Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-09-04

act number of men that showed up
could not be ascertained but they
represented the larger part of the
1913 that failed to show up when call
ed. Most of these men were either
foreigners or colored. The former
claimed ignorance of the law and
stated that they, had no intention of
ducking their duty. One colored man
voiced the sentiment of the majority
of the backward ones of his race
when he said: "Mistar man, | done
JUS return from away. All had no
idee that ah had been called. No in
deedy, ah amt no Stacker. Is a
colored man, sab, but ah am jus as
willin' to do ma duty as any white
man. No sab, ah amt no Stacker. l
JUS didn't know about 1t, thas ALL"
.. Some False Claims
While many of the late arrivals
have filed claims for exemption
these will be refused and the men
who are physically fit will be accept
ed and their names sent to the appeal
board as such. This will be the ex-
tent of their punishment. There
have been several cases among
these men of false claims for eX-
emption. While it is a serious mat
ter at the present time for any one
to make false claims, these men will
be given a chance, to withdraw their
affidavits, as it is claimed that they
did not fully realize the meaning of
dependents. Many of the young men
claimed exemption on the ground of
dependents even though their both
parents were living and in good
health. They had the wrong concep-
ton of the word and will be given a
chance to retract. Many of the men
who did not show up have reported
as having enlisted. The board at
Steelton will not do any examining
this week except on Thursday, when
twenty-five transferred men will be
called. The rest of the week will be
taken up acting upon the exemption
claims of the last four hundred ex-
amined. This board has certified
twenty-seven names to the appeal
board.
Open New Quarters
The new headquarters OF the draft
board of division two in the Dauphin
building was formally opened this
morning. The new quarters consist
of three rooms on the third floor.
There will be no exemptions by
this board this week. Calls for fifty
men to appear next Monday morn
ing were sent out to-day and next
week three hundred men will be ex-
amined. The remainder of this week
will be spent in acting upon exemp-
tions and making reports.
20 Missing in No. =
.-la t,A
given out by this board it was learn
ed to-day that 79 men out of the 567
called failed to put in appearance.
The board has not as yet classed
these men as slackers claiming that
reports from them will be received
soon. 1t is known that the larger
part of them have enlisted or have
moved to parts far from Pennsylva-
MIA. If nothing is heard from these
men before their cases are taken up
their names will be certified and sent
to the appeal board as accepted. The
appeal board will then certify them
back to the local board and the men
will then be under the United States
Army and classed as deserters.
Wants Hired Man or
At 1915 this afternoon a woman
from -four miles back of Dauphin, +"
appeared in the House caucus rooms
in the Capitol in a much excited
manner. What is the trouble?"
asked Mr.. Free. II want to claim ex-
emption for my hired man." said the
woman. MY two boys are in the
Army and my hired man has been
If he is taken I will be un-
able to do the work on my farm"
Mr.. Free then furnished her with
the necessary exemption blanks and
she departed. Before leaving the
woman stated that her two boys
were anxious to join the Army and
she let them go, considering it pa
triotic duty. To lose the hired man
also was more than what she con-
sidered patriotism, so she will make
an attempt to keep him.
The draft board at Elizabethville
examined forty-one men this morn
ing. OF this number twenty five pass
ed. and sixteen were discharged. Six
claimed no exemption. This board
will do no more examining this week
but will examine the remainder of
the men called starting next Mon
day. The three draft boards of Dau-
phin county did very little work on
Labor Day. the entire time being
spent in preparing their affairs for
the big task ahead of them this
week in at ting upon exemptions.