The Washington herald., 1922-01-29

''leader." He has been handling the two
top jobs in the upper branch Of Congress.
The whip" Senator Curtis told me
the other day in the Senate cloakroom, ''is
the assistant leader. He acts, Of course,
when the leader is otherwise occupied. Even
when the leader is present the whip is the
individual who is out on the skirmish line
IN actual charge Of the fighting.
The whip must, of course, know the To-
cation Of every man of his command. Every
morning he must get in touch with every
Senator on his list. He must know how
many Of them are out Of town, IL they are
paired and with whom, where they are and
how quickly they can get back II needed.
II they are in town, he must know where,
at all times, they may be reached. He
must always be ready for an emergency,
for a surprise attack. He must be always
prepared to marshal his forces. 1t Is the
most active, the most e1hilarating, the most
altogether interesting and fascinating piece
Of work beneath the Capitol dome"
A Nd the man who drives this senatorial
a team, single, double, tandem or with q
jerkline, as do the freiEhters Of the West,
this body Of digni6ed statesmen, over the
members Of this most exclusive Of rich
mems clubs-what manner Of man is he?
Well, as a boy of ten, he lived as a
ration Indian on a reservation.
Then, during those years when his char
scter was taking shape, he worked as
jockey and rode race horses at the fairs Of
half a dozen formative States.
Again, later, for years he was a night
hawk, hack driver, on the streets Of
Topeka.
Upon such a foundation in this, the
nation Of opportunity, did one Of the mesl
successful and powerful figures in her ma
tional life build In so building did he give
the lie to the abb of the timid, that cir
cumstances, poverty, obscurity, evil asso-
Citations may stand in the way Of him who
has within him the quality Of success, for
the way up for Charles Curtis is as strange
and improbable a journey as any man ever
Travelled.
Senator Curtis lives within two blocks Of
me in the City Of Washington, rides down
town in the same street car, is addicted to
very regular attendance at the same neigh
borhood motion picture theatre. If you
waiting for his car, he would be likely to
attract your attention, to arouse your
curiosity as to the extraction of this in
dfYidual, otherwise conVentionally American,
who is 50 ine1picably swarthy of COM
RleIiOn.
From reading romance, most people have
been led to believe that the Indian Is tall
and slim and wand-Hke, while, as 4 matter
of fact, he is almost universally quite the
contrary. He is heavy and thick and
blocky. Senator Curtis il the Indian Of
reality and not Of romance. Rather darker
L. he than the most brunette type Of Ital-
ian with whom We are familiar. Coal
black is his hair, his mustaehe, his eyes,
Standing there chubbily, round faced,
well fed, his sparce mustache Of the com
monty designated type known as '''walrus, q
sticking straight down at the corners. he il
more likely to be guessed as Of Far Eastern
origin than American, and the stranger
easily conceiTes him with turban about
bis head. .,..'
But II one goes to lunch with Senator
Curtis in the basement cafe Of the Capitol
az / did one day not long ago. h
win find him a genial and companionabI,
gentleman. whose every instinct and poln