New-York tribune., 1918-02-15
Ollie James a Mountain of
Eloquence in Defence of Wilson
Kentucky Senator Cannot Be
Gainsaid When He Swings
Right Arm for the Admin
istration -Cummins Pre-
sents Strange Contrast
BysRalph Block

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.-The Sen
ate can always be safely relied on to
provide an interesting hour in Wash
ington. If everything else fails. find
your way to the Senate.
1T was the Kentuckian, Ollie James.
who provided the thrills to-day. Mr..
James is built on generous lines, and
when he swings his good right arm
no man can gainsay him. To-day he
swung it for the Administration, and
kept on swinging it for some two hours.
1t was right lusty swinging.
lie is mammoth man, owning a
voice that he makes astonishingly
smooth and vibrant, with so mighty a
force behind it. 1t rolls and rolls UP
to the point of thunder, then easily
falls back to kindliness again. His
hand flaps up and down like a fail, or,
clenched, beats the air like tripham-
mer. His head is landmark in the
Senate chamber. 1t is large and round
and pink and smooth-smooth every
where but for a fringe that runs all
the way about the lower edges, like
trees and vegetation on the lower slopes
of "a mountain. When he has passed a
point of peroration he makes q pause
to sort his notes with one hand, while
the other loosely swabs his head with
sprawling handkerchief.
He is an eloquent man, eloquent
with the rotund and generous senti-
yr,o 10 ! ifv, ,I.o
ical strength than they need. His chin
bears it out, broad and kindly, chin.
His nose is surprising-regular in out
line, but not as large as the rest of
the face would promise, and marked by
nostrils that are curved and sensitive.
The nose makes rude kind of poetry
in his speech not unexpected.
Warriors of the Sky
He is defending the military organi-
zation of the nation from its critics,
and INFO his words creeps much that is
imaginative, much that is fgurative.
Military fiiers he calls warriors of
the sky"
"President Wilson"-and when James
speaks of the President some fund of
rich loyalties from within him lights his
face up with a benign smile-"Presi-
dent Wilson is walking the tight rope.
He holds in his hands the richest treas
ure ever intrusted to one man since
plead to you, DO not shake the cable.
He will make his journey safely over
this sea of blood and foam. Only I
ask you to keep silent. Hold your
tonghes, you critics. l can stand you
shoulder on shoulder, and the President
will tower above you as Washington IS
Monument towers above the founda-
tionsI of its granite basel"
And again, with both hands raised
he calls solemnJy:
america has not ceased to func-
ton. People of America, take cour-
age!"
The galleries are full. But the gal
lery is always an unknown quantity
and its response cannot be measured
| In the Senate, contrary to all rules
schoolhouse, the speaker addresses his
fellows from his desk. The Vice-Presi.
dent, who guides this assembly of wise
men, sits at his desk, surrounded BY
secretaries and clerks. He betrays no
exaggerated interest in what is going
on. Doubtless even a Vice-Presiden1
may get tired of speech-making. 11c
picks up a small penknife and mani
cures finger, listlessE.
Tillman's Temper Abated
There are some forty Senators on the
floor, with many vacant desks between
them Mr.. Tillman, of South Carolina
sits, next to Senator J. Hamilton Lewis
Of Illinois. For the time Mr.. Tillman's
fierce tempers have evaporated, leav.
ing behind them a weather-beaten ane
worn old man, with tossed gray hal,
ad a mouth turned down and slightly
embittered. He exchanges a smile, II
not unkindly fashion, with Senator
Lewis when the Kentuckian calls on the