The Washington herald., 1912-03-03
a DAY WITH CHAMP CLARK,
A PRODUCT OF THE PEOPLE
Keeping Tab on the Way He Spends Twenty
four Hours.

OHt VI lne D1u18OAAAI1N hAeNSt -
the United States is provided for Fhe use
Of the Speaker OF the House. But ne
never uses II. 1t stands idle In Its we'll
appointed garage. close by the House END
Of the Capitol, while Champ Clark rides
on a street car. He VIII use no other
vehicle. More often, however, he walks
Congress bought the automobile for
Uncle Joe Cannon, who knows how 10
appreciate the comforts OF life So. like
wise, does Mr.. Clark. but his ideas on
the subject are different. Though indis-
posed to motor cars, he is by no means
inclined TO rigorous self-denial-which
would be rather absurd ror a man whose
income Is anywhere from $4,000 to $4,000
q year.
Mr.. Clark's salary as a member of Con-
gress Is. Of course. $500 a year. In ad-
dItion, his pay as, Speaker Is A.5co. max
ing a total of $4,000. The income he
makes by Iecturing varies good deal.
necessarily. He does quite a lot OF II
between sessions, and occasionally at
other times. and he Is always able 10
command u,0o0 a lecture. II is hardly
worth while TO say that he never rides
In a private car. though he might have
one for the asking on many a railroad.
In Washington. the Speaker lives In
some state, occupying the entire sixth
floor OF an apartment house in Sixteenth
street, near Q. His fiat has three baths.
and Is somewhat spacious for the occu-
pancy OF a family OF four. comprising
Mr. Clark and his wife, a son, twenty
two years old (who is studying law). and
| a daughter of seventeen The Speaker
tells his friends that the boy was born
on jackson Day and the girl on Thanks
giving Day.
Such are the domestic surroundings oi
| the second most powerful man In tht
United States. But luxury has not modi
| ned habits formed In earlier days, wher
| Champ Clark rarely had as many as two
| dollars TO Jingle together IN his breechei
pocket He never has an IDLE minute
and punctuality In everything is for hin
| one Of the fundamentals OF life.
He gets up every morning at o'cioci
sharp. But when he gets up he has al
ready started his days work. He hai
looked over half a dozen newspaper
uaid on the table At his bedside at 7:ou)
and has thoroughly mastered their con
tents. One faculty he possesses Is tina
| of grasping the ''gist" OF an artict
at a glance. without going through tn
process Of reading IL. When II is under
s TODD that the Speaker Is an old news
paper man, having run the Riversid
Press In the town OF Louisiana, Mo-. 10
/ a year in the later '70s, this viii be bet
ter understood.
BY o'clock Mr. Clark. having had hi
breakfast, starts downtown. Wheneve
possible he walks. II the walking Is to
had he taken a street car. Like othe
members OF Congress, he has errands Z
I IL % which TAXES hlr
to the White House and the department;
Many such errandS he deputies to other'
but II the constituent Is an old friend
and he has an astonishing number Q
such friends-he Invariably prefers TO al
tend to the matter himself.
BY l0:3o, or a little before. he reache
the Capitol. The handsome ONCE Pre-
vided for his use by the nation Is on tn
iimain floor, scarcely fifty feet from u
chamber Of the House. II consists OF
commodious private room and an ante
room about twice as large for the recef
ton OF visitors. Both rooms are beaut
fully furnished with leather-covered arm
chairs and such other comforts as per
the physical environment Of Speaker
Having hung Up his overcoat and ha
Mr.. Clark descends TO the floor oelo
and goes into the House barber shop /,
be shaved. he invariably receives u
> 4 rllnlStTHIlOlS SoAAAC c@-SN-f
ored man named John, who has shave
. him for eighteen years John Is gettin
| old and rather blind, so that he
| obliged. as Mr. Clark says, TO "teei II
HE whiskers' as he plies the razor.
The case of John, the barber. illustrate
one Of Mr.. Clark's most marked chara'
,eristics. He never lets go OF anyood
who has once become attached TO nj
Z n he can help It. His private secretar
wallace d. Bassford, has served MIN
that capacity more than eighteen year
yVorren Hatcher, the messenger at u
Sneakers table, who keeps tab on u
time Of members speaking, worked Il
mir, "a far back as 1880, when ne mac
his arst successful race for Congress-
His face duly scraped, the Speaker n
l,rrns to his office upstairs, to nnd
stack of newspapers and letters on n
desk, The newspapers have previous
been gone over and marked with oIu
lead pencil by Mr.. Hatcher 70 eau =
:ention to whatever may seem 20 =
| worth while for his chief to read AS iS
the mail. II represents what Mr.. Bas'
ford has decided to be important enous
,o demand Mr.. Clark's personal after
tIon. Ordinarily about 200 letters a "a
reach the Speakers Office, the ouIk
ther be.ng handled by the private seer
tary. Mr.. Clark's orders are. hoWeVe
that every communication from al W
friend or supporter must be referred
him.
some of the correspondence receive
is very odd. For instance, not long ae
tribe Of Indians sent a petition to u
sneaker with about seventy-hve sisni
lures. Opposite each signature was u
thumb print Of the signer In what iooi
cd like blood, but which was reaiiy pok
berry Juice. h,,,
Recently q woman sent IN ouiA
ledger, closely written on botn sloes
every page, the contents OF which "a :,
Clark was requested TO read 10
House. 1t comprised instructions sOo'
the management OF the affairs OF u
nation In every imaginable detail
one thing, the writer recommendeo
process whereby snow could oe utnlz'
on a large scale as food for the arm arm
being. as she declared. higniy nu'Eiuou
All that was necessary was 70 uIy
which could easily be accomplished WI.
Iout melting. II her method were aoop.e
The v-onan said that she had eis
more voIumes, similar In 7Shara' :.
zhish she would send along. cut y
A clart returned the 6rst one TO her
[ ex.ress, marked ''colle1 tine resui.
, ing. that the balanse of this neN eolu eolu
!. Of sIvviIine rocks has failed 10 ma
: its a earance.
After reading his letters, the seeak