Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-15
EXPERTS COUNTED
35,918 IN THE LINE
One Out of Every Ten Wash
ingtonians March in Pre-
paredness Parade.
PRESIDENT
washington made good with its pre-

Washington made good with its pre-
paredness parade.
The committee which arranged for
yesterdays grand spectacle set down
rules governing the parade and these
were lived up to in every respect.
At the very outset the committee
agreed that:
Every person in the parade should
carry United States flag.
There should be no advertising fea-
lures to the parade.
There should be no grotesque features
or those Intentionally comic.
The parade should positively start on
scheduled time and there could be no
breaks in the line of marchers.
These cardinal principles governing
the parade were lived up to: there was
not a single deviation from the sched-
ule prepared ahead Of time. From the
technical standpoint the parade was as
near perfect as is possible, and from the
standpoint of enthusiasm and grandeur
1t surpassed anything ever seen in the
National Capital.
omcial Count Shows 35,o1s.
A count that was as accurate as 1t
could possibly be made under the circum-
stances showed that there were 35,s1s
persons in the parade. Approximately
one out of every ten persons in Washing
ton took part in the great demonstration
The success It the parade can be better
appreciated wnen the number of persons
available as marchers is compared with
the numbers which have been available
to other cities which have had prepared
Aao Nnx1y Vorl cit huA
proximately $4,000 persons in its re-
cent demonstration; about one out of
every forty of it's population marched
Chicago, with 10000 marchers in line.
population. Washington had about one
out of every ten Of population
A count of the marchers was made
from the third floor of The Star build
ing by statisticians employed in the
auditing Office of The Star. They
worked in pairs. and kept their totals
on adding machines. The counters
found that after continuous work for
as much as a half an hour their eyes
became SO tired the result of the
strain on them that they had to be
relieved and take a rest Those who
did the counting were James r. Phipps.
II. X. Hickman, Henry Smallwood.
Frank Hobbs. E. w. Farlee and Henry
Hanford.
I Over Four Hours in Passing.
The head of the line reached The
star building at s:42 o'clock in the
morning. and the last marcher passed
at 2:0S o'clock in the afternoon.
A feature of the great demonstration
that was pleasing to every one was the
total absence of any disorder. Never
before did such orderly crowds as
semble in Washington, police officials
say. While the large force of ply
sicians. under the direction of DIR.
Lewis J. Battle, chairman of the medi-
cal committee. was kept fairly busy at
tending to cases of exhaustion. faint
ing and other minor ailments. there
were no serious cases needing their
assistance.
The parade made history in many
ways. The outstanding feature of the
demonstration was the participation of
President Wilson yesterday. it having
been the first time that a President Of
the United states ever marched in a
parade along Pennsylvania avenue
1t was the first time the government
employees had ever taken part in a
parade as a body. 1t was the first time
that a President OF the United States
had ever reviewed his great force of
departmental workers in a body
Praise for the Committee.
President Wilson is today writing .
letter to the committed having chare,
Of the great preparedness parade yes
terday expressing his admiration for
the work Of the committee and the
splendid success achieved.
Secretary Tumulty today, speaking of
the parade. said: 1T was magnificent.
one of the greatest any city has ever
given. The committee in charge de-
serves unqualified commentator for
| the great results obtained. The whole
thing was certainlyAn inspiration"
1t was a wonderful shsowing, said
| Secretary Redheld. in speaking OF the
preparedness parade yesterday, in
which he participated by leading the
| employees of his office. He said that
| more people had been turned out from
his department than was expected, and
| he estimated that so per cent of the
! departments employees were in the pa
/, rade. The fact. he said. that such a
] large number turned out when they
1 did not have to indicated the feeling
of the people toward preparedness
Yesterday was tho first time in the
history Of the metropolitan police de-
partment that United States soldiers
and marines assisted In handling the
crowds hanking the lines Of a parade
IN this city. The parade was unique
tfrom the standpoint Of the great num-