The Detroit times., 1908-06-26
BUSIEST MAN IN
WASHINGTON HAS
IS JOBS
HE is ELLIOTT WOODS, sUPEaIN.
y'TeNoENT OF THE CAPITOL
BUILDING AND GROUNDS "A
NEW CANNON STORY.
BY RALPH M. WHlTEsIpE.

tial campaign. there IL one man In
Warrington who 10 busy with other
matters Of Importance. He IL Elliott
Woods. superintendent OF the capitol
building and grounds. He IL the bust.
est man In Washington during the
summer
Mr. Woods has. on conservative es
Innate. ID Jobs. and he holds four OF.
fees When ne r. about To begin his
days work, he figures out the time he
must allot to each Of many duties.
Let's see" he Eliminates, where
will we start this morning."
Then he counts over his 10 fingers.
assigning some bit OF work TO each
one and starts over again.
Mr.. Wood IL In charge OF the COM
rletion OF the House ONCE building
and the Senate ONCE building, and he
belongs TO all commissions of the last
session Of congress appointed 20 look
after the construction OF monuments
and memorials
One Of his commission duties en-
braces drawing up plans for the Lin
after plans for the new buildings OF
justice. state. commerce and labor, and
finishing the pediment OF the west
wing Of the capitol.
An underground railway Is to be In.
stalled to operate between the capitol
and the lawmakers new Offices. Woods
must look after this He has the de-
Gliding vote In what sort of con.
trivance shall be installed 80 that
members Of the house, seated In their
Cffices. can take q receiver off the
hook and hear what Is going on In the
house.
The grass on the capitol grounds
must be kept we'll trimmed Woods
somebody must look after the EN-
ployes. All improvements IN the CAPT.
toll building also come under this busy
mans Jurisdiction.
Woods has plenty OF energy. After
drinking cup OF coffee--he never
eats any breakfast-be jumps into his
automobile, makes dash for the cap.
itol building, and stops at one OF his
Offices. Here he listens to all COM
plants and all requests. and then
rushes to his den in the White House.
From there he goes to his office In the
senate Office building, and finally to
the main Office in the capitol building.
The rest OF the day Is put in trying
to work and keep appointments at the
same time, as well as to attend meet
ings TO discuss different branches Of
work being done under the supervision
of his eagle eye. His automobile is
great time saver. for 1t enables him
to rush to all parts Of the city. If he
drove horse instead, he would kill
the animal I'm short time.
Woods is not satisfied with the
amount of work he has TO do. AS
relief, he rugged up a wireless tele-
graph apparatus on top Of the hill and
he generally spends little time there
every day. He sends jocose messages
to battleships far out at sea and
than the one he is work
ing. After firing of this, the under
worked man sits down at a piano and
a little music. Elliott Woods
Is six feet tall He weighs as much as
q man his weight should weigh He
never becomes tired.
Many stories have been told about
how Uncle Joe Cannon. speaker of the
house, began his career. One OF the
favorite yarns in Washington is the
Joe Cannon boarded train some
where down east and travelled as far
as his car fare lasted. When near
M xx,tl I..- -
more money.
Haven't cent" said Cannon.
Guess you'll have TO get off, then"
replied the conductor.
"Just as well get of here as any
where else. suppose" said Cannon.
That's how he came to alight near
the town Of Danville. He went to
boarding house and, after a display Of
logic, managed 10 run up fairly good
sized bill. At that time there was q
fight on TO decide the county seat
won out and Joe decided TO
travel In that direction. He sought
his clearinghouse keeper.
II owe you quite BILL he said.
Don't know II any better than
do" replied the landlord.
Haven't a cent" said Cannon
You look it," was the unsympa.
thetic reply.
Have some prospects over in Dan
Vile. I'll pay you when I make good.
"All right"
Cant get to Danville, though.
Haven't the fare. Lend me two dol
lars"
Good money after bad" said the
landlord. We'll. your nerve deserves
Il Here's five dollars"
That's how Joe Cannon came to
settle In Danville. The five.dollar bill
was the basis for his success, both
and politically.
Tariff revision, the biggest piece OF
work in the routine OF government. Is
having it's foundations laid this sum.
mer and the builders are going about
their work In q most careful manner.
A number OF meetings will be held
In this city during july for the purpose
Of obtaining expressions OF opinion
from business and commercial men as
to what branches OF the tariff need
first attention.
10 uldkc tire pan iuoic StiNdiu, rep
are sending out notices to
their constituents SO that. II special
Is necessary. they can
have their experts In Washington
when the meetings are held.
II is thought that an extra session
will be called Immediately after March
4 next. The makeup OF the COM
mittee will be about the same in next
congress. consequently whatever Is
done during the summer will have an