USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > District No. 15 of Allegheny County Pennsylvania in the Great War : a history of activities at home and abroad from the declaration of war in 1917 to the home-comings in 1919 > Part 6
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27
THE ARMISTICE
WINDING UP OF THE WORK
As often happens in cases of temporary organizations created for definite constructive purposes, the work of the Local Board at the time its constructive activity ceased was in more or less incomplete shape as to records. Very shortly after the armistice was declared, word was received from Washington that the boards would be expected to close up their business and return their records about the first of the year 1919. There were bulletins and letters of in- structions galore that contained most minute directions in regard to forms of reports, shipping instructions, checking lists, papers, merchandise, and property; provisions for public sale of certain property which was not to be returned; and finally, as the time for closing had been ex- tended once or twice, there came under date of February 20, 1919, a pamphlet of some twenty- eight pages of closely printed matter and forms, containing a complete compendium of regulations for packing and shipping of records, and disposition and sale of government property in the cus- tody of the Board.
When it is considered that there were 8866 names on the records of the Board and in con- nection with the name of each registrant, anywhere from three to twenty separate papers, including cards, questionnaires, additional reports, correspondence, physical examination reports, and the like, some idea may be had of the mass of work involved. Under the instructions all these papers in the 8866 cases had to be checked over carefully, numbered, lettered, stamped, and ar- ranged in a particular order in each file. At sometime during the marking and arranging, these papers had all to be finally checked up with the Classification List or General Docket. The exacting character of such work under governmental regulations can hardly be exaggerated. After all this was done, the cover-sheets had to be indorsed, filled out with certain data, checked, and packed in file cases to which were fastened several tags, each with its own particular data. These file cases were then packed in wooden boxes, the inside dimensions of which were 2432x 1472X13 inches, lined with water-proof paper, nailed tightly shut and shipped. Some intimation of the volume of the records may be obtained when it is known that there were forty-one such wooden boxes and in addition two other similar boxes, containing the Classification List and Delinquent and Desertion Records, in all of a shipping weight of two tons. These were sent to the Adjutant General of the Army, Selective Service Records Division, Washington, D. C., the last shipment being made March 29, 1919.
There was an enormous quantity of waste paper which consisted of stocks of blank forms. Under government instructions, these could not be burned but must be torn each-and there were thousands of them-into so and so many pieces, depending upon what particular form it happened to be, and all the mutilated pieces must then be burned or sold. This lot of paper was sold for the sum of one dollar by the government. There is no record of the profit made on it by the purchaser. It is currently reported, however, that he gave it away.
The sale of government property occurred at 4 P.M. on March 27, 1919, at the headquarters of the Local Board. It consisted of the following: Typewriter, Typewriter Desk, Card File for 3x5 Cards, Beaver Board Partition, Filing Trough, and Waste Paper. Under government regu- lations sealed bids were called for and submitted. The successful bidder bought in the entire property on his bid of $124.
The work of the Board was complete. Its equipment was disposed of, its office vacated. The finale was as unostentatious as the opening. It consisted of the following telegram: "March 31, 1919. Murdock, Harrisburg, Pa. Closed. Allegheny 15."
CHAPTER III
AUXILIARY BOARDS
MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD
Early in the process of marshalling the forces of the Nation, it was realized that the work of the Local Boards was to be stupendous and that they must have some assistance. It was neither practicable nor expedient to increase the number of their membership, nor could the scope of their duties be narrowed. Clearly some other means must be employed.
Without dividing the responsibility or deviating in any way from the original general plan, a number of cooperating agencies, voluntary in character, were brought into action by the appoint- ment of auxiliary boards to which the Local Board might look for assistance. One of these rendered service directly to the Local Board in assisting with the physical examination of the selectives . The other two were chiefly of service to the selectives themselves, although indirectly their efforts helped in some measure to lighten the burdens of the Local Board.
