Evening star., 1918-07-14

5HE bons-nde "r.gpiclrsrs. Of
the armies Of the allies afe
not of such = lowly and hum
q BILE class a. are the ragDiee-
ery In the more familiar wafks Of hfn.
Real army "ragpickers' are usually
man of alert minds, Of large experI
snes and wide training. Indeed. the
majority of them can easily be proved
veteran heroes
The very nature OF thsar WORK
makes it imperative TOR them 10 run
n great risks as any daxtnE soa6fsE'
Snr with uncomfortable freQueneY
thsy perform their duties beneath the
hurtling dre OF the ever-wa4chfm
Hun.
These men. are experts In their INA
A. a, matter OF fsct, nethfng shoFs ox
an exuert would answer the purpose
st all. for army HaRpfcksrs must work
with unerring swiftness and with
uuovuestiouAble efficiency. He mus
know Immediately the aDproxim1ta
glance be capabfe Of appr.isang rus0
rtffep clogssd with mud and Dirt dtn-
carAsd helmets, gFenades. caoehinS
bayQneta and all the othaf muns
riowt debris OF q recently 2bandOueo
Tnrthermore. hs must BE- thoeoaEAr
II alde to Judge coolty and ceEnfafe.
II Of this mass of wreeka6e, se0Z1
SO cunfnsinSfy ovGr cUn81oaAoss
area Of territory, under tbs n.0se 9oSs
raising ira Fur. nA3HxSfiys u ~ y y
the business OF the Hun to try To
make each ragpfckers Hfs 20 mtssf.
sbls thAe he wiz wasn't % fss1e
qu1clk1I
-.
hui the Hun 10 bitterly diEaUpuinf-
ed I'm the average rasu1ek0 becauDs
to him the spitefuI spie Of shsIn
seams merely to add . zesf to the
work In hand But an raspicksfs do
not escape this tormenting naEEtng.
Sometimes one Is wounded and ocea-
sionally one Is killed But these &C.
cidents In no way qusn thS courage
of the other members Of Iris qns@
force
A battlefield aftsr q dercs engage
ment ts q verftable treasure tr0ve. 70
be sure the eye OF q novlce woIto
fafl to distinguish it as such: but the
more discriminating eye Of an allied
ragpicker would. There the appar.
enf wastage of war II clearly mani
fest The wounded are removed De-
fore the ragpiekerD begin WORK
Tho eyes Of of these men are train
ed to be on the keen lookout for un.
exploded shells, guns which nave not
beon SO hopeieSsiy wrecked rnax tney
are entirely beyond repair. pieces OF
leather which are precious, indeed.
since the demand for that particular
material is constantly increasing, Win
little hope of immediate supply. and
every kind of whole or broken TOOL
or weapon used in modern warfare.
Before the onslaught this damage0
and impaired equipment proea6iy
represented millions Of dollars. Ine
highly efficient ragpfcker VIII see
thSt eventualIy this wreckase reach.
es army reclamation depots. where 10
win be repaired again for miHtary
uses at as little cost as possfbte. TnS
bulk of all such material u saved And
can be utilized, SO there ID aceuaAly
surprisingly little real waste
AL the nations at war have their
trained ragpickers. Those OF tne
United States are few as yet, b1e
greater numbers are being organized.
There are schools for the training OF
thess men. Europe fs, Of course the
quirs the practical experience necae-
sAry for the best and surest work
n f.
, fha ragpickers workday begins II
dawn after the battle is over. Thi1
cpms,znx Of men stxrcs forth and
eventually covers the entire Held.
They are followed from plaes to placs
By great wagons and motor TRUCKS