Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1917 — Central States Lead in Naval Enlistments—Many Rejected. [ARTICLE]

Central States Lead in Naval Enlistments —Many Rejected.

Washington, April 17.—The central states lead in enlistments in the Marine Corps, although the eastern states have by far the most applicants for enlistment, and the southern states furnish the least number of ‘Soldiers of the Sea,” according to statistics just made public. The general poor physical condition of easterners, the healthy outdoor life which young men of the interior enjoy, and the proportionate scarcity of Marine Corps recruiting stations in the south account for these differences, shy recruiting officials. “Only one man in five can meet our requirements/’ said Major General George Barnett, commandant of the U. S. Marine Corps, “and these requirements are not severe. Men accepted must conform to certain prescribed and size limits, be strong constitution, well formed, sound as to senses and limbs —spirited young men who are physically able to perform the “two-in-one” land and sea service of our first line of defence.”