The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-07-06
i yOBSEKES BURDEN SECRETARIES TO SENATORS REPRESENTATIVES
Secretaries
lob to Get
It Out

in the Senate Office Building.
Two Alabama peaches tossed
nickels at his musical feet and
shrieked with delight as he
danced faster.
Honey, look! Look at the
little darkey dance"
Secretaries from adjoining
offices, interested and amused,
watched for a moment before
turning back to desks piled
high with senatorial CORE
spondence.
Looking exactly like that da'
guerreotype of great-grand-
mother as a girl, even to the
curlS piled high on her shapely
little head, Miss Harriet Prim,
aged 10, blushed when asked how
it felt to be working as one OF
the secretaries Of Alabama's fay
orite son.
She shyly admitted it was her
first job and the first time she
had ever been away from Birm-
ingham. Her voice was soft and
low with a fascinating Southern
accent. It went with the curls,
the starry brown eyes and the
peach bloom complexion.
Five Secretaries =.
She was only an extra" she
said, but she hoped to work in
the Senator's home office in JAS
par, Ala, when Congress ad-
journs.
Senator John Bankhead has
five secretaries, two men and
three women.
Lurlene Poss, 20, a dimpled
young lady with copper curls, has
been with the Senator for two
years. She comes from Birming-
ham.
Mrs. Douglas Lacy, attractive,
courteous, competent, has been
with him six years. Before that
time she was one of his brother
williams secretaries. She lives
in Jaspar.
The former Senator William
Bankhead is the father of the
beautiful and talented Tallulah.
One way to make him really mad,
however, is to refer to him as
Tallulah's father instead of as
Senator Bankhead.
Prominent in law and politics
before his daughter was walking,
it irritateS him to be smothered
beneath the mantle OF her theatre
cal fame.
Most Of us think that Congress-
mems secretaries lead a life of
ease and luxury. When Congress
adjournS, they loaf until the next
Session-or so we think.
Not so! A secretary's life, ex-
cept for q months vacation dur
ing the summer, Is equally busy
the year round. She workS-or
. he works-whether Congress is in
session or not. Sometimes secre-
taries remain in Washington, or
they may follow their employers
back home where new bills are
drafted, constituents interviewed
and mail answered.
BY the Thousands
Perhaps the heaviest tasks are
interviewing job seekers and an
Swering mail. Asked If many PEG.
pie come in asking for help in
obtaining government positions
while Congress is in session, Mrs.
Lacy laughed:
"ASk me another! They come
by the thousands! I mean that!
Look at these files"
She pulled out desk drawers.
They were packed with letters
letters begging or demanding Jobs
for the writer who voted for you
at the last election"
Every congressional office Is
practically. swamped with mail
from the folks back home. Some
OF the letters are funny, some
pathetic, some peremptory, and
some from people who just like
to write.
They write on every imaginable
subject, including old.age pen
SlonS, Government jobs, pending
bills, the condition of things back
home, and what the newspapers
say about the Senators.
Sometimes the letters are heart
rending. Typical are those from
old Southern darkieS, asking hum.
bly, for help because they are too
crippled, too feeble to work any
longer. They read like this:
II am begging your Dear
Honor for a pension. / have no
income, no husband and am
70 years old and crippled with
rheumatism.
"Will your Dear Mercy have
pity on an old cOlOred woman
who is alone and friendIesS?"
(Signed) "YOur Old Servant"
1t brings a lump to the throat
to read them. They are so trust
ing-So confident that the great
Senator can, by mere wave of
the hand, make their last days
q little brighter.
All Answered
Sometimes when a new bill is
pending as many as 800 letters
a day fill the mail baskets. Let
tiers that must be answered. And
it takes five secretaries, working
eight hours day to do it. If
the folks back home who kick
about the extravaganza of Con-
greSSmen and their large office