The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1918-12-24
GENERAL CROWDER
AND HIS WAR WORK
II Includes Classifying 9,5oo,000 Regis
trants, Getting Paper, Envelopes
and FlIina Cases for Same.

and Filing Cases for Same.
Washington. Dec. 2.--The success
full conduct of the draft Office has not
been due to the initiative of any one
man. Practically every officer from
General Crowder down has fulfilled
his every task. No man in the office
has included impossible" in his vo-
cabulary. In the days which immed-
lately followed the passage of the con-
scription act it was decided that a
classification of the 9,500,000 regis
trants was necessary and that the 10.
cal boards would need a tremendous
number Of filing cases in which to
keep the Questionnaires after they
had been returned by the registrants.
An officer was assigned to canvass fl
ing case manufacturers He tells of
his experience and what his brother
officers consider his extraordinary ac-
complishments in the following
words:
First / went to the New York head
quarters OF a large concern..I am
from General Crowder's office, said.
VIC ittu q HlGdb iilAllE
What can you do for us in sixty days
at the present market price, we
can give you all the cabinets you can
use in that time, the manager replied.
Very well, deliver $4,000 cabinets
Impossible, ! never heard of such an
order exclaimed the mana/er. |
went to several other manufacturers.
but none could FIJI the order But at
one Of the conferences was told
about a completely equipped cabinet
mill in a town in North Carolina.
boarded night train and two days
later | closed a deal for the mill.
found beautiful oak forest in an ad-
joining town. ! bought the forest.
Woodsmen began telling the trees the
day after made the purchase. Each
log was marked with the magic name
OF Crowder and rushed to the plant.
The oak went into one end of the mill
as logs and came out of the other end
as filing cabinets. Trains were made
up and started to every part of the
country. Before the sixty day period
ended every last cabinet had been
delivered to the 4,657 local boards.
True, the cabinets were made of
green wood and today they are falling
apart or are tied together with ropes;
but they served their purpose
1t was no insignificant task to Sc
cure the paper on which to print the
millions of forms and Questionnaires
Fifty-eight freight cars were used TO
haul the paper for the first question
naires to Washington The cars had
/ TO come through the worst freight con
gestion in the history of the country.
but came through they did, and on
time. The paper problems of thJsfrst
draft were increased fifty per cent by
the great registration of 100000
men who were within the extended
draft ages. In the last registration
| 256,000.000 forms were printed. The
forms included 100000 question.
naires. each comprising sixteen pages.
The largest envelope contract the
world has ever known was put
through quietly and modestly. Fifty
million envelopes was the size of the
order Despite the limited number of
freight cars available. wrecks and the
usual shortage OF labor, the paper
reached Washington on time, the
forms we're printed on time and we're
sent out on time. When the history
of the war is written 1t will contain
reference to one man who, gigantic as
his tasks were, never failed, General
Crowder. He Is affectionately known
in Washington as Connie Ford, the
public printer He directed the
printing OF every form and publication
issued by the provost marshal gen
eral.
Naturally the most difficult under
taking of the office was sending mer
. to camp. It was comparatively easy
to order from 10000 to $4,000 men L
camp each month early in the war
but it was another story when, will
d the nations war program expanded
the war department called on Genera
. Crowder to produce 100000 mel
5 monthly Classification had been 81
systematized that the general knew
h the men were available and knew
where to put his hand on them, bu
it was not so easy to get them iron
their home towns TO the miltar.
cities Railroad men we're assigne
n to watch transportation condition
/. everywhere. Conters experiencin
o traffic congestion were avoided. an
@ the men were assembled whore line
/. we're open. As soon as traffic cond
r. tions in the congested districts wer
}. relieved men were gathered togethe
and sent to camps Officers worke
q night and day to do IT, but the call
n we're equallzed eventually.
o,i, I'm. anuoNo orININE-