Besides these specialists each division required among its enlisted men those familiar with 68 other trades.  Among the latter were dock builders, structural steel workers, bricklayers, teamsters, hostlers, wagoners, axemen, cooks, bakers, musicians, saddlers, crane operators, welders, rigging and cordage workers, stevedores and longshoremen.  Add to these the specialists required in the technical units of engineers, ordnance, air service, signal corps, tanks, motor corps and all the services of supply, and the impossibility of increasing an army of 190,000 in March 1917, to an army of 3,665,000 in November, 1918, becomes apparent unless every skilled man was used where skill was demanded.

To furnish tables showing the number of Negroes which the selective draft produced for the various occupations mentioned was at the compilement of this work not practicable.  In many cases the figures for white and black had not been separated.  The Army Personnel organization did not get into the full swing of its work until well along in 1918.

A good general idea of the percentages of white and black can be gained from the late drafts of that year.  Figures for white drafts were not available with the exception of that of September 3rd.  But a very fair comparison may be made from the following table showing some occupations to which both whites and blacks were called.  Take any of the three general service drafts made upon Negro selectives and it makes a splendid showing alongside the whites.  Out of 100,000 men used as a basis for computation, it shows that among the Negro selectives an average of slightly over 25 percent were available for technical requirements, compared with slightly over 36 percent among the whites.  It reveals a high number of mechanics and craftsmen among a race which in the minds of many has been regarded as made up almost entirely of unskilled laborers: 

Supply per 100,000 in late Negro drafts for general service, compared with supply of white men in same occupations for the September 3rd draft: 

Misc.  Figures Sept. 3

Sept. 1    Sept 25  Upon        Draft
Occupation—­                         Draft      Draft    59,826 Men  White

Mechanical engineer 7 30 8 25
Blacksmith 393 334 331 733
Dock builder ... ... 15 ... 
Carpenter 862 571 670 2,157
Stockkeeper 161 176 140 562
Structural steel worker 463 326 351 334
Chauffeur 3,561 4,003 3,300 7,191
Chauffeur, heavy truck 1,304 1,356 987 2,061
Bricklayer 189 99 132 223
Hostler 3,351 1,433