Evening star., 1939-06-11
Capital SideIights
By VIII p. Kennedy

There was considerable comment on
Thursday and Friday because no British
nag was displayed on the Capitol or in
the Capitol Grounds during the visit of
the King and Queen. Col. A. C. Cook.
veteran Capitol engineer, who had super
vision over the physical preparations at
the Capitol for the reception by Congress
to the visiting royalty, explains that
this was in conformity to a wel-estab-
hShed policy and precedent. During his
AZ years OF service at the Capitol no
other f1ag-Wlth one exception-has been
displayed on this building save the Stars
and Stripes. The flag of the War
Mothers white and red with blue letters
is displayed on the east front under the
United States flag on one DAY each year
-Armistice Day, Novembe. II.
Uncle Sans pioneer photograp pher,
William H. Jackson, now So wears old,
a photographer for 80 years, who came
to Washington to participate in a photo
graphic broadcast by the Department of
the Interior, was an honored guest at
the Capitol, where he gave expert testi-
mony regarding the roof of the United
States s'-l4 mountain peaks in Colorado.
Chairman Taylor of the Appropriations
Committee is striving to have this region
developed as rival to the Swiss Alps.
Mr.. jackson was the first photographer
to scale these peaks and photograph
them. He first crossed the Great Plains
driving an oXcart in 1866 He photo
graphed the Utes. Then he picked up
$50 bronchos and drove them back over
the plain to Omaha. He made the first
pictures of the Yellowstone He was
official photographer for the United
States Geological and Geographical
Survey Of Colorado and adjacent terri
He did the field work in 1873, 1874. 1875
and 1876 for the atlas published by F.
" Hayden for the Government in 1881.
He took the first picture of Holy Cross
Mountain which made it famous. He
made pictures of the Mesa Verde cliff
dwellings IA years before the discovery
Of the Cliff Palace. In 1873 he scaled
La Plata and Mount Lincoln. each more
than ID 900 feet in altitude 1t took three
men to carry up the necessary apparatus
in those days before the enlarging proc
ess. when he used glass plates 11x14 and
20X24 inches. On his first trip up the
mountain a mule on which the plates
were packed slipped while climbing out
of canyon and the box of plates rolled
down the mountainside and were
smashed. So he had to make the trip
all over again. Two years ago Colorado
University conferred upon him medal
"for distinguished service to Colorado
and the West
There have been many notable ex-
amples of family succession in Congress.
Speaker Bankhead and Senator Bank
head of Alabama are brothers. Senator
Bennett Clark is the son of the late
Speaker Champ Clark and Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge is the grandson of
the late Scholar in Politics" of the
same name. There are now in the
House two cousins-one a Democrat,
Representative Louis Ludlow, and the
other Republican, Representative Ray
mond S. Springer-both of Indiana.
They were reared on adjoining farms
which had been inherited from
Springers great grandfather and Lud-
lows grandfather, Ross Smiley, who was
quite some figure in the pioneer DAYS.
He was one of the first State Senators,
Speaker of the State House of Repre-
sentatives and member of the congress
that drafted the State constitution. Old
Ross Smiley was staunch Democrat
and Representative Ludlow followed his
political footsteps, while Springers
father was Republican and the present
member learned his politics from his
cradle days. Smiley was judge, an
officer in the World War and twice can
didate for governor. Ludlow after many
years of distinguished work in the press
gallery at the Capitol was the first
Washington correspondent ever to be
elected directly to the House.
True Enouoh