Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1918-06-21


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. ....5
Men who have nau experience 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 Az
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 fight
ing line. The additional troops Will
be used partly for construction and
maintenance and partly for operation.
A total Of $16O, 00O,0 900 has been spent
on railway materials alone. Included
in the purchases are 1,727 locomotives,
22,63O freight cars and $4,000 tons OF
steel rails. '.''. ... w.. . .&
Reports are reaching the children's
bureau of the department Of labor from
the hundreds and thousands OF women
who during the last 60 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 il being re-
vealed as result Of the weighing ana
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 a new baby wasting away
for want of milk. The mother was
told to drink one quart Of milk q DAY
herself and to give one quart day to
each of her six children. MIX Is 10
cents a quart. and the family income
SIS q 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
PEELED 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 cowmis-
sions Of captain and first and second
lieutenants. There are about 25O col
ored officers in the medical and dental
reserve corps. te
The army now includes two divisions
of colored troops. which when fully
constituted will include practically al
branches Of the service; infantry, en-
Rineer, artillery, signal corps, medical
corps and service battalions with men
technically trained in all branches OF
scientific work.
There are now openings in the vet
Urinary CORDS 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
lion of motor vehicles.
Scores of firms throughout the
United States have been penalized for
violations of rules Of the food admins
tration. In some cases licenses to OPP
crate have been suspended; In others,
contributions to the Y. NJ. G. A., Red
Cross, and other organizations have
been accepted in lieu Of suspension OF
license. 49,
Among the more numerous violations
are sales of -four without substitutes;
refusal to accept delivery Of foodstuhs
previously ordered; operating without
licenses; excess sales Of sugar; carly
ins more than q normal 80 days sup
ply of sugar; failure to use the proper
amount of -four substitute In bread
making; and prodteering.
Next to the aggregate number OF sub
scribers, perhaps the most striking TEA
ture of the third Liberty loan was the
support given 1t by the farming ana
rural populations Of the country, &C