T

HE Adjutant General personally wrote every member of the Officers' Reserve Corps recently, requesting assistance in recruiting the Army. The response was immediate. Many Reserve Officers welcomed the opportunity to aid the Army in recruiting.

This letter is still bringing results. On October 18th at the regular meeting of the Officers' Reserve Corps Association of Lawton, Oklahoma, Capt. George W. McMillan introduced the below resolution which was unanimously adopted. This resolution requires every member to make an earnest effort to secure at least one recruit for the Regular Establishment prior to November 15, 1923. Furthermore, it contains a provision that in the event of failure to obtain a recruit, a report will be made stating just where the trouble lies.

THE OFFICERS' RESERVE CORPS ASSOCIATION OF LAWTON,

OKLAHOMA

October 18, 1923. Whereas: The authorized strength of the United States Army is 125,000 men, and we are informed that the actual strength at the present time is only 112,000; and that during the present fiscal year, ending June 30, 1924, there will be separated from the Army some 74,000

enlisted men, mostly on account of expiration of terms of service, and of this 50,000 will be separated from the service on or before January 1, 1924, and,

Whereas: Some of these men were enlisted through the untiring efforts of many of us now in the Reserve Corps while in active service, and,

Whereas: Due to the limited funds and facilities for recruiting and the constant lack of opportunity of presenting this situation to the patriotic youth of the country by the War Department, and,

Whereas: Much assistance in solving the situation can be rendered the War Department by members of the Reserve Corps due to their knowledge of military matters, and realizing the importance of maintaining the present establishment at a strength sufficient to adequately and efficiently perform the duties imposed upon it by law, and,

Whereas: These men are urgently needed in carrying out the program of the War Department in connection with the Reserve Officers' Training Camps, the Citizens' Military Training Camps, the Organized Reserve and the National Guard, and,

Whereas: That this program be carried out is imperative from the standpoint of adequate national defense,

Be it Resolved: That this club launch a recruiting campaign in this vicinity for the purpose of securing recruits for the regular establishment of the United States Army by each and every member of the club making an individual effort to secure at least one (1) recruit for the United States Army between now and the next regular meeting of the club, November 15, 1923, and,

Be it Further Resolved: That each member called upon at that time to render a report as to whether or not he has been successful in securing a recruit, and if not, be in a position to state a reason why he has not been successful, so as to enable us to make an analysis of the situation and come to some conclusion as to the cause of non-enlistments in the Army at this time, and,

Be it further Resolved: That these resolutions be made a part of the minutes of this meeting, and copies mailed The Adjutant General of the Army, Headquarters 95th Division, the Reserve Officers' Association, Washington, D. C., and the Reserve Officers' Association, State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. OFFICIAL:

GEORGE W. MCMILLAN,

The Second Army Corps Area, composed of the states of New York, New Jersey and Delaware, leads in the number of Reserve Corps officers with 11,044.

The Third Army Corps Area, composed of the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, ranks second with 8,863.

New York has the largest number of Reserve Corps officers with 8,590; Pennsylvania is second with 5,000; California third with 4,908; Illinois fourth with 4,791; Massachusetts fifth with 3,537; Ohio sixth with 3,025; Texas seventh with 2,989; New Jersey eighth with 2,296; Michigan ninth with 2,213, and Missouri tenth with 2,037. Each of the other states has a strength of less than 2,000 in the Ot ficers' Reserve Corps.

In the strength of the Officers' Reserve Corps in proportion to the total population, the District of Columbia is first, California second, Oregon third, Wyoming fourth, Nevada fifth, Montana sixth, Vermont seventh, Colorado eighth, Massachusetts ninth and Washington tenth. The Officers' Reserve Corps strength as of October 31st follows:

President.

7TH CORPS AREA Missouri

TION

462

768,014

.602

Nebraska

313

443.083

.706

Minnesota

343

352,428

-973

North Dakota

.918

South Dakota

409

636,547

.643

Oklahoma

.827

1,176

2,296 158

Arizona

282

.802

334,162

.844

WAR DEPARTMENT

RECRUITING PUBLICITY BUREAU
GOVERNORS ISLAND, N. Y.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS

N

TU.S. ARMY RECRUITING

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, $300.

S

STANFORD

DECEMBER 1, 1923

LIBRARY

JME

T

HE Army Chemical Warfare Service has announced the completion of three new gas masks which are improvements over those used in the World War. The first is an all-purpose mask which can be used wherever there is sufficient oxygen in the air to support life. The change in the method of carrying from front of the body to a satchel under the left arm adds much to the comfort of the soldier. The second mask is a development to meet the needs of the United States Public Health Service against gases and acid fumes encountered in the fumigation of ships and like work.

The third mask was developed by Captain McBride of the Army Chemical Warfare Service and permits the wearer to talk freely over a telephone or to communicate messages verbally to others. The McBride communication device is a self-contained canister and mask and fits on the face, weighing but one and a half pounds.

