The Washington times., 1937-01-28

Court, is hard
on vanity and
Charles e. Hughes sweet disposi-
ton.
The Chief Justice is NOT an
ogre. Nor is he man whose
monumental dignity depresses the
Nghthearted.
On the contrary he is witty
and easy talker. He likes to tell
about his youth. His 30-below-zero
experiences when he went to Col
gate University were part of a
recent pre-dinner conversation at
tie Japanese Embassy.
The Chief Justice was only IA
when he entered Colgate. And a
rather frail IA, at that. He thinks
perhaps that the hardships that
were part of mis- life during his
first collegiate year helped de-
velop him physically into a pretty
strong fellow.
On top of a hill a mile away
from the college where he studied
and had his meals young Charlie
Hughes had a room for sleeping.
There was no running water in
the house. Each morning of the
bleak winter he had to get up and
dress in the bitter cold, run out
doors to the pump. Break the
thick ice on top of the water
bucket. Bring the water indoors
and try to wash his froStbitten
face and hands.
Before breakfast he would have
to walk or slide a mile down that
ice-covered hill. Climb up again
In the afternoon to study by an
inadequate little stove. Slide
down again at Suppertime. And
UP for bed.
Such a rigorous boyhood was
surely good training for longevity.
Approaching IS Chief Justice
Hughes is as erect as an Indian.
His face is pink and unlined. His
full beard is absolutely white.
Indeed the Chief Justice might
easily model for Zeus or perhaps
his Roman prototype, Jupiter,
who defied the lightning much as
Mr.. Hughes withstands the New
Deal.
Mrs. Hughes, likewise, has a gay
sense of humor. She has retained
O zest for life and fondnesS for
people during her 80 years as the
wife of a man in public office.
At the present time she is re-
reading "Gone With The Wind"
One reading didn't satisfy her.
The characters of Scarlet
O'Hara" and "Rhett Butler, "
drawn against the Civil War back
ground she finds among the most
interesting in fiction.
The Hughes grandchildren al
ways give grandfather and grand
mother books for Christmas and
birthdays.
Handshaking, Mrs. Hughes
thinks, is trying but amusing ex-
perience in the life of public |
people. She learned the trick of
handshaking comfortably. Even
5000 how-do-you-dos in one evei
ming did not give her a sore arm.
Many of the people a hostess
greetS at a large official party,
she discovered, stop in line to
make a bright remark. It is obvi
Gus that they have thought out
something scintillating which they
hope the hostess will never forget.
Once, at a reception at the gov
ernor's mansion in Albany when
r. r. Roosevelt was ruling Wash
ington, a woman passing down the
line said to Mrs. Hughes:
"HOw do you do, Mrs. ROOse'
veH?"
"But I'm not Mrs. Roosevelt.
I'm Mrs. Hughes"
"H u m phi! !" answered the
woman, shifting suSpiciOuSly.
swell, I must say there's very
remarkable resemblance"
The woman moved on, thinking
she had spoken to Mrs. Roosevelt
who for some strange reason was
denying her identity.
Bad news for you girls, you who
have just got your hair trained to
fall sleekly in a center Simpson
part! Smooth hair is wrong, all
wrong. You must have that
brushed back look. Smart women
everywhere are achieving it.
Mrs. Edwin M. Watson, who was
Florence Nash, and a pianist of
genius in addition to being the
wife of Mr.. Roosevelt's Military
Aide, is giving her hair that new
twirl.
So is the lovely Mrs. Dean Ache
son. Mrs. Acheson gives her hair
an extra brush forward after she
has taken it back.
In both cases the coiffure is ex-
citing and sort of Countess Potoc-
kish (see Eighteenth century por-
trait of the Polish beauty who in
trigued Napoleon).