Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-04-02
COMEDY Seen
IN DRAFTING
MENTOR ARMY
Although Sending Men to
War is Serious Business,
There is also Humor.

st..@Iouis. Mo-, April 2.-The bust
mss o OFFENDING men to war is a seri-
|oNa. thing but according to the various
exemption boards here, before whom
the & Of the thousands OF prospec-
tive soldiers are heard, there are at
times bits of comedy altering through
the drab routine Of facts and figures.
Examination Of the questionnaires
submitted. by men Of draft age in st:
service that amounted to the
ludicrous. For instance. there was
the ma who declared lie should not
be e nj to Camp Funston because he
was morally unfit" He explained
that several days before he had stolen
a sack of potatoes and, according to
his statement, anyone SO bereft OF
morals should not contaminate United
States soldiers. The exemptions board
reviewed his a 8 and appended this
notation:
THE man is the victim of tempta-
ton Inc is more to be drafted than
c~ensured." He was placed in the LA
class. 4+N
There was also the son of one Of the
city's wealthiest men who sought ex-
emption upon Industrial grounds. He
asserted he owned a farm and was &C
tive in its operation. 1t was found
that his father had given him a small
plot of ground, but his activity In till
ing it amounted to IN occasional visit
to the place to go hunting.
marriage. although they had wed
since the draft law went into effect,
were numerous AS evidence of an
Understanding" before the war start
ed they submitted newspaper clippings
and letters.
A father attempted to, save, his son
from serving by stating to the board
that he would refuse to care for his
daughtar-in-law and that she prob
ably would starve to death.
One of the local boards had been
troubled with the case Of a Russian
who claimed exemption because OF
his dependent wife, and three chill
dren. He explained his family was
len route from Russia and was expect
ed almost any day." His classified
ton was postponed from week 10
week until the board, believing the
man was evading them, finally class
ed him as IA. The day the Russian
received his notification he came IN.
to exemption quarters, accompanied
by his wife and three children. The,
had arrived just in time to save tn
husband and father from a hurried
trip to the cantonment.
A newspaper item toi the enec tina
bald headed men we're not wholly &C
Iceptable for army service because
they offered al obvious target TO!
Teuton sharpshooters was the foun
dalton for a popular excuse for ex
emption among scores Of bald-head
ed men. Several stated they wer'
certain they would always be BALD
headed, because they had for year
tried various hair %restorers withou
effect.
Brother" cases attracted attention
in many wards. These involved tn
classification Of several brothers fron
the same family where there wer'
dependents. Instances Of four son
in one family being liable for serv
ice were numerous. If the parent
were dependent. the boards were II
all cases lenient. In one ward whel
three brothers appeared for classifi
~cation they requested that n shout
be allowed to stay at home: Tn
board assented and asked which on
would stay. The question was finall
settled by the old fashioned "eeny
meeny-miney-mo" system. ...