Rocky Ford enterprise., 1914-05-15

saw tue american SallOrS lanClHS Ut
Vera Cruz and the American soldiers
blasting a way to Mexico City with
their artillery. Then his eye wan
dered out the window over the White
House grounds, where the grass was
green. the trees covered with draper
les of tender spring leaves. the mag
nolias alight with their pink blossoms.
the tulips and hyacinths making
bright spots in the lawn-and. like the
man who couldn't believe in the gi-
raffe, he said. there amt no such
thing
Later somebody told him that the
tender hues of spring had no bearing
whatever on the question Of war with
Mexico. 1t appears that Washington
always looks lovely at this time of
year. And for several nights before
that. the President, the army and navy
departments. and the newspaper cor
respondents had sat up till nearly
dawn, listening to the telegraph in
strument's account of the doings of
the day. On several occasions the
president had been aroused from bed
during the least-well-known hours OF
the morning
THE man from New York. as he no
ticed the external calm that seemed
to exist everywhere. could not help
thinking how a war would have been
run by the typical men OF AFFAIRS in
New York. The headquarters would
have been in some 40-story building.
in the heart of the seething, boiling
downtown. which would have seethed
and boiled ever SO much more to
match the occasion. Men difficult of
access. barricaded behind partitions
and railings, guarded by office-boys.
naughty to callers. inordinately i'm.
portant In mien, and dressed in the
clothing prescribed by 1914 New York
fashions, would have been at the head
of things.
Cabinet Members Looked Ordinary.
with one or two possible excep-
tions. the members of the cabinet do
not look as though they had thrown
and tied all the weightiest questions
in the universe and pinned a row Of
orders on themselves therefor. When
the cabinet came out from the three
more to talk about Colorado than
about the Mexican situation-the man
from New York could almost have
named the state from which each
member came by his clothing and hair
cut
Since the situation became acute
in Mexico the presidents schedule
had been almost completely aban-
doned. On the occasion mentioned
above, after he had finished what he
had to say to the congressman. he
respondents who had arrived In Wash
ington overnight-men whom he rec
ognized from campaigning days-and
gave them a handshake and a word
OF welcome. He even answered few
questions about Mexico-a proceeding
which was altogether contrary to his
usual custom of reserving what he has
to say for the set occasions when all
the men are present.
Meantime outdoor Washington
pays no great attention. Toward
nightfall the crowds gather around
the bulletin boards in front Of the
newspaper offices and the more SEN
sational reports are banded about in
the hotels and shops. The bootblack
says that regardless of what the pres
ident expects to do with Vera Cruz,
Walter Johnson is undoubtedly the
greatest pitcher in the history of the
world"
Getting the "6ig News"
The government of the United
States is not strict censor of news.
Frequently the White House and Of
fees of the secretaries of navy and
war hold up for a while important in
formation which comes from the front,
but eventually they give IT out in or.
der that the country may know just
what is doing.
Night and day newspaper men have
been working In Washington in relays.
Ordinarily night and day in newspa-
perdom means working for one shift
until the afternoon papers go to press
and the working Of another shift until
the morning papers are put to bed. but
in Washington recently night and day
work has meant "a hours labor. One
relay of correspondents sees the sun
rise, when another takes the post OF
duty and remains until the sun sets.
Activity and System.
signs OF activity" is an expression
which has been used upon hundreds
and hundreds OF occasions in the prints
Of the United States. 1t has become
so common in its use that perhaps 1t
carries no strong meaning with 1t to-
day. The activity in the White House
and in the state and war departments
has been SO great recently that one
must go to the Chicago Board of Trade
or to some other stock exchange dur
ing the hours of business in order to
get a fitting standard of comparison.