South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-02-10
STA TESMEN
REAL AND NEAR
~ FRED c. KELLY.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.-One of
Oscar Underwood in the act of fold
ing up letter.
Underwood is a man greatly pre-
JUDGED in favor of neatness not only
in his personal appearance but in
everything he does. He would no
more be a party to a letter careless
ly folded than he would wear the
same collar all week. First he folds
the sheet over, matches the corners
right down to an inhnitesimal frac-
ton of a hairs breadth, and carefully
creases the paper in the middle. Then
comes the most difficult part. He
must determine, just with his eye,
how to make three additional folds,
each one of exactly the same size.
Having done that, Underwood stares
at the finished product a moment to
make certain ii is spOtless and free
from the slightest imperfection. II
he discovered one edge protruding
even an eentsy-teentSy bit beyond the
others it would make him unhappy.
But If his workmanship seems to be
all right. he carefully ticks the flap
of the envelope, taking pains TO see
that every particle of the mucilage Is
moistened.
He seals the envelope with great
care and that brings him TO the deli
cate task of putting on the stamp.
None of your lopsidedly stamped
envelopes for Oscar. He takes
enough time to insure having the
stamp in a perfect plumb-line with
the end of the envelope-and then
proceeds painstakingly to. the folding
of the next letter.
If he is free from Interruptions,
Rep. Underwood can fold from 10 TO
usually done up by others, however.
and in that way he gains a great deal
of time for affairs of state.
Neatness is just as much a part of
the Underwood makeup as his calm
ness. And the only thing that might
ever ruffie that calmness would be
lack OF neatness. Once in a while
one Of the employees about the offices
of the ways and means committee
chairman will huriedly crumple up
a piece OF waste paper and fire it at
the waste basket-and miss. If I'm
derwood happens TO be at his desk
and sees the piece Of crumbled paper
on the floor. he will quietly and un-
ostentatiously go and pick it up and
place il in the basket.
2
sat in his office talking on an import
ant matter 10 another congressman
and his eve CHANGED TO rest on a lit
I tie spot on his vest. He picked at
il with his finger nail. but IL would
! not come out. The pleasant express
sion on his face hardened a trifie and
the other congressman thought I'm
derwood was displeased at something
! that had been said. But the thing
/ that was worrying Underwood was
\ the little spot on his vest.
And that recalls this: Not long ago
! Underwood was debating to a new
stenOgrapher. Suddenly he ceased
I him staring abstractedly at her
sleeve.
There's a little spot on your
dress" he said-not in a critical or
captious tone at all. but I'm much the
same spirit that one would pause 20
tell man that his tire is fat.
At the close Of one OF UnderwoOd's
speaking tours in a political cam
paign while ago, friend remarked
TO him that il must have been hard,
nerve-racking work.
"Oh. il wouldn't have been SO bad,
replied oscar. 'but we stayed at no
tells 81 small towns, and often IL was
extremely difficult 90 Get ones clothes
pressed.
Sen. O'Gorman is locked upon as a
man who can move in mysterious
way If the exigencies Of a given oc-
casion should imperatively demand.
one evening recently, the senator
! walked dignifiedly into a big formal