DRAWING THE MARBLES.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 17 November 1916, Page 5

DRAWING THE MARBLES.

AN HISTORIC EVENT. PHOTOGKAPHED FOR THE CINEMA. WELLINGTON, Nov 1(5. The compulsion ballot opened yesterday. There were just over, four thousand names to b e drawn. The Ma;- >r of Wellington, a representative of the Trades Council, and six pressmen, wvre present to scrutinise the proceedings, watch the magistrate count the ballot marbles, inspect the laying out of boxes containing the roll of the Expeditionary Force first division on long tables in an order decided by chance. All the preliminaries were photographed by a Government cinematographer as a national record. The first marble drawn was 156, which resulted in every one hundred ana fifty-sixth card in the 19-i boxes being turned up by the girl assistants. Some of the cards were blank; others were of men in Auckland City* Nelson, Hawke's Bay and Wanganui, which have provided fjull quotas. Therefor cards bearing a number in these districts were turned down. The first draw resulted in 120 selections, the process taking twenty minutes. Another turn of the drum and marble No. 345 was picked out. The process was repeated, and fifty names were selected. The ballot continued similarly till nine o 'clock last night.