While the wartime box respirator, known as the standard U. S. Army gas mask, gave protection against all the poisonous and irritating gases which were encountered on the battlefields during the World War, this same device was not a protection against carbon monoxide and ammonia, two dangerous gases frequently met in the industries and in fire fighting. To fill this need, the Bureau of Mines recently developed a universal. mask, utilizing Hopcalite, a chemical development of the Army during the last war, for the carbon monoxide protection. Following this the Chemical Warfare Service has produced an all-purpose mask which also utilizes Hopcalite and differs from the Bureau of Mines' canister in the use of pumice impregnated with cobaltous chloride, instead of silica gel as ammonia absorbent.

Another improvement included the substitution of caustic pumice instead of calcium chloride as a drying agent, this because it is necessary that the air be dry in order to permit proper functioning of the Hopcalite. In this canister a specially prepared filter has been developed to replace the cotton pad designed for protection against smoke.

Unlike the heavy oxygen breathing apparatus which it was formerly necessary to use for all around protection, the new all-purpose mask contains no compressed gas cylinders and regulating valves, weighs only five pounds complete, is compact and comfortable and offers practically no hinderance to the movements of the wearer. A wide field of vision is secured, the eye-pieces do not fog and it is easily and quickly put on and adjusted to the face. The newly created face

By 1st Lieut. J. E. MENDENHALL

Soldier with gas mask in position. This is the latest Army model mask and side carrier as developed by the Chemical Warfare Service.

piece requires no attention to valves and regulators and is minus the objectionable mouthpiece and nose-gag which were features of the wartime mask. Breathing is simple and natural and with ordinary care it will not get out of order. In connection with the use of the mask under all conditions, a Chemical Warfare Service circular warns that "an atmosphere that does not maintain a safety lamp-flame must never be entered with a gas mask."

Rubber stockinette is used for the facepiece of the new mask, shaped to closely conform to the configuration of the face, and is made in five sizes. Elastic head bands hold the mask tightly but comfortably in place. Air enters the facepiece through a corrugated tube terminating in two small tubes directly under the eyepieces, this arrangement preventing fogging of the lenses. The eye-pieces are made of non-shattering glass. Exhaled

air leaves the facepiece through a rubber flutter-valve. The latest development in the facepiece is the insertion of a strip of gas and waterproof tracing cloth just opposite the mouth held in place by an aluminum casting. This arrangement permits the wearer of the mask to converse practically as freely as if no mask

were worn.

The canister is seven inches high, four and five-eighths inches long and three inches wide. It is made of sheet tin. In the bottom are two inlet valves and a dome one inch high. This dome is made of perforated metal permitting even distribution of the inspired air. The top edge of the canister carries lips one and one-half inches long and one-eighth inches wide on opposite sides to hold the springs in place. The cover is made of the same material as the canister and fits the latter tightly. A nozzle one inch in diameter and one inch long is soldered to the outlet in the center of the cover. The canister is filled with the following absorbents arranged in the same order as shown; that is, with the caustic pumice on the bottom and the pumice impregnated with cobaltous chloride at the top: 250 cc. Pumice impregnated with cobaltous chloride; 200 cc. Hopcalite, Sucked-on filter; 250 cc. Activated charcoal; 400 cc. Caustic pumice.

The pumice impregnated with cobaltous chloride is an absorbent for ammonia. Hopcalite is a mixture of certain metallic oxides which acts as a catalyst, oxidizing carbon monoxide to the relatively harmless carbon dioxide by means of the oxygen in the air. The activated charcoal absorbs a wide range of vapors, such as gasoline, benzine, nitrobenzene, alcohol, etc. The caustic pumice absorbs acid gases and also removes water vapor. It is necessary that water vapor be removed before the Hopcalite will function properly.

All the absorbents are 8-14 mesh except the Hopcalite which is 18-24 mesh. After filling, the canister is jolted or tapped to prevent loose packing of the absorbents.

A thin specially prepared filter fastened to a light wire screen is placed between the charcoal and Hopcalite. The filter is faced toward the charcoal. Its purpose is to remove smoke particles. Fireproof cloth attached to light wire screening is inserted above the Hopcalite so that the screen faces the Hopcalite. On the top of the pumice impregnated with cobaltous chloride, is placed a stiff iron screen and fireproof cloth. The cloth is cut large so that a tight fit is made around the edges of the (Continued on Page Fifteen)

C

RASH!

The woods and hills surrounding Fort Schuyler reverberated with the cannons' roar and the cheers of Brigadier General Peter Gansevoort's gallant little army. Well might these hills resound, for the first United States flag to be exposed to an enemy's fire was defiantly waving in the face of St. Leger's Redcoats, Brandt's savage Indians and Johnson's "Greens."

