1918.
ChecfelMt I
i
tatr
Wial Uncle Sam is Doing for
Wives hnd Children of Soldiers
CABLEGRAM.
Of
'epartaaAB,.
gndSdilOrSr-JyTrczn a Cpenen
to, .
-.(I Or
THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER
AND THE FOLKS AT HOME
BUY UNCLE SAM'S INSURANCE
Buy the Full SIO.OOO
tCepyrlcfct. 11. by rrank O. Carpeater.)
" Aa hl part I that toath down to the bat
tle so (hall hi part be that tarrlata by the
tun; Uwy ehell part alike,
WASHINGTON. D. C Thi waa
on a of the war deereea of David
whea he commanded the armlea
of Kiss Saul In bis campaign against
the Amalekltes. It corresponds with
on) of ths recant decrees of Presi
dent Wilson, our commander in chief
In the great -war of the prevent The
decreea were written by Congress. They
are the will of the Nation, but the
President baa put them into action and
Secretary McAdoo la carrying them out.
They relate to thoae who are "tarrying
by the stuff." They have to do with
the heroes at home, the mothers, wives
and children of the heroes abroad. We
hare already put several million men
under arms and by the time this letter
la published J.OeO.000 of them will have
been landed in Prance and tens of
thousands of others will be dodging
submarines on their way over the
ocean. Every one of these men repre
sents a family. Many have left depend
ent wives and children behind. Some
have fathers and mothers of whom
they are the sole support, and the sac
rlflce and service on the part of these
dear ones at home are almost as great
as thoae incurred by the men in going
abroad.
the battle so shall his part be that
tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part'
alike."
Tha Government has decreed that
this shall be the division. The people
at home shall be taken care of the
same as the soldiers abroad, and it
has enacted legislation and brought
Into being the machinery to carry out
its decrees. The machinery Is known
as the military and naval division of
war risk Insurance. It had no exist
ence whatever until Congress passed
the act for Its creation last October,
but it Is now bigger than a govern
meit department in peace times. It
has altogether something like 10.000
employes, and of these 1000 are work
ing at night. It keeps 4300 typewriting
machines busy all day. and hundreds
of clerks do nothing else but take care
of the index files. The offices now oc
cupy all or parts of twelve buildings
and they will fill the great structure
now being erected for the Treasury De
partment on the site of the old Arling
ton Hotel. The bureau is receiving
more than 1S.000 applications a day
for war Insurance and It will soon
be sending out 1.000.000 checks every
month ss the allotment of the fam
ilies of our soldiers and sailors. From
December to October it sent out more
than S.5C0.000 checks worth altogether
tl 40.000.000. and each check repre
sented money, a part of which was
takes ffom the pay of a man in the
Army oT Navy and the remainder from
the United States Treasury, as the
share of those who were tarrying by
the stuff, having sent their men abroad
to fight for them.
Before I describe my visit te this
bureau and what it Is doing, let ma
give you the provisions the Government
has made for those who tarry at borne.
Th l"olted States is more liberal to Its
soldiers than any other nation on
eartn. It pays the highest wages that
have ever been known. The amount
received by each private Is at least
130 per month, but In givlns It the
Government does not absolve the man
from his duty of taking care of his
family. IS is willing to do its share,
but the man must do his. It requires
that IIS out of every month'j pay go
to the family. This Is known as the
Government allotment and It is com
pulsory on the part of the soldtet
only in case he Is married or has
dependent children or relatives whe
would otherwise be a charge on the
community.
In addition to this SIS a month the
Government adds an equal amount oi
more out of the United States Treas
ury as its share as a payment for
those who tarry at home. The amount
appropriated at the time the act was
passed was $141,000,000 and much more
will be required before the war is over.
