PIERCE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR
Pierce County, Wisconsin
Published September 1919 by the Red Wing Printing Company
Red Wing, Minnesota (Photos can be found at www.rootsweb.com/~wipierce/wwi.htm)
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Page 134-138

HOME ACTIVITIES

The Pierce County Council of Defense was organized May 7, 1917.  This was done in
accordance with the advice of the National and State Councils.  The duty of this
body was to assist in the defense of our country by seeing that all matters within
the county, chiefly industrial, were kept at the highest state of efficiency.

Inasmuch as Pierce County is devoted chiefly to agriculture, matters pertaining to
that industry were given the most thorough consideration.

In the early summer of 1917 the question of the supply of seed was the most
important problem to solve.  Potatoes, a very necessary wartime food commodity, were
selling in the county for from $3.50 to $4.00 per bushel.  Due to a scarcity and
attendant high prices, many were unable to secure sufficient for planting the new
crop.  In order to render assistance, carloads were shipped in, in the vicinity of
River Falls, Ellsworth and Spring Valley.  This seed was sold at $2.75 to $3.00 and
thus saved the grower a considerable sum, besides insuring and stimulating a great
increase in the acreage.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture urged the planting of an increased acreage of
beans, and to this program the Council gave much publicity by bulletins and in the
rural schools the importance of stimulating food production was urged.  The Council
discovered that Marquis wheat was most efficient in this locality as a war-time
variety, and after the 1917 harvest some time was spent in finding where this seed
was available and placing a supply in the hands of the growers for the coming year.

Gardening projects were encouraged and every available plot of any size was
planted, thus encouraging thrift and independence, so far as foodstuffs were
concerned.  In the harvest of 1917 garden products, the Council supervised 22 canning
demonstrations in the following places:  Grange Hall, River Falls, Diamond Bluff,
Ellsworth, Prescott, Spring Valley, Waverly, Maiden Rock, Bay City, Esdaile, Oumans
Corners, Big River, Brasington, Oak Grove, Elmwood, Hager City and Beldenville.  The
"cold pack" method of preservation was introduced and over 1,000 women took
advantage of the opportunity of learning this practical method.  Thus they were
enabled to save a vast quantity of food stuffs which might otherwise have been
wasted.  Miss Margaret JOHNSTON was in charge of this work and proved to be an
expert.

Patriotic meetings were held under the Council's supervision during the summer.  On
July 4th and 15th a score of autos carrying citizens, accompanied by squads of
troops, quartets of singers and speakers toured the country.  Stops were made at
numerous points throughout the country with a program of music, speaking and gun
drills.  Press comment indicated that the desired spirit was thereby instilled into
all who proved to be the very backbone of the financing program as conducted by the
Liberty Bond and Savings Stamps Campaigns.

Other activities of the Council during the first year of the war included the
transportation of men to the county seat when enroute to camp; assisted in
establishing Red Cross chapters and in pushing the Y.M.C.A. subscription.  In
assisting the Food Administration during the Food Pledge Campaign, 3,,500 women, at
the suggestion of the Council, pledged themselves to conserve food in accordance
with the national campaign.

Profiting by their experience, the Council had effected a more thorough
organization by the spring of 1918.  A representative of the Council was to be found
upon each section and special representatives in each city and village.  They were
thus enabled to work together more efficiently and the harmony thus developed is
reflected in the wonderful results of the food producing program as well as in the
raising of funds for the various welfare organizations and Liberty Loans.  They
practically laid the foundation for all of the war activities.  The call of duty was
answered in a quiet fervency and its value to the State and Nation can be stated in
neither words nor figures.

The Council served as the "General Staff" of "Our Army at Home" in a manner far
beyond praise, and their contribution to the excellent record of this county is
deserving of our sincere gratitude.

DRAFT BOARD

One of the most difficult tasks allotted to a body of men was placed upon the
shoulders of the local draft board.  They gave their services to the cause without
restraint and did their duty nobly in building up the enviable record of the state. 
The exempton provisions proved to be a problem for the Board.  Pierce County was
busily engaged in producing a bumper crop and it was therefore necessary for them to
determine which of the hundreds of registrants to exempt from military service in
order that a sufficient number of able-bodied men might be available to carry on our
most important industry.  The problem of determining the physically fit called upon
the conscientious efforts of able physicians and it is to their credit that the
number rejected at the various camps was kept to a minimum.

The amount of work necessary to properly classify and record all the registrants; of
summoning and dispatching men to meet the calls as issued by the War Department;
the patience and diligence required to meet such disagreeable situations as arose
called upon the indivdual members for great sacrifices of time and energy.  Our most
hearty gratitude is due them for the efficient way in which they administered a
process of military recruiting which lifted our America from the most peaceful of
nations to a place of first magnitude among miltary powers.  This mobilization of
manpower was accomplished throughout the Nation by civilians rather than military
officers who were chosen for their unquestioned loyalty and fairmindedness and
impelled solely by the motive of patriotic self-sacrifice.

O.J. HOHLE, acting as secretary and chief clerk of the Board, is entitled to
special commendation for the efficient manner in which the Selective Service Act was
administered.  His intimate acquaintance with the lives and circumstances throughout
the county made him an invaluable member and mainstay of the Board.  His untiring
efforts and accurate judgment were an inspiration to the other members of the Board
as well as the registrants.  The appeal agent, W. P. KNOWLES, is also deserving of
mention for services well and faithfull rendered.

Draft Board as Organized:

Chairman:  Toby HALVORSON
Government Appeal Agent:  O.J. HOHLE
Surgeon:  W.A. LUMLEY, E.W. CAMPBELL, W.C. CONDIT, F.M. WHITE, GEO. S. FOX