SPRUCE FOR AIRPLANES THE EYES OF THE ALLIED ARMIES 



325 



oi Great Britain into war lumber, and later extended to 

 France. The work of the Tenth and Twentieth Forest 

 Engineers, composed of American lumbermen and for- 

 esters, is familiar to readers of AMERICAN FOR- 

 ESTRY. More unique in many ways, and probably 

 less understood, is the so-called "Spruce Regiment" 

 working here at home in the forests of Oregon and Wash- 

 ington: thousands of uniformed soldiers helping the 

 over-taxed lumber industry get out the indispensable 

 spruce and fir. 



Dependence of the Allies upon the magnificent spruce 

 of the Pacific Northwest for airplanes early gave the pro- 

 duction of this lumber great military significance. When 

 the American aircraft program was announced last sum- 

 mer the spruce industry was confronted with a stagger- 

 ing task to increase its output sufficiently. Labor, rails, 

 and supplies of all kinds were short. Time, and above 

 all, men, were necessary to open up new tracts. Almost 

 without exception the lumbermen pledged themselves 

 to do their best, realizing as probably no one else could 

 the seriousness of the crisis. 



This was the time chosen by the I. W. W. and other 

 agitators to call a strike which almost paralyzed all pro- 

 duction for two months. Patriotism prevailed and work 

 was resumed; but not without loss of time, approach of 

 winter, and continual threats of further outbreak. At 

 best, labor was scarce. The outcome of the war was 

 imperiled by this local situation in the Pacific Northwest. 

 Military labor appeared the only solution. It was offi- 

 cially advocated by members of the Lumber Committee 

 of the Council of National Defense, but at first deemed 

 inadvisable, then adopted, by the War Department. 



Men of the draft army in the several cantonments, 

 who had woods experience were encouraged to apply 

 for this service in the Signal Corps, with the understand- 

 ing that they would be paid regular woods wages the 

 excess over army pay being met by the lumbermen to 

 whom they were assigned. In this way a regiment of 

 nearly ten thousand men was devoted to lumber produc- 

 tion, but without upsetting labor conditions as would 

 have been likely had they competed on army pay. 

 Although under the Spruce Division of the Signal Corps, 



Underwood and Underwood 



EOLDIER-LOGGERS CUTTING AIRPLANE SPRUCE 

 This is the typical spruce which furnishes the perfect lumber required for airplanes, and thousands of men in the "Spruce Regiment" of the 



Signal Corps are concentrating on its production. 



