The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1931-07-07
NEA Service Writer

! MA oCENNC "TtCT
Washington - The man at the
( telephone during the debt suspens-
ion negotiations with France is In
dersecretary of State William r..
Castle, a tall. spare aristocrat who
| came from the bottom right up 10
| the top among our diplomats.
During the most critical moments
of Secretary of the Treasury Mel
IONS conversations in Paris Secre-
tary of State Stimson was on the
high seas, bound not for France, but
Italy. Castle was at the helm in the
department, in close touch with
President Hoover across the street
at the White House.
Plain Spoken.
These relative positions at such
a time caused some comment, cell
tering on the fact that Hoover and
Casle are very good friends and that
Castle is both smooth and popular
in his handling of both foreign di-
pIomats and the newspaper CORE
spondents who have been keeping
the world advised Of the plans and
reactions of this government. Cor
respondents, at least, find that the
! legal minded Mr. Stimson is likely
to talk all around his subject when
| he can be persuaded to talk at all.
whereas the pleasant, genial Mr.
Castle can make things reasonably
plain to them without either saying
any more than he wants to say or
giving the many wrong steers.
Castle speaks rather softly, with
great deliberation and a slight Har-
| ward accent which might we'll be
stronger considering the many years
he spent at Harvard University 90
ing one thing and another. He wears
white suits in summer as do most
other upper officials-not includ-
ing Hoover, who effects blue coat
and white fiannels-in Washington
| during this season. Castle is both
socially and officially important. His
favorite playmate is Senator David
A. Reed of Pennsylva mia. The two
men have built similar houses side
by side, sharing Il common garden.
on the same small section OF )
street occupied by Mrs Woodrow
Wilson's home and the house Hoo
Yer had when he was secretary OF
commerce.
No Time to Swim.
| Castles favorite hobby is swim
ming, his favorite swimming is In
the waters of Bermuda and his fav-
| OrlIc SWlIIlIlllIS anu
costume Is his bare skin. He swims
in town at the Racquet club and
sometimes motorboats down the well
known Potomac river Lately, being
on this end of the wire from Paris
and comforting with European am
bassadors and President Hoover
continually, he has had no time Toy
swimming.
He is the descent of New England
and missionary stock. He was born
in 1878, a subject of King Kalabaua
because his grandfather had gone
there in 1886 as financial secretary
of the American Board of Missions
Castles father, after serving in Jo-
seph II. Choate's law firm in New
York, had become attorney general
of Hawaii, later Hawaiian minister
to Washington and then an annexa-
ton commissioner in 1898.
Hawaii to Harvard.
Castle went from Hawaii to Har-
ward and was in the class of 1900
along, among others, with Governor
General Dwight Davis Of the Philip
ambassadors, ministers or consul'
general-Robert Bliss, william Phil
lips, Peter Jay and Charles Curtis
Castle subsequently taught England
|
for three years at Harvard, wa:
assistant dean from 1906 to 1911:
and at the time war broke out was
editor of the Harvard Graduates
Magazine.
His understanding of people, hi
ability to make them like him, ant
perhaps the Acknowledged finess'
: with which he operates as a diplo
mat, were first demonstrated as h
Il 10. mt To al
TIL war brought him here and h
organized for the Red Cross ;
bureau for prisoner relief and searcl
| for missing men. His office be
l came an important one, with abou
5000 employees here and in tn
camps.
Work in Japan.
Peck invited him into the State de
Balk invited him into the State de