Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-12-23

NO moro lamentable error GOULD DO
charged against the gentle render than
ior MN or her to assume that tho whis-
kers Of the Honorable James Hamilton
Lewis-you get him as Ham Lewis?
are his most interesting attribute
writes T.. w. Townsend. in tho New
York Evening Sun.
On the contrary. quite otherwise.
Deprived OF his whiskers. II such
Darefaced outrage were Imaginable Mr.
Lewis would remain ono of the most
interesting characters in the Senate of
these here United states. He has both
wit and wisdom. and pass rapidly
from that statement before one begins
to ponder on the infrequency OF the
combination.
He Is a rafting good debater, dcllv-
ers prepared speech with excellent
taste. and Is ono Of tho few Senator'S
VINO does not seem To consider II a boro
TO Know anything about parliamentary
rules and practices. Indeed. upon those
occasions when he presides over the
Senate, 1t Is not his elegant grace
which alone all observers dote upon:
his display of,parliamentary lore equal
ly charms-ahd surprises.
Presides a La John Drew.
IT Is as good as to sec John Drew
acting the part OF a courteous beau to
liberations OF the Senate. The heavy
air OF the Senate chamber becomes
electrified by his activities of mind and
body; the gallery wakes up-also the
Senate. Press correspondents leave
their cushioned armchairs In their pri-
waite lobby and hasten to the hard
benches OF their official box. There IL
a change in all things animate as In
crowd when a brass band suddenly
switches from "Massa's In the Cold,
Cold Ground" to Its a Long WAY TO
Tipperary."
The Senator from Vermont arises and
Inquiries: VIII the Senator from
Georgia yield?" Does tho presiding
officer sleepily mutter half tho formal
question and resume n disturbed nap?
Not ]. Hamilton! With animation, vi
vacity. his supple hands outstretched
almost appealingly toward Georgia, he
inquiries. with intense eagerness, as IL
the formula were new-and surpris-
ing. VIII the Junior Senator from
Georgia yield to the senior Senator
from Vermont" turning and bowling
slightly toward the Green Mountains
VIII he2 Why the Junior Senator
from Georgia would as soon think Of
resisting an appeal SO fetchingly inter-
pretcd as to refuse candy to child.
He says: Il y!eld!' md the presiding
officer rewards him with brilliant
smile. conveys the important informa !
tion with graceful wave OF his speak
ing hands toward Vermont, and leans
forward with lips quivering In their
eagerness to drink in-so to speak
tho stream of eloqucnce he feels suro
Is to flow from Vermont. The Senator
from that state says ponderously:
II think the Senator from Georgia Ia
in error in stating that the statute was
enacted in the Fifty-third Congress:
1t was in the Fiftyfourth."
- James Hamilton Lewis sinks back in
the vice presidential chair as If almost
overcome by excess of the sweet har-
mony of eloquence; he clasps and un-
clasps his hands in ecstasy. his eyes
closed for a second. but with Il mighty
effort Gas one. when the curtain falls on
the last act of the opera, recalls him
self from dreams celestial with the
thought that a supper bill Is yet to be
met and paid) leans forward and in
quires with fluttering hands, Does the
Senator from Vermont wish further to
interrogate the Senator from Georgian"
And with such pretty doings tho
Lewisian hour in the chair all too soon
ends, and the dull. dread hours of or
binary craftsmanship follow. Tho air
loses it's pep, the electric lights cease
to glitter. the cloakrooms fill with
smokers. the Senate volplanes to earth
again
"DId You Ever See Such Busy
PcrsOnf"
In one Of May TWINS farces pretty
but bold thing kisses the man Miss
Irwin favors. Miss Irwin gasps and
then takes the audience into her con-
fidence with the question, did you
ever see such n busy person?" Ono Is
moved to ask that question after even
an incomplete survey of James Ham
ilton Lewis's official activities. lie Is
one of the youngest Senators. only
forty-six years old. 1 think, yet lie has
had an official and professional career
which, divided among half dozen
citizens of moderate OK pectation. would
moro than satisfy their ambitions.
Representative in Congress from tho
State of Washington. n Senator from
Illinois The WAS born down South
forget Just whore. and educated some
where else), a legislator in the state
Of Washington, an army officer in the
Spanish -American War, our diplomatic
commissioner in London in tho Alaskan
dispute case, corporation counsel in
Chicago. candidate for Governor Of
Illinois. author of book on election
laws, law lecturer in the Northwestern
University, not to mention many minor
activities of an official and professional
nature.
IL am making this one-man let
ter 1t Ia because I feel that have an
interesting public duty to perform. 1t
Is not just to so attractive a statesman
that he should be known only by tho
whiskers he keeps.
To Get BACK to Those WhfsIkers.
Nou, a xayord opIu n 10 flos. y,l >~a