Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

which members OF Congress are curCan-
ing considerably on the number Of
| the House Postmaster Frank w. Collier
estimates that upwards OF 10000
| Christmas cards will go out through his
| once and at least that number will
come in. Thus will the holiday cheer
be spread from the Capitol throughout
| the land and the good will spirit waited
| here from all corners OF the United
States--and foreign lands.
From IL TO Is sacks OF parcel post
mail per hour Is being handled by Post
master Golfers force-outgoing, and
six or seven sacks per hour incoming
| parcel post. Next week the amount Of
| incoming packages viii multiply II the
experience OF previous years holds true.
And Mr. Collier ought to be a pretty
| good judge for he has been on the job
| for IL years as postmaster, and for 25
years an employe at the Capitol Previ-
Oiisly he was druggist in Wisconsin.
When he FIRST came to Washington he
WAS a clerk in the Post ONCE where he
| Is now postmaster, and the work Of
that ONCE has multiplied many times.
All of this Christmas rush work In
the House Post ONCE is being handled
with only one additional employee, and
is kept cleaned up every hour so that
| no piece OF mail awaits more than one
|
| the postmaster.
The reason why the House Post ONCE
does not employ extra help at Christmas
as do other post offices is because
trained and experienced men are needed
to handle carefully the mail for Con-
| gressmen and they cannot be broken
/ in during the holiday season-so the
doubles up and somehow keeps the mail
from piling up.
| AS usual, Edmund F. Erik of Pitts
burgh is sending out the largest num-
Der and the most original Christ
| mas cards, although this is not up to
/ the usual Erik standard. The reason
is that previously while secretary to
the late Representative Stephen Porter
Mr.. Erik spent several months in draft
ing an elaborate greeting card which has
| for a number of years evoked flood of
inquiries from all over the country. and
| people in all ranks Of life, including
many patriotic organizations, which de-
sire to secure copies. This year, how
ever, Mr.. Erik was in the midst OF a
campaign for election to Congress Of
Mr.. Porters successor, and did not have
| the copy for his card ready in time
! so the engravers could get out the de-
sired number.
Mr.. Erik is mailing out 5000 cards.
It is a folder 10x12 inches Of beautiful
| color work in some seven colors with
fitting holiday sentiment. Inside the
folder are engraved reproductions OF
! House and Senate, the one for the
House Gallery signed by Mr. Erik him.
self, and the one for the Senate Gallery
signed by Senators Reed and Davis OF
Pennsylvania. This greeting therefore
carries with it an invitation to his
! friends back home to visit Congress
at work Before sending out each card,
Mr.. Erik fills in on these gallery ad-
mission cards. the name OF the person
. to whom he Is addressing the greeting.
Congressman Erik promises that next
year he will send out the most elaborate
| and patriotic card he has ever pre-
| pared for the holiday season, empha-
sizing the Bicentennial Celebration Of
George WaShington's birth.
| y X X
William Tyler Page, clerk of the
House of Representatives, who is au-
thor of the Americans creed and ex-
ecutive secretary of the George Wash
ington Bicentennial Commission and
who last week celebrated the forty
ninth anniversary of his coming to
Congress as a page, having been con-
tinuously employed in the Capitol, is
4
| Christmas cards as usual, but his per-
sonal cards to his closest friends carry
the real spirit of Christmsstime. They
were secured through the National Ca
thedral and carry reproductions OF the
Madonna and Child and other famous
paintings regarding the birth Of the
Saviour by the greatest masters, mostly
Italian.
| Speaker Longworth is mailing out his
usual LOO batch of Christmas cards,
which are signed Jointly by himself and
Alice Longworth" In addition to
these, the Speaker and Mrs. Longworth
have list of personal friends almost
as long as this list of of1cial friends
to whom they send Christmas greet
ings annually.
| y X
Representative Edmund F. Erik has
received one Christmas present which
especially delights him. For the past IL
| years he was clerk to the Foreign At
fairs Committee of the House as well
as private secretary to Representative
Porter of Pennsylvania. chairman Of
! that committee Mr. Erik has now sue
ceeded Mr.. Porter in Congress, and by
unanimous vote of Democrats, as well
as Republicans. he has been given a
|
| signment to membership on this House
Committee of which he was clerk for
| IL years.
| There are two members of Congress
to whom Christmas day appeals par
! ticularly 1t means more In their lives
than. to all of their colleagues. Repre-
sentative David j. OConnell of Brook
| lyn, N. Y, was born in New York City
on Christmas day. 1868. Even more
than to his colleague, O'Connell, Christ
mas day grips at the heartstrings Of
| Representative Joe Grail of Los Angeles,
Judge Charles s. Grail, who is dean of
the Superior Court of Los Angeles, were
born on Christmas eve, 1877. They re-
semble each other in appearance, have
| always dressed alike, and are pleased
to be mistaken one for the other. They
we're partners in the practice Of law
until Charles went on the bench IL
years ago At the outbreak Of the
Spanish american War both enlisted as
privates and served in the Volunteer
Signal Corps. Joe was made corporal
and Charles was made sergeant, which
! made it easier for their commanding
| officer to tell the one from the other
| by their chevrons. Joe remained in
Cuba with the American Army Of &C.
cupation until its withdrawal.
1 X \ X
Few men in Congress can claim to
be as closely related to the Founding
Fathers as Representative E. Hart Fem
of Connecticut, chairman of the House
Census Committee, who is quitting Con-
| gress at the close of the present seS-
SION but not as lame duck" because
he voluntarily withdrew. He was
veteran newspaper reporter and editor
| before coming to Congress.
| Representative Fem is lineal de-
scendant of Benjamin Fem, founder
| of New Haven. Conn. in 1893; OF John