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Show (. FOR NEW REGIMENT r FORE8TERS ARE TO BE RECRUIT. ED AND 8ENT ACR083 TO , HELP FRANCE. THEIR WORK IS IMPORTANT Will aive Vital Aid to the Engineer In Rebuilding and Maintaining,' the Line of Communication Part of Regular Army, By EDWARD B. CLARK.' ', ' Washington. Undo Sum will send a regiment of foresters to Franco, men hardened to the service of fluid and Hood nnd representing the best of Mother Nature's breed. It Is wholly within tho Eitnga of possibilities pos-sibilities tliut these trained woodsmen of tho United Stntes niny turn tho scale In sonle of the Important operations opera-tions ot the war. It will be the duty of these experts of the forest service of tho United StuteM to "got out" material ma-terial necessary for trendies, bridges, railroads and other construction work ot vital Importance not only to the flghtlug line, but to the tneuns of keeping It supplied. The foresters will be ai much n part of the military force of the United States us nny other unit that we xend save only that tho men will be armed with the Implements of their colling. They will not light, but they must nt times run the dangers of those who do fight. Some of the foresters who will go re engineers, hut the actual work of rebuilding tho railroads which feed the lighting lines nnd the bridges which mnko the advances over rapid running streams possible will be- the duty of tho engineering detachments of the United States army. The forest-'er.s, forest-'er.s, however, will get out and supply tho tested mnterlnl for tho uso of their engineer brethren. Tho foresters who go Into a wood like that of Bols lo I'retrc on the west front, which dully Is shell-pounded, will know what It Is to risk their lives for tho causo of de-mocrucy. de-mocrucy. French Railroads Have Suffered. Concerning tho condition of the means of roll communication In Franco at the present time this was written today : "Tho French railroads, like those of Germnny, huve suffered terribly from the neglect Imposed by the uso of men on the firing lines. The German railroads rail-roads have suffered most, perhaps, because be-cause of the lack of lubricating oils, a want of which has played havoc with their rolling stock. "However this may be, the French cannot properly care for their railways rail-ways without taking men who are vitally vi-tally necessary for tho defense of the country. The railroads which provide Important avenues of communication between the base nnd tho front for the movement of troops and supplies cannot can-not bo neglected without seriously endangering en-dangering operations ngnlnst tho enemy. en-emy. The engineers, tho railway men and the foresters who will be sent to France by Uncle Snni will solve tho gravest problem which has confronted i the battling republic." I Tho now forestry regiment will be I commanded probably by n colonel of I tbu regtilnr army, or by a Junior of tho I service promoted temporarily to tho rank ot colonel who will hnve with htm a few other olllcers of tho regular establishment es-tablishment to keep the organization In military trim and charged with tho military spirit. The men of the regiment regi-ment will net In co-operation with the French foresters ond nil tho" timber that Is to bo cut will be taken In such a manner as to gunrauteo tho perpetuation perpetu-ation of tho forests which furnish It. Plans for the New Regiment. Here Is the plain detail for tho new regiment : 1 "Within a few days a call for volunteers volun-teers will bo Issued. The regiment will be composed of about a thousand men, or about six companies of 104 men each. It will bo organized In units capnblo of handling all'kinds of wood, work and will tuke along a number of portable sawmill outfits. "Tho classes of men required comprise com-prise axmen. teamsters, tlecutters, millwrights, sawfllers, sawyers, portable porta-ble sawmill men, farriers, blacksmiths, lumberjacks, cooks and carpenters and motorcycle and motortruck operators. As rapidly as enlistments are secured the men will be assembled at six central cen-tral points which already have been designated. "The recruiting system will employ all the machinery of the forest service and much of that In the various states where tho notional forest service is not represented. From chief foresters down to the humblest workers In lumber lum-ber camps recruits" will bo desired. They must be of the ages prescribed for the regular army, viz., from eighteen eight-een to forty-flye, us this regiment will not be organized under tho conscription conscrip-tion law. "Most of tho recruits, It Is expected, will come from the West and tho Northwest, where lumbering operations opera-tions are conducted on a much larger scale than In the Knst and naturally more men are employed. The operations.- however, will be moro of tho Eastern type, for the logs cannot bo got out and floated down the rivers, nnd, moreover, owing to tho nature of tho forests, will not bo of the class of giants In which tho virgin forest abounds." The regiment of foresters has been spoken ot by someono as "an humble Soring- to France." In a way the services ser-vices of the men may seem to be hura-i He, but the war experts know that the work will prove to be ot the highest .IjoporUaco .to the cauc t rraacjwj |