Evening star., 1923-03-26
Omitted From Roster.
Names of Noted Legislative Re
porters Supplied.
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
In your edition of Sunday, March
IS, Mr.. w. ?. Kennedy, in his inter-
esting column, Capitol Sidel!ghts,"
gave a we'll deserved eulogy on the
late Fred Irland, and in doing SO
called a roster. as it were. Of the
House Official reporting corps, pres
ent and former.
He omitted a few names I should
like to take the liberty of supplying,
IL you will kindly grant me the
space. In mentioning Mr.. McElhone
and Speaker Samuel j. Randall he
quite forgot the name of Andrew
Devine. who was a skilled member
of the House corps. A close neighbor
Of Mr.. Randall's, he lived on historic
c street southeast, where Mr.. Cream
er, the most recent valuable addition
to the staff. still maintains resi-
denee. Mr.. Devine was a great crony
of James G. Blaine. whose brother.
Robert Blaine, also lived on C street
Mr. Devine was a brilliant raconteur
and had a fund of anecdotes regard
| ing Blaine which were most inter-
esting. Cotemporaneous with Mr..
Devine was Mr.. Lord, who, to use the
vernacular. could sling a wicked
pot hook" Then, there was w. H.
Burr and John Edwards, likewise
Daniel B. Lloyd. John H. White, who
| retired in 1900. and A. C. Welch.
These were all tried and trusty men,
an honor to the shorthand profession.
ID. w. Brown Was Expert.
No list is complete without mention
i of my father, the late David Wolfe
Brown. who first served on the Senate
| reporting staff. and later. an ex-
| tremely young man. Joined the House
corps. At that time the really expert
| shorthand reporters of the country
were few and far between. My
father. along with Dennis F. Murphy,
received instruction from oliver Dyer,
whose name is shining light in the
shorthand world. He died "in harness
In 1904. after forty years service, and
| hand recorded the famous Bourke-
Cockran-Dalzell debate. One of the
| many notebooks that, by the way,
| recorded the wit, wisdom and folly of
| almost every man prominent in the
political history Of the United States
| during the past fifty years!
The late Fred Irland. whose recent
death is great blow to the short
hand fraternity, once paid this
tribute Mr.. Brown was CO.
porter, Dennis F. Murphy. 1t was
these two men, one for many years
reporter of the United States Senate
and the other a member of the House
corps. who set the standard of Amer
ican parliamentary reporting SO high
that the best any one can ever hope
to do hereafter is to emulate their
attainmentS."
Becomes Dean.
Upon the death of Mr.. McElhone.
exceedingly well known and clever as
only an Irishman can hope to he. pa :
vid Wolfe Brown became dean. al
though often lovingly referred to as
chief" for. his service was ac-
knowledged to bes one of the most
brilliant as well as one of the longest
! with the exception of that splendid
veteran. Theodore Shuey of the Sem
ate staff in this or any country
His fame rests secure without any
tribute from my pen. but just let me
add that he was an author and edu-
Gator, having written numerous eS-
says and text books, which are con-
sidered classics. and one of which.
Science and Art of PhrasemakinG," !"
was used until out of print in the
Business High School of this city
Like young Lochinvar, Fred Irand
came out of the west to add new
blood to the House corps, and soon
proved his intellectual worth and
keen ability. At the time of his death
he had. through long and faithful
service. fallen heir to the deanship
and was carrying on splendidly the
old traditions of the corps of official
reporters of the House, of which
Uncle Joe Cannon has said: IT doubt
IL its equal exists elsewhere. No one
can do the work unless he is a mas
ter in his profession and, in addition.
brings to the work a broad and thor
ough knowledge of men and things,
all of which must be on tap for i'm
mediate use"
MARY K BROWN MESNY.