Omaha daily bee., 1917-05-28
Foresters to France
Bu Frederic J, Has in

Washington. May 25.-A new banner has been
designed to accompany the Stars and Stripes to
France. II bears white pne,tree shield en-
circled by thirteen white stars on a deep blue
ground. 1t will be the regimental banner OF one
OF the ten engineer regiments who will be the
first troops sent to Europe--the flag Of the for.
esters' regiment, or, as the Forest Service would
like to see them called, the Forest Engineers
The white shield on this banner is the shield
OF the Forest Service, and arrangements for
selecting and organizing the regiment are largely
in service hands. But the Forest Engineers will
not be drawn exclusively, or even principally,
from the ranks of the Forest Service Like the
other engineer regiments, this body will be raised
by volunteering among men already trained to
the work
That is why the Forest Service prefers the
name Forest Engineers The regiment will num-
Der among its officers sufficient quota OF trained
oresters, but its ranks will be filled with practical
oodsmen-lumber jacks, sawyers, fellers,
broad-ax men, drivers of logging teams, and men
of all the other trades allied to the practical busi-
ness of numbering The regiment will thus be
an engineer regiment in the strict technical mill
tary use of the term. II will have the standard
organization OF an engineer regiment, with two
battalions instead Of the three Of the infantry and
six companies of 100 men each. Its net strength
including officers will be about 1000 men.
The work of foresters and skilled lumbermen
present war. The demands for lumber from the
armies are incessant and enormous. Lumber is
needed for trench building for the construction
OF warehouses, sheds, shelters and for the repair
and building OF railroads. As the armies of the
allies advance the network Of railway lines must
be kept continually pushed up to the changing
front 1t is to help build and operate these lines
that the engineers are being sent, and the work
OF the Forest Engineers will be an essential part
OF the service.
The Forest Engineers will probably be organ
lied into several portable saw mill companies
These saw mills will be set up at the most con.
venlent point and the regular operations of
numbering will be gotten under way. Fellers will
cut the trees, teamsters will snake the logs to
the, mills, sawyers will cut them into planking,
motor trucks will haul the lumber to the points
where 1t is needed. Railroad ties will probably
be hewed directly from the log by men skilled in
the use OF the broad-ax. The organization will
probably also include a number of motorcycle
men for messenger service.
An additional advantage. gained by the sending
OF the Forest Engineers is the fact that these
men are already trained and ready for the work
in hand. Practically all the forest engineer troops
OF France. are trained to trench fighting, and are
capable OF taking their places in the front line as
soon as relieved. 1t would take many months to
but It takes no time at all to train our lumbermien
for the numbering operations that are just as
essential as the trench fighting This line Of rea-
soning applies with equal force to each of the
ten engineer regiments. England has had no re-
serve OF civilian forest men to draw on at home,
and It has had to call on its dominions for every
available man. It is estimated that Canada has
sent $4,000 practical woodsmen, OF Foresters, as
1t calls them, to the front
II Is probable that most of the men for this
trst. regiment will be drawn from the eastern
hardwood numbering regions. This is because
the numbering operations in these regions and in
France are very similar. On the other hand, men
trained to the telling and handling of the giant
trees Of the Pacific slope forests would find them
selves confronting an entirely new and unfamiliar
problem in the small birch forests of France.
The operations Of the American woodsmen will
be under the supervision Of expert and technically
trained foresters who will be included in the Of
hcers OF the crops. 1t is known that the forestry
officers of France have been cutting on care
fully prepared pian and the technically trained
officers of the American regiment will be able to
take over and follow up this plan in their work.
None of the wood viii be wasted-the smaller
branches and even the twigs are in great demand
in the war zone for use as fuel.