The work of selecting men for service may be divided into three distinct divisions. First that of selecting men with regard to their social obligations, secondly with regard to their industrial relations, and thirdly with regard to their physical qualifications. In the first of these divisions the classification was made by the Local Board with its decision subject to appeal to the District Board either by the individual or by the state. The second classification, relation to industry, was made by the District Board and the Local Board acted in an advisory capacity only. The third division, that of classification with regard to physical qualifications, was the work of the Local Board.
The membership of the Local Board included a practicing physician, Dr. S. F. McComb, whose special function it was to make the physical examinations. All of the physicians in the district were asked to assist in the work and the response was almost unanimous. These phy- sicians were divided into groups, asabout eight were needed to constitute a well-balanced examining force. This arrangement made it possible to have examinations go on continuously and avoided the necessity of any physician being away from his practice for a whole day at a time. When a little later the rules and regulations required the special inspection of the teeth, the dentists of the district proffered their assistance and thereafter one of their number was always present to take care of this part of the work.
The work of the examining board was recommendatory and when the physicians agreed in their findings the results were readily approved by the Local Board, but where there was a differ- ence of opinion or where there was some doubt as to whether the man should be accepted or re- jected, the Local Board might refer the case to the Medical Advisory Board at the Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pa. This board was a development of the Selective Service System and its work as its name indicates was of an advisory nature only. Its members were specialists and its location in one of the best equipped hospitals in the state afforded the proper facilities for making thorough examinations and giving expert advice. Many cases were referred to this board not only from this district but from the many other districts contiguous to Pittsburgh on the
28
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259, 60
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171.
65
66.
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69
OCT. 3, 1917
V-A
15
IPAL
22
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237
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17
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21A
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39
40
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30
FEB.27,19/8 V-B
PLATE V-A 1. Arthur Polome 2. Walter Kaspregsky 3. Charles T. Ford 4. Harvey Gould
9. Steve Lendenskv
10. Thomas A. Berkes
11. Jules J. Arnold
12. Bolesław Napierkowski
13. Raymond Goldinger
21. Joseph Glodowski 29. John Petrykowski
22. Anton Egnatick 23. Clarence Sutton
30.
31. Joseph B. Berent 32. Simon Misicuk
33. Jan Jasinski 42. August J. Schweitzer
34. Bronislaw Sobecki 43. John Gradosky
35. Edward F. Kapteina 44. Domenico Bernardino
45. Louis J. Kuhnert 46. Ernest F. Miller
47. Walter Arvid Dnerr
48. Szcepan Pajewski
49. Joseph Jakacki
51. John Chidalek 52. Joseph G. Graf 53. Peter Kramer 54. Harry Archibald 55. Jacob S. Walker 56. Louis McClosky 57. George Webber
64. Joseph Slomkowsky 65. Michael Grabosky
69. Edward J. Ewing 70. Russel Elliott 71. Elmer Bandi 72. Walerjan Gnatowski 73. Joseph Demkowsky
PLATE V-B 1. Piotr Flovysiak
2. Samuel G. Chambers 3. George Hazlett
4. Kenneth Davidson
5. John Ear. Smith Turner
11. Floyd James Buzzard
12. David E. John
25. Robert S. Sleeth
18. Anthony Nitowski 26. Stanislaw Armazki 19. Rudolph Woigner 27. Espy Bowser
20. Stephen Brim
28. Raymond N. Shaul 36. John U. Smith
15. Albert Jacques 16. Amato Amello
17. Raymond Gibson Elliot
18. John Berecin
19. Thomas Gornal 20. Frank Trettle 21. Joseph Borusbka 21a. Ludwik Zylinski 22. Harry H. McDonough 23. Thomas J. Sweeney
