Evening star., 1933-01-01
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.


Speaker John N. Garner. Senator
Morris Sheppard Of Texas. and other
leaders at the Capital had an interest
ing visitor during the past week-W
3. Chenoweth, O well-known character
in the Lone Star State, inventor and
champion fiddler, IS years Of age.
Here are some Of his claims to fame:
He has made more than score OF Inn
portant inventions. He originated the
six-cylinder automobile in 1899. He in
vented q practical flying machine in
| 1908; an improved farm tractor in 1919
and atmosphere-produced electricity In
1920. He holds the first automobile
i registration card ever issued in the
State of Texas, dated July II, 1907.
When he was guest of honor in the
| Speakers Office he was wearing proudly
a United Confederate Veterans medal,
| suitably engraved which he called his
"fiddling medal" explaining that he
| had contested in 81 States and had
never been defeated.
For nearly q decade he has been in
sisting that the gasoline auto engine is
going into the discard and will be re-
placed by air-generated electricity. He
says he Is living testimony that the life
Of an inventor is not one of roses, and
draws comfort from the fact that 'they
thought Ford was crazy, too," explain
ing that more than 80 years ago when
he was in Detroit ''the bankers and
business men of that city told me that
Henry Ford was a nut They advised
me not to take any stock In his wild
schemes"
He admits that there were other fly
ing machines before he perfected his
nearly quarter of q century ago, but
describes them as OF little worth. "The
Wright brothers had q plane that would
lift them of the ground and carr
them over a big field" he points out,
but II any one ever made trip of any
distance before fiew "A miles from
Chicago to Cicero on September 81.
1908, the feat has been kept pretty well
under cover. He had good reason to
remember that experience because he
was arrested and fined $165 for flying
over the Windy City, he says.
HIS tractor, developed during the
World War. was guided with a pair OF
rtdns, just the same as team of mules,
tug with the right or left hand turn
ing the tractor in either direction. He
still believes that his tractor was the
first complete substitute for the mule. /"
In the Summer Of 1921 he set up a
small fuelless plant at Cockrell Hill,
between Dallas and Fort Worth, and
for six months gave the people of that
town free light and power. His plant
was operated by wind-power and four
and one-half mile breeze was all that
was necessary to start the generator
In IL hours enough reserve power would
be stored up to last q week, he says.
1t was while he was a railroad drafts
man that he got bitten bad by the gas
engine bug, according to the story told
by Mr.. Chenoweth in the Speakers Of
flee. He had his drawings completed
in October, 1899. but had a terrible
time trying to convince folks he was
not crazy. MY only sympathetic lis
tener among the manufacturers, then
devoted to the one or two cylinder en-
gines, was Henry Ford, who Thought
my plans practical and offered to build
two cars according to my specifications
for $2,750 a piece. I was able, how
ever. to reduce that cost, and so he
didn't get the job."
X y X
Chairman Cochran Of the House
Committee on Expenditures, who in
troduced the resolution to prevent
President Hoover from carrying out his
plan for reorganizing the administra-
tive branch of the Government by a
series of executive orders, and who has
been an outstanding foe of proposed
salary slashing throughout the civil
service, told colleagues in the House
an interesting story of how one official
got quick advancement through ad-
ministrative favor.
"I know something with reference to
how the seed loan and crop production
acts have been administered" said
Representative Cochran. "Since Con-
gress adjourned last July, the distin-
guished Secretary Of Agriculture, who
comes from my State, found in his
home town of Trenton. Mo-, gentle
man engaged in distributing Ford au-
tomobiles, named Don G. McVay, and
brought him to Washington. On July
is he gave Mr.. Mcvay a position as
manager Of the field office for the crop
Washington, at a salary Of $4,000 yer
year.
"Mr McVay evidently knows so much
more about seed loans and crop pro-
duction than he knows about selling
Fords, for hts services appear to be SO
valuable that the Secretary of Agricul-
ture on October 16, designated this
gentleman as chief administrator for
the farm seed loan office. directly un-
der the Secretary of Agriculture, and
increased his salary to $1,000 a year.
Not so bad for a country automobile
agent" commented Representative
Cochran.
An interesting analysis Of the recent
election and the membership Of the
ua,,sn IN the Qnuarty- th}vd Tnn0TaSg
has been made by George D. Ellis, a
special assistant in the ofice of the
clerk of the House, South Trimble, to
whom the election returns are made.
There will be i29 new Democrats in
the new House. 80 new Republican
faces and four Farm-Labor.
There are 1873 Democrats now sitting
In the House who were reelected, SO
Republicans reelected and one Farm
Labor member.
Two Democrats now members Of the
House were defeated by Republicans.
Twenty-four of the present Repub-
lican members were defeated in the
primaries, 81 we're not candidates, and
78 were defeated at the polls on elec-
tion day.
members lost out in the primaries, is
were not candidates for reelection and
two were defeated on election day, as
stated above.
This gives US the official tally on
lame ducks"-the greatest number in
history-ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY.
Theater Pests Beware.
From the Worcester Evening Post.
Our Government should subsidize the
theater, says Yeats, the Irish play
wright Then. maybe. troops could be
used against those folks who have the
habit of interrupting the first act