Evening star., 1925-10-18

municipal government and deNel
"pment. owing To his experience in his
home city of 81. Louis. BESIDES beins;
the latest conner To the cabinet. Mr..
Davis Is the youngest in NearS-he i
At. lie has uuSted Secretary Jardine
Of the Department "f Agriculture
from this distinction. The kanSan Was
born Just six months before Mr. Davis.
While Mr.. Davis is Young in years
as cabinet officers so these days, he
L. hN no means young in experience.
He takes charge of the War Depart
mont fully acquainted with its prob
lens and its workings. For the last
two and half wears he has been
Assistant Secretary of War. and dur
Ing the last six months he has been
acting secretary in the absence Of his
chief. Secretary Weeks.
If tennis and civic work have been
hobbies "f Mr.. Davis in the past. il
may be said with Justice just now
that the War Department is his
hobby. His code is one of hard
work and loyalty. For months he has
put in long hours at the War Depart!
ment. and he will continue to do SO.
lie takes charge as Secretary of War
In his own right al Il time when the
national defense has been "on the
criddle" because of the charges that
the Air Service is not what it should
he. He faces a situation that calls
for firmneSs and common sense.
Promotion Commended.
The promotion of Mr.. Davis has
been Comnended from one end of the
land To the other. He is personally
representative of the finest American
type. He has back ground of family.
education and wealth. lie is, how
ever. both democratic and of a pro-
cressiVe turn of mind. one of his
aims has been improved conditions for
Americans generally. including the
sons and daughters of immi grants and
the immigrants themselves.
y characteristic of the Secretary of
War that particularly impresSes a
visitor To the department is his pleas
ant manner and quiet geniality. 1t
is said that he never becomes ruffled
nor loses his poise. on the other
hand. when occasion warrants he asks
very pertinent and pointed questions
and acts with decision
The new Secretary stands well over
SiX feet. is broad -shouldered and
strongly built. His dark hair. still
heavy. is turning gray. Although he
has kept close tn his desk for months
working long hours. he has all the
appearance of an outdoor man and
an athlete. While he has practically
given up tennis, at which he was
formerly one Of Americas stars. he
manages to get exercise riding horse
back. walking and occasionally golf
ing. This enables him To keep in good
physical trim.
Has Travelled Far.
In his as years Mr.. Davis has trav-
eled far and accomplished much. He
was educated at Smith Academy in
ST. Louis and al Harvard University
of which he became n graduate in
studied E~ AT the st. Louis law
school of Washington University. lie
was graduated in law not with the
idea of practicing the legal profess
sion. but To equip himself for a husi-
ness career. He is the son of John
Tlldeu Davis and Mary t'illey Davis.
Ills middle name. which is known
probably to Very few persons outside
of st. Louis. iS taken from his
mothers family. and his grandfather.
Oliver ID. F'illey. was mayor Of St
Louis from 1858 Ia 1861
His grandfather. Samuel G. Davis.
was the founder of a widely known
wholesale dry goods firm under the
name nj Samuel &. Davis Il 60. The
firm is no longer in business but it
was a pioneer firm in st. Louis and
great distributor for that territory
Secretary Davis first leap into
fame came as a result of his tennis
prowesS. He won the interColle Ciate
singles championship while at Har-
ward. He vas ranked No. in the
national singles list that year and
paired with HoIcombe Ward he won
the national doubles championship.
Davis and Ward repeated their tri-
umph in the national doubles in 1900
and 1901. and Davis was ranked AT
No. and No. in the first 10 singles
list in those years.
Gave Davis Cup.
1t WAS then that Secretary Davis
conceived the idea of AN interna tional
lawn tennis trophy. To be compel ed
tor by tennis teams of the nations.
lie gave to perpetual competition The
Davis cup. he fame Of which has
travelled around the world until this
year teams representing - nations
We're competing for il. In 1900 Mr..
Davis presented the cup. and that
year he was Il member of the Amer-
can team which defeated the British
lie won both his singles matches
against the Enslishmen. f.. -. Black
and H. Roper Barrett. and paired
with Ward defeated the British in
the doubles, doing his full share
toward the defense of America s right
to the trophy. In 1907 and 1902 Davis
was again u member of the Ameri-
can Davis cup team. though in the
last year he PLAYED only in the dou-
beS. paired with Holcombe Ward.
They were defeated by the famous
Doherty brothers of England
Secretary Davis is credited too.
with first introducing the American
reverse twist service. which so baf-
fed some of the English PLAYERS
against whom he was matched that
il took them several games to get
into the game at all while he was
serving.
When Secretary Davis came tu
Washington in 1927 To serve as "A di-
rector of the War Finance Corpora.
1ion. appointed by the late President
Harding he had not for many years
competed in tennis nationally or in
ternationally He still kept up his
game, however. for the love of it and
the exercise. He played here on the
courts of the Dumbarton Tennis Club
and Chevy Cha Sc club. making one
of the Washington tennis team in the
HotChkiSS Cup matches, played among
Washington. Baltimore, Richmond and
Norfolk. 1t was found that the IA
nous soutl .'aw tennis star had by no
means lost all of his cunning and
driving power. and he won Il number
of his matches in both singles and
doubles In 1928 he was elected pres
idcnt of the United States Lawn Ten
mis- Association. and held that office
until his work as Assistant Secretary
of War made it Impossible to give
the time and attention required of
the president of the lawn tennis asso-
citation.
Regan As Commissioner.
But to get back to ST. Louis and
n, is' rnnnrc Sei.inuG Ia hnrs " hic N