24. John Lendenski 25. Richard Higgins 26. Glenn E. Robinson
27. Francis Raymond Kennedy 28. Nick Helios 29.
30. John I. Mageean 31. John Nowicki
32. Boleslaw Kurzawa 33. Lowell C. Livengood 34. Alex Romeko 35. William Cbelpineoff
36. Patrick Jos. Ryan 37. Clifford Robbins R[Joseph Monanti 38\ Constantino Novelli 39. Matthew Fentzell, Jr. 40. Ralph Drury
66. Harry Scholl
67. Gust Dudek
60. Konstanty Szymkiewitz 68. John W. Huston 61. Edward Obnisky 62. Christ Haller 63 Stanislaw Dombrowski
5. Edson Rupert
6. Joseph G. Weinfurther 14. Albert Steinhagen
7. Leonard Salmagne
8. Gustave W. Olson
16. Antoni Kurzawa
7. Andrew Youra 8. Clyde Charles
13. William Barclay 14. Alva W. Pierce
9. John Bruce 10. Samuel S. Johnston
6. J. Walter Green
17. George Truver
15. Joseph Adams
24. Roy Stepp
12
14
5
44
33 34 35
3
PLATES V-A AND V-B
50. Władysław Przstuk 58. Aleksander Tadrzinski 59. Joseph Franceska
41. James G. Camp 42. Clyde Means 43. William Venables 44. Seth Pish 45. Ralph Frere
33
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56.
62
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37. Fred Wm. Glaser 38. Peter DiGiralamo 39. Jobn Wiesnieski 40. William E. Meyers 41. William P. Alter
29
MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD
north and west. The Advisory Board, therefore, had the effect of standardizing the examina- tions for these different districts to a very large degree.
When the Selective Service Rules and Regulations were first put into effect registrants were examined in the order of their call, and those who were physically qualified were afterwards classi- fied according to their social or industrial obligations. With the appearance of the questionnaire, however, men were first classified with respect to their social or industrial obligations and only those eligible for military service were physically examined. This completely reversed the method of selecting men. It increased somewhat the work of classification in the social and industrial divisions, but it very largely decreased the number of physical examinations. It was the ex- perience in the first examinations that appeared to point out the wisdom of these changes.
The first examinations in this district were conducted on August 5, 6, and 7 of 1917; 750 men were called according to their order numbers beginning with No. I. It was thought that this would give a sufficient number to fill the first quota of 351 men, but there were more requests for exemption than had been anticipated and a second call for 750 men was issued. These men were examined on August 26, 27, and 28, but still there were not enough and a third group of 500 men were examined on September 13 and 14. There were three periods for examinations in each day, from 8 to 12 A.M., I to 5 P.M., and 7 to II P.M. Each man's notice stated at which particular session he was to appear for examination. When he reported at the examining rooms of the office of the Local Board the procedure of his examination was somewhat as follows: at the entrance to the examining rooms a clerk prepared a blank by filling in the man's . name and address and recording the history of any previous illness or ailment that he reported. After affirming the correctness of the record and signing the blank the registrant was referred to the dressing rooms, where he removed all of his clothing. He then went through three examining rooms. In the first he was weighed and measured; in the second his eyes, ears, and teeth were examined; and in the third he underwent a general examination of the body and limbs. These examinations being completed the candidate appeared before Dr. McComb, who examined the record, and if any defect had been noted by the examining physician, Dr. McComb might make additional examination if he deemed it necessary or if he desired could refer the man to one or more physicians for an opinion. In this way many a registrant not only had his attention called to some physical defect of which he may or may not have been aware, but also was given the benefit of a clinic and advised as to what he should do. If the physicians were unable to decide on his fitness or unfitness for service, the case was referred to the Medical Advisory Board at the Allegheny General Hospital and the registrant was notified when he should report there for examination and was furnished with transportation.
The procedure of the physical examinations was changed very little from time to time, although changes frequently occurred in the physical requirements for service. Under the selection by the questionnaire the number of men to be examined was very much decreased, as then only Class I men were called.
The regularly appointed examinations for Class I were as follows:
Examination
Number of men examined
Registration
Feb. 2-9, 1918
350
June 5, 1917
July 18, 1918
I3I
June 5, 1918
Sept. 6, 1918
40
Aug. 24, 1918
Sept. 30, 1918
I52
Sept. 12, 1918
30
AUXILIARY BOARDS
In addition to the regularly appointed examinations mentioned above special examinations were held from time to time as occasion demanded. These were of men who for good and sufficient reason were unable to appear at the appointed time or of men called by another Local Board who happened to be located in this district at the time. The number examined on these different occasions ranged from one to fifteen or eighteen. These examinations were usually conducted either by Dr. McComb or Dr. J. A. Weamer.
