New Britain herald., 1918-09-27
INDIAN WARRIORS
WITH GEN. PERSHING
Six Thousand Rushed to COlOrS
When War Broke Out


: thousand American Indians. volun-
teering for service in modern war
= fare, are now with General PERISH
ing's army in France. Most of them
have been assigned scout duty--a
task which arouses latent instincts in
calls to the young warrior ancestral
stories of tribal battles.
The story OF the Indians with the
American Expeditionary Forces is
5n answer to the query: What is
tile Interior Department doing in this
war? Ordinarily that department is
one of domestic affairs-homestead
claims. irrigation propects, Indian
awards. national parks, pensions and
; patents. Little is said about it's &C
iivities for they are not sensational.
One Of the first men to reach Gen
eral Pcrshing's side in France was an
Alaskan engineer. for 90 years an ex-
i1iorer and geologist for the Depart
ii mont of the Interior. Today he is
advising American officers and SOL
tiicrs how to dig trenches so they
will drain properly. He Is locating
tine more suitable places for tugouts,
ard reducing the mud and danger Of
trench feet He is just one of the
departments scientists who have
gone to war in this most scientific of
all wars.
When hostilities broke the Interior
Department raised no armies and
built no ships. IT'S functions were
different. It merely set to work to
mobilize the resources of the coun-
try to meet shortages in war mater
SlyS tn
send its biologists and map-makers
to Europe, and to stand behind the
man behind the gun.
Not until peace and reconstruction
brings an inventory of the nations
; resources can there be written the
full story of this departm ent's war
time activities.
Hon1cstcads Protected
Early in the war a hardy Western
. miner entered the office of Secretary
Lane and said he wanted Ito 5'$go TO.
war. He explained however, that if
ne went away he could not hold his
mining claims, and some Stacker"
uni ght jump his claim while he was
at the front. The case was typical
OF a number of miners and home
steaders. one Of whom wrote, the IN
terror Department. #.s
81 expect the President will need
some of US, and we don't want to be
considered slow In coming forward.
You tell him we are with him. But
say to him some other chap. can grab
our homestead. claims if we go to
war. Now this isn't fair. A man
ought to have place to come back
to. if he gets a chance to come back.
So we hope you will get Congress to
let things stand pat just as they are
until we come home again. We don't
ask you to give us anything; only just
a chance to keep what we have got
The administration had little trou-
bic in convincing Congress that
homesteaders and claim holders, who
volunteer for duty lover there"
should have residence improvem ents
and payment liabilities waived while
he is In the service. The status of
these pioneers is preserved While they
are away at war.
This is but an index of the way the
Interior Department has fitted con-
ditions of pence into conditions of
war; how, from its topographers
who are surveying and plating the
land for American troops in France
to the miner and homesteaders bear
ing a rife, the Interior Departm
great outdoor family will play q vi
tal part on the battlefronts of de-
Ynocracy and freedom.
A Georgia capitalist and manufac-
t1rer asked Secretary Lane for war
work Just something useful without
pay or titles.
why don't you see that the pyrite
mines in your own section Of the
country are developed. We need py-
rites for the war" said Mr.. Lane.
Today that man is an altruistic py-
rite promoter, and production stead
lily increases.
Turned to Wars Account.
More than any other government
branch, perhaps, the work of the In
terror Department Is linked both to
the demands of war and the national
necessities of the first few years of
peace.
From it's Indian wards to the
"Americanization' movement, headed
by Secretary Franklin K. Lane, prac-
t1cally every activity and bureau of
the Interior Department have been
turned to wars account. The chem
jst and geologist have become war
riors for democracy. Desert lands
have beer opened to cultivation that
the armies might DC fed. An inten-
atve food supply campaign has been
waged among the Indians. The rec
lnn.ation service has rushed extension
os canals and laterals to increase the
Nations fertile acreage. Beds of pot
ash pyrftes. sulphur, manganese and
other war metals and minerals have
been developed TO meet the demand
of the hour.
Sale Of government lands has been