The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-21

DAYBOOK
By JACK STINNETT

WASHINGTON, March 2O.-The capital in
wartime:
A friend of mine-a fellow toiler in the pub.
fishing marts-needed some large-scale maps of
France. He went to the Library of Congress
and found almost what he needed, but being
a Observation-Disclosures fellow, he decided to
storm the French embassy.
He got a formal introduction to one Of the
r~esigning secretaries. He explained what he
wanted, what he had. The secretary graciously
to the office of the military attache, that he
bring what maps he had with him.
The young man did so. He was received with
great courtesy and friendliness. He was shown
about, introduced, bowed to, chatted with. Each
mention of the maps brought a friendly smile,
a nod, and the word: presently" Presently
finally came and he explained to another Off
cial what he wanted. The official asked to see
the maps he had brought with him.
Now In 1876
The official cluck- clucked in amazement. APP
parently he could not believe his eyes. Appar-
emily he felt that his country had been very
lax to place with the Library of Congress SO
detailed a map of France. My friend explained
why he wanted additional maps, why he must
obtain, if possible, maps that were not in color.
About this time, the officials face lighted
up. He "ah'd." He pointed, good-naturedly, to
a small inscription in the corner of the maps:
Reproduction is not permitted Patiently the
toiler explained that he did not wish to repro
duce them. He only needed these and others to
guide him in preparing his own.
The official went away. He was gone a long
time. When he came back, he was beaming. BY
writing to this address in Paris, the young
man probably could get just what he wanted
"a series of most complete maps of France,
published in 1875.
My friend almost tainted. He did not want
1875 maps. Perhaps the French embassy had
their wars confused. That was the Franco
Prussian war. He wanted 1910 maps.
The official was so sorry. The embassy would
be so glad to help. But he did not see how it
could possibly do more. AT this point in the
stalemate, a secretary appeared and informed
my friend that his excellency the ambassador
would receive him now.
Come Again
The fellow suffered and mi He did
not wish to see the ambassador. He had moth
ing to discuss with the ambassador. But the
genuine friendliness and kindness had him
stymied. He could not say so.
Count de Saint-Quentin, the ambassador,
is a pleasant man. He is a man of wide ex.
perience and great knowledge. He fought in
the World war. The long chat that followed
even touched on the subject of maps. The am
bassador was interested in maps. Maps were
fascinating.
At last, my friend came away, with the
counts warm farewell pleasantly ringing in his
ears. 1t was the French equivalent to "glad
to help you anytime. Come back again soon"
Probably the days report carried back to
Paris this ~information: "a young journalist
came to the embassy today requesting some
maps. We are convinced he was not a spy"
But don't fool yourself, the next fellow that
comes along may be. And our chapeau is off
to the French. There's not an embassy in
Washington that can say mo- so graciously,