Evening star., 1923-03-13


This old slogan of the preparedness
crowd has warned Elliott w. Woods,
architect of the Capitol. to have mu-
nitions of war fashioned for Con-
gress during these halcyon days
when the dove of peace presides in
the House chamber.
The mace, that historic emblem Of
authority, at the approach Of which
the most belligerent members expert
ence a paralyzing effect upon their
temperamental outbursts, is being
shined up.
And gavels, dozens of them. are
being turned out in anticipation OF
the Speakers need to preserve order
when forensic debate and inter party
fights wax warm.
Yes, Speaker Gillett and his occa-
sional substitutes like former Rep
resentative Phil Campbell of Kansas
and Fred Hicks of New YORK ana
Clifton Macarthur Of oregon and the
returning Representative Jonn -. ~. III
son of Connecticut all TESTIFY tnat
most necessary and effective instru-
mentalities of Legislative procedure
Admirers of Speaker Gillett may
', send him fancy mahogany SaSeis
bearing silver plates, on gaNeIs mace
from the wood of an old English
prison ship or from the Constitution.
or from an old oak door that with
stood the arrows of primeval indians
| Some organization interested IN
particular piece of legislation such
as rural credits or soldiers bonus, or
what not occasionally send the
speaker a gavel with the request that
| he use it while that measure is un-
| der consideration. But. for the most
r;f
| iceable, and the truck-horse work OF
the Eavel for more than two score
years has been done by little wooden
mallets turned out by the machine
shop in charge Of Elliott Woods.
Gavels Bought Here.
Some of the members of the House,
| like Macarthur of Oregon, or Tilson of
Connecticut, who have presided as
speaker in their home state legisla-
| lures, bring their favorite gaveis
with them. or are presented with
/ for use on the occasions when they
are called upon to preside in the COM
f1ittee of the whole House, or tempo
rarily called to the chair by the
speaker.
state court of justice, in the da!
when he was officially designated as
substitute speaker, used to SWING q
mean gavel to such effect that more
| than once he knocked a piece out or
the marble top of the Speakers desk.
This prompted Representative NC
Arthur to send to Oregon for severai
sets of implements made out or
peculiar kind of wood that he, oy
personal experience had tound ;rn,ee 10 ee
pounding resistant. These mple .
ments included not only gavels. put
blocks of the same wood to be lald
on the Speakers desk as sounding
boards and to spare the marole.
Probably no one who ever PRESIDED
in the House had as many historic
gavels as the late Speaker Champ
Clark. These were made from wooos
that told the complete history of the
country from Indian days, through
times of storm and stress and pros
perity There was a human Interest
story behind each of the score or
more gavels that Champ Clark treas
ured.
Preparing for Future.
So now, while congress is forge .hs
ting it's turbulence, but whlte '.e
party leaders are looking ahead 10
still more turbulent days when the
so-called .wild-eyed' crowd comes IN
for the 6sth Congress, Elliott W ooos
is making gavels whle the sun sun
foreIock. A. E. Holmes. a machinist
| of more than ten years experience at
the Capitol, is turning out gavels ana
sounding boards, or resistant BLOCKS.
against the day when the party
scraps start up again. John Walsn,
veteran chief clerk in Archltecl
| Woods Office. is the official gavel IN
spector.
From many years of gave,- ma king
and testing. Mr.. Woods has found
out what kinds of wood stand the
strain best and how TO taper the
handles so that they will not be cum
bersome to the speakers touch. and
J yet staunch enough to prevent the
| calamity of the head flying off the
| handle and striking some innocent by
stander. Mr. Woods, after expert
menting with various kinds of hard
wood has found that ash is the best
! for hard working Savels. He is now
known throughout the length and
heath of the land as the gave1 ex-
pert par excellence.
In elder days. when some men pre-
sided with physical force more than
moral suasion or personality. there
! was a much larger need for savelS
than there is today Some years ago
it was not unusual for 100 gavels.
more or less, OF be smashed during
I; one Congress. Now the mortality list
is six or eight to a session. Nova
days the block or sounding board
against which the gavel is struck
| breaks more often than the gavel.