Evening star., 1937-07-30
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE

months OF cantankerous service, which
has left bodies and minds tired and
nerves frazzled Representatives and SEN
ators contend that Congress is in no
condition to give important matters that
dlspasslonate and analytical study
which the country expects and has 4
right to demand. II. under White House
whip and spur, both houses are driven
to precipitate action, the guess is already
hazarded that there may be another
cycle OF Supreme Court decisions de-
claring unconstitutional certain laws en-
acted not wisely, but in haste.
X ~
Nobody in Washington takes q live
ller interest in the impending contest for
the Americas Cup than Senator Arthur
Capper. 1t recalls his cub reporter days,
exactly IS years ago this Summer. when
ne arrived in New York City as tender
loot looking for a newspaper Job. A
typesetter fresh from the composing
room OF the Topeka Daily Capital, the
young kanSan was recommended to the
OLD New York Tribune by Senator Tom
Platt. AS q maiden news-gathering
assignment he was 1labbergasted to dis
cover that he was to proceed to Long
Island Sound and do q 60O-word story
on yacht race. II didn't know the
dl1erence between . yacht and q prairie
schooner says the Senator, but with
the aid OF that helping hand which
seasoned newspaper men always lend q
beginner I got away with it, and held
my job six months, leaving New York
to become the Topeka Capitals first
Washington correspondent, In the Winter
OF 1929"
Whether by coincidence or design,
PRESIDENT Roosevelt's plan to create q
naval reserve of 100000 men for war
time service Is sprung At the moment of
grave tension In the Far East, with its
ever present possibilities of world wide
complications. In any event, the re-
serve project is notice to all concerned
that the United States Navy doesn't in
tend to be caught unprepared in an in
ternat1onal emergency. Mr.. Roosevelt's s
program to assure the fleet an adequate
personnel follows close on the recent re-
statement OF American foreign policy
including the declaration that there can
be no serious hostilities anywhere in the
world, which will not one way or another
affect interests, rights or obligations of
this country" The word obligations" is
interpreted in some quarters as having
particular significance At this critical
juncture.
Interior Secretary Ickes thinks the
heavy increase in trafic to the national
parks is indisputable proof OF revived
prosperity. Preliminary reports indicate
that 1887 travel to the Federal recrea- =
tional domains will break all records.
The National Park Service states that
from October, 1896, to July, 1897, visi-
tors numbered 3,419,544, a gain of %
per cent over the same period of the
previous travel year. Park tourists are
also spending more money than ever
before. Shenandoah National Park,
Virginia, with 63l ,745 guests, shows the
biggest increase-66 per cent The Great
Smoky Mountains National Park in
North Carolina Tennessee, the Yosemite
National Park, California, and Yellow
stone come next, in the order named.
X \
When the latest Soviet trans-polar
flyers were in Washington, they said that
none OF the American notables they'd
met gave them a greater thrill than
Shirley Temple. They sat beside her
through private filming Of her newest
picture ct Hollywood and counted It .