Evening star., 1936-06-07
BY ROBERT CRAWFORD.

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the tea cups with Mrs. Stei-
wer, wife of the junior Sem
49, ator from Oregon, and key
roter OF the Republican Convention at
Cleveland, she was asked If she were
going out to the convention on Tues
day with her husband, and whether
she thought Landon, Borah or Knox
would be the party nominee. Petite,
charming and diplomatic. with eyes
that would ordinarily indicate ex-
treme frankness, she answered with
almost a Southern drawl that she was
going, and was quite excited over the
prospect of hearing the speech-in
fact when her husband first begins to
speak she confesSes she usually gets
bit f1ustered. To the question as to
whom the nominee might be, she
answered with merry twinkle that
she had had a tragedy this Spring in
the loss of her two lovely mimoSa
trees. which had been blighted and
had to be dug up-as to her opinion
about the nominee, echo answers,
who?
She does not care for the limelight
Of political life, but is intensely in
terested in politics, discusses party
questions, likes to meet people and,
reXt to her home town, Portland, Greg,
loves Washington, It's historic environ
ments and the touch and 60 of the life
here. She is very domestic and i'm
presses one as more Southern than
Western. though the Senator has the
Southern blood for it was his fore
bears who went from Georgia and
Tennessee, in the early pioneering
tied in the Far West.
The Keynoter Can Have
Peace and Quiet.
Imagine late afternoon scene of
sylvan charm with green lawns, flow
ering shrubs. red and pink roses
Clambering up the buff stone walls of
the house, and a cardinal saucily hop
ping near enough the tea table on the
terrace to get a crumb or two, and
you have a picture of the peace and
contentment Senator Steiwer may re-
tire to after the turmoil and strife of
a busy day in the Senate No Appro-
priations Committee, no banking and
currency wrangles-just peace and
quiet and maybe whiff of that de-
licious mint bed all green and cool
around the corner near the kitchen
door. The big living room with its
generous fireplace, windows on three
sides looking out on the lawn and ter
race and the great forest trees beyond
give one the feeling of a house of life
and light. The Gothic book shelves
are inviting, as we'll as the cozy
Couches and chairs with some charm
ing pieces Of old furniture-Mrs. Stei-
Vers hobby. if she has one, is an
tique furniture.
Her MimOsa Trees Died
OF the Cold.
On meeting the SteiWers one could
not imagine them living shut up in
four city walls after their life in the
great open spaces of the West. They
are hospital Bile and like plenty of room,
so when her husband came to the SEN
ate 10 years ago Mrs. Steiwer looked
about for a sure-enough home for the
street, an ideal stone house of the soft
est buffish hue, resembling an old Eng
lish manor house with it's great CHM
neys. its UNCOVERED walls and big
rooms. A comparatively new house
when bought. it now has all the hall
marks of seasoned age, which it's
chatelaine has given it by her artistic
gardening and arrangement of shrub
berry. She has what the old darky
gardener used to call the CROWN
hand" because everything she plants
seems to flourish. Right here it must
be said that those mimosa trees died
of the cold.
The Attorney General
Goes Artistic.
The collection of new art in the De-
partment of Justice is growing apace;
colorful paintings Of those old covered
wagon trails to the West-such as Sen
stor SteiWer's ancestors traveled-are
being added to the walls of Attorney
General Cummings beautiful Office
building
These murals are done on canvas
by Mr.. John Steuart Curry of West
port, Conn, and are in a different
medium from the frescos of Mr..
George Biddle, which are on the fifth
floor OF the Department of Justice
Building, as Mr.. Biddle, who, by the
way, is sculptor as we'll as painter,
Is frescoing on freshly laid, specially
prepared plaster. Some Of his panels
ET1jS of
1t is needless to say Mr.. Biddle is
a Philadelphian and has some of his
best work there in the Fine Arts
Academy. He has also exhibited in
the National Museum of Berlin and
in Mexico City. His contributions to
magazines have been particularly in
teresting to the younger artists.
Mr.. Henry Varnum Poor, who is
now of New York, although he took
his A. B. at Stanford University, and
studied at the Slade School in London
and the Julian Academy in Paris, has
frescoed some of the corridors near
the Offices of the Attorney General
and the solicitor general These are
scenes showing the activities of the
Department Of Justice; Mr.. Cummings
doubtless feels more of a partnership
In these, as he was much interested
In suggesting the subjects. While Mr..
Poor is a decorative designer, he spe-
cializes in pottery and tile decorations
A Ten Thousand Dollar
Prize Winner.
How thrilling it must be to win a
$4,000 prize with a first novel! What
encouragement to young writer's and