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Newspaper
Polk Progress
Location
Polk, Nebraska, United States of America
Date
Aug 16, 1917
Page
3
Governor announces special agents to aid draft exemption boards and state appeal boards. The list covers nearly all Nebraska counties with agents for gathering information to prevent fraudulent exemptions and ensure proper military call ups.
Prominent suffrage workers hint at legal action to block the submission of partial suffrage law via referendum petitions filed by anti-suffragists and approved by Secretary of State Pool. They have not ruled out suit to challenge petition sufficiency citing irregularities in the filings.
Secretary Bernecker of the state board of equalization reports Nebraska's total assessed property value will exceed 529 million dollars. With 91 counties reporting, the total stands at 527.57 million, and larger totals are expected once two remaining counties are heard. Last year valued just over 500 million. Every county shows an increase.
Hard cider prompts state and county authorities to intensify enforcement as samples from Fremont and Hastings show alcohol levels of 4 percent and 6.134 percent. It remains illegal to produce or sell any beverage containing more than one half of 1 percent alcohol, and dealers of soft drinks face new scrutiny.
Brigadier General Harries announces the Nebraska National Guard will mobilize from home stations and proceed to Deming New Mexico with no departure time given. With the Sixth regiment in federal service, state troops are now under federal authority and Home Guard formation will intensify. The State Council of Defense urges county councils to organize reserve militia, assist Adjutant General Steele, and support the mess fund to aid enlisted men as regiments depart Nebraska.
The Vicksburg commission, meeting in Governor Neville’s office, discussed the Nebraska train for the October 16 to 18 Fifty Years of Peace celebration. The legislature budgeted 20000 to send Nebraska veterans. 540 have registered but fewer than 500 are expected to go. veterans may pay their own way from the central point and fares may be prorated.
The Omaha building trades unions press for hours and wages that mirror prewar conditions. The state mediation board's report to Governor Neville urges action by the governor and defense council to compel employers to return to those terms and implement Wilson administration recommendations.
Under the administration's food control bill the sum of $115,000 has been set aside for county agent work in Nebraska. This will be sufficient to put a county agent in every county in the state, and to provide a food emergency agent for each district where regular county agents are not employed. County agents and food emergency agents will be put to work organizing and mobilizing agricultural Nebraska for maximum production.
War department directs all National Guard companies to recruit to war strength of 152 men, with orders issued at Guard headquarters in Lincoln.
Treasurer Hall received a draft for 885 dollars marking the state's first interest payment on its Liberty loan investment. The payment covers interest on the state's half million dollar subscription to the bonds.
Professor Fogg of the University of Nebraska offers to travel the state delivering speeches on national defense efforts.
The Nebraska state council of defense schedules a major meeting during war week at the state fair grounds. The agenda is to inventory progress in organizing the state for effective participation in the war effort.
In Far Northland highlights from Scandinavia note Norway importing two thirds of grain and over half of fats due to wartime disruption. Nansen warns embargo risks and explains coal costs soar, with electric ovens proposed to cut fuel use. Sweden reports Finland gains independence amid Russian exit and evolving government.
Denmark weighs moving the school summer break to midwinter to save light and fuel, but teachers and students oppose the plan. Peat is replacing coal on some railway locomotives as a wartime fuel, adequate for freight but not high steam pressure. Denmark has about 185 ships tied up due to submarine activity since the war began.
Washington outlines mobilization plans as 229000 men are drafted for army service. About 220000 will be kept for cantonment camps by September 5, with civilian draft boards handling processing, shelter, food, and transportation before sending troops to training camps and eventually France. Provost Marshal General Crowder issues detailed mobilization orders to adjutant generals.
The senate approved the food control bill by 86 to 7, sending it to the president for signature. The measure imposes control on food, fuel, fertilizer, and farm equipment with strict prohibition provisions. It bans using foodstuffs for distilled spirits and authorizes military commandeering of bonded distilled spirits.
Washington reports show wholesale requests for exemption from the army draft prompting Provost Marshal General Crowder to urge governors to narrow discharge criteria. Local boards are told to limit depen dency claims to clearly defined needs, with districts some listing eighty percent of registrants eligible for discharge on dependent grounds.
George A Gaston, head of a major import exporting firm supplying allies with motor vehicles, argues that even if German forces seize Petrograd Russia would not end as a factor in the war and would rebound.
Surgeon General Gorgas issued revised regulations governing physical examinations for men registered under the draft and sent them to state governors for local boards. The changes focus on proportionate weight and height and may lead to recalling some men previously rejected for physical reasons.
Officials predict sharp coal cost reductions after senate approval of the food control bill. The measure designates the federal trade commission to enforce fuel price controls and to set a price scale on short notice. The FTC has studied production costs for months and Congress was told prices are too high.
Lawrence Bros. of Vera Saskatchewan recount their overland trek from Calgary to Battleford in 1906. They mortgaged a shotgun to file on homesteads and now own a section and a half plus rental land, with crops yielding 30 to 35 bushels of wheat per acre and 40 to 80 of oats. They own 1,700 sheep 70 cattle and 60 horses and value their gains at about 50 000 if sold today. The piece notes Westward prosperity with rising automobile licenses and Bank of Commerce commentary on farm modernization and efficiency.
Tommy explains torpedoes amid childlike chatter as Nellie questions German ship destruction. Tommy catalogs torpedo size and a derrick used to lift and drop them on ships, revealing a mix of curiosity and misconception.
In a conservation vignette a fisherman recalls making a single piece of bait endure unusually long, prompting reflection on sustainable fishing practices and patience on the water.
A Fulton New York woman describes long suffering from female weakness and says Lydia E Pinkham's Vegetable Compound restored her health and energy. Doctors had urged an operation but she recovered and can work again. The letter promotes the remedy and offers free advice from Lydia E Pinkham Medicine Co. Lynn, Massachusetts.
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