Evening star., 1940-10-27
100000 Men
Await Fate in Draft
Lottery tuesday
Arrangements Completed
For Historic Ceremony;
President to Speak
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.


Seventeen million cket-holders
await the great Government sweep
stakes Tuesday.
Arrangements were completed
yesterday for the lottery that will
change the course of the next few
years for many young American
the drawing of numbers that will
decide In what order the listed mil
lions will be called up and conSid-
cred for military duty under the Sc
lective service system which Con-
gress adopted to speed the national
defense.
\ The props were put in place on
kthe stage of the departmental au-
ditorium, where at noon President
Roosevelt will open the historic
ceremony with brief address and
Secretary of War Stimson will draw
the first number.
Oficials announced that Army
planes would roar over the scene
OF the lottery as it gets under way
and that an honor guard OF 500
uniformed veterans of former wars
would form lane through which
Mr.. Roosevelt will pass as he enters
the auditorium.
Boards Warned to Be Ready.
As national Selective service Of
ficials put the finishing touches on
plans for the lottery, they sent out
a general warning to the more than
5000 local draft boards over the
country that they would be expected
to complete the preliminary job OF
numbering registration cards ana
posting them before the drawing be-
gins. The lottery will not be post
poned, they emphasized.
This position was taken by head
Quarters after Michigan draft OH
GERS reported that the registration
count in Detroit was far oehind
schedule and officials there feared
thev would not complete it before
: Tuesday, Michigan headquarters at
Lansing was told to instruct the
Detroit boards to obtain all the
help needed and work continuously
until the cards were listed.
The word went out from WASH
inqton that every registration nst
must be posted before noon Tues
day, Washington time-the hour SET
for the lottery
It was pointed out that there
would be complaints of untalrness
If some registrantS did not have
chance to learn their serial num-
bers before they were drawn IN tle
lottery and became order numbers.
In most sections of the country re-
ports indicated that boards were
finishing their tedious tasks at ire
week end. The law requires that
all registrations numbers must be
posted beside the names and ad-
dresses of the men.
Hughes, Hull, Ickes Decline.
Chief Justice Hughes has declined
an invitation to pull a number
from the lottery bowl, it was learned.
Because of the pressure OF his duties
at the State Department., Secretary
Hull declined an invitation to par
. ticipate. Secretary of the Interior
Ickes also sent his regrets.
The group of notables who will
e6raw early numbers, however, Will
include Secretary of the Navy Knox,
Secretary of the Treasury Morgen-
'thau. Attorney General Jackson
and Representative Kilday, Demo-
crat, of Texas, a member OF the
House Military Affairs Committee.
There probably will be others.
After this group has pulled out
the first few numbers, contingent
OF 100 veterans will carry on the lot
terry. 1t is hoped to include Union
and Confederate veteran. Among
the ex-service men certainly will be
veterans of the Indian wars the
Spanish American War, the Philip
pine campaigns and the World War.
When each veteran has drawn a
number, Government employees will
take over the long job, which may
last IL to Is hours. The process
NAV be shortened by the scientific
equipment which has been installed
to record and photograph each
number quickly.
DR.. Clarence A. Dykstra, director
of selective service, pronounced the
lottery ready" yesterday after $500
blue capsules loaded with numbers
were sent from his Office to the
Treasury for safekeeping until
Tuesday morning.
Eight Girls Load" Capsules.
!. 1t took eight girls, working be-
hind guarded doors at selectlve
service headquarters, only four and
a half hours to pack the capsules.
Each was checked and rechecked to
see that there we're no blanks. The
capsule filling was completed Fri
day night and the pellets were
placed overnight in DR.. Dykstra's
office under police guard. At 10
am. yesterday an armored car from
the Treasury called for them.
DR.. Dykstra emphasized yesterday
that there was mo possibility OF
favoritism' in the lottery.
In this momentuous operation of
the law of chance" he said in a
statement, Representatives of all
walks of life will receive identical
privileges"
A dress rehearsal of the lottery
was held at the departmental Audi
torium in the afternoon, under the
direction of Capt. r. P. Davidson,
who is in charge of the event. The
goldfish bowl and the table on which
it will stand-both used IN World
War lotteries-were missing, but
all the other trappings were in
place.
Workmen were busy putting up
the high stand on which neWsreel
j. cameras will record the event. A
platform in front of the stage for
the lottery bowl was being put up.
= On one side of the stage stood two
specially constructed cameras which
will take picture of each number
as 1t comes from the bowl and
record the exact time, even to the
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