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Show FOR NEW REGIMENT FORESTERS ARE TO Bft RECRUIT. ED AND 8ENT ACR088 TO HELP FRANCE. THEIR WORK IS IMPORTANT Will Give Vital Aid to the Enalneere Irf Rebuilding and Maintaining the Lines of Communication Part of Regular Army. By EDWARD B. CLARK. Washington. Uncle Ham will send a regiment of foresters to France, men hardened to the service of field and flood and representing the best of Mother Nature's breed. It Is wholly within the range of possibilities pos-sibilities that these trained woodsmen of tho United States may turn the scale In some of tho Important operations opera-tions of the wnr. It will be the duty of theso experts of the forest servlco of tho United- States to "get out" material ma-terial nrcessury for trenches, bridges, railroads nnd other construction work of vital Importance not only to tho fighting line, but to the means of keeping It supplied. The foresters will be sb much n part of the military forco of the United States as any other unit that wo send save only that tho men will bo nriued with the Implements of their calling. They will not fight, but they must at times run the dangers of those who do fight Some of the foresters who will go aro engineers, but the actual work of rebuilding tho railroads which feed the lighting lines and .the bridges which mnke the ndvnnces over rapid running streams possible will be tho duty of the engineering detachments of tho United States nrmy. Tho foresters, forest-ers, however, will get out and supply tho tested material for the uso of their engineer brethren. Tho foresters who go Into n wood Uku that of Dots lo I'rctre on the west front, which dally Is shell-pounded, will know whnt it Is to risk their lives for tho cnuso of democracy. de-mocracy. French Railroads Have Suffered. Concerning tho condition of tho means of rati communication In France at the present time this was written today : "Tho French railroads, ilko those of Germany, have suffered terribly from the neglect Imposed by the iWo of men on the tiring lines. Tho German railroads rail-roads hnvo suffered most perhaps, becauso be-causo of tho lack of lubricating oils, n want of which has played hnvoc with tbelr rolling stock. "However this mny be, tho French ennnot properly enre for their railways rail-ways without taking men who are vitally vi-tally necessary for tho defense of the country. Tho railroads which' prnvldo Important avenues of communication between the bnso nud tho front for the movement of troops nnd supplies can-! not ho neglected without seriously on-1 dnngcrlng operations ngatust the en-1 emy. The engineers, tho railway men and the foresters who wtll be sent to France by Undo Sam will solve the gravest problem which has confronted the battling republic." The new forestry regiment' will bo commanded probably by a colonel of the regular nrmy, or by a Junior of the servlco promoted temporarily to the rank of colonel who will havo with him a few other ofllcers of the regular establishment es-tablishment to keep the organization in military trim and charged with tho mllltury spirit. The men of tho regiment regi-ment will act In co-operation with tho French foresters nnd nil tho timber that Is to ho cut will be taken In such a manner ns to guarantee the perpetuation perpetu-ation of the forests which furnish It. Plans for the New Regiment Here Is the plain detail for the new regiment: "Wlthlu n few dnys a call for volunteers volun-teers will he Issued, lho regiment will he composed of nbout n thousand men, or about six companies of 104 men each. It will be organized In units capable of handling nil kinds of woodwork wood-work and wtll take along a number of portable sawmill outfits. "The classes of men required comprise com-prise uxinen, teamsters, tlecutters, millwrights, snwfllers, suwyers, porta-bio porta-bio sawmill ihen, farriers, blacksmiths, lumberjacks, cooks nnd carpenters and tnotorcyclo nnd motortruck operators. As rapidly ns enlistments nro secured the men will be assembled at six central cen-tral points which alrcudy have been designated. "The recruiting system will employ all the mnchlnery of tho forest servlco nnd much of that In tho various states where the national forest service Is not represented. From chief foresters down to tho humblest workers In lumber lum-ber camps recruits will bo lleslred. They must bo of the ages prescribed for tho regular army, viz., from eighteen eight-een to forty-five, as this regiment will not bo organized under the conscription conscrip-tion lnw. "Most of tho recruits, It Is expected, will come from tho West nnd the Northwest, whero lumbering operations opera-tions nro conducted on a much larger scale than lu tho East and naturally more men arc employed. Tho operations, opera-tions, however, will be moro of the Eastern typo, for tho logs cannot be got out nnd floated duwn the rivers, and, moreover, owing to tho nature of tho forests, will not lie of tho class of giants In which tho virgin forest abounds." Tho regiment of foresters has been spoken of by someone ns "nn humble offering to France." In a way the et-lces et-lces of the men may seem to be humble, hum-ble, hut the wnr experts know that the work will prove to bo of the highest l;iUirtnncj tg the causu of France., |