The late Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, said that two hundred thousand men out of the first two million composing the American army could neither write to their mothers and fathers nor read the letters written to them. Just how many Negro soldiers were illiterate will probably never be known, but it is certain that tens of thousands of them could not read or write. The percentage of illiteracy was highest in the non-combatant units, where education was not primarily essential and where the first requirement was that the men be physically fit to do the heavy work necessary. In such organizations it was not unusual to find that 75 per cent of the men were illiterate. At one time when an order was given a company that all men who could neither read nor write should step forward, practically the whole company advanced. In a machine-gun group of 167 men there were 127 illiterates; in a class of seventeen of these men four had never heard of Abraham Lincoln, seven had never heard of Booker T. Washington, and none had ever heard of Frederick Douglass. Many soldiers had never heard of Germany, Servia, France, or Russia, or of kaisers and czars. Hundreds, born and raised in the states from which they were called, did not know what city was their state capital. Birthdays were given to many, and sometimes even names were furnished. Thousands were away from the old plantations for the first time; until called to register, some did not know that the Great War was raging. In striking contrast to these men was another group, those whom education and experience had fitted for the great undertaking. These were graduates from representative institutions, they were trained in the various crafts, arts, and professions, and were neat in appearance, responsive, and fired with enthusiasm. Great numbers of those of whom we have been speaking, however, had never attended school a day in their lives. Naturally they had little or no knowledge of the laws of health. They did not always understand that clothes were to be changed at bedtime and sometimes punishment had to be meted out for failure to take the required number of baths per week. Guards frequently were on duty at night to see that barrack windows were not closed in the effort to keep out the treacherous night air.