Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-22
Bv ROBERT BRUSKIN.

BY ROBERT BRUSKIN.
A voice will drone out endless
numbers next Tuesday which will
reverberate through nearly every
home in the Nation. Men who
registered for the draft will eagerly
scan newspaper columns filled with
the figures.
For the order in which the num-
bers are pulled from blue capsules
will determine which of the regis
trants are to be examined first for
selection and which will be in
Quoted into service first. The cere-
mony will last u hours or more,
but the results will decide the
fate of 100000 men who will be
called for one year of duty during
the next five years
In the order of which the numbers
are picked men who bear CORE
spending numbers on their regis
tration cards will receive eight-page
questionnaires to determine if they
are eligible for immediate service
or should be deferred. There may
be $500 in the entire Nation who
will have the same number, one for
each district selection board.
This will be the mechanics by
which the Army will be increased
to 100000 by next July l to fill
out the skeleton organizations of
375.000 Regulars and 100000 Ma
tional Guardsmen, so that within
a year there will be q infantry
artillery divisions, 2 cavalry divisions,
4 armored divisions, the expanding
Air Corps and corps special units.
Unforgettable Experience.
For those who win deferment
from immediate service there will
be only the necessarily generalized
newspaper stories of training camps
to remind them that others were
called. To the men ordered to duty
those who have no dependents or
important defense jobs-it will be
an experience never to be forgotten
There will be hard work in heat and
snow, exacting but not harsh disci-
pline, learning to be tolerant OF
companions. camp routine inter-
spersed with entertainment. AL
ways there will be clothing. pay,
shelter. medical care and food.
Take the case of mythical john
nv Doe. aged "a and a Government
clerk, typical of the 1882 to be
called from the District during the
next year.
Johnny Doe may be among the
first called-it's possible his will be
the first number pulled out of the
goldfish bowl by Secretary of War
Stimson. He may have no de-
pendents, and so he will be exam
ined by civilian board of physi-
clans and assigned to classification
lA-eligible for immediate duty.
He will be notified by mail and the
momentous day of mobilization will
arrive.
He will pack his one suit case
carefully on that day. possibly No
vember 10. when the first 10000
selectees are to be indicted. The
suit case should contain only enough
for his comfort with room left to
pack the second-best suit he wears
to camp. He might take along
several changes of underwear (the
Army at Fort Meade, Md, will sup
ply only four pairs. two for summer
and two for winter. He'll take an
extra pair of plain brown shoes for
use after duty (only one pair will
be supplied by the Army for heavy
duty. He should also pack pa
jamas (Army hospitals supply them,
but only to PATIENTS. tooth paste,
shaving cream. a shoe-shine kit,
canvas shoes for athletics and any
athletic equipment he cares to take
except polo pony.
Taboo on Cars Expected.
The Army probably will discourage
selectees from taking their cars to
camp, since most Army fatalities in
peacetime are caused by automobile
accidents.
1t will be a full month before he
collects pay, $2l a month for four
months and $50 thereafter until he
wins promotion, so the selectee
might carry pocket money. Fol-
those who have no money there
will be credit at the post exchanges
the modern version of the old gen.
eral store, where nearly everything
a soldier needs is sold at low prices
In the sparsely populated sections
of the country selectees may be COM
PEELED to travel 500 or more miles
to an induction center and In those
circumstances a leader will be Sc
lected from a group of selectees to
carry the records andscare for the
men. A,1t in the vSRrNlloais East