Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-21
Ehfntt1g Gl1at,

Military matters will be brought
pretty close to home in and about
Harrisburg this summer even more,
than through the operation of the
conscription and the recruitment of
Ihe organizations of the National
1uard. Chances are that now that
the date for registration for the
selective draft has been announced
there will be rush to enlist
so that young men may have the
pleasure of saying they went before
they were called and that the OPP
portunity to get with men from ones
own town will cause the recruitment
OF the home military organizations
10 war strength to be ACCOMPLISHED
with little difficulty. The commanders
OF the Guard companies here have
already been at work getting avail
able men to put down their names in
event OF a call to active service and
now that the Guard has been sum-
moned to go under canvas in July,
many of these men will enroll. Then,
too, the fact that Mt. Gretna will
probably be the point of mobiliza-
ton, equipment and preliminary
training of the National Guard dur
ing the summer and the headquar-
ters of reserve recruit battalions will
bring it close while the formation of
the four regular army regiments at
Gettysburg will be of interest. Thus
within forty miles of Harrisburg
there Will be two great camps and
this city will be the center of Ma
tional Guard administration and of
recruitment. In addition there will
be formation of the Reserve Militia,
which will correspond to the Provi-
sion Guard during the Spanish War,
ana which will be composed of men
who have served with the Guard,
| who have attained age close to re-
urement from active service; who are
above the ages OF the men called or
wanted at present and who having
| dependents can not go with the ac-
tive forces. This community of 100,-
600 people will probably contribute
pretty heavily to the armed forces as
IL has always done in time of need.
While the registration for con-
scription will call up all men who are
| between the specified ages, 1t will
not mean that they are to be called.
Men with dependents will be the
last. The prime purpose of the reg
istration is to select those whose en-
trance upon active military duty will
work the least hardship Speaking
about the matter yesterday a man
who has studied the proposition and
who knows the ins and outs of the
defense scheme said that he thought
there should be some provision made
for certifying that person who
happens to be rejected on physical
grounds had responded to the call
There is nothing meaner than calling
l. .s.l Al.
of the citizen who made the sug-
gestion ability to flash a certificate"
would be of value. Perhaps. some
thing may be done along this line as
has been done in England.
Weather conditions hereabouts,
which have been the cause of so
much comment, seem to be general
over the country. Travelling men who
have been in other States tell Of
backward seasons. lack of rain and
of unusual winds. The latter condi-
tions has been generally noted and
is rather discouraging 10 farmers be-
cause what rains have come have
been followed by so much wind that
much of the moisture has been taken
up without penetrating the ground.
The weather conditions have caused
many freshly planted fields to be
tomato and cabbage plants would
do well to water them regularly un-
til the weather conditions are settled.
Organization of watering brigades
now seems to be as important as
wedding squads will be later on.
Some residents of this city who
went into the portions of the districts
where forest fires have occurred got
the surprise of their lives when sum-
moned to help fight the flames. II
seems that some automobile parties
went out to see what a forest fire
looks like. One party went down the
= Cumberland valley to the Mont Alto
region where men are working night
and day to combat small blazes. An
other party went into Perry county
In both instances fire wardens asked
them to lend hand. They complied
and worked for an hour or so while
the firefghters rested. There have
been some instances heard where WIS.,
itors were asked to help and refused,
thereby bringing out threats to
prosecute because the law requires
people summoned to help fight fire
to respond or be arrested.
Next to a fire a circus is the cham
pion means to get Sunday crowd
assembled. The arrival of the circus
yesterday probably caused more alb
sences from Sunday school and serv-
ices than imagined. The youngsters
had a hard time avoiding lining
curbs to watch the wagons go by
and as for the circus ground it was
iammed all day long and extra cars
were required to haul people just to
see the tents.