The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-09-19

BOTT1NEAU COURANT, /
gressive big contractor from the.
Pacific coast. He built Camp
Lewis, Washington, consisting
of 1927 buildings in fifty-seven
days. Major Lang has had con-
siderable army experience, hav-
ing been with the national guard
a number Of years and having
participated in the Spanish war.
Give Soldiers Legal Aid.
Rights of soldiers here are to
be protected legally by the wal.
camp community service. Among
the new departments adopted by
the executive board is that ofI
advisory counsel to look after
needed legislation and legal
rights. The department will
have charge of the work Of in
vestigation Of prices charged
soldiers by local merchants. The
work of the war camp commun-
ity service for the coming year
includes that of entertainment,
both at the two army clubs and
at private homes and public en-
tertainments given by fraternal
orders. The camp mothers are
now under a department Of the
! service. The girls department.
will have charge of the activi-
ties of the G.. V. A.
The Language Question an Issue.
Orders have been received to
Immediately form into classes
all men who cannot use or UNI
derstand the English language.
The order directs that organiza-
ton commanders report to head
quarters the number of soldiers
in their respective commands
who have not a sufficient know
ledge of English to readily COM
prehend any instruction given
them. The order says these men
are to be classified by the moth
err tongue into separate groups
or squads. The order at the
same time directs that organiza-
tion commanders submit a re-
port showing the number of Of
ficers who can speak languages
other than English and who are
qualified to direct in the various
languages the enlisted men so
separated. Large classes of en-
listed men who could not speak
English have been given instruc-
ton in reading, writing and eA-
mentary grammar by the Y. NJ.
C. A. educational branch work
ing in conjunction with the mil
itary authorities.
To Increase 'Pigeon Squad"
The pigeon squad will be in
creased shortly with the arrival
of a dozen trained homer" pi-
geons which will be used in the
training of green birds. The
necessity of having a larger
group of pigeons was emphasiz-
ed in word from overseas that
pigeons are the "last word" in
carrying communications. The
trained squad now consists Of
twelve men who are putting the
"greenies" through their PAGES
so they will be able to fly with
their messages when sent over
seas. The training of them is
largely a process of simple pa
tience in the development Of the
birds intelligence, memory and
physical powers. At the start,
the pigeon is taken a half mile
from it's loft, and, in company
with it's other mates, has to find
it's way back. Next day the dis
lance is increased to a mile, the
day following to two or three
miles, and SO on. After a time
the youngster is released (toss-
ed is the word the pigeon train
ers use) alone and made to rely
on it's own resources to find it's
way home. When the distance
becomes greater, above seventy
miles, the bird is given a two
days rest between flights, and,
as it's flights become longer, it's
trainer begins to keep an eye on
the weather, for promising
youngsters are not risked gainst
an adverse gale or when the
weather is so thick that they
cannot recognize the surround
ings Of their home lofts. Fully
trained, homing Tor racing) pi-
geons are able to cover $50 miles
at a flight, or even more. Nine
ty-seven per cent of the mes.
sapes sent hv nipeOn most in