Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-12
HOOVER OVERSEAS
AIDES WILL DINE
More Than 600 Expected at
Banquet of Relief Work
ers March 3.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.
Arrangements are complete for the
great unofficial pre-inaugural lovefeas-
to be held in Washington on the night
Of Sunday, March 8, in honor of Her.
bert Hoover. It will be the fifth annua
reunion dinner of the Hoover Over.
seas and War Service Organizations
| 1914-1924." The scene will be the
banqueting hall Of the Wardman Parl
Hotel. Between 600 and TOO guest.
will be present. small percentage Of
those who have swamped the dinner
committee with applications for places
| all OF which long since were allotted
The President-elect will not take part
in the dinner itself, but will drop in
during its progress and address few
friendly words to the men who were
his co-workers In Europe and the
United States during the historic dec
ade following the outbreak of the
World War.
The seven wartime and postwar
agencies which comprise the Hoover
Overseas and War Service Organiza-
tons" are the American Relief Admin
iStration, the European Children'S Fund
the Commission for Relief in Belgium
the European Technical Advisers, the
United States Food Administration, the
United States Grain Corporation and
the United States Sugar Equalization
Board. The "A. r. A. Association" is
the constituent body around which the
Hoover associates rally. 1t has 1900
members. "a. r. A." stands for
American Relief Administration. Organ
lied in 1925, it was the last of the
war organizations built up to carry on
the vast operations of the reconstruc-
ton period in Europe.
Purpose Explained.
The immediate purpose of the "a. r. A.
Association" in words used by Herbert
Hoover at its initial meeting in New
York, was to minister to the relief of
200 ,000, 600 starving people living to the
east of the old western 'front.' Mr..
Hoover went on to explain that during
the negotiations which led to the sur
render of Germany, in late october and
early November, 1918, recurring state
ments by President Wilson indicated
the solicitude of the American people
to bring distress in enemy countries to
an end" In the armistice terms there
was provision that food supplies were
to be furnished for that purpose. Mr.
Hoover disclosed to his co-workers that
the provision was introduced by the
United States at his instance. The
American Relief Administration was
brought into being to give it effect.
The present board of officers of the
"a. r. A. Association" consists of
George Barr Baker. president; John p.
Gregg, vice president, and j. e. Sey-
kora, secretary treasurer. The board
of managers includes some of Presi-
dent-elect Hoover's closest friends, such
as Edgar Rickard, now with him in
Florida; former Gov. j. p. Goodrich of
Indiana, Gen. William N. Haskell, DR..
Alonzo E. Taylor, DR.. Vernon Kellogg,
Van Arsdale Turner, julius H. Barnes,
James A. Logan, jr., and John r.
EllingSton.
The "a. r. A. Association" is nova
days kept active by the more or less
younger members, but nobody has ever
devoted more enthusiasm to its work
and meetings than "the chief" himself.
The members hold one dinner q year
and issue bulletins at such times as the
spirit moves. Each bulleton cover Is
adorned with an old-fashioned map In
dicative OF the various parts of the
world In which at one time or another
Hoover and his people functioned as
e%sAAAOAA[4os 4ACy 2V4CbCl1 OH VIC WAY
from Siberia to Morocco and from Fin
land to Egypt.
Members Eventually Report.
Sometimes members of the "a. r. A.
Association" are lost sight of for con-
siderable periods, but eventually they
report again. They range from such dig
nified, wealthy and influential men in
the country as r. Fulton Cutting to fine
fellows who hold modest jobs some
where. There are Protestant ministers,
Roman Catholic priests and Jews who
worked amicably side by side in Russia,
and who have not noticed that differ
ence in the method Of worship of one
God makes people less miserable when
the good has gone and the water Is
bad.
There's bound to be great fun In
when the Hooverians go through one
Of their fondest customs-the passing
Of the "a. r. A. Associations" loving
cup. filled with ginger ale. It goes each
yea to the man who makes out the
hes case as to the distance he has
tre feled to be present. It Is a large tin
AFFAIR, which Frank Page, son Of the
late Ambassador Walter Hines Page,
bought for quarter and presented to
the organization. The cup once was
won by a man who had journeyed
through what he called the "Circumlo-
cution ONCE" meaning the State De-
partment, across to the Metropolitan
Club, where the dinner was held, and
then up and down all the mysterious
staircases of the club. Once it was won
by Father Edmund A. Walsh of George
town University, who had travelled all
the way from Russia. Another time 1t
went to a young man who had come
back from Persia just in time to be
present. Each year the winner, at his
own cost, places copper-plate on the
cup bearing his name.
Copyright, 1929