Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-06-19

Washington Special to the New
York World. Mrs, Albert B..
Cummins, Mrs. Jonathan F. Dolliver
and Mrs. Rober, M. LaFolletta are a
trio who, from the galleries are follow
ing with intelligent interest the inch
By incl. battle which heir huslan! !,
are waging OH the floor of he senate.
All women .! the middle west, they
have the freedom from convention, the
gift of initiative and the grasp of af-
fairs possible only to those who go in
7 for things as they are In the cases OF
Mrs. Dolliver and Mrs. LaFollette,
each enters grimly into the contest,
digs up books in .,,'e hope of unearth-
ing fresh data teV pring upon the I'M
suspecting foes of the opposing camp.
Mrs. Cummins, on the contrary, de-
votes herself to watching the battle
and furnishing sidelights on things
from the vantage point of well-in-
formed observer whose intimate
knowledge of the personnel of nation
al politics stands her in good stead.
Mrs. Cummins looks after the house
hold and sees to it that rest and quiet
and physical and mental refreshment
await the senator upon his return to
the Cummins menage, a cosy, bright,
book filled retreat, cared for by a
group Of well trained servitors.
Past master in the art of meeting
people and keeping the senator in the
background without giving offense,
Mrs. Cummins, through lifelong asso-
citation, knows just when to "retire"
the senator and give him an opportun-
aty to regain his scattered forces. Al
most the first person Senator Cum,
Minis met when in his early boyhood
days he set off from his home in the
Pennsylvania mountains to start i,s
life, was the young girl he later made
his wife. AS an Insignificant member
of surveying corps who blazed the
way for railroad passing through the
little town of Eaton Rapids, Mich,
his path crossed that of Miss Ida Gal
.lery, daughter of one of the directors
of the road. Like an old-fashioned love
story the lifelong romance of the SEN
ator and his wife begins with a beard
less boy, penniless and plucky, whose
genuineness won the day not only in
the love game but in the play for place
with a jealousy devoted father.
Long before the railroad was finish
girl in her early teens and the young
surveyor, who on the side was a stu
dive cmfwpyshrdlcmfwyshrd
dent of law. Chicago was the first
home of the newly welded pair, but
the great city had no lure for the flu
ture governor of Iowa, who, despite
his wife's circumstances, proceeded to
bury himself" in Des Moines, where
his earliest western adventure had
taken him. For thirty years Senator
and Mrs. Cummins have made Iowa's
capital city their home. Rising stead
lily In his profession, Senator Cum
minis reached the climax of his ambi-
lions in legal robes only to put by
the fruits Of many years labor and en-
ter politics.
~, 80 didn't. fancy his going into poll
tics. It meant continuation Of a
lifelong strain, but when the senator
pot into things and everybody fought
him, felt sorry for him and helped
him all l could" naively declares
Mrs. Cummins. ~ am proud of him,
OF course, but never was any prouder
OF him as governor of Iowa or senator
from the state than l was when mar
ried him."
Looking at the wife of Iowa's in
surgent senator, it is difficult to recon
cile her claim to grandmother honors.
Just a thread or two of silver glistens
IN her wavy dark hair, the high light
In the locks about her ears accentuat.
ing the pretty, soft white skin with its
suspicion of pink in the cheeks. Mrs
Cummins has the grace of woman
accustomed to place and power and
the affability of a true citizen of the
world. She has travelled abroad great
deal, and has Joined enthusiastically
in the senator's chase for Limited edi
tions" and autographed copies, while
as the wife Of man in the storm cen.