Cape Breton had already contributed the 17th and 36th Batteries (the latter Unit was raised in a single day), a large proportion of the 25th and 40th Battalions, six hundred men to the 64th, three hundred men to the 85th, three hundred men to the 106th, besides keeping at full strength its Militia Regiment, the 94th Argyll Highlanders, which had been on active service from the outbreak of the War. Not satisfied with this the Island asked for and received authority to recruit a purely Cape Breton Infantry Battalion, to be included in the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade. Under the supervision of Major Gordon S. Harrington (later appointed Deputy Overseas Minister and promoted to the rank of Colonel) Cape Breton officers and men of the 83th Battalion returned to their former homes and engaged in active recruiting. Meetings were held in every town and village, and addresses made by Mayor Richardson, F. A. Crowell, A. D. Gunn, D. A. Cameron, Dr. C. E. McMillan, Stuart McCawley, the late D. A. Hearn, and many other prominent people. As a result of their work, and in spite of the restrictions placed upon them by the G.O.C. M.D. No. 6, who forbade the enlistment of employees of the Dominion Coal Company and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company, the 185th Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders was recruited to full strength within three weeks. In April, 1916, Mr. F. A. Crowell was requested to act as Chief Recruiting Officer for the County of Cape Breton. In a civilian capacity and without remuneration he accepted the position, and, assisted by Lieutenant Chirgwin and Sergt. A. Johnstone of the 94th Regiment, carried on the work until January, 1917. Up to the time the Military Service Act came into force the Island of Cape Breton contributed over seven thousand volunteers, including, in addition to the Units already named, 100 men to the 246th Battalion, 200 men to the Composite Battalion, besides a large number to the several Artillery Units mobilized at Halifax, to the 165th, 169th and 239th Battalions, the Army Service Corps, Forestry Units, Railway Troops and Army Medical Services, with a lower record of rejection than in any other district in Canada—in the case of the 185th only three per cent. It would have been impossible for the Chief Recruiting Officer and his Staff of paid officers and men to have made the success they did had it not been for the valuable services rendered by the voluntary recruiting officers all over the Province. These men worked faithfully throughout the War without remuneration, and not infrequently labored under misrepresentation. CHAPTER XLVI. _OCEAN TRANSPORT._