Evening star., 1940-03-03
Capital SideIights
BIZ viii P. Kennedy

Birthday greetings" today to two vet
eran employees Of the House-and to one
OF the most popular members thereof!
They are: Alney E. Chaffee, reading
clerk-34 years in service; Lewis Desch-
Ter, parliamentarian-14y years in service,
and Representative Jesse P. Wolcott con-
cluding his fifth consecutive term for
merly champion swing drummer boy of
the Nation, now ranking Republican on
the Banking and Currency Committee.
Chaffee was born in Vermont of
Scotch English forebears. He is son
of blacksmith, as is Minority Leader
Joe Martin. He was educated in Iowa
and Nebraska, came to Washington to
study law and was appointed index clerk.
Family complications forced him to work
nights instead of studying and he never
achieved his ambition to become lawyer.
He is legal resident of Nebraska and
votes there. Twenty years ago, when
Gillett was Speaker, Chaffee was ap-
pointed to his present job as reading
clerk.
Lew Dreschler came from Chillicothe,
Ohio. in 1925 to be assistant to the then
parliamentarian Lehr Fess, when Long
worth was Speaker. In January, 1928,
he became parliamentarian He studied
law at National University and was ad-
mitted to the bar of the District and the
Supreme Court of the United States
Former Representative Ed Goss an
nounced at that time in the House that
he had learned that Deschler had re-
ceived the highest marks ever given in
District of Columbia bar examination.
He has edited and kept currently up to
date {every two years. six editions of the
House Rules and Manual
Representative Wolcott is "everybodys
friend" rotund, jovial, with a keen
mind, politically shrewd, a whizz on
banking questions, he is one of the inner
council of advisers to the Republican
leadership.
A leap year baby boy scarcely 10 hours
old got place in the permanent Record
of Congress on Thursday-Melvin Joseph
Mas, jr. His father is prominent Re-
publican member, and Democratic Rep
resentative Louis Ludlow of Indiana,
veteran newspaper man. following his
instinct for human interest stories, an
nounced the birth in the House: Weight,
tx pounds: muscles and vocal organs
in fine trim-the first leap year baby of
the crop of 1910 to be born in the Capital
City of the Nation" After nominating
the baby for future election to Congress,
Ludlow displayed picture of Repre-
sentative Mas with his young son-and
led the House in an unusual demonstra-
ton, saying: Let us show our Affection
ate regard for the father, and salute the
son by giving both a rousing hand
which was done.
That versatile lecturer, story-teller,
radio commentator and general word
singer, Representative Luther Patrick
of Alabama, has gone far afield and
made word-mosaic description of Ver-
mont as he sees 1t. He says 1t produces
Republicans, Yankee literature, commu-
nistic music, maple sirup and peculiar
dialect" He says that If a person is
hailed as "Vermontish" 1t means that he
"is as conservative as turtle in q mill
wheel" The fact that Vermont abounds
in rocks, he explains, is not the reason
1t is called a rock-ribbed Republican
State. He refers to the people there as
"the salt Of the earth, but not built for
speed" He concludes that "there Is
nothing on this green. earth more nat
ural and honest than the conservatism
Of the Green Mountain people,"