Evening star., 1940-10-17

istrars and registrants-was virtual
ly solved.
But another difficulty had arisen
in the meanwhile Many of the
schools reported shortages Of reg
istration forms, the cards on which
the registrars recorded data about
the young men Of draft age and the
smaller cards given to each regis
trant certifying that he had regis
tered. At least half of the centers
were forced to suspend operations
temporarily because of supply short
ages. Reserve supplies from head
quarters and forms borrowed from
other centers were soon exhausted.
Stalls on Material Shortage.
In the early afternoon, as in the
early morning, long waiting lines
again had formed. This time there
were plenty of registrars, but a
scarcity Of printed materials. Emer-
gency orders were dispatched to
local printing ofIices, but not until
3 pm. and after did the additional
forms start the stalled machinery
in many areas.
Once this second problem was
solved, registration speeded up, and
the lines dWndled away. In the
late afternoon-when the heaviest
loads had been anticipated-hun-
dreds Of registrars were idle.
Before nightfall, the rush was
over. Washingtonians were taking
no chances on missing that pm.
deadline. A.,
Only two cases of failure to reg
lister were reported. A young man
telephoned Jefferson Junior HigA
School at 9:O5 pm: I've been sick
at home" he said. land I've Just
found out sthat I should have sent
some one to register for me. Won't
you send registrar to my house
now?" He was advised that no
such exceptions could be made to
the 9 o'clock closing time, that he
should take the matter up with the
local draft board in his area as soon
as possible.
The same advice was passed on
to another young man who tele-
phoned more than an hour after
closing time. Il though there were
several more days for registration.
he pleaded, "and now I have been
told this is not true. Can't you take
care of me tonight?"
Final Hours Quiet.
The final hours at virtually all
the schools were quiet, with regis
trars far outnumbering registrants.
At Thomson School, one of the
worst registration bottlenecks earlier
in the day. only seven men were
being registered at pm. and none
were waiting in line The doors
were left open until 9:10 to give
reprieve to late comers, but there
were none.
Late in. the afternoon Gen. Cox
issued a statement praising the work
of DR.. Holmes and the 7,778 regis
trarS.
80 Today has been a remark
able demonstration of what can be
done by quickly formed and prac-
tically unframed organization" said
Gen. Cox. DIR. Holmes, assistant
superintendent of schools. the prin-
cipals of the As schools where the
registration has been held, together
with the co-workerS, all volunteers,
are entitled to the greatest amount
Of credit.
There being no way of arriving
at actual registration figures, the
effort was made, and in most Gases
proved successful, to estimate the
number of registrants who were to
appear not only in each board area
but in each registration place as
we'll .
In q few instances. due to con-
ditions which could not be foreseen,
a larger number of registrants ap-
peared than had been expected. Too
much cannot be said for the man
ner in which the chief registrars and
the volunteer registrars working
under their direction handled each
situation as it arose
The response to the request that
registrants register early exceeded
the fondest expectations of any
one"
Gen. Cox and registration officials
commended the spirit of the regis
trants who waited in hnes-some-
times in the rain-uncomplaining.