Evening star., 1919-02-26

Washington is ready to turn out to-
morrow at l o'clock and give a rousing
welcome TO its returned soldiers as
they march up Pennsylvania avenue in
the parade arranged in their honor.
President Wilson will drop the mass
of business surrounding him at the
White House and march at the head
of the procession as a mark of his
regard for the men of Washington
and all the states who took part in
the war.
At the White sHouse the chief ex-
ecutive will enter the reviewing
stand, where, with the cabinet other
officials and the diplomatic corps. he
will review the men in khaki.
The Merchants and Manufacturers
Association expects all stores in the
downtown section to close at 1890
o'clock.
Although no general order closing
the government departments has
been issued, the chief clerks Of all
bureaus have notified Robert N. 'Har-
mittee, that their employees will be.
dismissed at noon
Discharged M n Not to Have Arms.
Chairman Harper announced this
morning that it had been, found in-
advisable to attempt 70 supply arms
to the approximately $500 discharged
District soldiers to carry in the parade,
and that they Will march in their uni-
forms only Explaining this decision.
Mr.. Harper said.
1T was decided not to issue arms to
the discharged District of Columbia
soldiers who will participate in the
welcome home parade, although the
War Department was perfectly willing
to lend arms for the occa sion. 1t was
considered inadvisable and impractical
bic to issue arms to all discharged men
in view of the fact that not only every
branch of the Army. but also the Ma
rine Corps and the Navy. will be repre-
sented in the parade. Many of these
men belong to branches other than the
infantry branch and. therefore, are
unfamiliar with the use of arms. There
viii be so many eX-sofdiers, sailors
and marines in the parade that it
would take hours to issue arms and
turn them in again"
States Object of Parade.
M Harper emphasized the fact that
the wSlcome home parade is given in
honor Of the discharged soldiers of the
District of Columbia, who should be
considered as guests.
"The fact must not be overlooked
that the men participating in the
parade will be discharged soldiers
and not under the control of the War
Department. their equipment having
been given up at the time OF thelr
discharge" he added.
There will be several thousands OF
soldiers in the parade who viii be
fully armed and equipped Every Dis
trict of Columbia soldier from Camp
Meade, Camp Humphreys and Fort
Washington will be given an oppor-
tunity to participate in the parade,
and the government will defray the
expenses of the journey to and from
Washington of all men who elect to
attend.
Under the regulations in force
helmets issued to the men for use
during the war were given to the men
upon discharge. The poSsessors OF
helmets will undoubtedly wear them
in the parade.
Fine Day Predicted.
Clear skies and a moderate temper
ature were predicted by the weather
bureau for tomorrow afternoon.
avenue are covering their places with
flags and it is expected that the
CAPITALS historic parading ground
will present a gay spectacle tomor-
row. with thousands lined along the
sidewalks, cheering the men who rep
resented the city in the war.
Brig. Gen Richard d. Simms. COM
mander of the District National
Guard, issued an invitation today to
discharged District soldiers who are
out of uniform to meet at IL o'clock
in the morning on the north drive.
section A, of the Capitol grounds and
march as a separate unit.
Some Who Will Parade.
In addition to the 1900 discharged
and uniformed men of the District,
there will be 900 Washington fight
ers from Camp Meade and a hundred
from Camp Humphreys. The Camp
Meade men belong to the S6Sth In
fantry, the 3esth Machine Gun Bat
talon, the 372d Infantry and the S5lst
Field Artillery
Company D of the 6oth Regiment OF
Coast Artillery, composed OF Washing
ton men just back from France, viii
march as unit, ana there VIII pc q
battalion of the new District National
Guard, headed by Maj. Charles +.
Meyer.
Parents in Line.
Approximately 200 parents Of soldiers
will be in line to honor their sons and
to be honored by the city as a whole for
the men they gave to the service. They
will be headed by the Secretary of the
Navy and Mrs. Daniels, with the band
of the Presidents yacht, Mayfower.
Numerous features, including an Army
balloon mounted on an auto
mobile truck, pieces of engineering
equipment which were used on the west
ern front, a big victory float built by
the citizens of Washington and eighteen
Washington aviators soaring up and
down the Avenue. far above the heads
of the marchers.
Marine Band VIII Lead Marcher2
The Marine Band win lead the march.
ers ND the Avenue, followed by MArshA1
Melvin c. I1azen and a mounted escort.
M II "A praridarx n z