Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-10

either for reducing or ior piea
| control. -,
Then, too, nowhere else are there
such chances of hobnobblng win
the great. There are famous lolh
on display in other cities put
81 rangers are distinctly discouraged
| from trying to shake hands WIN
them. The President and congress
men do expect TO shake hands. III
is part of the job of being a pupic
official. The American people IKE
il and demand it. Accordingly, Gel
| ebrities in Washington can generally
be counted on to go through their
stunt of shaking hands and regis
| tering delight for convention par
ties. After which, the hand thai
shook the Presidents Or Senator
| Blanks can write home describing
| the emotions Of mingling with the
nations elect.
President Harding is building up
a reputation as a handshaker. IL IS
estimated that he shook hands with
more than 5000 people In two
weeks around Easter. On several
days he grasped 1900 hands n
| smiled 1000 times. Other days
there was a slump to 400 or 500 Wis
itors, due to the pressure of presi-
dental business rather than TO a
! falling off in the number of callers
| at the White House.
Not all of the White House Wis.,
tors get to the Presidents office at
I that. During the peak of the con
vention and school vacation crowds,
thousands of people pour into the
White House during the hours when
the state rooms are open TO the
| public. One guard said that 1t was
not unusual for 100 or even 20U
people toNcome along just at closing
time and explain a~nxiously that this
was their only chance to see where
the President lived.
The President and Mrs. Harding
| sturdily Withstand the strain OF
greeting the numerous delegations
The President and his wife have &c
learn to minimize fatigue in observ-
ing the democratic custom of shak-
ing hands with long lines oi
strangers. Mrs. Harding, for in
| stance, uses her left hand when hei
right grows weary at state recep'
| tons. and all officials learn to grasf
the callers hand first and to pass
him on with a dexterous sweep c1
the wrist so that the next person in
line can move up without undue dc
lay.
The amount of efficiency Thai car
be, and is, Injected into the simple
rite of shaking hands is best real
lied when some foreign official pro
vides a contrast. At the Army ant
Navy reception, not long ago, Mar
shall Joffre and Madame Joffre join
ed the receiving line, along with thu
President, Mrs. Harding, and tn,
secretaries of War and Navy am
their wives. The Marshal was clear
ly pleased with the compliment ex
tended him, but after a little NOR,
than an hour of constant bowling
smiling, and hand wringing, he an,
Madame Joffre surrendered 10 theil
WEAKNESS and dropped out of tbs
receiving line. The others in tn,
line still had half the evening
work ahead Of them.
The White House is the mecca o
delegations to Washington, but con
gress and the capitol would put III
a stiff fight in a popularity contest
II is the statesmen and the histori'
features Of the capitol which mos
interest visitors. Unless some bill
of unusual interest is being debated
five minutes in the halls of congress
are about enough for most visitors
One elderly woman, safely out o
the breathless gallery atmospher,
of the august senate, remarked tina
time was certainly more plentiful
than money with those dronini
statesmen. After this commentar.
on the senate's speed, the delegat,
squeezed into a crowded ~elevatol
and audibly planned to get in tn
museum, Mt. Vernon, Arlington, ant
the treasury by s O'clock"
Washington sometimes wonder
when conventions find time to con
vene, so busy are the badge wearer
with guide books. street "a connec
tions and "hours open to the pub
lie. Up to now. Washington ha
had to admit that its inadequat
assembly halls were no attraction 4
conventions. The small and middle
sized halls about the city hav
sometimes failed to expand enougl
TO accommodate all the delegate
and visitors TO an unusually popula
convention.
The ID. A. r. hall. for instance
never holds all the Daughters VIII
would like to attend sessions at tn
same time. Yet it was the larges
suitable hall available for the i'm
po-tant disarmament conferences
and consequently few outsider
were able to gain admission to an