The Government payments- vary ac
cording to the size and dependence of
the family. If the soldier has a wife
only, she gets half his pay and 15
additional, receiving SI0 a month. If
there la a wife and one child the Gov
ernment adds 125 a month, making
the monthly payment $40. "there is
a wife and two children It adds $Ji.S
a month, and for each additional child
It adds IS more. If there is no wife
and two children the children receive
sit so fnim Cncle Sam. In addition to
tha IIS of their fathers pay. If there
i. - wifa and three children they get
t2 and if no wife and four children
la. children receU-e 130 with IS more
nnnth fnr each additional child.
The law has also provisions by which
If a soldier's grandchildren or parents
h-.ih.ra or sisters are dependent
npon him for support one-half of his
pay goes to them, the Government add
ing eoraethlng like $10 per parent and
from l to ISO for Ut CUIluren.
lnr as there be one. two. three or four.
- tMa tt will be seen that ever
family that "tarries by" the etuff will
receive from 130 to ISO or more a
month while Its man Is away flghUng
nr haltlea At the present time hun
dreds of thousands of families are re
ceiving such payirents monthly, and
this number will eteadily increase as
more soldiers go to the xieia.
In addition to these payments, the
law makes certain provisions If the
soldier dies or is disabled during the
service. These are the same for men
of all rank and are not based npon
tha nay of tha soldier. The soldier's
If there are no children, will
receive 15 per month. A widow and
one child will get I3S. and if there be
two children the amount will be 147.10
per month, witn more lor acn
tmnal child no to two. IX the soldier
leaves a child, but no widow, the
amount paid will be $!0. and for two
children 130. while for three children
It will be $40 a month, with $5 addi
tional for each child up to two more.
If the mother of the soldier be a widow
she may receive $20, but neither a
widow nor a mother shall have her
persion continued after remarriage. If
the soldier becomes disabled during the
service be will receive a payment of
from $30 to $100 per month, the latter
sum being given only .when he is per
manently bea-rtdden. There are also
compensations for Injuries of various
kind received In battle or while In the
service.
Another Important provision of
Uncle Sam's for those who "tarry by
the stuff Is insuring the lives of the
men In the service. Arrangements for
this have 1 een made and they are car
ried out through this bureau of naval
and military ina-rance. Already in the
neighborhood of 4.000.000 applications
for policiea have been made and the
total -amount of Insurance written to
date Is more than $30,000,000,000. The
average amount Insured Is for $8600
and it Is estimated that more than $0
out of every 100 men are lrsured.
The object of the Government war
Insurance is to give the soldiers and
sailors a chance to Insure their lives at
reasonable rates. When the war broke
out the chief life Insurance companies
added $100 per $1000 to the ordinary
rates on all war life insurance. This
meant that the man who took out a
$1000 policy would have to pay as much
as the 'man In private life and $100
more per year. If he took out $5000
he would have to pay the regular rate
and an excess of $500 per year, and If
$"500. the average amount which the
Government Is giving, he would have
to pay an excess of 1850. r
This was manifestly Impossible for
men receiving only $360 and upward
per year, and so the Government estab
lished this war risk insurance bureau
to take care of the situation. According
to Its regulations the Insurance rates
are less than one-twelfth the excess
war rate charged by the life Insurance
companies. These are lower than the
ordinary rates of those companies and
are so arranged that after the man has
applied for Insurance the money for the
premiums Is taken out or nis pay every
month and he need not worry about his
policy lapsing from his not keeping
t up. .. .
Moreover, the rates are exceedingly
low. Those of the draft ages irom
?1 to II are only from 5 to 70 cents
per $1000 per month, so that if a man
takes out a $10,000 policy, which Is the
highest sum possible, he pays there
fore only $7 per month. If he takes
out a $5000 oplicy It costs him $3.50
per month and If ho dies his family
would get $27.50 per month of every
year for 11 years therearter. ims
11-year payment la one of the pecnllar
Itlea of the policy. The. amount it is
Insured for Is not paid as a whole
nnn death, but In equal monthly in
stallments for 240 months after death.
The Installments are $5.75 per $1000
and the average insurance policy so
far applied for will give permontn
for 21 years to the wife, children or
relative of the man lasured should he
happen to die.
