The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1917-03-22
WILL YOU OFFER
YOUR SERVICES
IF GOVERNMENT MAKES A CALL
FOR VOLUNTEERS.
YOU'LL HAVE TO BE PERFECT
Examination of First Recruits Will
Be a Rigorous one-Mere Boys
and Married Men viii Not
Be Taken.

Washington, d. c., March 17.-Sup-
pose that the first call is for 100000
volunteers. Will you offer your ser
vices to fight for the flag? II is one
thing to offer ones self and quite an
other to be accepted. At first the
requirements will be extraordinarily
exacting. For one thing boys will
not be wanted.
1t has often been said, and truly,
that the civil war was fought largely
~ boys. But military experience
has shown that mere youngsters are
not ordinarily able to withstand the
fatigue and hardships of active cam
paisnng; and so II will be diGiCult
for an applicant under 20 to gain ac-
ceptance, though the minimum legal
age is IS. On the other hand, al
though the maximum age is 35, pref
erence will be given to men not over
80 years old
LONELINESS in a young man is not
usually considered of serious i'm
portance; but if yous are really OF
very ugly visage you will not be &C
copied as recruit. IL your legs are
very bowed or knock kneed you will
be rejected Marked stammering
will render you unavailable as vol
unteer.
Thorough and Comprehensive.
The examination which as an ap-
plicant you must undergo Is amaZ-
ingly thorough and comprehensive.
1t will make you realize how many
things may, or might, be the matter
with you that would never have oc-
Cured to you to think of. Even the
microscope and the X-ray quite pos
sibly will be brought into play. But
first of all you will be required to
take a bath-meaning a thorough
scrub.
Next, you will be brought into a
big, well lighted room, in which there
is plenty of space for such exercise
as running and jumping. Also, it
contains a variety of apparatus for
making measurements and tests of
different kinds. A recruiting Off
Scl 10 III Vial a
Your vision is first tested. Black
letters of assorted sizes are exhibited
on white cards, and, by reading them
from a distance with one eye, and
then with the other) you must prove
that you suffer from no defect OF
sight. Then you are tried for posi-
BILE deafness-one ear at time, the
other being held tight shut. With
your back to the examiner you are re-
quired to repeat words spoken by him
in a low conversational voice. 1t is
expected that you shall be able to
understand whispered words at TWEEN
ty feet.
These matters being settled, you
are stripped naked, weighed and
measured for height and chest girth
1t is demanded that your chest shall
be we'll developed, and neither fiat nor
of the conformation known as pig
eon-breast.'' Your weight must not
be less than 100 pounds and your
stature not less than feet inches
An infantryman, by the way, may be
of any height above that mark; but,
according to army regulations, field
artilleryman must not be over 6 feet
and a cavalry soldier not over feet
10 inches.
Tests Joints and Muscles.
Follows then q most thorough and
intimate inspection of your general
physique, beginning with movements
to test your various joints and mus
cles. You assume the posture OF
fire kneeling." Then, standing
erect, you leap directly up, striking
your buttocks with both heels stimuli
taneously. You hop the length OF
the room on the ball of first one foot
and then the other. You make a
standing jump as far as possible, and
repeat it several times. You run
the length of the room several times.
These are only part Of the somewhat
strenuous exercises; but, though they
may render you breathless and &C
celerate your pulse, it is expected
that they shall not cause manifest
exhaustin or distress.
A man who is excessively skinny"
is not wanted as soldier; it is likely
to signify poor digestion. On the
other hand, the intending recruit
must not be overfat. Excessive fat
is not good sign of health and an
obese person lacks endurance. The
limit of weight in the United States
army is 100 pounds; cayalryman
must not weigh more than 165.
Next, the recruiting officer will ex-
anime your skin for disease. He will
feel your head carefully, for abnor-
malities of shape. He will inspect
your eyes, for squint or chronic in
fIammation. He will look at your
ears, for possible malformation. He
will open your mouth and count your
teeth. The teeth of fighting man
are of special Importance. because,
If they are bad, he cannot digest his
rAelxr .