at Camp Funston.
is sending out calls every day asking
that every member of the division be
sure and place upon his personnel re-
port every kind of work he ever did in
his life. Just because a man was a
banker before he entered the army is
no reason why he shouldn't admit that
during his younger .days he trained
dogs. Or just because a man was a
real estate dealer when he was drafted
he shouldn't be ashamed to admit his
father was cobbler before him and
in his younger days he used to trim
up the heels or tack on leather soles.
Uncle Sam wants cobblers and he
hasn't much use fol real estate deal
ers.
Opticians Are Needed.
1t is up TO the personnel department
to learn and keep on file a record OF
every occupation or trade that every
man in the division has ever had any
experience in. One wouldn't think a
division would need opticians, and ex-
pert ones at that, but they are in great
demand and are absolutely essential to
the welfare of the division The
range finding and in binoculars and
opticians must always be on hand to
keep them in shape.
In civil life chiropodists are few and
far between, and it is very seldom n
man or a woman would ever admit he
| or she patroniZed a chiropodist. 1t al
ways has been considered just as fatal
for a man to admit he visited chiro-
podist to have his toe nails manicured
as it was for a boilermaker to admit
he patroniZed a manicurist or for a
hodcarrier to carry walking stick.
But an army needs them. An army is
no better than its feet, and a foot in
spection is held every week or two. A
man can't walk ten, fifteen>or twenty
miles day unless his feet are in good
condition, and the chiropodists are ex-
pected to see that the army's feet are
kept in condition.
Expert watchmakers are also in de-
mand, and there must be plenty of
them. There are times when every
officers watch must tick off the sec
onds in unison and three or four sec
onds' difference may mean the loss of
hundreds of lives.
Lives Depend ON 1t.
This is particularly true in the case
of barrage fire. where an officer may
nave ORDERS 10 ADVANCE certain num-
Der of yards at a certain time, keep
ing right behind a curtain of fire all
the time. At a certain time he knows
the curtain of fire will lift and ad-
vance twenty-five yards, and he must
do the same thing. In case his watch
was of a few seconds he might ad-
vance before the barrage, and his men
would be killed by their own artil-
lery fire, just because someone's
watch was off a few seconds.
Dog trainers and handlers and
pigeon carrier experts are used ex-
tensively in the signal corps Sea-
faring men, are always needed by a
division so everything will be prop
erly handled in CO Sc the troops must