Evening star., 1933-03-19
Capital Sidelights
By WILL p. KENNEDY.

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: The rules Of the national House ol
Representatives are very strict regard.
ing admittance to the floor OF tht
House chamber. All secretaries II
members must remain outside thi,
sacred domain, while clerks Of com.
mittees are admitted only when that
committee has bill under considera.
ton by the Excuse.
And yet 1t has been remarked dur.
ing the last few days that q secretary
to member Of the House-Representa
tive Michael j. Muldowney of Pitts.
burgh, Pa.-has been sitting daily in
the House. The rule does not apply
70 this new member from the thirty
second Pennsylvania district, and he
has had his secretary seated beside him
The reason Is because that particular
secretary has Just as much right on
the f1oor as any member. because he
Is former member and represented the
thirtteth district Of Pennsylvania in
the last two sessions.
That secretary Is Edmund F. Erik
who Is one Of the most popular veteran
employees about the Capitol. For many
years he was secretary to the late Rep
resentative Stephen M. Porter and
clerk to the Foreign Affairs Committee
while Mr.. Porter was chairman. Then
ne succeeded to the seat made vacant
by Mr.. Porter's death.
i
One Of the new Republican members
on the House District Committee, which
mas Jurisdiction over all legislation for
the National Capital. Representative
Everett M: Dtrksen Of Illinois. Is proud
OF the TACT that he and Representative
Sol Bloom OF New York were born In
the same small town-Pekin, Ill. When
ne was years old his father died leav-
ing the widow and four small children,
All OF whom had to be content to go
to school in blue denims and peddle
milk through the neighborhood for a
livelihood" Regarding his war ex-
periences, he says:
Il was q private, first class, in the
Artillery Training Battery at Camp
Camp Custer, Mich. After q heavy,
extended course in tactics, consisting
OF squads right and how to properly
salute an ofncer, we began to learn
something about artillery. We had one
horse. one saddle and one neldpiece
OF the vintage Of 1898 without recoil
mechanism, or any other kind of
mechanism. With this we made can
noneers out Of some $50 college men
who had developed bloodthirsty pro-
clivities.
This training was elaborated upon
at Camp jackson, 8. c., and at Samur,
France, which was the old French ecole
at which Bismarck, Napoleon and other
military mon who bulk large In his
tory received training. While did not
learn enough to become a single-handed
menace to the peace and safety Of the
Kaiser, was at least repaid by the
recollection that browsed in the same
class room as the Iron Chancellor, the
Little Corporal and others. The ciplo-
ma received there entitled me to a
commission as q second lieutenant,
signed by Woodrow Wilson. After this
Thorough artillery training they did
the usual thing. They assigned me to
the Balloon Service and, after wander
ing aimlessly about In the Toul sector
for several days, finally reached the
company to which ! was assigned and
began to look through field glasses
from a balloon basket and direct the
important work Of knocking down church
steeples about 10 kilometers away.
When the war was over, I, among
others, was detailed to return to Bor-
deaux and take course Of training at
the Balloon School. have never been
able to determine whether this was in
for the next war or as q
for inferior work In the last
one.
Next to coming out unscathed, my
most pleasant memories Of the war con-
stst OF buying lace in the narrow streets
Of Genoa. witnessing the dedication of
the monument to Victor Emmanuel in
Rome, watching King George pin med
ais on the tunicS of soldiers at Buck
ingham Palace, sitting beside King AL
bert CT Belgium in Y M. c. A. In
Brussels, travelling through the land of
Roderick Dhu and fair Ellen in Scot
land and censoring the letters of not
able Germans addressed to this coun-
try"
This fellow - Representative Ernest
broke up the nasty scrap
between two Missouri members In the
House Ofice Building the other night,
Is the son Of a minister, but himself a
good scrapper and Of the church mill
tant." He was member Of the War
Congress (the sixty-fifth l9l7-l9) and
voted against war against conscription
for foreign service, against war with
Austria; opposed the League Of Nations,
opposed entry into the World Court and
conducted the first congressional ref
erendum on war. He was editor and
published Of Uncle Sam"
But while thus putting the soft pedal
on war. he already had a good record
as soldier, having served as private
in Company B. 18th Minnesota United
States Volunteers, in the Spanish-Amer-
ican War. He held a commission in
the Minnesota National Guard and was
a member Of the national championship
rifle team IN l909-nearly q quarter OF
century ago. He Is member Of the
Delta Sigma Rho, Spanish War Vet
erans. He has served as president of
the 18th Minnesota United States Vol
unteers' Association and vice president
OF the Civil War Veterans Association
He delivered the Memorial day Grafton
in Arlington National Cemetery In 1918
upon invitation of the National G. A R
Another Spanish War veteran in this
Congress Is Representative Elmer A,
Studley Of New York, who was a re-
porter on a Buffalo paper under the
tutelage Of Samuel G. Blythe. He served
IN the National Guard Of the State OF
New York as enlisted man and as COM
missioned ofdcer Of the line from 1884
to 1898. and in the latter year was
commissioned for the war with Spaiu
first lieutenant in the 202d New York
Volunteer Infantry and served with II
in Cuba In 1898 and 1899 until mus
tered out. During the war with Spain
he was once detailed by the Command
ing oficer Of his brigade to suppress a
mutiny that had broken out in two de-
tached companies Of regiment at.
tached alongdde-and did II without
drawing gun.
He was enrolled as q major in the
United States War Register In 1905
which was then the Ofiicers' Reserve
Corps.
Following the war with Spain he wen,
to Ration, N. Mex. He served in the Ter
ritorial Legislature of New Mexico In
1907. was Q member Of the New Mex.
leo Territorial Statutory Revision Com.
mission, district attorney end membe,
of the State Board of Water Commis.
sioners. He had much to do with irri.
CATION laws there and organized some
irrigation districts.
He Is lineal descendant Of Henry
DunSter first president os Harvard Col.