The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-07-10
At The National Capitol
DAILY WASHINGTON LETTER
A Digest of Who's Who and What's What
BY RODNEY BUTCHER
NEA Service Writer
By RODNEY BUTCHER


Washington-Ther is something
about the heat-or the people
here which causes every true Wash
J ingtonan to insist that no matter
how hot the weather may be else
| where it is still hotter in Washing
ton.
Temperatures at other points go
higher but any thermometer that
registers actual discomfort would
| more than hold its own in the
capital. And perhaps the most mis-
cradle fact of all-yeah, this is just
a story about a beautiful city's mis-
ery!-is that when you dash out
of town for relieving swim in al
| most any of the nearby waters you
find yourself getting bitten by wild
| animals. of which more anon.
No Good Windsweep.
One obvious trouble Is that the
town is too remote from the Arctic
circle. But more to thes point is
the fact that 1t Is laid out close to
sea level, with a lot of old swamp
land utilized. The fathers who
picked the site didn't realize that
tits not the heat but the humidity"
Those who came after them at the
seat of government have been
learning it ever since. Old inhabit-
ants who have survived many sum-
mers explain also that we get no
good wind-sweep here and that it
stays nearly as hot at night as in
the day time.
Washington goes away for the
| summer more than any other place.
Society makes the first break. Then
congress goes, except for very few
gents like the Utah senators, Smoot
| and King, who stay through the
heat and work and work and work.
For those whose jobs keep them
and that's most of us-it is consid-
cred the only decent thing to do.
if it can possibly be afforded, to
pack the wife and kids off at least
for a couple of months. The city Is
full of lonesome men who walk
aimlessly at night or see a lot OF
movies. Most of the cabinet mem
bers have managed to keep out of
town during the recent spell, but
President Hoover and many other
of the higher officials remain. the
president, however, could remain
ignorant of the heat except for
what he reads in this newspapers
| if he didn't have to step outside and
drive down to this cool waters OF
the Rapidan each weekend. The
| Wnlte House executive Offices <1tS
so effectively refrigerated as to
guarantee cool, calm and collected
presidents at all times.
| The Real Sufferers.
The folks who really get 1t In
the neck during this weather are
about 5000 government employees
who work in the temporary stucco
buildings erected during the war
Elsewhere one can sometimes sum-
mon strength to force a laugh al
the heat, but not in those low
! flimsy structures.
Washington's general resentmen,
at it's summer heat has been finding
further expression in demands thai
cooling systems be installed in the
various splendid new edifices going
up under the big federal building
program. 1t is argued that it cost
Uncle Sam $150,000 last summer tc
dismiss employees on days when the
heat was especially atrocious. Much
is lost in efficiency through this sea-
son. Already, as result of such
suggestions the architects are plan
ming a certain amount of artif1cia
cooling which was not originally con-
templated. About a fourth of tbs
big new Commerce Department
building will be cooled, it Is under
| stood.