Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-06
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Drought as a source of relief for the
Midsummer news drought is the phe-
nomenal experience Washington COR
respondents ere now undergoing. The
rainless plight of the farming country
may turn out to be the biggest national
news of its kind sfnce the Mississippi
food distress in 1927. Already a larger
area Is affected By: the drought than
was damaged when :the Father, Of Wa
tiers oVerfiowed its muddy banks three
years ago This observer wouldn't be
surprised If it should be the situation
in the parched regions of the Midwest
that finally determined President
Hoover to travel in that direction. 1t
is a somewhat mystifying fact that no
definite plans for his projected tour
of the Rocky Mountain national parks
have yet been made The White House
remains a tower of silence on the sub
ject. Mr. Hoover might decide to take
a busman's holiday-i.e., combine va
cation pleasure with presidential bust
ness the business consisting of per-
sonal inspection of the drought
stricken sections. The President could
successfully maintain the fiction that
there was no politics in aetrip OF that
kind. But that it, would benefit his
cause, and bolster 1T in just those parts
of the country where Hoover stock is
low, can hardly be doubted.
y - X
Mai. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's APP
pointment to be cltief of staff bestows
the blue ribbon OF the United States
Army upon the man almost universally
regarded as its mast brilliant soldier.
Only two predecessors attained the dis
tinction at ages younger than that of
Macarthur, who Will be on the verge
of 81 when he takes charge in No
vember. j.. Franklin Bell was just
three months past so and Leonard
Wood was under SO when chief of staff,
respectively, in 1906 and 1910. Mac
Arthur leaps over; 1ive ranking major
generals-Hines, Lassiter, Ely, Sladen
and W. r. Smitil-+but President Hoo
yer points out that none of them has
more than 10 months 20 serve before
retirement age. Gen. Macarthur has
a full tour of four years and more
ahead of him before shelving time, On
April 2, 1882. he will become the senior
major general of the Army, aged So.
Record breaking is In MacArthur's line.
He was No. In his 1903 class at West
Point with no {, re else within halling
distance. His wartime specially was a
passion for appearing in danger zones
minus either steal helmet or gas mask.
Macarthur is TN engineer. Perhaps
JLidt iluu FOIAlCLIlfiAB w ny WIN A1OONSA -
choice of a successor to the magnificent
soldier who is new chief of staff7-Maj.
Gen. Charles Pelot Summerall.
M 4 T.
Out at the lfltra-exclusive Burning
Tree Club, across the. District line in
Maryland, where men are golfers and
women may not show their faces, three
drivers which rendered historic service
in their time Are hung in. places Of
honor. They ere the clubs used on
nearby washington links; respectively,
bv Presidents Taft, Wilson and Harding.
Individual bra&s tablets identify the
sticks It costs ST. 900 a year to belong
to the Burning Tree Judge John Bar
ton Payne. chairman of the American
Red Gross, was one of the clubs fund
ers and still enc CT its most ardent play
ing members :. Bascom Slen1p. ia fell
low Virginian. is another shining light.
X ~
Dog day political gossip in Washing
ton is concerned ever and anon with
Dwight Morrow's Republican prssiden-
tial possibilities in 1932-of course, on
a sopping-wet, repeal" platform. Apart
from the fact that It would be q COM
plete reversal Of history for an incum-
| bent President 10 be denied renomina-
ton, If he wanted 1t. the Morrow talk
is a,ithoritatitely said to have no
shadow of cointenance as far as the
New jersey Senator-to-be hirnsef Is