World War I 100 Years Ago: Aug. 12-18

From The Indianapolis News, Thursday, August 17, 1916: The War Department is considering enlarging Fort Benjamin Harrison from a regimental to a brigade post. The first step in this plan is the establishment of a general hospital, and Major George M. Wells is coming to the fort to determine the practicability of hospital. The Indianapolis recruiting office has also received orders from the War Department changing the age limits of recruits. The new order specifies that young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one many enlist without the consent of their parents and that boys, ages sixteen and seventeen, may enlist after obtaining consent of their parents. Nine applicants were accepted today from boys between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one and two applications were accepted from youths of sixteen who had obtained the consent of their parents.