Evening star., 1933-04-06
PICKS LOCAL MEN
FORREFORESTARMY.
District Welfare Board Head
Begins Choosing 500 for
Civilian Corps.

Selection of the 500 unemployed
Washington men to be recruited into
President Roosevelt's reforestation army
was begun today by Leroy Halbert. head
of the emergency relief division of the
District Board of Public Welfare.
At the same time, machinery was
being set up in 16 other cities for
enrolment of the remainder of the
$4,000 men allotted to the first division
of the new Civilian Conservation Corps.
Under the recruiting method decided
upon last night, at series of con-
ferences which Mr.. Halbert and other
District officials held with representa-
tives of the Labor Department, the first
step will be compilation of an eligible
list from among the names Of the thou
sands of persons who have received aid
from the relief division. The same
method will be followed in the other
cities.
Applicants to Be Weeded Out.
Once the list of eligibles is completed,
the men named will be queried as to
whether they wish to enlist In the army
Of forest workers: If the number OF
men desirous of joining the corps ex-
ceeds the Washington quota of 500
and the general expectation Is that 1t
villa "weeding-out" process will be
instituted by the relief divisions social
workers.
The recruits will be given two weeks
training in Army posts to be designated
by Maj Gen. Paul B. Malone, COM
mander of the Sd Corps Area. 1t is
expected they will be sent to either
Fort George G. Meade, Md, or Fort
Humphreys. Va. The Maryland post
has been tentatively allotted 3,570 men,
to be sent there from all recruiting
points in the Sd Corps Area, While the
Virginia forts tentative quota Is $50
1t is considered unlikely any OF the
recruits will be trained at Fort Myer,
Va, because Of crowded condltlons
there.
While the District men, along with
l 900 from Baltimore, are being trained
in the Sd Corps Area, the recruits
selected in the other cities will be under
going similar training at military posts
in other parts of the country.
Must Be Unmarried.
Would-be forest workers will have 10
meet the same requirements here as else
where, according to Mr.. Halbert. All
applicants, he said, must be unmarried
United States citizens, between 18 and
25, who, being jobless, have been receiv-
ing assistance from the relief division or
some other charitable agency. Prefer
ence will be given, he said, to men who
are willing to contribute major portion
of their S3O-a-month allowance to de-
pendent relatives. These requirements,
he added, were outlined to him by Off
cials of the Labor Department.
When the Office of the relief division
was opened at 9 o'clock this morning,
crowd of about 200 persons was on
hand. This was just an every day"
throng, however, according to Mrs. Hal
bert, and at least out Of 10 persons
were seeking the kind of aid the relief
division has been administering all
along.
The first camp to be put in operation
and the one to which the Washington
recruits will be sent-will be in the
George Washington National Forest,
between Luray and Edinburg. Va. The
Forest Service is prepared, however, to
put men to work Immediately at
other camp sites in PENNSYLVANIA,
Northern New England, the CaronnaS,
1Con+;nued On pooe Q Column 5O