Evening star., 1921-10-06
Capital Sidelights
ny WILL p, KENNEDY.

II It be true that the youth OF the
United States of today are attracted
80 ramble In intellectual fields because
they see there great gridirons laid
out, towering goal posts, the earth
skinned In diamond shape, then 1t
may reasonably be supposed that they
will eagerly follow the leadership of
the new commissioner Of education
because he Is an internationally noted
athlete. though college president
when only twenty-seven years of age
He Is now thirty-nine.
John James Tigert, while winning
all sorts of academic. classical and
jurisprudnece and oratorical honors
at Vanderbilt University and Oxford.
vet won equal honors on the athletic
6elds. At Vanderbilt-which, by the
way, was founded as result OF a
visit by Tigert's grandfather many
wears ago to Commodore Cornelius
y contribution of million dollars for
shat purpose-Tigert was on the
varsity foot ball team for three years
IN all-southern full-back, ana three
wears on the varsity basket ball team.
being captain Of both ,ss foot ~ baIi n1tard ana
Ne represented Pembroke College In
'<owing. tennis and cricket and was q
member of the All-Rhodes base ball
team. During the world war ne
spent two years overseas, going over
for educational work with the Young
Mems Christian Association and wind
ing UP as lecturer with the army OF
occupation.
Throughout the entire government
service when Uncle Sam has been
looking for good men he has picked
out newspaper men, not only among
the shining lights of officialdonl-as
examples, President Harding, or Sen
:i.or Capper, or Representative Ira Z.
Copley, all of whom own their own
papers: or Laskar, head of the Ship.
ping Board, who owned and edited
his own paper when only fourteen
hut among those who belong to the
sreat army of government employees.
They are scattered through the entire
A..deral service, but one illustration
will suffice. There's William A. Coun-
tryman, in the division of manufac-
ture, census bureau, Department OF
Commerce. Countryman was at one
lime managing editor of the Hartford
Post and in the early nineties one OF
the best known newspaper men In
The Connecticut valley. He gained
reputation for speed as well as per-
Sistency and accuracy as reporter.
Those were days when the seasoned
reporters turned out their copy long
hand" and only the cubs were start
ing in to use the typewriter. 1t was
Il somewhat envious boast among his
fellow ScribeS that Country" could
turn out a column (about 1900 words)
i'll an hour and hold that pace for
three hours.
Members of the Federal Trade Com
mission, sometimes enormously called
the business court" are really very
human fellows. John Garland Pollard,
who has just retired, will long be re-
2nembered as "a typical southern gen.
Ileman" and at the same time as "a
jolly good fellow" You must get his
ginia, with a far-strung tradition for
courtliness: with pure white hair, al
though he is only forty-nine in years
and much younger in spirit.
Now the Federal Trade Commission
has club where the employees fra
ternize, getting up that morale spirit
that won the war, and continuing the
good work during the problem-fil
days of peace in Uncle Sans work.
shop. 1t is called the Fedi-Tra Com.
Down in their clubroom they have a
player-piano, and one Of the greatest
little old dancers who makes all the
girls happy by swinging them across
The polished floor in syncopated time
is-your courteous gentleman of the
old school from Virginia, who is very
much up to date when it comes to
dancing.
But he is not alone-there is also
John F. Nugent-formerly United
States senator-a two-fisted. six-foot
fellow, who halls from the big spaces
in Idaho. Nugent is also some tripper
of the light fantastic"
Pollard didn't get away without the