Another group of Class I men were called for examination in October, but on account of the epidemic of Spanish influenza, which taxed to the limit the time and endurance of the physicians, their examination had to be postponed and the signing of the armistice on November II made further action unnecessary.
In addition to the physicians present at the regular physical examinations a large corps of civilians was necessary to carry on the work expeditiously. At least one clerk was required to record the findings of each physician and while exemption papers were being given out at the time of the examinations another set of men was essential, so that every registrant reporting for ex- amination could have explained to him the application of the Selective Service System to his particular case. A group of interpreters was always either present or within calling distance so that regardless of what language the man spoke an effort was always made to have him under- stand his status. Confidence in the fairness of the system was probably better established among the foreign-speaking people through this body of men than through any other agency connected with the work in the district. All the men who assisted in this work from time to time rendered their service voluntarily.
It might be worth while to make mention of the time required to get men ready for service at this later date as compared with the time required to select the first group for entrainment. The first registration was on June 5, 1917; the first examinations August 5, 1917, two months later; the first entrainment September 5, 1917. Because of the failure of the District Board at Pitts- burgh to function, it was necessary to call for volunteers to fill this quota. It was, therefore, over three months before men could be inducted in the regularly prescribed manner; while in September, 1918, the registration was held on the 12th, and a group of the Class I men were called and examined on September 30. The Board had been requested to notify State Headquarters immediately when men were available for service, so that just eighteen days after date of registra- tion the Board was able to report more than one hundred men ready for immediate induction.
The physical standards first adopted for the Selective Service were much the same as those that had been used by the army under the volunteer system. It soon became evident, however, that the high physical standards required in peace times when a small army was needed were not practical when large numbers of men were needed and needed quickly. This brought about a general revision of standards downward, and these standards were changed from time to time as conditions seemed to require. For instance in peace times a man must be five feet four inches tall in order to enter the service. This requirement was reduced to five feet two inches, then to five feet, where after some fluctuation in both directions it became permanent. The same was true with regard to requirements in weight. In 1916 one hundred thirty pounds was the minimum. In 1918 a man with a good physique was accepted if he weighed only one hundred ten pounds. It was also soon discovered that many men were being excused from military service on account of minor defects, although they were capable of filling places behind the lines and thus releasing many men physically qualified for general military duty. This brought about a division into
3I
REJECTIONS
classes according to physical qualifications as follows: In Class A were placed those qualified for general military service, in Class B those qualified for limited service only, and in Class C the totally disqualified; but as no calls were forthcoming for Class B men it was soon discovered that this class was almost as totally exempt from service as Class C. For this reason and also because the Navy was badly in need of men but required a little different physical standard from that of the Army, another revision in physical classification was brought about and put into effect on September 27, 1918. In this revision four classes were created. In Class A were placed those qualified for general military service, in Class B were placed men who would be available for general military service when some physical defect was corrected, such as an operation for hernia, repairing of teeth, etc. In Class C then were placed men for limited service, and Class D was created for the rejected.
Special attention was to be given to vision tests, particularly for color blindness. Several skeins of yarn of different colors were received from State Headquarters for use in the tests, but these did not come until after the last examinations on September 30, and as no calls were re- ceived for the Navy before the signing of the armistice, these examinations were never made necessary.
Examination of the teeth was at first considered a part of the routine inquiry and was taken care of by one of the local physicians, but when later a little more attention was called to this particular requirement the Tarentum Dental Association volunteered assistance, and one of their members was present thereafter at the examinations to make careful record of any repairs or ex- tractions that were necessary. There was a twofold purpose in this. First it resulted in the reclaiming of many men who would otherwise have been rejected on account of poor teeth, and secondly if a man went to camp with a number of poor teeth it was necessary to have them repaired or extracted there, so that having this work completed while the man was still in civil life reduced the amount of work required of the inadequate dental force at the camps.
