South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-02-24
STATESMEN
REAL AND NEAR
BY FRED Q. KELLY.

II BY FRED Q. KELLY.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.-From
superficial size-up one seems to be
justified in saying that wicked trust
could expect little sympathy from
Rep. William g. Adamson of Georgia.
Adamson is the chairman of the
house committee on Interstate COM
merce which will have a great deal to
do with bringing trusts 10 bay under
the present program OF the admins
tratiOn. And he looks the part of a
man who would swat trust with
much glee
Take any trust n@gnate you ever
saw in the picture books and he Is
almost certain to be the direct oppo-
site of Charlie AdamsOn. Your typic-
al wicked trust chief is sleek, fat, well
dressed, SNUG and complacent. Adam
son isn't any of those things. And he
is either ignorant or intolerant of the
eXtraVagances, frivolities and monkey
business of current civilization. All
he thinks about is plugging away at
his job and he has not had any fun
for years and years He hates base
ball and automobiles and hasn't at
congress, back in the pos.
One day, few weeks ago. Adam
son had occasion to go by a golf
links where natily CARRIED young men
were irritating small gutta percha
spheres with stout clubs.
What are they doing yOnder?" in
| quired Adamson.
Playing golf" replied his compan-
ion. What did you think they were
I dOing-laying brick %
Huh. So that's golf eh?" muir
INJURED Adamson. "I'Ne often heard il
/ spoken Of"
No games or amusements. indoor or
outdoor, ever tempt AdamsOn from
| the strait and narrow path of con-
slant toll. The only sport he gets
! out of life is the meagre enjoyment
1 afforded by reading ancient history
and mythology. When he reads his
/ tory he doesn't bother with persons
who wrote within the last few hun
/ dred years, but goes clear back TO
/ HerOdotuS himself, who was daShing
off ancien. history back in the days
when the stuff was still being made.
All the old Greek and Roman deities
/ and their family connections he knows
| intimately and could call the entire
4 roll without consulting his notes. He
| has a sense of humOr, too, and would
read Mark Twain or Bill Nye by the
/ hour if he felt like taking the time.
At the time he was elected to con-
. gIesS. AdamsOn was lawyer with
Cregarious inclinations who liked to
part! cipate with his friends in out
groupings of the social instinct in
I mankind. When he set out for Wash
ington his friends agreed that whether
! Charlie" did any work or not, he
I would at least make himself agree
| able and have a lot of fun out of the
thing.
But from that point he showed a
reversal OF form. He not only gave
up all thought of everything save toll
on mis- arrival here, but even quit
smoking.
In his dress, too. AdamsOn leads
the simple life. He gives the i'm
preston Of having slept in the clothes
he has on. and his necktie is one of
I those tied-in the factory devices, be-
sides being worn always under one
ear 1t Is a good sporting PROPOSE
ton whether Adamson's tie will be
found under his right ear or the left
ear. but it is certain not to be within
As degrees of his front collar button.
one of the predominating traits or
Adamson is his impatience. He can [
sit still more than a few minutes at a
time and whatever he has 70 do ne
earnestly desires to do Ii right away.
Now that he is chairman OF one OF
the trust FOSTERING committees, he
will be almost beside himself If a
trust shows any inclination 10 hem or
haw or procrastaate about taking Its
place on the blue box at the crack
of the whip.
When the house is in session,
Adamson goes in and sits in his place
N
a piece of paper, pencil OF All
eraser he wants from his once
Whereupon he walks upstairs TO the
committee room, but he Is not there
long before he becomes uneasy lest
something is taking place on the
floor. once back on the floor he Is
certain there must be some mail 10
look over at the office. 1t il not eN-
aggeration 10 say that ne trampS
back and forth from the house floor
To his committee room on an average
of so times a day.
Adamson has an unmiugated hor-
ror of letting a bunch of mail go UNI
answered for half an hour. III mail
arrives at 10 o'clock and another al
II O'Clock he would not think OF
waiting until Il and doing UP the
whole bunch Il once. He answers
the 10 O'Clock mail, goes away, and
comes back right on the dot at
o'clock for the next mess.
The hrst distribution of congress
sional mail is ready shortly after
o'clock In the morning. AdamSon has
this sent to his house and has a
stenographer there all night to be
ready 10 ffy at the job of answering
II about $40. The next mail comes
about 3 o'clock and he disposes OF
that before he eats breakfast. SO II
goes throughout the day-eVery day
in the year. Sundays, Christmas, Ar
Dor day and all.
Chairman Adamson. has knack al
getting things done. too-someumes
by methods OF his own. In this con-
nection one may cite the time he was
, assigned 10 weed the potato patch
That was many years ago when
Adamson was a small boy, but II Is
typical.
His father said: Charlie, renlove
all that grass and weeds from those