Thla Insurance win oe paiq w w
man Bimseir ii ne ia
manently disabled during the terra
of his policy, no matter whether he Is
In the service or not and after the
war is over he can keep up tne in
surance on tne same term-, mr
years, or he can convert it into om
forms of life Insurance arranged for
by the Government.
And now let me tell yon something
about the big machine which has beep
organized to carry on this part of tne
ir. I have spent the greater pan
of the day looking Into It and I am
surprised at the efficiency with which
it Is running. The machine had to be
created from the ground up. lne
Government had no department or a
similar character and the whole naa
to be blasted, as it were, out of the
rocks. The business started with
the Insuring of our ships at sea
against losses by the German fleet and
submarines, and from that beglnnng
was developed the great machine for
insuring the lives of millions or men,
largely the work of William C. De
La noy. an Insurance man of New York
City, who has been the director of
the Bureau of War Risk Insurance
from the start and who now la at
lta head.
In order to do this work, however,
he had to bring in many others to
help him. and among others C F. Nes
bit, the present commissioner of mil
itary and naval insurance, was ap
pointed to put the new bureau Into
being. I asked Mr. Nesbit to tell me
how the work was organiezd. Said
he: "We were In despair at the start.
Tha thing was so big and it had to be
done in such a short time. The sol
diers were already in the cantonments
and General Pershing and his Army
were already in France. We had no
offices, no equipment, no clerks and
no definite plans. The Job seemed
Impossible. I could not sleep of nights
for worrying about my part of it. and
I remember telling the Assistant Sec
retary of the Treasury that if he had
ordered me to take a gang of pick
and shovel and dynan-.lte men out to
Colorado and move. Pike Peak 200
miles west In a space of two months
the task would not have seemed to
ma greater than tha one they had
given us."
"But you soon got the Job under way,"
-Tea. we had to do so. The families
of the soldiers had to have their allow
ances, and there were thousands who
wished to insure. Congress had enacted
the law. the money had been appropri
ated and the work had to be done. It
commenced the day the act was passed.
That was the sixth of last October, and
by 2:10 P. U. of that day we were look-
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Ing for offices and fighting for nr
equipment in the way of desks, type
writers and help. There .were no build
ings to be had, no blanks and no clerks.
We found our first quarters in the Na
tional Museum, and later there was an
overflow to other places acattered over
the city When we looked for clerks we
found that the other departments had
already consumed the available supply,
and we. had to get our help from the
new people who came Into the city. We
have now over 4000 clerks and shall
need many more as the business of the
bureau increases, aa It la bound to do.
We must have a fireproof building to
take care of our records and files. Our
papers are the only records the Govern
ment has of lta contracts with the sol
diers and sailors, and should they be
lost or destroyed there would be need
less litigation created. We shall need
them certainly for 60 years hence."
"It would seem to me that the task of
planning the machine must have been a
gigantic one."
"In deed it was," replied the commis
sioner, "andMt waa only through the
assistance of Insurance men all over
the country that we were able to do it
and that in such a short time. As soon
as the act waa passed the Government
applied to the leading life insurance
companies and they sent the best men
In their employ to help us. Many of
the high officials, actuaries and other
experts came and worked here " for
weeks without pay, and it was through
them that we were able to create the
machinery and make the organisation
we have. Some of these men are still
here and the work ia being done with
the aid of the best brains and expe
rience of- the country."
"Can yon give me some Ides, of the
work?" I asked.
"It seems to me," said the commis
sioner of Insurance, "that the bureau
might be looked upon as a great fac
tory. The raw material is the appro
priations of Congress and the blanks
which have been filled out by the sol-
dlers and sailors and sent In to us.
The finished product goes out In the
shape of checks delivered to the fami
lies of soldiers and sailors and the ma
chinery comes between.
"Take, for instance, the atory of one
application. It is written on a blank
at one of the cantonments and It comes
to us In a lot of a few hundred or it
may be 60,000, for we have often that
many in one day. The blanks are first
read and sorted. The one we-have
chosen may go Into any one of eight
classes. It may need no allotment or it
may demand allowances and go into a
certain class, according to the amount
and number of dependents to be paid.
