Evening star., 1935-04-21
BY ROBERT CRAWFORD.

The business Of the Senate Is NOV
ing q little more rapidly since Vice
President Garner delivered his dictum
about committee appointees, and now
Speaker Joseph Wellington Byrns OF
the House Is exhibiting some Of the
fighting tactics Of the illustrious
Wellington of Waterloo and went into
action on the floor the other day.
He warned that 1886 was not so far
away and there were some members
who might like to return.
The Speaker attended the opening
session Of that other Congress, the
Forty-fourth Continental Congress Of
the Daughters Of the American Rev.
olution and sat in the box with Mrs.
Gillentine, from his State. He
realized that Mrs. Magma, the presi-
dent general, was small, but welded
mean gavel In calling the house
to order. He might have learned a
thing or two. The Attorney General
was seen to glance his way now and
then as he delivered his speech on
crime. Does any one know what
Mr.. Cummings draws on the back of
his notes while he is waiting his
turn? He looks very much amused
at times.
Constitution Hall presented a beau
tiful scene last Monday night at the
opening Of the congress. 1t is a
chamber Of handsome proportions
and, notwithstanding the seating ca
pacity is 1000. there is feeling Of
intimacy and sociability about it, Mr.
j. Monroe Hewlett. the distinguished
architect and architectural painter
did himself proud when he painted
those lovely hangings at the back Of
the stage which are formed of four
verticle panels treated as mural paint
ing or tapestries. They blend in
remarkably we'll with the color scheme
of the hall, which is one of soft,
hazy blue.
The panels depict four important
phases Of Colonial and Revolutionary
history. placing the scenes in the
four representative cities of those
times-Boston, New York, Phila-
delphia and Charleston.
In the foreground of the Boston
panel-the one on the left, are rep
resented Samuel Adams, Paul Revere,
on horseback, and several other men
prominent in the affairs of the coun-
try at the time. The charming
looking girl is Miss Dorothy Quincy,
with her f!ance. Mr.. John Hancock,
whose large and lofty signature on
the Declaration Of Independence is
the origin Of the slangy expression
used when signing document-put
your John Hancock there. The back
interesting, showing the old Boston
State House and, in the distance. the
harbor shipping, with glimpse of
the Boston tea party.
The New York panel is of the first
inaugural of President Washington,
with John Adams, Alexander Hamil-
ton, Richard Henry Lee, John Jay
and other men of the time in the
foreground. while in the background
is the federal Hall at the head Of
Wall Street. upon the balcony of
which President Washington took the
oath of Office.
The Philadelphia panel shows Mrs.
Washington. Mrs. Robert Morris, Ed
ward Rutledge. Benjamin Franklin
and others. Mr. Jefferson is depicted
reading to several of the group a
draft of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. Independence Hall is
shown in the background. In the
Charleston panel Col. Moultrie is
shown receiving congratulations on
the Battle of Sullivan Island. subse-
quently the site of Fort Moultrie The
background depicts the old Charleston
Custom House and in the foreground
is Mrs. Eliza Pinckney. Charles Cotes-
worth Pinckney. Rebecca Motto and
others.
1t has been some time since the
Corcoran Gallery has had an exhibit
ton that has met with as widely
spread comment from the visiting
public as has the New Deal sculpture
of Mr.. Reuben Nakian. A foreword in
the catalogue offering some enlight-
eminent relative to the artists rugged
portrayal Of the head of the President
and some key men of the administra-
ton, intimates that these are parlous
times and vigorous handling of the
situation is needed in art as in ma
tional affairs. At result one has to
look long and earnestly at the plaster
portraits before he decides what it is
all about.
A group Of schoolgirls on their
Easter vacation and evidently out for
a good time decided that the head of
Prof. Tugwell, Undersecretary of Agri-
culture, was "sa-weet," just too hand
some" They paid but little attention
to the rest Of the exhibit except the
head of Mr.. Richberg. which they
thought owing to its antique treat
ment, rather the moldy treatment of
the plaster, looked as if it might have
been dug up during one of the Mus
solini excavations. It would be diff
cult to make a Senate investigating
committee believe that Mr.. Richberg
has that bump of benevolence which
the sculptor has so largely developed.
The sculptor molds the head of the
Secretary of Agriculture, in rugged