| Show colorful incidents surround registration of nations nation s manpower for peacetime draft by JOHN L NUGENT washington D C americas first peacetime draft registration was marked avith th hundreds of interesting and colorful incidents as some men between the ages of 21 and 35 listed ess essential nn information regarding themselves for use by military conscription authorities good nature lighted by the usual american wisecrack wise crack coupled with an undertone of dead seriousness characterized the progress of the registration in all parts of the country minor crises arising from misunderstandings or errors cropped up in many sections but all were swiftly ironed out no acts of violence were reported the registration gave a panorama of life a bit of the heroic the dramatic the comic and the routine below are presented some of the f highlights and sidelights of the event anz that marked the first step toward raising the strength of americas armed forces through the selective service act 0 roy beadle had to answer only one question when he registered in portland ore his wife was a precinct registrar 1 I know all the answers to these other questions she said but did you put the cat out when two chinese laundrymen wong sam and canio ho of philadelphia sat down to register they presented a page notebook to the registrar it contained their histories in chinese characters just to be certain they could answer all the questions do you mean to say you dont know your cifes maiden name asked a chicago registrar the young man shook his head nope he answered ive never met her folks school teachers acting as registrars at gehant mass drew lots for the distinction of registering john roosevelt youngest son oftie president miss mary shea won the honor w draft officials announced that some men between the ages of 21 and 35 will not be registered for several months or even years inmates of prisons will be registered on the day of release but not before 0 two hours after registration opened one lad rushed up to county fab judge jarecki in the chicago election lt boards office with what do I 1 do now judge ive already lost my card in a name one registrar complained that an applicant had scribbled so badly she read his name cant help it said the man first names ignatius never could spell it the first man to sign up in superior wis was woodrow wilson franklin 23 who said he was named after the world war president who proclaimed the 1917 draft one oak park ill registrant demanded two cards one for his oak park home and the other listing him as a resident of wisconsin id like to use the wisconsin address so I 1 can get my fishing license as a resident he explained its cheaper that way he got one card from oak park the new york giants football team were thrown for a loss when 25 of them entered a school to register marching in a body from their hotel they were stopped by a line of anemic narrow shouldered clerks meekly they fell in at the end of the line 0 0 forty midgets fidgets from the new york worlds fair had to stand on chairs to register they all said they wanted to be airplane machine gunners 0 0 patriotism must be especially strong in philadelphia A 71 year old man wanted to register and a boy who was to be 21 on the following saturday first the registrar said too old then too young children acted as guides to draftees at a philadelphia school they showed the men the way to the various classrooms where registration was being held several women reported to registration places in south philadelphia pa thinking they had to register too several 36 year old new yorkers found out they were only 35 and eligible for the draft their birth certificates were based on the julian calendar of russia but the 13 day lag of the gregorian calendar used in the U S made them only 35 0 there is little doubt about the constancy of charles H Burk hardts love for his fiancee florence heywood when he registered in chicago he listed miss heywood as the one person who will always know his address 0 0 A band played lustily in front of indian creek school near aurora ill when the first man reported to register 0 0 0 interpreters were provided in many registration rooms throughout the country but they were of little vi 14 4 V IX A V jr 41 warren pershing son of general john J pershing is shown as a he e registered in new york city for the draft the son of one of 0 greatest and most loved soldiers young pershing was wa one ne of young men between 21 and 35 years of age who took their first step in military conscription plans by listing essen lal bial personal information for for selective service officials help in chicago when ahmoud sal eh Mohomad begu reported he is an arabian from beaunia Be Bet tunia unla cafe palestine stine A crisis was averted when begu sent for his personal interpreter one registrant grumbled because he had to stand in line so long A policeman who had fought in the world war commented standing in line boy you aint seen nothing yet p 0 0 old memories were brought back tor for 10 chicago registrants rushing into one of the classrooms when the school was opened they squeezed themselves behind the little desks and sang school days while looking attentively at the blackboards registration was temporarily postponed in evanston ill III when officials ran out of ink one man had to drive to the city hall for another bottle before the work could be resumed registration called out three of minnesotan Min highest officials gov harold E stassen 33 gov C elmer anderson 28 and senator designate joseph H ball 34 had to report to register 0 0 surprisingly few of the topflight top flight movie heroes were young enough to register some of the leading actors who were older than the draft requirement limit of 35 years were dark clark gable gary cooper spencer tracy ronald coleman cary grant buck jones george obrien james cagney and william boyd but prominent among hollywood names registered were those of robert taylor james stewart cesar romero orson welles broderick crawford and william holden 0 0 other movie registrants included lew ayres henry fonda john payne don ameche john carradine tyrone power laird cregar george sanders eddie albert herbert anderson william lundigan jeffrey lynn dennis morgan wayne morris ronald reagan ray milland william henry lee bowman john carroll douglas mcphail tony martin robert young john garfield artie shaw ennis john mack brown dick foran franchot tone lon chaney jr and noah beery jr 0 0 A number of children grouped in front of one chicago school and sang youre in the army now so loud it could be heard for blocks 0 0 A few hours after they had registered for the draft a young orchestra leader and his companion were killed when their airplane crashed near an airport at fond du lac wis they were identified by their selective service registration cards they were george jares 28 of chicago and guido guide 24 0 of f sheboygan wis and they had flown to fond du lac to register re vister from sheboygan where jares orchestra was playing on the return trip the plane developed motor trouble and crashed released by western newspaper union |
