The Washington herald., 1918-09-13
53,OS3 REGISTER
WASHINGTON FIRST
TOTAL 10000 MORE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

KUN
that they like to stay in bed late.
nearly every household was up and
stirring by o'clock. Men who have
not gotten up so early in years. rolled
out and trudged the streets, overhung
with a heavy mist, on their way to
the registration places.
BY the time some of these opened
the lines extended nearly around the
entire square and included upwards
of 800 men. Old men stood In line
next to youngsters who were proud
to have Just reached their eighteenth
birthday. Rich and poor. cripples
and heavy young huskies. and all
races, mingled together in the knowl-
edge that they all had the same duty
to perform. Men wearing the uni
forms of foreign countries, most of
them decorated for courageous action
on the fields of battle of the pres
ent war marched into the offices of
the registrars alongside OF High
School Cadets, most of whom have
never seen anything more dangerous
than an unloaded army rifle. The
Cadets, who are too young to regis
ter. were on hand to act as ushers
and guides for the men who signed
up.
Nowhere was the slightest conten-
ton shown, nor was any trouble Vis-
ible at any OF the registration places.
Friendly rivalry existed between the
early comers as to who should De
the first to register, most of the men
in the lines being acquainted with
one another.
Determination Lights Faces
The more mature men entered the
registration places with a look OF
determination and a steady step. Inc
Younger ones entered rather heSltal-
ingly, appearing to be rather sell
conscious of the fact that they were
really men and were pledging them-
selves to the work of real men. But
when the men were leaving the IooN
on the faces of all was practically
the same, everyone was smiling ana
cheerful, confident that they had per-
formed their preliminary duty sin
cerely and properly.
Reports through the day to the Of
| fee of the director of the draft in
the District Mai. d. J. DonaVan'
kept officials informed of the prog.
ress of the registration. A general
atmosphere of cheer pervaded the Of
! fees when the reports which the
| boards made at noon on the number
of men registered showed that great
number had needed the urginSs OF
the committee and registered in the
morning. officials took this as an
omen that they were to finish their
! work early and therefore be the first
city to have its report filed IN the
office of the Provost Marshal Cen
eral. This has been the aim OF the
registration committee since the plans
were announced for the registration.
The stream of men into the reg
istration polls was continuous
Throughout the day. However, after
the crowd which had gathered before
the opening of the registration
places had been registered. which
was about II o'clock the work
slackened up. The great number
of men who were expected to reg
lister about or 6 o'clock was not
so large as had been anticipated.
Twenty-Five Registrars.
Approximately twenty-five reg
istrars were on hand at every sta
tion, besides a reserve supply which
was kept at the District Building i'll
case of emergency. The force was
made up largely of employees of the
District government, school teach
ers and employees of the local food
administration.
A squad of High School Cadets
was in attendance at the schools
from $50 in the morning until 8
o'clock last night. They worked
hard, keeping the registrars sup
piled with men, and keeping the
men in line so as to prevent any
discussion as to the place of any
one.
The stamping and allotting Of reg
istry cards and certificates which
were used by the boards was done
by Company c of the Fifth Infantry
of the National Guard. The men OF
the company have been working on
, the cards at night for the last ten
Gays. Numbers of the National
Gcardsmen volunteered to act as
registrars and many were selected
Many Claim First Honor.
So many men registered at the same
time that 1t is impossible to pick out
one man as being the first. Nearly
every board has claimant for this