Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-03-05
CAPITAL SIDELIGHTS

only when there was the most posi-
tive assurance that nothing of i'm
portance would be transacted. House
Leader Mondell has thus established
an attendance record that cannot he
matched by any of his colleagues.
HOUSE LEADER MONDELL also
has another record. He receives
daily a great deal more mail than
any other member. This is partly
due to the fact that he is the only
member of the House from the great
state of Wyoming and that his con-
stituents come into contact with
every phase Of federal activity
reclamation, land office, geological
survey, bureau of mines. rural educa-
tion and sanitation, pensions and
veterans bureaus. etc. ad infinitum.
Besides this Representative MondelI
is recognized authority on the pub
! lie land law, and this brings him an
| extensive correspondence from ali
I public land states. Since becoming
greatly increased from people in all
| the states who have suggestions Oh
| pending or proposed legislation.
| Then, too, he is referee in all
\ Wyoming post Office matters. and so
is consulted on all of the very many
| matters affecting more than 700 post
offices. Representative Mondell has
established strict rule that every
! letter received must be answered. OF
course. form letters are resorted to
and used whenever possible. but his
office averages more than $50 dictated
letters a day.
IWITH the passing from Congress
! of Uncle Joe" Cannon at the
close of the present session, Speaker
Gillett will be the nestor of the
House. Uncle Joe" is rounding out
| twenty-three terms. or forty-slA
years, which have not been consecu-
tive. Speaker Gillett is servingNout
his fifteenth term, or thirty years. Of
| continuous service.
X x x
i1,OU can't legislate in any way to
absolutely prevent accidents.
A good proof of this was seen the
! other day when the site for the pro-
posed national archives building was
under discussion in the Senate. Sem
ator John Sharp Williams OF
Mississippi said: Two essential
! conditions shall be complied with.
The first is that the building itself
shall be fireproof-not allegedly
freproof. not fireproof according TO
any nuisance companys report.
but freproof sure enough like the
! old Treasury building, which. by the
| way, is ore Of the most magnificent
specimens of architecture in the
world today. There is hardly any
| thing in ancient Greece that exceeds
! it in beauty or in substantially" And
: the very next day there was a Sc
rious fire on the roof of the Treasury
building.
d REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS NJ
BELL of Georgia received a let
ter from one of his constituents ask
| ing him to send him a diagram of
perpetual motion machine. Rep
resentative Bell appealed for as
sistance to Joel Grayson, the pre-
siding genius OF the House docu
ment room. Joel scratched his head
a minute. then grabbed big bunch
of keys and marched Representative
Bell down into the sub-basement or
catacombs of the Capitol. There he
dug out five large volumes. choc:i-
ablock full of all sorts of diagrams
and machinery and parts of ma
| chinery. They were five annual re-
ports of the bureau of aeronautics
HE probably won't find any per-
petual motion machine there" Mr.
Grayson told Judge Bell, but it's
| the nearest thing to it. Those books
/ will keep him busy for long time
hunting for it. and maybe he'll for
get whatever fool notion he had in
| his mind" Representative Bell
franked the Eve big books out to the
man interested in perpetual motion.