Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-22
Capital SideIights
RY WILL P. Kennedy.

Attorney General, pays feeling tribute
to his fellow statesman, the Grand Ola
Man Of the Capital City, who was
wounded in the breast at Balls Bun,
in the neck at Antietam and in the foot
at Antietan, who for nearly 80 years
has been an associate justice OF the
Supreme Court of the United, States
and who recently celebrated his nineteen
birthday anniversary-Mr. Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes.
Looking back over the years spent
at the Nations Capital" says Mr.. Far
mum, mo experience stands out IN
memory more pleasantly than the call
I made upon the justice 70 pay my
official respects Just after my assumption
of Office. He received me in the library
of the dignified old mansion. True to
the continuity of what fancy might
be regarded as a family tradition, there
is much about this residence which
suggests the old home on Beacon street,
Boston, where his father lived. the
personality of the distinguished occu-
pant Is stamped upon 1t, and the char
acter of his culture is rejected IN all
its appointments. His library Is not
merely that of a great iurist, but every
aspect of it suggests the widely read
scholar, the profound thinker, the serene
philosopher and the cultured gentleman.
I know Of no room that reveals so
much of q mans individuality as his
library or study. This, had distinct
feeling, was pre-eminently so here-a de-
duction which was somewhat INTENSE
fed by the impressioniSttc eftects on
the interior Of the fading lights OF
closing day and b the heightening OF
the IMAGINATIVE faculties that come
when one enters for the first time, even
specifically, into the intimate environ
n1ent OF a subject Of his hero-worship.
GAS he entered the room was forci-
bly, struck with the nobleneSs OF ms
bearing, the simplicity Of his manner
and the peculiar distinction OF MS APP
pearance, with his fine head crowned
with thick hair which time Apad SO
whitened. There has always beeR about
him something that challenged ana neld
attention. It is difficult to be near him
under any circumstances without feel-
ing an inability to keep ones eyes on
him. Above all, there Is about MN
pervasion Of that radiance Of the human
spirit that renders his face, as was once
said of another, a thanksgiving Tor MS
past life and love letter TO al man
kind AS he came forward 70 greet
me he placed his hands on my shoul-
ders and said, Won't you turn toward
the light, Mr.. Farnum, so that can
see what you look hke7' Then for
short time I enjoyed what was 70 me
the rare privilegeSof his charming and
unpretentious discourse. He has the
true simplicity Of . great. SOU. Y .
trace Of the assumption Of that tnher-
emit superiority which he so Individually
possesses. He Is a man in whom life,
as In Potugin in Turgenv's novel,
Smoke has succeeded in wearing away
vanity. Indeed, one suspects that he
never possessed any OF that rather uni
versal endowment, though one recalls
one Of his essays which begins with the
that vanity Is the most philosophical
Of all those feelings which we are taught
10 deEpise.'
In Concluding his appreciation" Mr..
Farnuua coined this paragraph, worthy
10 be quoted by schoolboy orators
throughout the land:
1--WE OF Massachusetts, have reason 70
be proud of this great scholar and gen"
tlennan, who represents US on the nigh
pst court in the world. But still we
have no right to any monopoly OF pride
In this particular, because he belongs
to the country at large, and his work
and thought to humanity IS well. Vol
taire once said that the administration
of Justice is the most beautiful function
Of humanity. With a fine balance OF
ldeaiism and pragmatism, Mr. Justice
/
playing, valiant role in this exalted
work"
Senator Pat Harrison Of Mississippi,
O. Melvin Sharpe, the glad-hand man
and general MIR. Fix-it" for the Poto-
mac Electric Power Co. and It's related
interests, who is one of the unofncial
entertainers for the National Capital,
and several Of their playmates started
1.r~ a. Stys4T
boys visit to the big city enjoyable.
They succeeded far beyond their ex-
pectationS.
They took him around the links Of
the Burning Tree Club. He was poor boy,
who has been working hard during his ~
years to make an honest living and sue
ceeded fairly we'll, eliminating his bust-
ness successes with analgamation OF Q
number Of banks. So when Dick"
Lilley came to washington and went
out to Burning Tree with . school,
days' nal who has Just finished writing
philosophical work at Catholic Uni
versity. he fell in with the plans Of the
washington playfellows who were tired
of losing golf balls to each other. They
found him unexpectedly clever with his
clubs and, presuming it but noYice's
luck, continued to stake their skin
against his-and now they are far
WloCt anu puOASE HACAAs 4ASS paw @AA
Of Dick" Lilley's expenses from st. Paul
and return-with plenty Of change for
the caddies.
Sometimes these little country boys
from the great open spaces of the West
swing a mean club, the genial Senator
Harrison and the equally genial Mel"
Sharpe are prompt to admit.
X \
The Easter throng of visitors to the
Capital City have a new thing to see
while here. It is in the ONCE of the
Assistant Secretary Of War, Col. Fred
bust of Col. Thomas A. Scott, who
served as Assistant Secretary of War
during the Civil War, from March 10,
1861, to January %, 1862. 1t was pre-
scented to the War Department by Mrs.
Edgar Scott Of Bryn Mawr, Pa.
y
Kit Carson probably carved his name
on many a tree, but what a thrill it was
for one who had thrilled as a boy in
breathlessly following the Kit Carson
tales to actually find a tree on which
was carved kit Carton-1e46"!
This find" was made by q trail crew
of the United States Forest Service
near Mud Lakes in the Eldorado National
Forest of California. Six inches of new
wood had grown around the original
blaze. Another tree also carved by the
famous frontiersman in 1646 is still
standing in what is now known as Kit
Carson Pass, on the Eldorado National
Forest.
ing to be a policy that, when times
are cn0d Governments hl1ildinU SINuyS IN