Evening star., 1923-09-19
TALKS and TALES
With and about
CAPITALS GUESTS

smiled benignly on a bright-faced
belIboy in the lobby of the Shoreham
Hotel as the young attendant figured
uled train TO take the noted welfare
worker back to that dear Muskogee
and her 200 manned veterans at the
great Soldiers Memorial Hospital
just erected In that place.
Don't bother your head too much.
son." laughed the sweet-voiced wom-
an, who is beloved by every lad in
the great southwest. I've seen the
day when Oklahoma was a territory
and to catch a train one had to sit
on a log for five or six hours and
burn newspapers to stop 1t or be left
in. the cold. A little delay here and
there won't bother me much.
After a strenuous year at the new
state-built hospital for wounded
soldiers who fought in the great war
where she presides as welfare dlrec-
tor, and is known by every patient
westerner slipped up to Cresson
Springs. Pa, to spend a brief vaca-
ton with Mrs. William Thaw. and is
now on her way back to the sur
1T is a wonderful building. this
new Oklahoma Hospital" she said, as
her eyes danced with JOY. "One OF the
best in the country. 1t cost half
million dollars and can accommodate
800 beds We have about 200 boys
! there now. and they are still coming
in from all sections of the country"
ANY from Walter Reed, Miss Alice?"
"Oh, yes, but the trouble with those
from your town is they have been
har ha+ &c
hard for them to get used to our sim
pie ways. And now that you have
asked, let me make a plea right now
! to have some good souls send them
the daily papers OF the CAPITAL.
Everybody in the institution is inter
ested in what is going on here, and
while we get several of the Sunday
| editions. it would make many poor
lad happy to keep up with your ac-
tivities" -
father and mother, were missionaries
among the Cherokee and Creek In
dams for many years. then told of
her three blind charges, one of them
Choctaw. who lost both eyes, in
France. 1--WE call him Chief" she
said, "and always having had a soft
spot in my heart for the Indian, Chief
1 is my pet. I gave him rocking chair
that belonged to my mother. and his
appreciation is indescribable = oh.
|
she brushed back a tear.
/ While refusing to comment on pres
ent conditions in her state, Miss Rob
ertson said that aside from crops be-
ing poor and prices low. the boil
weeyil had raised havoc throughout
the state. 'The people are restless"
and she got up to go.
With thoughts of blight still fresh
IN mind. Charles Lathrop Pack, pres
4
tion. who is stopping at the Hotel
La Fayette with Mai. Stanley Wash
purn OF North Dakota, preparatory
to conference with President Cool
| loge on agricultural matters. was en-
| countered in the lobby of that hotel
1t took but a minute to learn from
him that idle Land is as great a men
| ace to the prosperity OF the country
| as idle men. He held in his hand all
the while copy of the report of the
| British forestry commission.
| This report is one of the most i'm
! portant findings ever made public"
said Mr.. Pack. Gen. Lord Lovat, the
head of the commission. is now in
this country studying conditions both
IN Canada and the United States.
Great Britain is awake to this sftua-
ton and over there idle men are be-
ing absorbed in reforestation projects
that Lord Lovat is directing.
The expert on trees then gave sta
tistics to show that there are in this
country about 81 .000, 900 acres of idle
land fit for nothing but growing trees.
This land must be put to work, for a
great part of ii is east of the Mis-
sissippi river" continued Mr. Pack,
and therefore comparatively close to
our great manufacturing centers.
These centers are now paying mill
lions OF dollars in freight every year
on forest products that should be
much closer to the factory door than
they are.
Look at New England. Michigan,
Wisconsin and New York. Those
they could use, and exported it. Now
they are importers of lumber. for the
center Of the industry is fast ap-
preaching the Pacific coast. Here is
a situation that business men are
most vitality interested in. The Brit
ish reports warn of a world timber
famine, and this warning is a direct
result of the great drain on forest
resources during the great war"
Palpably worried over the situation,
Mr.. Pack concluded by saying that few
people realize that five million trees
are cut down every year to provide
poles for wires that carry the busi-
ness messages of the country. In
mining and quarrying two hundred
million cubic feet of wood are used
every year" he exclaimed. "The indus
try is now turning to Alaska, and that
means longer hauls and higher freight
must be put to work"
Asked his opinion of the political
situation, Mr.. Pack looked askance.
'Why, man, ] am not a politiciani But
trend of opinion is to give President
Coolidge good, fair chance"
Another preserver but along diff
Mr.. Pack, stopping at the La Fayette.
is DR.. Clara F. Hayes of Waubay,
s. D., a member of the state board
OF health OF that commonwealth, and
director of child hygiene, who is here
for a conference, called by the United
States children's bureau, with repre-
sentatives from all the states in at
tendance. -
DIR. Hayes reports splendid pregI
ress for child welfare work in the
northwest, and says that while South
Dakota is free from the congested
districts, which cause so much suf-
fering to the little ones, the state
does have its problems, but Ehaf
effort Is being made for the UNDER
privileged of the section .t4tlI
The physician, who is a natfve' OF
Illinois, and a graduate of the medi-
cal school of the University of IL
linois, said that. crops in her part
of the country were bit better this
year. but that prices were still low.
Asked how South Dakota regarded
the new President, the pretty health
officer smiled and said: Mr.. Coolidge
is quite all right" --
quick trip down to the New VIII
lard Hotel found Frank W. tSearns.
BOSTON merchant prince, and life
long friend and advisor Of President
Coolidge. holding conversation with
the office force of that house.
Mr.. Stearns usually makes the will
Hard his headquarters, but is stopping
at the White House on this visit. He
was most pleased when advised that
reports from all sections of the coun-
utYnoGf faith and aatiS-