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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1917)
-THE .SUNDAY OREGONIAX, 'PORTLAND, - JULY 29, -1917. OREGON FIRST, DOE TO GEORGE A. WHITE ENLISTED PORTLAND MEN CALLED OUT BY NATIONAL GUARD'S MOST RECENT MOBILIZATION ORDER, . DRILLING WHILE AWAITING EQUIPMENT AND MOBILIZATION ' -... ... ....:...- --AT CAMPS. - . - COAST ARTILLERY ORDERED TO FORTS . ".. ' ' i . n.di,., ; ; ;n.i ' - ; a. Ability and Energy of Adjutant- Ronppol Put CtaTO i n I nnrJ Oregon's Twelve Companies to m Mobilize at ' Mouth of Columbia River. ui i4i wiuiv III I lyllll for Patriotism. EFFICIENCY IS WATCHWORD STEVENS IS HEADQUARTERS 16 Extraordinary Results Obtained fehown to Be Due to Wonderful Preparation by Military Head ! and Xot to Lucky Chance. George A. White. Adjutant-General of th Oregon National Guard. . went fishing yesterday. This is worth chronicling at some length because it Is the second time since February 23 last that General White has taken a day off from the duties of his office, whether for fish ing, Sunday, holiday or anything else. Putting the "first" in "Oregon first" lias kept him too busy for so small a matter as a day of rest. For. be It said here and now, that General White, more than any other man. is responsible for the "first" in "Oregon first." Perhaps you thought Oregon "just happened" to be the state that has led the I'nion in patriotic response to Pres ident Wilson's call to arrps that it was one of those "lucky accidents" that occur sometimes. Guess again. Those things do not "just happen." Always there is a reason for them, and a very good reason, too. In this case the reason was General White. Laurels Xot "Won by Accident. It was no mere accident. Indeed, that Oregon was ono of the first states in the I'nion to mobilize its National Guard infantry last March and report It all ready for active duty in that tense period just before war was de clared when nobdy knew just what emergency might arise. Oh. no: that was not accidental. Ore gon's troops mobilized so quickly and so efficiently because Just such a con tingency had been provided for long beforehand, even to the smallest de tail. It was no more accidental than the fact that a year ago. in July. 1916, when troops were called to handle the Mexi can situation. Oregon's Third Infantry bad been assembled at Clackamas, en trained for the border, fully equipped, and was actually in active service on the frontier before troops of most of the other states had left their armories. In both cases General White was the man who had planned and worked out, long before, flown to the smallest de tail, the whole mobilization machinery that worked so smoothly. Efficiency Shown Throughout. Tt was no mere accident that directly after the speedy mobilization last March Oregon was the first state to be able to report its regiment, again the Third Oregon, recruited up to full war strength of 66 officers and 2002 men. No more was it an accident that, fol lowing this mobilization and on top of the military duties of the Adjutant General's office. Oregon was one of the first four states to report complete readiness for the taking of the war census. Nor that it was one of the earliest to forward to Washington complete tabu lated returns from the war census. Nor. again, that in place of being among the last, as many had expected because of its area, the remoteness of many of its counties, some of the long distances from a railroad and the great distance of the state from Washington. It was one of the very first o report We are all ready for the draft." Praise Comes From Afar. Nor, still again, that when other States were far behind in their regular Army and National Guard quotas, so many of Oregon's sons had enlisted in the regulars and in the National Guard that the state's net quota on the first draft is only 717 the lowest quota in the United States, and a showing that caused the New York Sun to hail us as "Oregon, the Volunteer State." No, not one of these things was acci dental. They didn't "just happen." They were the result of the most careful planning, the most thorough organization, the most trying, unending and exhausting work, a never-dying enthusiasm and the initiative and cour age, besides, when red tape got in the way. ruthlessly to cut that red tape and explain afterwards. And. furthermore, when politicians sought favors here and exceptions thpre. brought "influences" to bear in this case and offered to "play ball" In that, the nerve to kick them out and to kick hard. It was because he did these things that Adjutant-General George A. White is the man who made possible the "first" in "Oregon first" and then put it mere. Unceasing Energy Required. Tt has meant, for practically five full months, being on the job 15 hours a day. morning, noon and night, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs day, Friday. Saturday and Sunday again la hours a day, when It wasn t 24. It takes some grit to work IS hours a day for a week or two weeks, but to do it five months takes enthusiasm. Ton may have noticed that most men who make good on a great big Job pos soss enthusiasm. General White ra diates it. The remaining troops of the Oregon National iiuard were mobilized last Wednesday and again it was not an accident that everything went exactly according to programme. And with moouizauon completed. war census ended and the war draft machinery In such shape that hereafter it will run Itself with an occasional oiling. Gen eral White declared a strike yesterday ano went nsning. When he comes back, after whipping all the trout out of a stream or two. you may wager large stakes on it that he will be ready again to tackle any further big work that remains. Active Service Sought. That is. so long as he remains in the state. For Adjutant-General White is no swivel-chair soldier. With most of the vitally important work of prelim inary state preparation ended, it is currently reported that he has applied for active service in the field with troops. There is nothing in-the. least spec tacular about the work of the Adjutant General of a State National Guard in war time. Least of all is there any thing spectacular about the work of General White. Only those who have actually seen the inner workings of an office such as that maintained by him can possibly realize the Immense amount of admin istrative and detail work It involves and can appreciate what it has meant, on top of the mass of National Guard routine to handle the war census and war draft machinery and at the same time to make it "Oregon first" not in one case only, but in every case. When Adjutant-General White was appointed by Governor Withycombe and took office February 1, 1914, there were cries from some of the disap pointed boys that he was "too young." ""-V V" j fn I.-VH- f-' 'itx u)AH( -".vSVA l&Hii W u- l.tH Q l 4 ' frvlWl-"'h ' Vt i 111 i U ' W - i . - cv tut it J ,( vdrkT ir1 J-T. ' tr Si fCf- ' "V iVA.Vi vO fS , ,t -y l I ;N;i I t -A h-Vh j-i f ATA. -'- -) - Hf- v. U-'U-Ur1' ;u v -CT j i tt5 '--'f . 'jt-. iv', i f m - I As a matter of fact, he is only 36 years old now, but Governor 'Withycombe likes young men and he was willing to take the chance that General White was plenty old enough to handle the Job. Ornamental Officers Dropped. The "boys." however, were quite right. General White proved to be entirely too young to fall for the old political tricks He hadn't got his office chair good and warm before he set out to make a smashing reorgani zation of the whole National Guard. The first ones to feel the up heaval were some of the purely orna mental "Colonels." "Majors" and the like, who usually make up what is known by courtesyor in satire as the Governor's staff." Out these gold- lace soldiers went, in a tumbling heap and with no soft place to light on. Of course, terrible yells went up and cries of "politics! -As to that, the cries were weak, for it so happened that the victims of the new Adjutant- General's ruthlessness were all Re publicans, of the same political per suasion as the Governor and himself. Governor Withycombe backed General White to the limit, as he always has done and the first big step in re making the Oregon National Guard had been accomplished. From then on, General White worked rapidly. His whole new National Guard scheme was based on one word "efficiency." If an officer was effi cient, he had an opportunity to prove it. If not. out he went, with little warning and no mercy. Retirements came fast for a spell. Merit Brings Promotion. It was a stormy period in the Na tional Guard, but at its conclusion no body could deny that the military effi ciency of the state's defense force had been vastly increased. General White was "young" enough and enthusiastic enough to declare military and not political efficiency to be the aim and purport of a National Guard, in which, again, he had the stout backing of the Governor. From that time on, appointments and promotions of officers were made on their showing in examinations. An examining board was established to examine officers and find out what they knew. In this process of weaning the Guard from politics. General White made, a host of enemies as enthusiastic as him self. But his system and his ideas were strikingly justified when the call came in July, a year ago. for National Guard infantry troops on the Mexican border. Mexican Situation Cited. The Mexican situation had been boil ing along for so many months, there had been so many cries of "wolf!" and no sheep dog, that many scoffed at the possibility that action would result. General White, however, thought dif ferently. More important, he