The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-07-15
SIMMER QUIET
FALLS ON WASHINGTON
The National Capital Feels as Il a
Wet Blanket Had Been Thrown
Over 1t.

while the ma for members Of the exeeu-
tive branches are away doing business
IN homeopathic installments, mixing
statecraft with tennis or gentleman
farming.
At the state, war and navy building,
for instance, only subordinates remain.
Secretary Of War Dickinson Is sailing
over the boundless pillows Of the Pacific
for the orient, lie does not expect to
be back at headquarters again before
October. Secretary Of the Navy Meyer
ia in Hamilton, Massachusetts. seere-
tary Knox has farm at Valley Forge,
where he watches his hands make hay
from the cool embrasure Of his study
window. His chief method Of exercise
Is playing billiards with bis family.
But It's a hot summer that brings no.
body any good. While the cabinet mem
bers are away, the seconds in command
have free hand in presiding over the
operations Of the departments. Those
who did all the work during tne legis-
lative year without getting any credit
for il have a chance 10 sign their names
to official documents as "acting secre-
tariesp and 10 see their names in the
public press in the same capacity.
The Official summer begins at the state
department when Second Assistant Sec
rotary Adee gets home from~nis bicycle
trip in France For years his going
neraIded the arrival OF spring and his
coming meant that new order was TO
prevail in the department. Secretary
Knox Is legal and exact, and when he
speaks Of foreign relations his state
ments have neither frills nor "atmos-
phere" His interviews are unembel.
hshed and unadorned and have no more
literary feeling than an algebraic prob
lem in quadratie equations.
With Adce il is different. The second
assistant loves a joke better than a dip.
lomatie coup de grace. He has been in
the service several decades and his hui
mor-as well as some Of his iokes-have
ripened during that time. When Acting
Secretary Adee discusses Central Amer.
lean embroglio it becomes a thing Of de-
light. It gIovs with color 1t is no
longer mere statement Of casualties
50 many killed and 50 many wounded
and 20 muca damage done--but 2 round.
ed story, pathetic and humorous, which
suggests another story, which in turn
suggests another, until one goes away
with charming unwritten brochure in
his mind on eWar and How She Is
Fought in Central America.
From the perfunctory cable dispatches
be draws a picture Of the American min.
ister in Persia, his sorrows, which are
many. and joys, which are few. One
forgets the value Of fact in the delight
Of fancy and the amusing game Of diplo-
macy. as reflected Through his accounts,
becomes less struggle for the prestige
81 nations than game IF cross purposes
among men Of different countries and
different instincts, with very human
failings and virtues, All Of which have
their bearing on the fearfully abtruse
aud lofty subject Of foreign relations.
Assistant Secretary Huntington VIII
son viii preside for a time, at least,
this summer He. too. has his "atmos-
phere,- which he drapes about himself
with the studied care Of a Buddhistie
mahatma. His Office is sealed and dark.
eued to keep out the sunshine and heat.
In one corner before an electric fan is
chunk Of ice, which cools the draught.
This is the only positive utilitarian
thing in the room. The rest is negative.
One whispers instinctivly in this hushed
chamber. for fear he viii dispel the air
Of nothingness which hovers there I'M
disturbed. 1t seems almost sacrilege
that the ice is not frozen in subdued
shade Of gray, that it may blend better
with the environment.
Assistant Secretary Wilson's reelection
of activity in foreign affairs takes on
the same tone. He discourses, as a rule,
with Russian cigarette in his hand
small and dainty and giving the faintest
odor, as he aceentuatesthe term seems
hard in this connection point or an
other while talking ia the most subdued
voice. One gets the impression that
far away somewhere something mas hap
pened or Is happening realized through
an intangible poetic veil, soft murmur-
ings that sift above the monotone Of
days. Upon leaving the office, it seems
that one has awakened from a dream
and marves at the perfection Of it.
Nothing was overdone, no incident
limned so strong that it stood out with
d suspicion Of harsnness Or dominated
the discourse. After all, the world is
nothing, if our inner selves are attuned
10 the music Of life and love. IN this
light, a real fact is maudIin or indecent
and real war is bloody and brutal
thing that had best be hidden from hu-
man gaze.
Over on the war side, General Oliver,