Evening star., 1939-02-26
Newsmen Beat
House Members
In Quiz Contest ,
Neither Side Makes Any
Great Display Of
BriIIionce, However

NeWspapermen, who seldom are
on the answering end of q question,
and members of Congress, who have
rarely been known to cut off the
oratory long enough for anybody
to PROFOUND a query, last night
stepped out of character to find they
didn't know all the answers.
The occasion was Congressional
Night at the National Press Club.
For the benefit of a radio audience
(WRC) and clubmen and their
guests, four newSpapermen and four
legislators took sides and tried to
outsmart or outguess each other.
Gen. Hugh johnson, with his
famous bellows keyed to nice
pitch, tried to stump the newspaper
team-consisting of Erwin D. Cam
ham, Christian Science Monitor;
Ray Tucker, Mcclure Syndicate;
Marquis Childs, St. Louis Post-Dis-
patch, and Ernest Lindley, column
island the congressional foursome
made up Of Democratic Senator
Thomas of Utah, Republican Sena-
tor Austin of Vermont, Democratic
House Leader Rayburn of Texas,
and Republican Representative Luce
OF Massachusetts,.
Brilliance Not Conspicuous.
To a large extent the General
was successful-neither group dis
playing anything that could be
called brilliance. In all fairness,
though, some OF the questions were
tough.
Here are some of the questions
with the correct answers and those
supplied by those on the receiv-
ing end:
@. How many times does the
Lords Prayer occur in the Bible?
A. Twice. Mr.. Canham took this
one in stride.
Q. Which President wrote a his
tory of the United States in 500
words? A. Coolidge. Mr.. Tucker
knew that.
@. In newspaper language what
does masthead signify? A. Ma
terial at the head of first column on
editorial page, stating ownership,
mottos, subscription and advertising
rates. Mr.. Childs proved he reads
the papers.
Austin Scores on D. c.
@. Did the District ever have q
delegate in Congress? A. Yes, from
1871 to 1875. Senator Austin gave
brief history of the Capital along
with the proper answer.
@. If any President was ever born
west OF the Mississippi River, who
was he? A. Hoover. Mr.. Tucker
beat everybody else to the punch.
Gen. johnson then wanted to Know
why Mr.. Hoover was porn He didn't
say anything about the Mississippi.
Q. Could Dorothy Thompson, Chief
Justice Hughes or Speaker Bank
head be constitutionally named Pres
ldent. A. Yes, in each case. Mr..
Rayburn said Miss Thompson
couldn't become President, but lie
didn't know why not. Senator Aus
tin said, Sure. if she's over 81" Mr..
Childs pointed out she would have
to be over 35. And Gen. johnson
offered to bet she was.
Railroad Query Stumps Them.
@. Did any railroad ever try any,
thing besides steam, electricity or
horsepower to get its trains into
the District? A. The B. g. o. once
tried sails. Nobody knew this ard
the general chuckled as if he would
have known it even if he didn't have
the answer in front of him.
@. What Washington statue of
famous dry leader is located OBJ
viously in the wrong place. A. Will
liam Jennings Bryan: in the shad-
ow of brewery. Mr.. Childs had
heard this one before. Gen. john
son snorted: "It should have been
in front of a grape juice plant"
The scorekeeping was rather
hard to understand. but the out
come was given as: Press, 13; Con-
gress. II.
Nobody's feelings seemed hurt and
the whole affair was taken none too
seriously.