The Washington herald., 1914-02-13
Statss.aea, Real and Ne,r.
BY FRED G.. KELLY.

- % rhED Z. kEL1ts
Senator Alice w. Pomerene. Of Ohio.
has an inviting faculty Of lending .
certain atmosphere OF mystery 70 nearly
everything that he does or says.
II the Senator were 10 walk up to a
man and ask for a match. he would do
Il with such unimpassioned gravity that
the man would wonder.. What is this
fellow mp ter *
A few mornings ago Pomerene appeared
at the White House to keep an appoint
ment with the President He was accom-
panied by one or two men from out OF
the city and all looked rather serious,
though none so much SO as the Senator.
One got the impression from a glance at
Atlee that the President was about to
be apprised Of something extremely sad
and weepful.
Two or three newspaper representa-
lives rushed up TO Pomerene to learn
what manner Of rueful rumors he bore,
and braced themselves to hear the worst
But Pomerene merely shook his head
sadly and declared:
II can tell you nothing"
A moment later he led his companions
into the Presidents Office. with every
outward appearance of one carrying
words OF woeful wisdom.
BY that time the newspaper toilcrs who
had seen Pomerene were becoming
alarmed. They waited for another look at
the Senator when he came out of the
executive chamber and his face confirmed
their suspicious II was amply evident
that the brief conference had been one
OF much monochrome enecting not
merely this nation alone, but affairs of
international significaSce and OF the ut
most consequence to many generations
yet unborn.
do tell us what II was all about?"
they asked Pomerene in ilushed whispers.
There really is nothing of interest that
/ can tell you" replied Atlee.
Nothing at all?''
Absolutely nothing"
By great diligence. however. the object
OF the conference was Iearufd.
And what was il that had brought
Pomerene to the White House?
He was there to introduce a man who
desired to invite the President TO a col
lege dinner.
One of the pleasant features OF being
President Of the United States is the fact
that one does not have to do much talk
ing over the telephone. Owing to that
happy circumstance "A President can save
a great deal Of wear and tear OH his tenn
per in the course OF day.
Every effort is made TO shield the Pres
ident from the deadly telephone. He talks
over the phone to Cabinet officers nearly
every day, but that about lets him out.
The average Senator doubtless feels
that he is fairly important feature Uf
the cosmos. and yet he is likely to find
some difficulty in placing himself into
telephone communication with the Pres
ident. IL the matter is OF the utmost i'm
portance that is considered all the more
about il over the phone, and il il is not
important. that, too. IS a perfectly valid
reason why he should shun the phone.
Occasionally a Senator will grasp a
phone and ask for the President in an
urgent tone. intended to convey the i'm
preston that the national honor de-
pends ON the two holding an immediate
But even then the Presi- |
dents buffers make a concerted effort to \
persuade the Senator to send his message
one of the White House secre-
tsries, or else write note, or drop in
and see the President face to face
Ordinarily the President will talk by |
phone less than half dozen times day. |
and perhaps more than half OF those calls |
will be initiated by himself.
Senator Miles POindeXter who is al |
ways being mistaken for Representative
iobson. and who has sense of hUmo-,
vas riding along peaceably the other
light on street car. A middle-aged |
nan who had been reading one of Hob
'on's temperance speeches, sat down be-
'ide him and inquired:
Captain, didn't you EVER drink?'
Just once" replied Poindexter. 1t was
great many years ago, but I shall never |
forget il. / had fallen in with evil COM
panions one night and they tried to per
'uade me to drink with them. For a long |
ime / withstood their gibeS and jeers. |
,ut finally ] yielded, feeling that per
laps after all it was manly To do as they
lid. Laughing gayIy. we made our way
% a place where all was spick and span
md white and alluring. II was a dairy
unch room. | went in with the others !
md drank two large cups OF buttermilk
'efore l realized what / had done
Senator Lawrence Y. Sherman, Of I'LL
lois. may often be seen browsing about
book stores looking over sal
ow-leaved tones and making an occa-
ional purchase. Like as not the books
&c takes away are works that not one
nan in thirty e-er heard of. II the |
;enator were placed on the witness stand,
and pinned right down to
t he might he forced to admit that he
owes to dig up an obscure piece of lit
nature and lift an apt quotation from
: to use in Senate speech. He thinks
/ is great sport to quote something that
rill make all the other Senators wonder
.ow he happened to know such stuff.
1914 by Fred G. Kelly. All rights rc-
ssryeiD