prepared a complete plan for mobilization, req uisitioned supplies and equipment and had ' things ready for whatever hap pened. On. July IS, he issued orders to the entire National Guard to hold itself in readiness. These orders gave instruc tions in detail for mobilization, if troops were called. That night at 10 o clock, the call for troops came from W ashington. General White was in his office at the time and by midnight every organiza tion commander in the state had his orders to move. With everything prepared so thor oughly beforehand, it was largely a matter of letting the machinery work itself. The call went out Sunday night at 10 o'clock. Troops immediately be gan assembling in their local armories. By Wednesday morning, the first com panies were arriving at Camp Withy combe fully equipped. Neighbor State Outdistanced. And on July 27, .the Third Oregon In fantry was entraining by battalions for the border. They arrived there and were on actual patrol duty, to gether with Troop A, Oregon Cavalry, and Battery A, Oregon Field Artillery, before the Washington National Guard troops had so much as left their home town armories. As before remarked. General White is no swivel chair soldier. When the troops were ready to move to the front, he resigned as Adjutant-General and became captain of Troop A. Oregon Cavalry, the first Oregon troops and among the first National Guard troops. IliO . !f -A Lull LT Igi, IXi:74 vv. y I I ii;BMWiliiiiiwi 1 Left to Right, Eighth Company. Preliminary Paces on the Streets. 6 Compnny B, Engineers. except those of border states, to . ar rive at the border. . General White was with his troop on the border for eight and one half months. He remained with his men until the troop was ordered home and mustered out of Federal service. Then he became Adjutant-General again. This was on February 23 of this year. Since which time, as already ex plained, he has averaged 15 hours a day and took his second day off yes terday, when he went fishing. Events have moved rapidly since February 23. Many Army and National THIS IS THE MAN WHO PUT THE a Photo by Cutberth. BRIGADIER-GENERAL. GEORGE A. WHITE, ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE OREGON -NATIONAL. GUARD Sixth Compnny and Twelfth Company of 3 Troop B, Cavalry, on a Brisk Street Guard men did not see them coming. General White did. The moment he took up again his work as Adjutant-General, ' he began preparing in haste for the next. mobi lization, which he was certain, would be ordered. Once more complete plans, down to every slightest detail, were arranged. He telegraphed requisitions for supplies and hastened the recruit ing of the Guard troops up to full peace strength. On March 28 there was to be a con vention of the National Guard Asso ciation in New York, which he was "FIRST" IN "OREGON FIRST.' eft - Coast Artillery Corps. " Battery B. Hike. 4 Troop C, Cavalry. 31archlnff expected to attend as vice-president. He made arrangements to leave Port land Friday, March 23. That afternoon he became so con vinced that mobilization orders were Inevitable that he canceled his reser vations in order to remain on the job ready for eventualities. - The following Sunday night. March 25, he was again in the office, as on the previous call, when the mobiliza tion order came by telegraph. Red Tape Is Cut. The War Department wanted troops, and it wanted them in a hurry. Right there was where General White began cutting red tape. If a regulation stood in the way of action, he ignored the regulation. It gave some of the men n authority who were accustomed to doing things strictly by War Depart ment rule severe cases of "nerves," but it got results. The mustering officer for the Third Infantry, National Guard officers say. wanted certain red tape complied with which General White had ignored, and telegraphed to Washington for instruc tions. When they came back, the regi ment was scattered through five states doing guard duty, and he had the pleas ure of chasing up the detachments and mustering them in detail. The regiment was considerably short of war strength. General White or dered a hot street recruiting campaign started immediately, regardless of ex pense. It was not in accord with regu lations, but it brought in the recruits, and the bills were paid. War Strength Reached. On April 9 the War Department gave orders that recruiting be stopped. The order came too late to affect the Third Oregon, for it had been brought up to maximum war strength of 2002 men, the first regiment in the United States to achieve that honor. This early mobilization period was a time of intense stress in the Adjutant General's office. Everybody was so Overloaded with work, which simply had to be done, that it was a case of remaining on duty 24 hours a day and sleeping on the floor whenever one could. On top of