The Benson signal., 1918-06-22
a,ne demand for specialists In tn.

Ine demand for specialists In the
army is increasing daily. Mechanics
and techniciaps of all kinds, including
radio and buzzer operators, are need
ed by the signal corps.
In nearly every large city the fed
eral board OF vocational trimming.
through local school authorities. has
established schools Of radio commun-
cation where men of draft age who
have not been called may receive a
| preliminary course In the operation OF
radio and buzzer Instruments. There
are about 600 of these schools where
instruction Is given, usually In the aft
; ernoons and evenings. 1t takes about
200 hours for a student of average
ability to obtain speed Of 20 words a
minute, sending and receiving.
Electrical engineers and men with
good fundamental training In engineer
! ing or physics are particularly in de-
mand for signal corps work. Men of
satisfactory qualifications are given
three months training In special
Schools and have every opportunity to
take examinations leading to promo
ton.
Men who have nau experen.u as
electrical repair men, wiremen and me-
chanics are also desired for assign
ment to special schools and later to
field organizations.
! When the five new regiments and
10 battalions Of railway engineers now
being organized are put on duty there
will be $4,000 Americans engaged IN
railroad construction and operation IN
France.
/ After the United States entered the
war one Of the first requests transmit
ted to this government by the French
mission was for assistance In strength
ening the French railways. Nine regi-
ments Of railway engineers, whose or
ganiZation was started before General
Pershing sailed, were in France by Au-
gust, 1917. Six Of them have been en-
!; gagged In construction work, building
and rebuilding railways, building docks
and rearranging terminal facilities.
The other three regiments have been
. engaged In operation, and some OF the
railway troops have been on the tight
ing line. The additional troops will
be used partly for construction and
maintenance and partly for operation.
A total Of $16O, ,000has been spent
on railway materials alone. Included
in the purchases are 1927 locomotives,
! 22,63O freight cars and $4,000 tons or
steel rails.
Reports are reaching the chifdren's
bureau of the department of labor from
the hundreds and thousands of women
who during the last go days have been
/ weighing 100000 children Of Amer
lea, and the way in which permanent
poverty menaces the healthy growth OF
the children of the nation is being re-
vealed as q result of the weighing and
measuring campaign.
Workers have been SO much aroused
by the conditions revealed that they re-
quest information regarding follow-up
| work, Many of the families are de-
/ scribed as being pitifully poor. One
mother had new baby wasting away
for want of milk. The mother was
| told to drink one quart Of milk day
herself and to give one quart day to
!! each of her six children. Milk Is To-
cents quart, and the family income
SIS a week. The women writing to
the children's bureau said they did
not know how to solve the problem.
The children's bureau has been COM
pelled to reply to such reports that
( federal appropriations are available
only for the families of men actually
In the military or naval service.
Nearly $4,000 negro soldiers are
now in the National army. OF these
! 1000 are line officers holding commits
sions Of captain and first and second
lieutenants. There are about 25O col
ored officers In the medical and dental
reserve corps.
| The army now includes two divisions
of colored troops, which when fully
constituted will include practically all
branches Of the service; infantry. en-
gineer, artillery, signal corps, medical
corps and service battalions with men
technically trained in all branches OF
scientific work.
There ara now openings In the vet
! erinary corps for negroes skilled In
veterinary and agricultural work. Ar
rangements have been completed to
send negroes registered but not yet
called to schools and colleges this
summer for training in radio engineer
ing, electrical engineering, auto me-
! chanics. blacksmithing and the opera
ton Of motor vehicles.
Sroroe of firms throughout the