The scene of this historic happening was Fort Schuyler, near Rome, N. Y., on August 2, 1777. Gansevoort had garrisoned the fort just in time, for St. Leger, leaving his Oneida Lake rendezvous, now stood before it. The British mission was to ravage the Mohawk Valley and then join Burgoyne in his march to Albany. To do this, however, it must first destroy Fort Schuyler.

The grizzled old British veterans got out their telescopes and curiously inspected this flag which apparently was the cause of the Yankee cheers. They had seen various state flags, but never one similar to this. It was new. Finally they decided that this must be the flag adopted by the Continental Congress.

Such was the case. General Gansevoort had received a copy of the resolution which the Continental Congress had adopted on June 14, 1777 "* * that

the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, that the Union be thirteen stars in a blue field representing a new constellation

* *

While this resolution had been adopted two months previously, the need for a national flag had not been felt by this doughty warrior and his intrepid garrison. Now with the fate of the beautiful Mohawk Valley, and possibly the Nation, resting upon them a flag was considered essential. For such a momentous occasion nothing except the finest materials should be used. Silks and satins, however, could not be obtained in this little outpost. There may have been a few women in the fort, who, hastily fleeing from the savage horde, had abandoned their few possessions in the race for shelter and protection. Certain it is that the wardrobes of these pioneer women contained no such luxuries as silks or satins.

Reluctantly the idea of a silken banner was discarded. Some members of the garrison even scoffed, when the subject of materials for a flag was mentioned. They had fought for a year or more either under a State flag or none at all. Why this sudden necessity for a flag? However, cooler and wiser heads who realized the value of an outward symbol, the effect on morale, and the unity of command which a National flag would develop, persisted in their efforts to improvise one.

First Flag, Made from Shirt, Coat and "Different Pieces," Is Christened at Schuyler

Finally they were successful. Tradition says that for the white they took a soldier's ammunition shirt. For the blue, Captain Swartout of Dutchess County, N. Y., gave up a fine British camlet coat which had been captured at Peekskill. For the red, an old petticoat was found. As frequently occurs, this tradition may be false in connection with the petticoat. If such be the case, the kind of clothing which provided the red is unknown.

A diary prepared by one of the defenders, Colonel Marinus Willet, gives considerable detail in connection with the procurement of the white and blue cloth. He but casually mentions the red cloth. His diary reads in part, "The fort had never been supplied with a flag * * The necessity of having one had, upon the arrival of the enemy, taxed the invention of the garrison a little; and a decent one was soon contrived. The white stripes were cut out of an ammunition shirt, the blue of the camlet coat taken from the enemy at Peekskill; while the red stripes were made of different pieces of stuff producd from one and another of the garrison." So they patched it together. More costly and finer flags could be made later. But now, with an enemy at the gates flaunting the red battle flags of England, an American flag was a necessity!

At dawn, slowly and reverently, the first American flag to be exposed to enemy fire was raised. The adjutant read the resolution of the Continental Con

gress, the fifes and drums played, and the cannons expended a little of the precious powder to salute it properly. While this little outpost realized the solemnity of the occasion little did they think that within a space of 140 years their ancestors would be following the same banner in France, fighting shoulder to shoulder beside their present foe. Neither could they know of the long line of heroes who would defend it, even as they were doing; nor of the Philippine jungles, the Spanish block houses or the German barbed wire entanglements where Old Glory's followers would add new laurels to those then being attained.

Scarcely was the flag unfurled when the attack opened. Again and again St. Leger threw his overwhelming forces against the devoted band, and the flag was repeatedly pierced by hostile bullets and arrows. Foiled in their first effort to reach the fort the British troops settled down to besiege it. The fort was invested from August 2nd to August 10th, when, due to General Herkimer's approach, the enemy main body left for Oriskany. In the stubborn conflict which followed, more than a third of the combatants on each side were casualties.

While the battle was under way Colonel Gansevoort opened the gates of Fort Schuyler and fell upon Johnson's "Greens" who had been left to maintain the siege. Surprised and dismayed the latter took to their heels, abandoning supplies of all kinds. These were seized and carried back into the fort. Despite this loss, St. Leger, on his return from Oriskany, renewed the siege.

Finally by means of a ruse the morale of St. Leger's troops was broken. Rumors were spread among Brandt's Indians that American troops, whose numbers were as "the leaves in the forest," were approaching. This fear spread to the Tories and from them to the English regulars. Thus the siege was broken. Because Fort Schuyler withstood the attack, St. Leger never raided the Mohawk Valley, and Burgoyne fought without his assistance at Saratoga, where he was defeated.

Famous military leaders and writers have repeatedly stated that "morale is half the battle." Who can attempt to measure the rise in morale when General Gansevoort exposed for the first time to an enemy's fire our flag? The vows which must have been made to defend and honor that bit of white shirt, bit of British cloak, and bit of red procured from "one and another !"