We do everything here by number and
not by name. Each application that
comes in has Its number and from that
time thia number and not the name is
referred to. The next operation is
figuring out the amount that the fam
ily of the applicant should receive and
this Is followed by writing a card
which contains the man's name, the
branch of the service and the parties to
whom his pay is" to go. This card has
to be verified and checked up by two
different clerks to see that it Is cor
rect. After that the information upon
It is transferred to the card index sys
tem and duplicate cards are sent to
the disbursing officer where the checks
are made and sent out. One card must
go to the bookkeeping division where
the checks are to be signed, and the
last operation Is placing the checks
in the letter of transmittal to go out
In the malls. In all, there are 18 dif
ferent operations performed on each
application for allotment or allow
ance and it takes at least 18 different
neonle to handle each one. This means
that the millions of application blanks
we have already handled have required
at least 18 times that number of han
dling operations and that such work
must continue on as long aa the war
lasts.
"This work has to be done aa to
every application," Mr. Nesbit contin
ued, "and when you consider the vast
number of men in the service and that
wa must keep track of every one and
his family, you can realize something
aa to the work. Take, for Instance, the
Smiths. We have more than 100,000 of
them on our flies. We have more than
1000 John Smiths, more than 1500 Will
lam Smiths, over 200 each of John A.
Smiths and William H. Smiths. There
are more than 1000 John Browns and
about 10,000 soldiers named Miller or
Wilson. We had recently some trouble
retarding the allotment of John J.
O'Brien, whose wife was named Mary.
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We looked up the index cards and
found that there were 262 John J.
O'Briens and 60 of them had wives of
that name. Moreover, there are many
changes and additions. We have to
have the names and ages of tha chil
dren, and that even to the babies born
after the soldiers have left for France.
We received one communication the
other day which stated: "Child born
named Elizabeth, wants allowance.'"
In company with Mr. Nesbit I went
from building' to bulging looking -into
the processes above described. The
first visit was to the New National Mu
seum, which covers more than two
acres. It is situated in the Mall back
of the city market and north of the
Smithsonian Institution. Many of the
exhibits have been removed to make
way for the clerks. The great hall
back of the vestibule has been cleared
and there are hundreds of women and
men working within it. The room cov
ers perhaps half an acre, and the only
museum curiosity remaining is the
original flying machine with which Dr.
Langley experimented from an Island
down the Potomac, thus making the
first demonstration of successful ma
chine flight. The little "aerodrome,"
as he called it, hangs from the ceiling
above 50 or 60 typewriters and tabulat
ing and adding machines which are
clicking away. Not far to the right of
if they topenlng the mail, which comes
in at the rate of over 1000 per hour,
and at the left they are checking and
filing the claims of the soldiers. It
takes more than 100 women to sort and
distribute the mail. There are clerical
machines of all kinds clipping away,
and the red tape so common to Gov
.mm.nh rienartments has. as far as
possible, been eliminated. In organiz
ing the machine, the best of the United
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States bureau of efficiency experts
were called in.
Leaving this room, I went on to oth
ers on the first and second floors of
the museum, finding clerks at work
everywhere, and thence was taken
down into the basement to see the
great audience hall with Its begin
ning of files and other record equip
ment. Coming out of the National Museum,
we crossed the street to the city mar
ket, making our way among the
butchers and provision dealers to an
iron stairway which took us to the
attic. Wa entered what seemed to be
a great factory. The room covers one
third of an acre. The roof is high
overhead and it' looks like a barn. It
v.. frtpm.rlT used as a drillroom for
soldiers, and was once noted as bPing
the largest' dancehall south of New
York. It Is now filled with hundreds
of clerks working away at Hat aesKs.
The air is loaded with the noise of
typewriters and other clerical ma
chines, and one is reminded of a great
cotton mill. It is here that the checks
are sent out to the families of our
soldiers and' sailors. The work goes on
day and night and the rush is such that
at times they are working on Sundays.
