Evening star., 1935-01-03
Halls of Congress Come to Life
As74thSession Opens in Pomp
Senators and Representatives., Friends
and Foes Scurry About as Curtain
Rises on Greatest ShOiU.
BY JAMES z. CHINN.

BY JAMES z. CHINN.
Ladies and gentlemen! Americas
greatest show Is now on. The Seventy
fourth Congress assembled as an
ticipated promptly at noon amid all
Of the usual pomp and ceremony that
marks an event of this kind.
The old Capitol came back to life
The long tiled corridors which all
Summer resounded only to the foot
steps Of sightseers and an occasional
lame duck" suddenly became filled
with q seething, exciting mass Of
humanity. Senators and members of
the House just seemed to pop from
everywhere.
And the spectators-the taxpayers,
the lobbyists, the bonus-seeking vet
Grams and all Of the various other
elements that make life on Capitol
Hill-popped In, too. to see the show.
Byrns Busy.
Excitement before the convening of
the new Congress was never more
intense. Speaker ByrnS. In . frock
coat, perhaps, had the busiest day Of
his life. Friends jammed every avail
able inch in his ONCE. photographers
made continuous demands on him for
pictures. Upstairs and down he was
kept on the run. shaking hands and
holding informal conferences with
leaders before the curtain went up.
ra1x 20 n
news reel men Speaker Byrns called
the House to order an hour and As
minutes before noon and spoke to an
empty chamber. In fact, he twice
raped for order when there was no
disorder. The news reel photographers
had called for q repeat.
In the Speakers ONCE men ran
about with flowers. potted plants and
numerous gifts from Byrns' friends
back home. One Capitol employe
quickly slipped out with bust of the
late Speaker Rainey that had adorned
o huge mantel in the outer ONCE
throughout the Seventy-third Con-
greSs.
BY Card Only.
1IlSiuc tLlc f1OuDc CIl8tt1VcL lIccu Jllc
movie men and the radio men took
complete possession until the gavel
fell at noon. The galleries filled slowly
with spectators because no one was
admitted without q card and cards
were hard to get.
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt was
among the first to arrive. She came
In with two old friends, Miss Nancy
Cook and Miss Marion Dickerman,
and seemed to enjoy the preliminaries.
The Republicans. although sadly
outnumbered, were the first to reach
the chamber. Seats on the Repub-
lican side were well filled long before
the Democrats began to drift In.
The new members, you could pick
them out easily, wandered around
aimlessly, gazing into the galleries and
nervously looking for some one to
shake their hands.
Tom Blanton, the fiery Texan, came
in chewing gum as vigorously as ever.
The debonair Sirovich Of New York,
with . traditional red carnation in his
coat lapel. attracted attention, too.
Women Beautifully Gowned.
And the woman members Of the
House came In radiantly beautiful in
new gowns and corsages. Mrs. Edith
Nourse Rogers Of Massachusetts,, as at
tractive as ever, tripped around the
chamber, giving her infectious smile
and her affectionate hand to all she
knew. Mrs. Florence Kahn OF Call
fornia did her best to greet every one
she knew before the gavel fell. Mrs
Virginia Jenckes Of Indiana sat Gown
and smiled at those who passed.
Fred Britten Of Illinois. long an
outstanding figure in the House. VINO
turned over his seat to James NC
Andrews. O newcomer, was there on
the floor, too, but Q little more solemn
than Is customary. He remained Tor
the opening ceremonies. stopped TO
shake hands with such good Repub-
licans as Smell of New York. Lehlbach
of New Jersey and Mapes Of Michigan
and then departed.
Cameramen were perched every
where and children of members filled
a back row OF seats and others sat
beside their fathers In various sections
of the chamber wondering what 1t
was all about, as did many Of the
spectators.
REPRESENTATIVE Mitchell, Democrat,
from Illinois. who replaced Repre-
sentative De Priest, Republican, Of
Illinois. as Congress only cclored
member, sat In the middle Of the
packed Democratic side, with Q new
member oY, either aide.
Among those on the House floor
was Mayor Fiorello La Guardia Of
New York. q former member.
On the Senate side many wives Of
members were In their private gallery,
among them Mrs. Hiram johnson.
Mrs. James J. Davis. Mrs. Warren |
Barbour, Mrs. Warren Austin and |