Evening star., 1946-04-13
Districts War Efforts
Praised al Dinner Of
Historical Society

The contribution the people o1
Washington made toward winning
the war was described last night
in terms Of minds, men and money
Nine men intimately concerned
with the wartime contribution o1
Washingtonians, ranging from de-
velopment of the atomic bomb to
more than billion dollars in Wal
Bond purchases, described these eff.
forts at the SD anniversary din.
ner of the Columbia Historical So
ciety in the Mayflower Hotel.
"A Concentration Here.
Brig. Gen. Robert N. Young, COM
manding general of the military
district of Washington, described
Washington as the mo. / command
post of World War II" and revealed
that Washington was protected dur
ing the war by a greater concen-
tration of antiaircraft artillery than
was London.
Putting into a few words the worl
OF Washington men and womer
through nearly four years of war
the following men gave these re.
ports:
District Draft Director William
E. Leahy said the District sent ap.
proximately 5000 men to war
The District was counted among the
three States with the highest per.
centage of men in the 1925 age
group sent to fight.
Mr.. Leahy paid special tribute
to the volunteers in District selec.
tive service who went through 81,
draft registrations and processee
10000 registrants. He pointed out
that there had never been a charge
Of favoritism placed against any
individual or draft board member.
Contribution in Cash.
7 On Washingtorl's contribution Il
war in terms of money, Hugh
Lynch, executive manager Of thu
District War Finance Committee
reported that sales Of bends here
from the beginning of the defens,
| savings program to the present
amount to s1,334 ,0O0, 900. The Dis.
trict's Series E per capita record
he added, is the best in the cont.
mental United States.
In terms Of Washington's scien.
tiflc contribution, DR.. Lyman j
Briggs, director emeritus of the Ma.
tional Bureau of Standards, re.
ported that the bureaus own plan,
supplied the Army and Navy witt
nearly 100000 pounds of optica
glass, that beginning as far bach
as October, 1889. the Bureau oi
Standards was closely associated
with the atomic bomb project anc
that the bureau developed the use
of the proximity fuse for bombs
rockets and other non-splittine
projectiles.
Reporting on the contribution oi
Washington doctors, DR.. John B
Nichols, historian of the District
Medical Society, pointed out that 4t
per cent Of Washington's doctors
went to war and that those who
stayed home carried not only the
additional burden Of caring fol
more patients but served on q
number of committees and medical
boards.
Speaks for Lawyers.
Walter M. Bastian, speaking fol
the lawyers, said one in every five
District lawyers went into the
armed forces and go per cent of the
nonmedical men in the unpaid
service Of the District draft were
lawyers.
The contribution of WASHINGTON
business and industry during the
war, said Joseph C. McGarraghy
vice president of the Washington
Board of Trade, began before hos.
tilities, when $1,000 housing units
were built here in two years, when 9
housing bureau for newcomers wa.
organized despite Government
sluggishness." when the Greater Ma.
tional Capital Committee and ths
Hotel Association took active step.
Ito StOp the inf1l1x of visitors r.