The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-10-04

, l23, 1858, containing this item
I'VE can with pleasure inform thu
! public that the New York regiment Il
, by voluntary enlistment completed Il
! $500 men, and as a remarkable spiri
: for the service prevails, there is no
, the least doubt but in few days w
shall be entirely completed to 26S'
!, men, the full establishment Of THU
colony"
Dragged Men From Homes.
As the war dragged on British arm!
officers found it increasingly Difficult
to fill their contingents, and occasions
ally resorted to the obnoxious prac
tice of impressment. Early one NOR
ming residents on Broadway, Wal
and William streets and other thor.
oughfares were reused from theil
sleep by the tramp of several thous
and fully armed British regulars, who
broke into taverns and even private
dwellings and dragged the inmates
from their beds.
Eight hundred persons We're seized
and about 400 of these were pressed
into service and placed on transports
lying ready in New York harbor
Sometimes the press gangs met with
armed resistance; and in the bloody
clashes which ensued soldiers and CIV
ilians occasionally lost their lives. II
is worth while for New Workers who
take pride in local history to note that
these conflicts took place several years
before the so-called Boston Massa
Gre" and that they should be regard
ed as one cause contributing to the
growing irritation against the mother
! lutionary war.
| With the breaking of ties with Eng
land the colonists were once more face
to face with the problem of selecting
men for military service. Although
in dire need of forces in the summer
of 1872 to defend New York City and
it's environs, the military authorities
were careful to issue discharges to
persons indispensable to industry be-
hind the firing line. Below is a ruling
made by the New York committee of
safety, which acted in the capacity of
an exemption board:
Resolved, that an exemption from
military duty be granted to six per-
sons who shall be employed in erect
ing flaxseed mill and carrying on the
business of said mill when the same
shall be SO erected. Provided that the
names of such persons be registered
with the brgadier general of the
county,"
Some Exemptions Made.
The records for April 23, 1777, show
case of discharge for all the work.
ers engaged in a plant vital to mill
tary needs. The resolution reads as
follows:
Whereas, it appears that large
contracts have been made with the
Sterling Iron Works for iron and steel
for the use of the continental army,
and that the same can not be supplied
so well from any other iron works:
and that the said works of iron and
steel at Sterling can not be counted on
unless an exemption from military
duty be granted to a certain number
Iof persons employed therein, there
fore,
Resolved, that Abel Noble and Pet
er Townsend be empowered to grant
exemptions for six months to such
persons as are actually employed in
and necessary to carry on the said
works; provided, that the same shall
not exceed 100 men,"
Observe again the similarity in the
action of the colonial committee and
the present district board which to-
day is granting discharges for only
half year.
Shall local firemen be exempt? is a
question which has given the district
board for New York considerable con-
Germ. The same problem confronted
the authorities in 1916. At first the
claims of these individuals were al
lowed; but when the guns of a hostile
fleet were trained on New York city
its firemen were promptly drafted in
to the ranks, despite their indignant
protests.
Curious indeed were the instruc-
tons which the provincial congress
forwarded to the military authorities
regarding physical and moral REQUIRE |
ments of recruits. Rule 1 read as fol-
lows:
Careful Of lmpositions.
You are not to enlist any man who
IS not able-bodied, healthy and
good marcher; but as men of a good
appearance Nmay have ruptures, and
(other) complaints, which render them
incapable of soldiers duty, you must
give attention, that you may not be
upon, and take the opinion of
surgeon, where there is room for
suspicion"
Rule gives this sound advice:
You will have great regard to the
moral character, sobriety in particu-
ar; let our manners distinguish us
rom our enemies, as much as the
ause we are engaged in"
That all the recruits did not meas
re up to these high standards of vir-
lie and sobriety is painfully evident