New-York tribune., 1918-07-07

meal, and within forty-rve minutesN
Baker is back at the War Building ri
ready for the afternoon engagements.
Every afternoon begins with al houI
conference with General Peyton { Msr'
Chief of Staff. Then come the o. her nj
tary appointments and She various staF ii
council meetings. On Tuesday and Frids
afternoons there are Cabinet meetings. 4
Wednesday a meeting of the War Coun.|
Of all the departments. and on other dsI
there are other conferences In addition i
his regular duties as Secretary of War, n
Baker is a member Of many special comnsf
tees and commissions organized for speed
war work. Among these are the Comma1
sion on Training Camp Activities, the CosI
mittee on Public Information, The Pres
dents Commission and the National Al
justment Commission.
He holds frequent conferences with y
Allied military commissions and frequen. /
talks with ambassadors and representasHs
of foreign governments Military as wi
as civil questions come to him daily n
final decision. His "yes" or no" dseisss
the spending of hundreds Of millions 4
dollars +
Yet, with all these important duties i
always has little time to listen 10 dsis
of small matters which call for democsi !
justment-cases that even in norrsE
times might be considered too trivial a
the attention of a Cabinet officer II is n
knowledge that Mr.. Baker can be counz /
on for square deal that wins for him II
support of every one with whom he con
in contact. L
At about 6:l5 o'clock the afternoons WI
is considered finished, and the Ss'fH
tary goes home to dinner Sometimes Il
has dinner engagements o fulfil, but Il
tries to curtail these as much as posslaa
When, as is sometimes the case, he ~
vited to speak at a banquet or at an eve
ing gathering, nc makes mis- address 81
then asks to be excused. By II
back IN his Office He spends the evsag~
Immersed in papers Of state. sometiH'
debating TO some Of his stenogrspns'
There are FIVE stenographers constantly Il
his call. and he is often forced to cal \
others from the general force Of the
partment. About II he pushes aside
unfinished correspondence. and the sten''
rapher bundles it into the familiar O''
case. Then he goes home, and it Is
be supposed that he sleeps.
No Time To Be Idle
Does he ever take any recreation!
o. q
days He gets worlds Of comfort cut Of
old briar pipe. Il he mas spare n0H'
TO himself, he wcull probably ike 10
up in deep, soft armchair with "
Since his boyhood IL Mart.nsburs, W.
that has been his favoYite pastime.
.he books that he chooses are real DS, 's"s
not the ephemcral fcsion of the day. '"
he was a lawyer in Cleveland, MI D.
used 10 be seen reading Latin or '''s'-
the streetcars. Hardly the average lss'
notion OF the way to pass an idle nan =, ,.,gS
But the Secretary OF War gets Vefs =
time nowadays for his Theoer'as
Juvenal If you talk 10 him aoou' ~ !,
cessity for relaxation. he viii proosp"
you that there will be time for tns' " ~
by. Besides, has ne not lately been =
war zone7 II there were any dang,
mental cobwebs. he has averted 'n'
remaining for hours in the trehe"" a
dugouts. close by the bursting s'ss
scattering shrapnel No; take one ~ nj
Grafton with another. it is unlikely ''' .sxS|
Baker has found or will soon find hs y
of duties dull or lacking in variety