The Wilmington morning star., 1940-09-23
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK
BY JACK STINNETT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22.-1tem on the Brit
ish point of view (this story isn't new but it
has never been told and in view of what is
going on in England it is, I think, worth the
telling):
A few weeks ago, President Roosevelt re.
ceived from some old friends of his in Eng
land. whose names must remain no more than
Lord and Lady Blank, a long letter. The bulky
envelope contained a vast number of clippings
from the small-toWn newspapers of England,
Scotland and Wales and each of them was
humorous or human interest Interpretation OF
some happening that had occurred during the
Nazi bombings.
An old woman, during an air attack, had
herded her pigs and cows into an air shelter,
but had herself remained outside; a village
squire. whose fashionable marriage had been
interrupted by an air raid alarm, kissed his
bride in the candled dusk of the local shelter
and signalled the villages hoi-polloi to join
him in the wedding celebration; an ancient
veteran of other days had refused to take
cover and stumped about, adding great oaths
to the anti-aircraft shells that were hurled at
the invaders.
Clipping after clipping recounted some spir-
tied tale of British John Smiths attitude to-
ward his tormentors. But what impressed the
President far more was that his old friends
had not one word to say about the havoc being
oAkSo o4 oOl0OA. 4lotCoQ, u1Cy COIlCluUSQ
their letter thus: Mail travels slowly and we
have just heard with great sorrow of the ter
rifle storms which have swept over your south
ern states. We sincerely hope that no dam
age has come to that beautiful old city of
Charleston"
AN ACT BY PAGES
Item on hero-worship: The senate pages
are. for the most part, about as well-behaved
a bunch Of youngsters as I ever have run
across. That dignity of the senate (even
though it is often phoney) seems to have
seeped into their behavior and whatever they
think about it, they do a pretty good job of
conducting themselves. There are occasions
when some youthful impulse gets the better
of them.
At the recent funeral services of the late
Speaker. William Bankhead, there wasn't a
page who didn't deport himself with proper
respect and sincerity, but when the ceremony
was over and the house chamber cleared, a
small group of them gathered in awe-struck
silence about the chair in front of the Speak
er's dais in which President Roosevelt had
sat. Not a word was said, but four Of the
boys, holder than the rest, marched solemnly
up to the chair, settled back in it for a mo-
ment and, without a smile or a brag, walked
out of the chamber.
HOPKINS WILL BE HEARD
Item for future reference: Harry Hopkins,
recently resigned as secretary of
and for many years one of the Presidents
most trusted friends and advisers, has left
Washington and taken up residence in Essex
House, looking from the south across New
York City's great Central Park.
The one-time social service worker who rose
so high in government councils and resigned
his cabinet post because of ill health is, &C.
cording to close friends, no richer than when
he came to Washington and in order to main
tain himself will, in spite of illness, devote his
time to writing and lecturing.
Friends say that almost Immediately you
can look for magazine articles from Hopkins
on matters social and political and that books
on government affairs probably will follow. !