At the close of one Sunday night it was
found that more than 100,000 checks
had gone out. The ordinary capacity
of the establishment is 30,000 checks
dally. The money goes out in a con
tinuous stream, or, I might eay, in
thousands of streams, for the checks
move forth by every mail train and to
every part of the Union.
I found the same activity in the
Elks" Hall, where they are daily han
dling more than 11,000 applications for
life Insurance, and also in the old
emergency hespital, which has . been
taken over for another branch of the
Bureau of War Risk Insurance. There
is a necessity that all of these forces
be gathered together under one roof
and the fireproof building on the eite
of the Arlington Hotel will be about
right for this purpose. The pension
business of the Government has as its
quarters the largest brick building of
the world, and that required for war
risk insurance will. I venture, be
equally large. '
There are 175,000,000 cells In the
lungs, and, spread out,- they would
cover a surface 30 times greater than
the human body. '
99
CjJie nun treatment
Jbr tender skins
Is your skin so tender that the least exposure
to the weather makes it smart and burn so ten
der that it is often painful even to wash?
Some people, with delicate, tender skins have
been misled by the superstition that washing the
face with soap is bad for the complexion. Dr.
Pusey, the famous skirt specialist, in his book on
the care of skin, says : "The layer of dirt and fat
that such persons accumulate on the skin is a
constant invitation to various disorders."
The following Woodbury treatment is just
what a sensitive skin needs to keep it active and
a soft washcloth in warm water and hold
it to the face. Then make a warm water lather
of Woodbury's Facial Soap and dip your cloth up
and down in it until the cloth is "fluffy" with the
soft, white lather. Rub this lathered cloth gently
over your skin until the pores are thoroughly
cleansed. Then rinse the face with clear, cool
water and dry carefully.
Make this treatment a nightly habit- See what
'a difference it will make in your skin in even ten
'days a promise of that loveliness which the
!. awn.
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Auction Bridge.
Continued From Pace 2.)
been said, I give below examples of
correct and incorrect overcall bids. The
score in each case. It is assumed, is
love, and the desire naturally is to
reach game. I may here state that
when the score is such that the same
number of tricks at any bid will in
sure game, the overcall of a minor with
a major suit is not so essential, pro
vided always, the partner's hand has
help for the minor suit called.
Your partner Z, bids a heart A
passes and you hold hearts 3; clubs
A K J 7 5 4: diamonds Q 7 2; spades
K 7 6. Having no help at hearts, but
good clubs, overcall with "2 clubs." It
is a backward bid and a distinct warn
ing of danger.
Your partner bids diamonds and you
hold hearts A-K J 7 6 4: clubs 2; dia
monds K 4 2; spades 6 5 2. You have
good help for your, partner at dia
monds, but you have a genuine bid at
hearts, 'a better suit. So inform your
partner. Transpose your hearts, and
diamonds and let the bid be a heart
rather than a diamond and you allow
the bid to stand. Your diamond hold
ing is the same as was your heart hold
ing in the former instance, but you
have help for your partner at his bid,
hearts, and hearts is a major suit
which could r,o game in one trick less
than your suit, diamonds. If your left
hand adversary outbids your partner
and your partner passes, raise his bid
(hearts), if necessary, twice. You have
a trick (the guarded heart honor), and
two raisers the diamond ace and the
singleton club). This justifies two
raises. Some even would risk three be
cause of the diamond king.
Your partner bids hearts and you
hold hearts 7 6 3; clubs 6; diamonds
A K Q J 4; spades K Q J 9. Having
three hearts, the suit your partner bids,
let his bid stand. If it becomes neces
sary, raise the heart bid. Your dia
monds will make a good side suit. Do
not be misled because the suit con
tains four honors.
Your partner bids heart and you
hold hearts 4: clubs, 9 5 4 2; dia
mond A 4 2; spades, A K J 8 6. Deny
the hearts. Overcall with "2 spades.'
