Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-03

While there are admittedly q number OF
employees around the Senate and the Sen
ate Office building who are there more be-
cause of pull than ability, on the whole
1t may be said that no legislative body in
the world has stronger corps OF assist
ants than the Senate of the United States
There are many men carried on the SEN
ate's pay roll who have rendered them!
selves Indispensable to its delibt rations.
Unique among the number Is Kennedy
+. Rea, clerk to the Senate committee on
appropriations. He Is unique because
only few years ago he was imported
from the House committee on appropria-
tions, and last year was only third IN
rank among the clerks Of the Senate COM
mittee The ranking clerk was Thomas
p. Cleaves, who, next to Jim" Courts OF
the House committee, knew more about
government finances than any one else
around the Capitol. When Cleaves began
to feel the infirmities OF years he asked
his friend Courts to recommend him
good assistant. Courts decided that 1t
was a chance for Rea, and recommended
him to Cleaves. Cleaves was Ill all last
winter and Rea proved his mettle by
breaking in Senator Hale as the successor
of the late Senator Allison as chairman
Of the committee. So pleased was Sen
ator Hale with his work that, although
Pitman Pulsifer, who had MADE record record
Hale while he was chairman of the com
mtttee on naval affairs, had been brought
over to appropriations by Senator Haze, ne
decided to make Rea the clerk mus are
both appropriat. on committees OF Con-
gress guided in their deliberations by
democratic clerks.
Congress- has applied the civil service
law to all departments, but persssentiy
reserves the
Men Who Possess right TO ad-
Wonderful Memories. spoils system
in it's own affairs, and there are only
few who are able to render such service
as to make them immune when the pont-
ical complexion of eithir branch changes.
Superintendent OF the Document Room
George II. Boyd is another Senate EN-
ploye who is sure Of his job whoever
comes into power.
Mr.. Boyd was long an understudy OF
the late Amzi Smith, and the things
AMI Smith did not know about govern
ment documents were not worth KNOW
ing. He was as remarkable of mind as
was the late Ainsworth r. Sponord. for
SO lOn& the iUTdTldH VI SO16i COS SoS1i
Of them grew gray in the service, and
each saw his work expand more than a
hundredfold. They k>pt track of every
item of expansion, and no senator ever
thought Of consulting document index
when AMI Smith was in reach. He was
q human index of the thousands of differ
ent kinds Of docum> nls in his charge. He
trained Boyd along the SAINT lines and
many has been the time when Boyd has
shown evidences of as retentive a m m
ory as Smith or SpoffOrd possessed. Sucn
q memory is of ineStimable value when
q sena.or wants some document, con-
c, rnlng which he knows neither the num-
Der, the Congress, nor the session uhoer
which 1t was printed.
*
The Senate press gallery affords an
other example of the way man may
make himself
Many Are Indebted so useful as
to James D. Preston. the pale of
the most insistent demands of patronage.
The superintendent of the S.nate press
gallery is James D. Preston. Every news
paper reader in the land Is indebted to
this genial citizen. His highest ambition
seems to be to make the work Of the
Washington correspondent easy. and SO
to assist him that the whole world may
know In it's morning paper just what has
happened In the Senate the day before.
Preston is the right bower Of the stand
ing committee Of correspondents. and
looks after all details Of official functions
in which the menb rs OF the press are
concerned. He knows thoroughly the
tastes and idiosyncrasies Of every CORE
spondent. and whether as superlntend mt
of the Senate press gallery. executive
clerk to the standing committee OF corre-
spondents, or assistant secretary OF the
National Press Club lin" Preston finds
q way to be Of service to every newspa-
per adler in America.
The employees OF the Senate are better
paid, as rue. than those of the House
Only in the case of the appropriations
committee OF the Hou. does clerk get
as good pay as the clerk Of the corre-
spending committee Of the Senate. OF
course, the highest paid ofncial of the
Senate is Its secretary, whose salary Is
S.. $780, Charles G.. Bennett has held this
position for a number Of years. He was
formerly member Of the House from
brooklyn. N. Y. and was elected Sec
rotary OF the Senate after his defeat for
reelection. The bulk of the business OF
the Senate is transacted through the