The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-07-21

Il shall draw the first number,
said Secretary Baker, and ask that
the chairmen OF the senate and house
military committees, official witnesses
| at this historic occasion, draw the
I second and third. respectively. G1d
| General Crowder shall draw the
I fourth
No" broke in General Crowder.
! General Bliss, as chief of staff. shall
| draw the fourth"
! Ever while the speaking was GO
! ing on the announcers had made
ready for their work. the tally clerks
were waiting poised with their foun-
! tain pens and other attaches had
! hlindfolded Mr. Phillips. who was to
serve first in the drawing.
General nuval broke the seal on
! the cord about the bowl and stuck his
| fist through the covering of paper.
| He ripped away the paper and reach
| ing down stirred the capsules with the
great spoon
Secretary Baker removed his eye
glasses and one OF General Crowder's
assistants tied white handkerchief
around his head
Baker Draws 25s.
I Riudfo!dlng him. he was led ~
position behind the howl. He reach
ed down aid stirred the cal sules with
stuck HIS hand among the pellets
and brought it up again
4 have drawn the first number"
said Mr.. Baker in the tone Of
man who has done an epoChal thing
He held the tiny capsule aloft An
announcer took it from his and
broke the capsule taking out the
. paper slip.
THE number is two hundred and
3 a. l.
Two hundred and fiftyeight,'
echoed the voice of the tally chief.
Another attendant posted the num-
erals "25S." on the blackboard in
1.-The rear.
Messenger bows bearing slips OF
PAPER darted through the crowded
aisle and through the packed mass
of men and women AT the doc IN
the rear They were carrying to
telegraph wires which had been set
up in an adjoining corridor the news
flashed in moment from Maine to
California and from Oregon to Flori-
da. that all men with cards number
ed a5s would he FIRST cailed 20 the
colors
senator Chamberlain Next.
Senator Chamberlain chairman Of
the nenate military affairs commit
tee, item was hlindfolded and stepped
up to draw number. He was
plainly nervous and could not SEEM
to locate the pellets in the bottom
OF the bowl Finally one Of the an
nouncers took his arm and pressed
his hand down toward them, The
senator withdraw a capsules II was
opened,
Two thousand five hundred and
tifty-two." cried the announcer. In
Jpa1 Don't chairman
OF the house committee and senator
Warren. ranking Republican OF the
senate committee Or CIV numbers
They were. respectively, 96l3 and
4532
Then came stout. good natured
Representative Kahn, ranking Re-
publican on the house committee ana
the man who took command OF the
draft bin IN the house ard a1nashed
il through to passage.
He reached down and took out
pellet The number announced was
l0.2ls There was only one district
with "A l0,21S In il, so the number
drafted only one man.
( General Bliss then stepped up,
straight and poised in his tailored
khaki He drew number ass.
Then came General Crowder and
/ the crowd broke into cheers II was
almost a minute before quiet was re
stored ard the number was announced
as 3.405
Settle Down to Business.
/ The crowd settled itself for a long
siege Goats were shed ~ the press
table and Jim" Preston. one OF
/ Washington's most efficient citizens,
who is always around where there's
a crowd, ordered the doors closed
It required an hour and a quarter
To draw the first 500 Plumbers Even
eliminating the time of the prefm1n-
arv refen onies II was evid sent that the
7 work was slower than had been am
ticipated A trial drawing Of 1000
mum hers in General Crovders once
had been run of in the jig time of
SO y minutes Fly the time loco
mum hers had been drawn, 1t was
nearly noon and evident 10 every one
THAT the draft would require probably
half as long again as the original esti
mate of ten hours. AS the hours
went on and the heat increased
clear. hot Washington summer day,
/ it was out side. with hint of damp
ness in the air-the work grew slower
and slower,
/ The proposition put up to General
Crowder to discontinue the drawing
at o'clock, seal the bowl and have
the remaining numbers drawn tomor-
row, was rejected He declared the
draft would have to be completed If
il took all night, so that every man
might know tomorrow Just how he
stands on the list of liability for ser
vice
I BY 4 o'clock the floor was covered
with broken capsules and the work
ers were tagged and uncomfortable
in their sticky clothes, but the drive
went on At that hour something
more than 1000 numbers had been
drawn
BY ! 30 o'clock the first quota was
practically completed. Officials es-
timated that it was furnished by the