Evening star., 1925-07-05
Capital Sidelights

everything but work that ordinarily
they are in their offices on Capitol Hill,
as usual. unless filling public engage
ments elsewhere. Some of them are
lawyers of eminence who could make
handsome income practicing before
the bar while Congress is not in ses-
sion, but they say they have no time
for 1t, and decline all offers of private
business.
One example is Senator Borah of
Idaho, whose public activities are so
numerous and constant. Another eX-
ample is the very prominent member
of the House from the Virginia dis
trlct nearest to the National Capital,
who gets the smallest allowance for
mileage of any member of Congress
and who has more constituents visit
ing his office daily-Represent
r. Walton Moore
Since Congress adjourned this Vir-
ginia representative has had four eX-
ceedingly busy months-filled with the
consideration of a wide variety of
matters I'm which his district is in.
terested, with many pubic addresses
sometimes from a Washington radio
station and sometimes before au-
diences and in comforting with and
trying to be of use to his constituents
There is no subject of public inter
est that escapes Representative Moore
lie Is one of the best read men in Con-
gress. In the House reading room of
the Library of Congress he is known
as probably the most frequent visitor
of all the public men who are stu
dents of affairs. His colleagues the
library authorities and others COM
petent to judge acclaim him as the
greatest living authority on Virginia
history, which he illustrates with
many authentic human interest anec-
dotes.
When asked about his vacation
Representative Moore said: That is
something yet to happen ] have
dreamed OF n trip abroad this Summer
ana made two reservations, each of
which has been Cancelled A little
later, however, L shall try to arrange
Tor some real vacation in addition to
that which / now get in the evenings
at my Fairfax home. which of all
places is the one / like best " And
true Virginian hospitality is dispensed
at the beautiful Fairfax home of Mr.
Moore, where he is always most
genial host of the old school, regaIing
his guests with such bounteous
spreads as have made the Old Do
minion famous and with tales of the
yaliants of Virginia CLEANED during
lifetime of research
Those who sweepingly decry Con
gress know very little about the
earnestness and unfagging industry
OF many members of both branches
in their efforts to live up to all the
muftifar1ous requirements and eX-
pectations, multiplied in recent years
since legislation has been passed
through which the Federal Govern
ment comes closer to and does more
for the individual citizens And
these hard-working members, SO con-
| scientiously on the job, let it be said
are the very men who do not resent.
but, rather, welcome, constructive
and helpful criticism
**
For the first time in history three
women are to be members of the
National House of Representatives
when Congress reassembles in De.
cember. and two of them will be from
the East. which has never before sent
woman to the legislative halls. They
are:
Mrs. Mary T. Norton. Democrat
Jersey City, \. j., reputed to be a
practical politician" who succeeds
Representative Charles F. y O'Brien.
who was member of the House Dis
trlct committee having Jurisdiction
over legislation affecting the National
Capital.
Mrs. Julius Kahn. Republican. of
San Francisco. Cal. who succeeds her
late husband. chairman of the mill
tarY affairs committee. Mrs Kahn
has many friends in Washington.
since she has lived here for 90 years
since Mr.. Kahn first came to Con
gress. She is decidedly "a home
body" and loved by all who know
her.
Mrs. John Jacobs Rogers; Republi-
| can, of Lowell, Mass, Just elected bv
nearly $4,000 to succeed her late hus-
band. who was author of the act which
reorga nized the foreign service and
| standardized salaries and established
retirement system, is also well
known in the National Capital by her
good deeds, especially for the manned
former service men,
Mrs. Rogers served as personal rep
resentative of Presidents Coolidge and
Harding in securing for the Chief
Executive first-hand information on
the needs of the former service men.
and the way they were cared for in
the veterans hospitals throughout
the country. She gave special atten-
ton and tireless personal service to
the. patients in the Walter Reed Gen
eral Hospital where she was known
as veritable angel of mercy"
Whenever the President visited Wal
ter Reed he found Mrs. Rogers there
in nurse uniform doing her best to
cheer the sufferers. She viii be their
next friend" in the naxt Congress.
Members of Congress who are de-
voting these Summer months to eX
tensive research work in the Library
or Congress are receiving 100 per cent
cooperation and express amaZement
at the versatile efficiency of DR. Her
man II. Il. Meyer, director of the Leg
islative Reference Service, who is also
president of the American Library AS
sociation.
Many strange questions come to DIR.
Meyer. For example, he was asked
by member of Congress for the pop
ulatfon of hell. DIR. Meyer explained
that no statistics are available, prob
ably owing to difficulties that would
confront the census taker Then it
occurred to DR.. Meyer that a rough
calculation might be made, starting
with the Noachian deluge and taking
Archbishop Usher's date for that
event. The problem appeared in
rough way the summation of an arith-
met1cal series, of which the first
term would be Noah's family. the last
term the present population of the
world and the number of generations
since Noah's time the number of
terms in the series. The percentage
struck between the saved and the
damned was based on a we'll known
eVangelist's estimates, with which the
questioning member of Congress was
in agreement.
One OF the most carefully selected
libraries in Washington is the prop.
erty of DR.. Meyer, who before enter
ing the Library of Congress had ex
tensive technical and practical expe-