Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-10
Capital Sidelights
BIZ WILL p. KENNEDY.


Should the election of Speaker at
the opening Of Congress In December
run into a deadlock and be undecided
for several weeks, as now seems not
improbable, following several historic
precedents. It may be that William Ty-
Ter Page, clerk Of the House, who pre-
sides until q Speaker is elected, may
thus celebrate the fiftieth anniversary
of his coming to work as a page in the
House.
It was on December 10, 1881, that
the youthful page, wearing a home
spun suit Of clothes and with his hands
still swollen from overtime piecework in
a paper bag factory In Cumberland,
made his first appearance in the
House. This will be the sixth time he
has presided at the opening Of a Con-
greSS, and he Is looking forward to,
and preparing for, the most hectic Pc
Rod Of his entire career. az will be
ready for it," said Mr.. Page, smiling,
but with a. firm set to his lips. His Is
a task that Is not envied.
AS q matter Of fact, the control Of
the House, which is supposed to go
with the election Of Speaker, Is q task
that also Is not wanted. Just now 1t
seems as II Representative "Jack" Gar
ner OF Texas, the Democratic leader,
could be elected Speaker, but the con-
sensus OF opinion among the party
leaders Is that it would be a sad mis-
take politically for the Democrats to
take control. Similarly, the Republican
party managers are extremely reluc-
Sponsihility that goes With ORGANIZATION
Of the House through election of the
Speaker. OF course, the Republicans
Will make a hard fight for 1t, and
even at that they will have much trou-
BILE in securing the election Of q Repub-
lican Speaker, but that only means
the beginning Of more and more trou-
ole-"phing Ossa upon Pelion."
**
How far back does our Postal Sys-
tenn trace its ancestry" With the great
est public building program in all the
WORDS history being worked out here
In washington to provide post ofiices
everywhere that they are needed
c CnroIgnoI H., this great country. this
Representative Edmund +. Erik of
PennsylVania. gives US the answer in a
neat booklet on Romance of the
Mails, which includes excerpts from
old Post Bags" by Harlow.
30 lar a. We nnodernS know, the re-
lay system of carrying messages is first
mentioned in the sixth century BIC.
by Herodotus, as existing during the
reign OF Darius of Persia, on a plan
followed for centuries afterwards by
many monarchs and governments. Here
the eourierS were for the most part
mounted on horses.
The messages they carried were
scratched on bronze blades or impressed
into the clay tablets or tiles which were
tne commoneSt form of writing surface
In Persia, Assyria and Babylonia of those
days. The Book Of Esther reveals
(8:1O) that in Xerxes' time not only
horses but mules, camels and drome-
daries were used in the Persian post.
Many writers have given Cyrus Tor
Darius) credit for inventing the relay
system OF carrying intelligence; but
that 1t was In vogue long before their
time Is proven by verse Of the Prophet
jeremiah (51:3D, who wrote not later
than $50 BIC, and who, in predicting
the fall of Babylan, said, One post
shall run to meet another, and one mes
senger to meet another while the Book
Of Job, which might have been written
anywhere between the early sixth and
the eighth century BIC, says, My
days are sW1fter than post; they fee
away"
That Grand Old Man" of Massachu-
sets, John Quincy Adams, whose ia
Their was the second President of the
United States, and whose great-grand-
son is now Secretary of the Navy: who
served in the House and Senate, was a
member OF the commission which ne
gotiated the treaty of Client and as
sisted in concluding the convention Of
commerce with Great Britain; who
served Monroe as Secretary of State,
was Minister to Russia and to England.
himself President of the United States
and hero of countless historic incidents
in public hfe-is not being allowed to
become forgotten by the youth of the
land
When John Quincy Adams was
stricken in his seat in the House SO
years ago, the House was occupying
what Is now Statuary Hall, and the dy-
ing statesman was carried to an ante
room, where he expired When VIII
liam Tyler Page became clerk of the
House IL years ago he chose that room
for his office, not only because it is
convenient for the performance of his
duties, but because in his youth he was
hero-Worshiper of Adams, q marble
Dust OF whom and q marble tablet set
in the wall are pointed out by Mr.. Page
to all visitors.
School groups from all parts Of the
country are taken to Mr.. Pages office,
and he invariably tells them the story
OF John Quincy Adams and his great
and varied service to this Nation, en-
belllshed with scores of anecdotes.
Thus Is history kept alive and thus a
statesman Of the past Is made real to
the youth Of today, the public man of
the nearing future.
The school children usually recite for
Mr.: Page The Americans Creed"
which he himself compiled, and he re-
spends by telling them how it was
pieced together from extracts from fun
damental documents-and oftentimes
presents them with autographed COPIES
Of the creed. Mr.. Page takes this Spe-
cial interest in school children, allow
ing them free access to his office when
ever possible, because he had scant
schooling in his own youth, and is es-
sentially sclf-made and self-educated.
and reckoned one of the most cultured
and best-read men at the Capitol.