Evening star., 1924-03-16
BY HERBERT COREY.
N 1894 Hugh S. Cumming lost a

N 1894 Hugh S. Cumming lost a
silk hat.
In itself the fact is not i'm
| portant, except to young DR..
Cumming. who doubtless grieved over
a twelve-dolla sacrifice to the god
of hard luck. The hat itself may be
considered symbol ofNa changing
age. 1t is stationary peg, so to speak,
from which the United States public
health service measures it's progress.
A silk hat was the cranial decoration
of more leisurely and less efficient
age. Some folk would say that the
silk hat era was a more dignified one
than the one in which we live. Others
would hold that we have just as
much dignity today and a whole lot
more pep The verb to hustle cannot
be corrugated in a six-quart topper.
Surgeon General Hugh S. Cum
ming of the United States public
health service spoke of the silk hat
the other day. He was seated at the
desk at which the surgeon general of
that day sat when young Dr. Cumming.
silk hat in hand. stepped forward to
Of the service 1t is in the very same
room. Doubtless the steam radiator
that now puffs and gurgles is the
very one on which young DR..
Cumming, being some what f1ustered,
placed his silk hat when he reached
for his commission. 1t remained
there while the surgeon general of
1894 made a few remarks
Twisted Like a PretxeI.
THAT hat" said Surgeon General
Cumming, was twisted like pretzel
when l picked it up again" There
was a note of sadness in his voice.
He seemed to recall the journey back
to his hotel, on which he vacillated
between striking a hideous note of
low comedy by wearing the warped
and corrugated headgear and a bare
lily commissioned medical officer in the
government service.
I'VE all wore silk hats in those
days" said he, ION an occasion of
that sort"
Officers Of the public health service
rarely wear silk hats nowadays except
at weddings and diplomatic recep-
tions. Times have changed. The
public health service Of 1894 was a
good service as far as it went, but,
like other public functions of that
day, it did not go very fast Nova
days it is the best in the world. No
idoubt there are high points in the
medical chart at which
other services attain greater attitudes
than ours, but the average level of
tho United States public health serv-
ice is neatly above that of any other
nation. And our service covers a
wider field. The Senate not long ago
Unanimously and without debate con-
frmed DR.. Cummings reappointment.
lin recognition of what he had done
in promoting its efficiency during his
four years as chief.
What the Silk Hat Meant.
Yet it may be that DR.. Cummings
silk hat or what it connotes had
much to do with his success. In the
days when silk hats were more COM
monplace than they are today men
found more leisure in which to be
kindly and courteous. Their man
ners were better. Youngsters were
not being taught by magazine ads to
thrust out hard jaws and jam rigid
foreingers at shrinking world. The
preferred plan was to compose mis-
understandings by the arts of diplo-
macy. 1t was not regarded as good
form for a man in authority to keep
hammer and tongs handy by his DESK
At any rate. DR.. Cumming became
known as a good man to handle trou-
BILE early in his official career. There
was more trouble in those days. The