this came the war census, which General White handled as the official representative of Governor Withycombe. Its success is too recent to require detailed explanation. It is enough to remark that in order to educate the people of the state in their confusing war census duties. General White Instituted a publicity campaign In which he asked the patri otic co-operation of all newspapers in the state. He established a press bu reau which kept them supplied with facts about the war census. Papers Give Assistance. The response was a most patriotic one. Columns of war census news were run in every paper in the state. By this means of co-operation it took only a short time to educate the people as to' what -was required of them. The result was almost 100 per cent registrations, a striking absence of "slackers" and little confusion. It was again "Oregon First." The efficient organization of the state that carried the war census through without a hitch also proved most effective in enabling the state to complete its preparations for the draft among the first. In this work, as well as in the taking' of the war census. the unselfish and efficient assistance of Sheriffs and other county officials was invaluable. The Provost Marshal General had set the date of July 7 as the first on which he expected returns from the states announcing that the draft machinery had been prepared. On July fi General Field Artillery. Going Thrssxh the to Mesa. 5 Company C9 Engineers. White was able to announce that all was ready. Two weeks later some of the states much closer to Washington were still holding up the drawing of the serial numbers because their draft machinery wasn't completed. The handling of these important measures threw a vast amount of work on General White and his office force. In five months his offices expanded from three rooms to 14. One chief clerk was broken down by the strain and is still ill. His suc cessor was called to the colors. The one now on the Job is the third since February 23. In that time. also, so terrific has been the pace, not a person who was working in the office on Feb ruary 23 is there now, except General White himself. General White has obtained his re sults by direct methods. Sometimes his directness has made him step on the toes of whomever has been in the way. He has hurt numerous feelings by his impatience of red tape, when red tape was holding up the work. He has overridden opposition of all kinds, and he has bitterly, bitterly offended the politicians. He won't even take the time to see them when they come to the office. But he has obtained results. He has put the "first" in "Oregon First." JITNEUR PROVES SLEUTH AUTOIST GIVES "LIFT" TO QUARTS OF WHISKY. Three Men Who Ask Ride Are Xon Under Arrest Charged With Violating Prohibition Law. "Give us a lift," said the merry three. "Pile in," replied the seeming jit- ncur. And this" was on the Linnton road yesterday morning. The car bowled along for a biock or so whn the pas sengers requested a halt. The jitneur aided them in lugging a jingling, clink ing sack from a nearby house. The expedition proceeded. And then Patrolman Crane stepped into the road. The auto stopped again. When it started the three passengers were under arrest and on their way to the police station, for the jitneur had been revealed as Patrolman Russell. The prisoners were charged with vio lating the prohibition law. The alleged violators are John Smith and J. H. Carson, longshoremen, and Virginius Kestner. The sack, which the pseudo-jitneur had aided them in car rying, contained 20 quarts of whisky. A hearing will be given before Muni cipal Judge Stevenson Monday. Acting on a "tip" receii-ed at head quarters that a party of three were en route to the city on the Linnton road with a cargo of liquor. Patrolmen Rus sell and Cran j removed the police in s'gnia from a department car and fared forth to assist. While the former looked for his fares. Patrolman rane lingered by the roadside to break the news. The ruse worked flawlessly. Lumber Worker Dies From Fall. DALLAS, Or.. July 28. (Special. A. C. Foster, an employe of the Wil lamette Valley Lumber Company, fell 40 feet from a trestle at Black Rock yesterday. H was taken to the Dallas Hospital by Dr. Starbuck. but lived only 24 hours. Entire Organization Will Be En camped at Defensive Points Early Tomorrow Some of Equipment Lacking. "ATI aboard!" This welcome command will ring forth from 12 company commanders to day, and as many units of the Oregon. Coast Artillery will board special cars for the mobilization quarters at the mouth of the Columbia River. The boys have been assembled at their respective armories ever sinc last Wednesday. The recruits hav been drilling and the old hands have been gathering their supplies prepara tory to the movement today. Every company in the regiment