From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, comes this story titled “Sheriff Hurst and Registrars Ready to Enroll,” dated May 24, 1917:
SHERIFF HURST AND REGISTRARS READY TO ENROLL
Final Preparations are Made to Classify Men of Military Age In Logan County
Sheriff Hurst Wednesday gave final instructions to his sixty odd registrars who will enroll all men between the ages of 21 and 30, for military service as ordered by proclamations of President Wilson and Governor Cornwell for June 5, which will be a legal holiday in West Virginia as in other states.
On June 5, all male citizens are required to go to their regular voting places between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. and fill out a blank similar to the one printed in today’s Democrat. The governor has requested that all other public business be suspended on that day and that patriotic parades of school children be held. He also asks all owners of automobiles to help transport to the voting places men of military age and that every assistance possible be given the officers who will make the registration.
To Telegraph Result
As soon as the registration in Logan county is completed, the result will be telegraphed to Washington and then the machinery will be set in motion to select those who will be included in the first call for 500,000 men who will begin training in September. A board will sit in Logan who will select the available men to enter the first army. An absolute, fair and impartial administration of the law is insured as the local board will be directly responsible to the federal authorities and subject to stern penalties should any favoritism be shown. The state officers have nothing whatever to do with the army after the work of selection is completed. Those who will form the local conscription board are:
Sheriff Frank P. Hurst
Clerk, County Court, C.G. Miller
County Health Officer, Dr. S.B. Lawson
Robert Peck, (R.)
Elmer McDonald, (D)
The president in his proclamation ordered all men, 21 to 30 years old, excepting those already enlisted, shall voluntarily present themselves at the places to be designated for registration on June 5. Other main features of his orders follow:
Men away from home may register by mail.
Penalty for refusing to register; up to a year imprisonment.
All federal, state, county, city and village officers are liable for service for registration and draft.
Any person making a false statement to evade service or any official aiding in such an attempt, will be punished by a year’s imprisonment through civil authorities or by military court martial.
Persons ill or who will be absent from home should get registration blanks from the city clerk, if they are in towns of more than 30,000 inhabitants and from the county clerk, if they are in towns of less than 30,000 inhabitants.
Explains Necessity
The main parts of the president’s proclamation in which he explained the necessity for conscription follow:
“We are arrayed against a power that would impose its will upon the world by force.
“The man in the factories or who tills the soil is no less a part of any army than the man beneath the battle-flags.
“We must shape and train for war, not an army, but a nation.
“The sharpshooter must march and the machinist must remain at his levers.”
The whole nation must be a team in which each man shall play the part for which he is best fitted.
“It is not conscription of the unwilling but a selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass.”
Sheriff Hurst has volunteered to do his part of the work in registration without cost to the federal government. The other registrars will do the same. No trouble is expected in enrolling the entire military population of the country.
Registrar’s List
The list of registrars and enrollment places for Logan county follow:
Everett Dingess and Thomas Hensley, Queens Ridge.
Melvin Conley and Charles Conley, Shively.
Cam Pridemore and French Dingess, Pitts Branch.
Vinson Ferrell and Ans McCloud, Chapmanville.
R.E. Lowe, Stone Branch.
G.F. Collins, Big Creek.
W.B. Phipps, Chapmanville.
Ed. Haner, Curry.
Marshal Gore and Frank Frye, Sharples.
Black Sanders and George Baldwin, Lake.
Henry Lawson and John Hill, Henlawson.
J.B. Wilkinson, Jr., and M.B. Taylor, Logan.
L.D. Chambers and Frank Perry, Rolfe.
Cecil Mounts and C.H. Baisden, Mt. Gay.
Willis Parsons and W.P. Vance, Holden.
R.W. Buskirk and William Lewis, Omar.
Melvin White and Robert Hill, Pecks Mill.
Elmer Gore, Ethel.
A.M. Hall, Ethel.
Arthur Townsend, Holden.
C.E. Lamp, Holden.
C.C. Chambers and Robert Straton, Logan.
A.P. Loyd and G.K. Mills, Holden.
Sam Scott and Bruce White, Monaville.
Dr. Smoot and Guy Pauley, Blair.
Lot Murphy, Mt. Gay.
Ed. Mapper, Wilkinson.
F.D. Stollings and John Claypool, Foley.
Millard Perry, Everett Buchannon, Emmett Scaggs and Dr. Thornberry, Man.
John Amburgey and W.E. Perry, Amherstdale.
Earl Summers and Frank Hutchinson, Manbar.
M.F. Waring, Laredo.
Ed. Riffe, Craneco.
Andrew Jordan and Bilton Browning, Barnabas.
Dow Chambers, Yolyn.
Jack Mason, Rum Creek.
Logan (WV) Democrat, 24 May 1917.
Brandon Ray Kirk 