Evening star., 1934-01-28
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Il
Any boy-and most any one else. for
that matter-would like to have big
Dalmatian dog Of ancient lineage pre-
sented to him by the President, and
what more appropriate than to name
such a dog President" And then
to have that same dog most properly
provided with kennel-the only dog
house ever built by one of the great
art institutions Of the country. wouldn't
that swell the heart Of any 9-year-
boy to bursting So this is little
thumb-nail story of Jack" and his
dog and the dog house that Jack had
built.
jock happens to be the son Of a
World War hero-Brig. Gen. John
Campbell Greenway, for whom he was
name land his mother happens to be
the new member Of Congress from
Arizona, Representative Isabella Green
way. President Roosevelt is great
friend Of the family and visited Jack
at his home in Tuscon. AriZ., SO Jack
probably knows the President better
than most any other boy of his age
and weight In this broad land OF ours.
Being such good pals, what more fit
ting than that the President should
give Jack a dog Of high degree.
But-such a dog should have 1T
ting apartment OF his own; and his
mother being an extremely busy
woman, and a wise mother, too, said to
Jack: Son, haven't time to attend
to that, so will you please hunt up a
carpenter and have a kennel built for
your dog?" Then-this important
question was out Of her mind until she
received call on the phone one morn
ing saying the party was ready to
deliver the dog house. who is this,
please?" said Representative Greenway,
and the answer came back, The Corco-
ran Art Gallery" When she finally
got it registered in her dazed mind
that this art institution had made a
dog house for her son, she asked,
But will you please tell me how you
came to build dog house?" Her
answer was, We'll. you see, 1t was
the first time boy had ever asked
us to build house for his dog. and so
we thought we ought not to wreck his
faith in U.s."
This Jack is the same youngster who
sat on the House floor the opening day
of the session with his mother when
she took the oath of Office as a mem
Der of Congress. A few days later a
chance acquaintance, meeting him in
the park, asked how he liked living in
Washington. and Jack replied, Not
SO well-I feel Gagged" The questioner
probed further, What do you mean
caged-like a canary?" Jack rather
"No-like an eagle" Jack has un-
limited use Of taxicab. His mother
hired one for the entire session of Con-
gress-taXi driver and all, so Jack
spends much of his time riding in it
all over the city. Quite a little more
OF his time is spent roller skating
around the Lincoln Memorial and the
rejecting basin.
Now let's switch to o little story
about Jacks mother:
She often works late in her Office.
The other night she was hard at it,
and so after time she grew tired and
looked at her watch as she was pack
ing up some Of the unfinished business
to take home with her-it was 3:15
am. Very frequently she can be seen
leaving the House Office Building at
midnight or ! am.
Also Jacks mother works early-she
breakfasts at and has one Of her
secretaries there to take dictation at
7:30 am.
Congress allows each member two
office workers-Mrs. Greenway has six
all but one from her home State.
AL Of them are really tense for fear
she and they will not make good-it
is an interesting Office partnership.
One Of these secretaries does nothing
else but handle veterans cases, but
that's no sinecure because Mrs. Green
way has some $4,000 veterans in her
district, many Of them from all parts
OF the country. drawn to Arizona be-
cause its climate was beneficial to their
service-connected disabilities.
1T Is privilege feel very glad
I can pay for" said Mrs. GreenWay,
when questioned regarding the cost of
her office force. Il do not see how
my colleagues who are allowed only
two secretaries and can't pay for others
out of their own resources can meet
the mail they receive daily"
Besides her six secretaries Mrs.
Greenway boasts her assistance of four
large groups in her district-the vet
Grams. the agricultural group, the rail-
road group and the copper mining
group. They recognize" said Mrs.
Greenway. that they took a big re-
sponsibility in sending a woman to
Congress from that district, and they
are not taking any chance on my
falling down on the job, so they are
working with me, helping me-we are
sharing the responsibility"
X
Folks throughout the country have
an idea that members of Congress do
their principal work sitting in the
House and Senate chambers. Often
times visitors to the galleries exclaim
in shocked sort of way about the
small number of members they see on
the floor-with a sort of insinuation
that all the others are playing hockey.
Members of Congress do not get public
works jobs for their district. or en-
ployment for their constituents. or
action on veterans cases by sitting in
their chairs in the House or Senate
chamber-but by being messenger boys
and going to the departments and
bureaus. They cannot sit in the legisla-
tive chambers and dictate replies to
letters they have received from their
constituents.
How relatively small a part Of the
work of Congressman Is attendance
in the chamber is shown by vote on
an airmail amendment while the Treas
ury-PoSt Office appropriation bill was
Under consideration. The vote was 20
to 3-with more than 400 members
absent.