i3 recruited to full war strength. Colonel C. C. Hammond, commanding officer, reported from Eugene last night that every company is ready to move. With the exception of the Astoria company, every unit of the regiment will pass through Portland some time this evening. They will be joined here by the Eighth Company, which has its headquarters here. Encampments Will Be at Forts. The entire organization will be en camped around the forts at the mouth, of the river early Monday morning. It is understood that Colonel Ham mond and staff will have headquarters at Fort Stevens, on the Oregon side of the Columbia. Several companies, how ever, will be moved across the river to the forts on the Washington side. . Some of the recruits In the Coast Artillery will go to their rendezvous without uniforms or other equipment, as these supplies have not yet arrived from the War Department They have been Issued, however, and are expected here before the end of the week. Meanwhile an active campaign of re cruiting continues among the various other units of the Oregon National Guard. The Oregon Naval Militia, which has its recruiting headquarters at the cor ner of Fourth and Washington streets, enlisted 15 men yesterday and needs but nine more to make its organization complete. The company is due to move on Wednesday. It will mobilize at Lake Washington, in the city of Seattle. Cavalry Squadron Needs r Men. The Oregon squadron of cavalrj-. con sisting of Troops A, B and C of Port land and Trobp r of Pendleton, still need about 25 men before they are recruited to war strength. The cavalry always has been a popular arm of the service in this Western country, and the prospects of early service abroad add to its attractiveness at this time. Battery A and Battery B. of the Field Artillery, need more than 50 men to make them complete. Recruiting head quarters are maintained at 105 Fifth street. Portland has undertaken tt recruit three companies of field engineers, and. applications are coming in every day. Nearly 100 additional men can be ac commodated, however. JEWISH CHARITY LARGE MORE THAN f2.O00.O00 RAISED FOR) WAR RELIEF WORK. European Distribution Committee Gets More Than Half of Contributions From America. A financial statement has just been issued by the central committee for tho relief of Jews suffering through the war, the headquarters of which are in, New York, showing collections of $2. 047.122. The collections were made from 36.28S separate sources and con tributors. Less than $70,000 of this sum was required to carry on the work, which is regarded as a remarkable record. The money has been distrib uted in widely different ways and to many places. Of the receipts. $1,401,230.49 was sent to the joint distribution committee of the funds for Jewish war sufferers, of which Felix M. Warburg is chairman, for distribution in Europe. Other beneficiaries are: General relief in Palestine. $13.F9: Palestine fund. $11. 000: Austria-Hungary. $5307; institu tions in Palestine. $180. all. 39; indi vidual relief, $147,198.55. Effort is being made to touch tliw hearts of the Jews through a special appeal issued in connection with the celebration of Tisha B'ab. a great re ligious festival of the Jewish -year, marking the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem, which occurs today. Carnivals, dances and other enter tainments are being held at the Sum mer resorts, at the seashore and In the mountains, wherever there are any con siderable number of Jewish vacation ists gathered together. SHR1NERS TO SAIL ON RIVER Al Kader Temple to Give Mooulig't Excursion Thursday. The feet of the Arabs of the gorgeous patrol of Al Kader Temple, Mystic Shrine, accustomed to the dry and parched sands of the desert, will dangle refreshingly over the side of the barge Swan in the cool waters of the Willamette when the patrol salla away next Thursday night on its moon light excursion. Members of the patrol have invited many friends, and elaborate prepara tions for entertainment on the trip have been made. Dancing will be one of the big features. The cruise will begin at the Stark street landing at 7:30 P. M. The mem bers of the committee in charge are: Herman Van Borstel. Herbert Carpen ter. Robert Gordan, Harvey Wells and J. E. Buckingham. Tongs to He Kxplained. Tongs and tong wars and all their "whys and wherefores" will be the sub ject discussed at the luncheon of the Rotary Club at the Benson Hotel Tues day noon, and R. P. Bonham, inspector in charge of the United States Immigra tion Service for this district, will be the principal speaker. He will discuss the origin of the tong organizations and their purpose and the meaning of tong wars. J. A. Collier, assistant Dis- 4 trict Attorney, will talk on the local tong war situation and the steps that are being taken by the police to check; them.