Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-26
Continued From First Page.)


that no other Office might have done
One Of the first books to fall into my
hands when I was a boy was Les
Miserables' Then came "Notre-Dame
de Paris. and with 1t vowed to live
in Paris some day. I read Hugo and
Balzac. and especially CarlyleS French
Revolution"
1t was not difficult for a man with
such a tradition to At himself into
French life. Ambassador Herrick made
a real effort from the very day Of his
arrival to establish a sympathetic I'M
derstanding the right sort of rapports.
He had delightful time studying
credits:
Now. just suppose a man in Texas
wanted to buy pig and borrowed $50
this note turned up one day in big
bank on Wall Street-thiS little note to
buy pig for a farmer in Texas for $40.
Now that would be a nine days wonder,
rare curiosity for New York. But 1t
would be natural in the Bank OF Prussia
or in the Bank OF France through the
credit fancier."
Other Fields Of Interest.
Herrick found many another field Of
interest in France beside rural credit.
he SIuQleQ the great HlCu OA CLuHCO-
American history and the peculiar
problems of French Colonial admin
stration. The French were aStonished
later when the Ambassador made
brilliant speech on Admiral de GraSSe,
showing an intimate acquaintance with
his work at Yorktown and in the block
ade. The whole press was amazed and
gratifled when. during visit to Mo-
rocco. he happened to say just the most
- 10 v@f, Al nh Inf hA
happy coincidence" of these gestures
was just another proof of the efficiency
Of the Herrick "opportuniSm."
HerrickS personality. his many gra-
cious moves and his appearance were
an incalculable recommendation to the
Freneh. His fathers were of the old
American stock which, after a century
on the Atlantic Seaboard. had moved
West opening the roads That genera
ton bore its own stamp. When first
met the Ambassador he was u years
old. the age of my own father when he
died. and he reminded me of certain
traits. certain tricks of speech, which
all those men who came back East
after their forefatherS had been through
the period of revolution and construc-
ton shared between them. The accent
was that of the period-frank, open.
confiding and canny i. ready to pat
n HAL DdCh ploSC al APSAt
his knee. yet quick to form sure and
logged Judgment OF his motives.
Loved His Spontaneity.
The French came to love Herricks
boyish sportaneity, his laughter and his
easy fraternizing. He charmed them by
neglecting, when possible, the formali-
ties which usually compose the whole of
an Ambassadors life. Nothing was more
typical than his leaping up during the
banquet given to retiring Ambassador
,Jusserand and waving his napkin to
lead the Americans present through a
rollicking verse of Hes jolly Good
Fellow"
On the train down to the MAnche for
the unwilling of statue to the Wright
brothers. he sat back in his sitting COM
partment with his collar and coat re-
moved, his look of utter contentment
contrasting strangely with the wilted
f1nery of his associates. At the actual
ceremony he looked smarter than any
OF them, for none could be better
groomed when grooming was para
mount, just as none enjoyed more than
he the luxury of old clothes and COM
Portable manners.
The fact that Lindbergh fitted per-
fectly into a pair Of his excellency's
pajamas gives a good estimate of the
Ambassadors height. Tall and rangy.
with tousseled head. overhanging shout
ders and loose. easy gestures, ne had
only to straishten UP and he stood an