The members of the Tarentum Dental Association volunteered to operate free of charge for any man going into the service. Consequently after the physical examinations were com- pleted the Local Board notified the registrant of the findings of the examining dentist and asked him to report to his dentist for the necessary repairs or name some dentist who would do the work for him. Attention was called in this way to the necessity of looking after the teeth and most of the boys of the later inductions had already had their teeth properly cared for when they reported to camp.
There appeared to be a great deal of malingering before many of the Local Boards. A great many stories were written of how in different communities large numbers of men had either vol- untarily maimed themselves or had feigned illness, but very little of this kind of work was evident in District Fifteen. Occasionally a man feigned deafness or poor vision, or some fond mother, remembering the boy's illness when a child, would insist that it could not be possible for him to have a constitution strong enough to withstand the hardships of the service, but these occasions were rare. On the other hand, however, there were several requests for a second examination, as the applicant did not wish to be recorded as being physically unfit for military service. There appeared to be a spirit of cooperation in the District rather than an attempt in any way to avoid duty.
The inducted men underwent a second physical examination after reaching camp. For this reason, if after a thorough examination by the local physicians and the Medical Advisory Board,
32
AUXILIARY BOARDS
there was some doubt as to whether or not the man should be accepted, he was forwarded to camp in order that the physicians there might have a chance to pass upon the case. There were two reasons for doing this. In the first place it gave the War Department a direct opportunity to pass on all doubtful cases and in the second place it gave the man a better discharge than he could receive from the Local Board. Occasionally a man would be rejected at camp for some reason that was not apparent in the local examination. In one instance a man was found physically qualified by the Local Board and forwarded to camp, where he was rejected. He was recalled and reexamined by the Local Examining Board and was again pronounced fit for service. He was then forwarded to the Medical Advisory Board with a statement of his case. A thorough examination there failed to reveal the cause of his rejection and he was sent to camp the second time but was again returned. By the time of the second rejection the Secretary of War had in- structed the officers in the camps that when a man was rejected a copy of his physical examination showing the reasons for his rejection should be forwarded to the Local Boards. The man was not recalled by the Local Board for a third examination, but was discharged on the recommendation of the Army physicians.
The report of the Provost Marshal General shows that the rejections for selected men in all the different camps amounted to about eight per cent of those inducted. Of the men sent to camp from District No. 15 about 7.1 per cent were rejected, a little less than the average. The exact figures are as follows:
Inducted by the Local Board. 889
Rejected at Camp. 63
Accepted at Camp. 826
The largest number of rejections for any one particular cause was from ailments of the heart. This was largely due to the fact that according to the rules mild forms of these ailments were to be disregarded and it was only when examination was made in camp after a hard day's drilling or when the inducted man was in state of fatigue that these defects could be properly gauged. When instructions were received that all operative cases were to be forwarded to camp the Local Board inducted and sent forward several men with hernia, but the War Department had failed to instruct the officers at the camps that these men were to be accepted; consequently most of them were returned. It was not until near the middle of 1918 that a fair understanding existed between the local examining physicians and the Army physicians, and so it is safe to say that if inductions had continued the percentage of rejections would have been very much reduced.
The following table shows the results of the examinations held. This table is for all Class I men and includes among the registrants of June 5, 1917, both those who under the first rules and regulations did not claim exemption and those whose claims were disallowed.
This table includes only those who were eligible for service as far as their social or industrial classifications were concerned. It will be noticed that in the examination under the registration of September 12, 1918 the percentage of physically qualified men was much below the average. The ages of the men examined were from 19 to 21 and from 31 to 36, and many of the younger group were underweight. The percentage of rejections in the older group was probably greater than the average also, which may account for the difference as compared with the per- centage of the earlier examinations.
2
3
4
9
8
AUGUST 15, 1918
VI-A
3
-
VI-B
5
3
14
2
9
JULY. 30, 1918
VI-C
0.7.27.1917
PLATE VI-A 1. George Chantler 2. George Yute
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