Evening star., 1927-11-06
Capital Sidelights

bia. Representative Fitzgerald has
been spending the Summer abroad and
was one OF the speakers at the In.
terparliamentart Union conference in
Paris. the sessions of which were
held in the senate chamber Of the
Luxembourg palace.
As trophy of his sleuthing abroad
for old volumes, Representative F'itz-
gerald is delighted to be bringing
home first edition copy Of DE Jure
Belii &C Pacis," the great work of
Hugo Grotius, the father of the
science of international law. This
work was published in Amsterdam
Holland, in 1851. and Mr.. Fitzgerald s
volume is in as perfect condition as
one sees books Of this early age OF
printing.
There is romance, the thrill of dis
covery and pioneering, Of opening ur
again the trails along which history
has passed, in the life of many Gov
ernment employees. The tremendous
progress in our country within a cen.
tury is brought forcefully to our at
tention by a recent study made unde,
the direction of Gen. w. b. Greeley
chief of the Forest Service. and in
which Representative Charles f
Winter Of Wyoming has taken a
strong interest. This shows that
Medicine Bow, Wyo., and the entire
Medicine Bow National Forest derive
their name from the fact that in
early years the Indians from the sur
rounding territory used to gather in
that vicinity to make their bows from
the mountain mahogany which grows
in abundance and was highly prized
for bow wood. Here, too, the Indians
found pine trees Of certain species
desirable for the poles of their tepees
and it was named lodge-wood pine
Now these pines are used for ties
for railroads. In 1926 the railroads
purchased 93.759,913 cross ties. The
Medicine Bow Forest can supply
100000 of these ties year, or so
per cent in excess Of the requirements
Of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Representative Winter calls atten
tion that in his home State of Wyo
ming there are five other national
forests with areas of more than halt
a million acres. So the tent poles OF
the red man have given way to the
roadbed over which the iron horse
brings the tide Of civilization and
prosperity westward. Representative
Winter himself has written two his
torlcai novels on the period and local.
lty covered by this progress.
X X X X
The baked bean salon has been set
up in Washington. To Representa-
tive Charles l.. Underhill Of Massa
chusetts and his thrifty New England
wife goes the credit. The UnderhilIs
used to live in a family hotel near the
tapitol. where they did not enioy
home-cooking privileges and they
missed and pined for the real Boston
baked bean. A CapitaI-wide search
failed to discover any eating house in
Washington where the baked bea ms
such as they had been accustomed 10
could be purchased, nor were they
able to buy the sort Of bean they
wanted. even in raw state.
Wnen they returned to Washington
month or more ago, after having
thrived for months on their fayorite
dlsh, they took home-cooking apart.
ment, ordered the raw beans from
Boston and Mrs. Underhill now bakes
the beans on Saturdays. OR perhans
some second day each week, and thew
invite in their friends for a Boston
baked bean salon. To this princinai
wand are added several other famous
New England dishes-most conspic.
uously apple pie, not the apple sauce
variety, but made Of neatly sliced
appies overiaid with sugar and spices.
mus the baked bean and apple pie
saIon-Wnlcn is proving almost as
popular in Washington society as the
White House breakfasts of SAUSAGE
and griddle cakes.
Inc efficiency Of the homine pigeons
as war messengers Is explained hv
FREDERICK G. Lincoln of the Biological
survey who recently was on military
service with the Signal Reserve Corns
ana who helped to develop the pigeon
War. - '"e "oiio
THE reputation of the homer" ac.
corolnS to Mr.. Lincoln. "is we'll es.
.aolisneo, "a and Its usefulness as a car.
rier of war dispatches fnsures a. !.
prominent place among the comn,,ni.
cation methods that will be ennioyad
ny the armies of the future. Altho,Irh
linlted to one-way communication
the birds used in the World war
mace a record Of efficiency between
W and SO per cent, surpa ssine, ali
otner methods for the transmission of
Army information under battle con.
ditions. In the Meuse.Argonne often.
slve, 442 American pigeons were used.
and these delivered total of 4O3 mes.
sages over distances varying from 20
TO 30 kilometers without the loss of a
single important dispatch. These
Dlros mad received only FIVE days
training.
'The most famous of these birds
was Cher Ami. which. released with
a message on October 21, 1918. at Gas
p.m.. during an intense machine gun
and artillery action. delivered it's mes.
sage 40 kilofneters away in 25 min.
utes. One leg had been shattered
and the birds breast pierced by a bull
let. This bird Is now mounted and
preserved in the National Museum.
practically all branches of the mill.
tary service have found need for
homing pigeons. although their great.
est use is with infantry in front line
trenches. or attack, and with air.
craft"
Representative Franklin Menges has
been working hard during the time that
Congress has not been in session in
arousing interest in the forthcoming
celebration Of the 150th anniversary Of
he period during which the small town
of York, Pa, was capital of this great
coohdy. iHdl was 1or HlIle IHoIlCHS,
from September 80, 1877, to June q.
1878. York was then only SO years
old. contained 2S6 houses and 1900 in
habitants. The period during which
York harbored the Continental Con-
gress was one of the most trying in
the history Of our country. with the
chief cities in the hands Of the enemy.
Many members of Congress are going
70 attend the York celebration
Dyer act applies to stolen automobiles
moved in interstate commerce, with