Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-17
FIFTY YEARS Ago
In THE STAR

Washington having gone through the
excitement of the drawing of names for
the local consumption
Applicants for of troops. a. this time
C.A: fifty years ago, there
remained the ordeal of
the selection of the requisite number
August 10, 1868, is the following news
report:
This morning the board of enrolment.
composed Of Capt. Sheetz, provost mar
shall; Mr.. Blackboard commissioner. and
DR.. j. d. keasby, surgeon. assisted by a
corps of clerks. assembled at the council
chamber for the purpose of hearing and
deciding upon the petitions Of such parties
as may come before them for exemption
from the draft At an early hour a crowd
of some two or three hundred persons
had assembled in the lobby. each anxious
to get to the 'mourners bench and make
known their grievances, and when the
board were ready there was rush for
the door, but the guards stationed there
kept them back, allowing but one person
in at time The waiting outsiders were
quite animated i'm their conversation,
which was generally on their several
chances of getting off. A company of
the 1sI3d New York Regiment We're pres
ent doing guard duty, and also COM
pany to take charge of substitutes as
might be accepted. A detachment of the
ID District Colored Volunteers was also
on the ground for similar purpose, in
behalf of colored cOnscripts but al
though there were quite a number of col
ored men waiting their turn when the
doors were first opened. none of them
ho1 1O1 IN, tv To mo-
and the cOlored troops had not received
an addition, but their time is yet to
come.
But one person is admitted at a time
and examined. II he claims to be exempt
from physical causes he Is taken into
the committee room and subjected to ex-
animation by the surgeon. who pro-
nOunces him fit or unfit for duty, and &C
cordingly the decision is made. This
morning when the fact became known
that they would be thus put through
some of the would-be exempts were in
clined to leave in disgust, but sober sec
ond thought induced them to stay. The
claims on which exemption is based are
various.
1T will take some two or three weeks
possibly, to get through the examination
1t should be stated that the large pro-
portion Of exempts today is from the fact
that the class physically or otherwise in
competent for duty have rushed to the
a substitute was called on to swear that
he was not deserter, when he re-
piled that he could not do SO, as he had
deserted from the rebel army. The Of
ficers then warned him of his danger II
he should be captured by the rebels. wher
he coolly replied that they might hans
him when they caught him. and he was
received. AS soon as substitutes are ac.
copied they are placed under guard and
marched OF to camp established neal
the Circle. where they are uniformed and
sent to regiments in the field. All sub
stitutes offered are sworn as to whether
they are deserters from any existing mill
tary organization. or from the draft else
where. If they are such deserters. and
are subsequently discovered SO to be
the parties offering them are again liable
to draft; but if they desert subsequently
to their acceptance as substitutes. the
person offering them is not responsible o.
liable to further draft"