Evening star., 1942-03-18
Master Lists in Draft Lottery
Go Out to Local Boards Today
First of New Reeistronts Expected to
Be Called in June to Their Role in War

uuCllOIl Vi VIC itltdllS UN NlllCll liiC
enemy will be defeated"
1--WE have the resources in men,
machines and materials to win this
war" he continued. I'VE must use
them for that purpose. We do not
have enough to dissipate valuable
materials, priceless machines, pre-
cious man power on luxuries or COM
forts, or even on worthwhile prof.
ectS, unless they are absolutely
essential directly or indirectly to
the winning of this war"
He referred to the lottery as add
ing millions to that pool Of men
who stand ready for selection for
the necessary tasks, whatever they
may be-.
Within a half hour after Gen.
Hershey made his short address. the
lottery had settled down to the busi-
ness of getting capsules drawn,
opened, announced and recorded.
Absent were the incidents as well
as the ceremonial OF the two pre-
vious lotteries since the enactment
of the Selective Service Act. The
President did not attend, as he did
in october, 1910. No mother screamed
when the first number was drawn,
as mother did at that lottery. The
auditorium behind the rows Of press
tables and the grandstand filled
with newsreel photographers was
full even to Standees when the lot
terry opened, but the crowd dwindled
as dignitaries and veterans were re-
placed by details of soldiers, sailors
and marines before the capsule
filled bowl.
Present Visual Drawing.
Actually, as a selective service Of
ficial pointed out, there were half
dozen different ways of getting a
fair distribution of order numbers
by assigning code numbers and spin
ming a wheel in the headquarters
office, but the ceremony was pre-
ferred so that any one could come
and see how his number was chosen
To make the drawing purely a
matter of chance, the green capsules
were churned in glass barrel by
Maj. George Baker, chief Of the man
power division of selective service,
who was one of the 100 men who
started to plan the Selective service
system in 1885.
The thoroughly mixed capsules,
after Mai, Baker had cranked the
cylinder for Is minutes, were spilled
into the goldfish bowl brought here
from independence Hall. Brim-
ming with the bright green pellets
the bowl was Illuminated from be-
low by bright light shining
through semi-opaque glass.
Stimson Bid to Draw.
Immediately after his brief talk,
Gen. Hershey invited Secretary
Stimson to draw the first capsule. In
the excitement of announcing the
number to a tense auditorium, Gen.
Hershey stumbled twice over the
War Secretary's name and stopped
to correct himself. On the third
try, he made it and announced the
number.
While reporters rushed to flash
the first number, Secretary of Navy
Knox stepped up to be blindfolded
by Col. John D. Langston, chairman
Of the planning council of the
selective service system.
After Secretary Knox came Chair.
man May Of the House Military A.
fairs Committee; Representative
Hunter of Ohio, Undersecretary
of the Navy James v. For
restal; Ralph A. Bard, Assistant
Secretary of the Navy: 1t. Gen
Thomas Holcomb, commandant o1
the Marine Corps: Wayne Coy
liaision officer for Emergency Man.
agement; DR.. c. H. Tobias of the
Presidential Advisory Committee on
Selective Service, ranking officers OF
the armed forces and a dozen uni
formed representatives of veterans
organizations.
Most colorful of the latter were
the Irish War Veterans. honor guard
for the goldfish bowl in recognition
OF st. Patrick's Day. Their bright
green uniforms matched the color Of
the capsules and the green was