The Benson signal., 1918-02-09
TRADESNE:N NEEDED
IN SIGNAL. CORPS
WILL BE ACCEPTED, ALTHOUGH
REGISTERED, If QUALIFIED
ALONG CERTAIN LINES
BOOKS FOR OUR FIGHTERS
More Than Half a Million Already
Furnished Soldiers and Sailors by
American Library Association
What the Hat Cord Denotes.


American Library Association
What the Hat Cord Denotes.
lFrom Committee on Public Information.) }
Washington.-Men qualified along
certain lines, although registered un-
der the selective-service law, may be
inducted into the land division of the
Signal Corps, which is in need of men
for the following duties:
Chauffeurs, motorcycle drivers, and
gas engine repairmen for duty in field
and telegraph battalions; telegraph
ers, both wire and radio; telephone
men, including switchboard operators,
telephone repairmen, and men skilled
in testing and repairing telephone
lines; telephone and telegraph line
men photographers still and moving
homing-pigeon men; radio men who
are familiar with installing radio ap-
paratus; men qualified as cooks,
clerks, stenographers, blacksmiths,
meteorologists, cobblers, cable men,
etc
Men inducted for this division, un-
less otherwise requested by the chief
signal officer Of the army, are sent to
Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
More than half a million books al
ready have been furnished soldiers and
sailors in training camps and in France
by the American Library Association
@10 Scs c,4n iii i1v1
increasing, according to the director
of this work.
A campaign for funds inaugurated
by the association last autumn netted
more than $1,500,O00 and real results
in the tangible shape of books and
comfortable libraries are being felt by
the soldiers and sailors. The Carne-
gle corporation gave S320,O00 for the
erection of camp Libraries. Nearly
Ill camps now have libraries and in
the others the buildings are in course
Of construction. The reading rooms
each accommodate $50 men.
For the men in France the assOcia
ton has organized distributing sta
tons at all points Of embarkatiOn,
where books are assorted for shipment
abroad. Soon every soldier who steps
on a transport will carry book with
him, which he and his companions will
read on the way across, after which it
will be forwarded to the men back Of
the trenches. No attempt will be made
to establish libraries in France, but
the association will have representa-
tives there to supervise the work Of
distribution.
Just as the sleeve chevrons and
bars, stars and eagles on the shoul-
der proclaims ranking officers, the hat
cord denotes the branch of service
each private has entered.
Light blue signifies infantry; scar
let, artillery; yellow cavalry; buff,
Quartermasters corps; scarlet and
white, engineers corps; orange and
white signal corps; scarlet and black,
ordnance; black and white, field clerk
maroon, medical corps; black and gold,
officers; silver and black, adjutant
generals clerk green, instructor home
These cords are worn only on serv-
ice hats.
Cadet aviators wear as hat bands
inch and half white ribbons and on
coat collars insignia representing the
aviation branch Of the Signal corps,
propeller blades.
There were 1.428,65O enlisted men
and 110,S65 officers in the United
States army at the opening of 1918,
more than one and a half times as
large as any force ever before mo-
bilized by this nation. according to
a statement by Secretary of War
Baker.
During the war with Spain the army
Of the United States at it's maximum
strength aggregated 272,000 men and
officers. The army in the field and in
training now is practically six times
as great as the maximum number un-
der arms in the Spanish-American war.
About $4,000 officers were commits
stoned from civil life in the two series
of training camps, nearly eight times
as many as the number of officers in
the regular army April 1, 1917.
PoStmasterS are directed not to ac-
cept for shipment to members Of ex-
peditionary forces packages contain
ing matches, cigar lighters, or solidif1ed
alcohol, including the preparation call
ed "Stern0" or canned heat.
It is not deemed safe to admit these
articles to mails for foreign countries
or for United States naval vessels in
Guiding marines on shore In other coun-
tries
Contractors working on orders for
the navy are required. to provide
watchmen and devices to protect their
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