Your partner bids a spade and you
hold hearts, 10 6 6 4 3 2; clubs, Q:
diamonds A Q J 8 4 2; spades . Deny
the spades by overcalling with "2 dia
monds." s
Your partner bids a spade and you
hold hearts Q J 9 7 3 2; clubs. A K Q;
diamonds 2; spades Q J 3. Let your
partner's bid stand. You have two
honors in the suit, a singleton diamond
and the tierce major in clubs, an ex
cellent assisting hand at spades. In
actual play the holder of this hand
did not allow the bid to stand but bid
a heart,' thus denying the spades and
causing his partner endless confusion.
The outcome of this hand was inter
esting, illustrating in' a forcible man-
regular use of Woodbury's brines to a tender,!
sensitive skin. .
Begin tonight to have a lovelier skin
Get your first cake of Woodbury's today. Begin
now to overcome whatever condition is keeping
your skin from being as lovely as it should be.
Blackheads, conspicuous nose pores, oily skin
'and shiny nose, blemishes, a sluggish, sallow skin treat
ments for these and others of the commoner skin
troubles are given in the booklet "A Skin You Love to
Touch" which comes wrapped around the soap.
You will find a 25c cake sufficient for a month or
six weeks of any Woodbury treatment and for general
cleansing use during this time.
Get a cake today. It is on sale at all drug stores and
toilet goods counters throughout the United States and
Canada. The Andrew Jergens Company, Cincinnati,
New York and Perth, Ontario.
u PTid t.
90 j 6
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ner the evils that can result from bad
bidding. I will later give the hand.
Your partner bids a spade and you
hold hearts 7, 5. 3; clubs, K, 7, 6; dla-u
monds, K. Q, J, 10, 8. 4, 3; spades,
none. Overcall with "two diamonds.
This Is a distinctly backward bid. and
your partner should so construe it.
This, by the way. proved a very Inter
esting hand, bringing up some exceed
ingly instructive points. I give it in
full:
7 51
K7 6
KQJ 10 843
V K Q J 10 8 4 J
....
4 6
Q J 10 9 3
Q J 10 9 8 3 2
9 7 52
a 64
A9I
A6 4
.A
AK8752
How many players, I wonder, with:
Z's holding, would have bid a spada
rather than no trumps? Many other
wise reasonable players are so obsessed
with the idea of playing a hand at no
trumps thatsthey can regard it fnom
this viewpoint only and fail to realize
that a sound major bid is often the
better bid. This hand holds a hundred
aces, a temptation too great for the.
majority cf players to resist. Never
theless danger lurks In the no-trump
bid because of the singleton ace ofi
diamonds and the gneat drop in hearts
and clubs. Z, who prefers a safe game)
to a brilliant one, started, correctly,
with a spade bid. A passed. Y made
the overcall of "two diamonds." B
bid "two hearts." Z now bid "two no
trumps." His partner is protected in
diamonds, while he holds the ace twice
guarded in the adversary's suit. Tho
no-trump bid. therefore, now becomes
the proper bid. This hand was played
in dpulicate, and at some tables the
bidding continued between Z and B un
til Z went to "four no trumps," which
held the bid. At these tables Z made
a- grind slam, giving him a total of
270 points 70 for tricks, 100 for aces
and 100 for slam.
a a
At other tables when B went to
"four ' hearts" Z, instead of persisting
in his bid, doubled and B redoubled.
At these tables Z-Y took eight tricks
before B .could get a lead. Each of
these tricks was worth 200 points, so
their overtop score was 1000 the
value of four rubbers.
At one of the tables B relinquished
his heart bid- after he had called
"three hearts" as his partner did not
once raise him, he felt he could de
pend upon his own hand alone and Z
in spite of his partner's warning con
tinued his spade bid, going to three.
At this table Z lost three odd tricks,
and the adversaries scored 150 plus
simple honors, 18 in all 168. It is
easy to see which of' the players in
Z's position used the soundest judg
ment. '
Y
A B
Z