The Wilmington morning star., 1941-01-06
BROUCHTON KEPT
BUSY BY CALLERS
Hundreds Call On Governor
Elect At His Small Of
flee In Raleigh
BY A

RALEIGH, Jan. 5.|R-The an
teroom is not much larger than
an elevator, and it is full of peo-
ME. Telephones are ringing. Two
girls are busy answering them.
The girls-they are stenograph-
ers-pick up the receivers and say
.Two-oh-two-three-seven" as il
they we're asking a question. Then
they say Yes, he's in" A buzzer
sounds in the next room and a
booming voice comes through the
door. Hello. Yes, this is Brough-
ton.
If you wait long enough you will
see almost every prominent fig
IRE in North Carolina politics pass
through the anteroom into the Of
flee beyond. The stout man with
the slow drawl and the Infectious
laugh will be Itimous Valentine Of
Nashville, who ran for superior
court Judge a couple of years ago.
The solemn-faced man with the
glasses is u. S. Senator Josiah
W. Bailey.
They all wait their turn.
The booming voice comes
through the door again. It's not
particularly loud, but it resonates.
And it carries. Thank you for
calling. I'll bear your suggestion
in mind. . OF course, I've had a
good many applications. . L really
couldn't say. . thank you for cal
ling
The people in the anteroom look
at each other and grin.
The office door opens and j. M,
Broughton, the governor : elect,
comes out. He's tall, dark, and
heavy-he weighs more than 200
pounds now-and he looks as seri-
Gus as a church deacon-which he
is-until he smiles. When he
smiles, you see a resemblance to
the kid who used to play guard on
the Wake Forest football team, the
kid nicknamed Dutch" who used
to light out to Canada during the
summers to work in the wheat
fields.
He shakes hands all around,
asks who's next. You, Harry?
fine. Well come right in"
Finally, it's your turn. The Of
flee, on the 18th floor of a down.
town building, is no bigger than
the anterom. He pulls a board
out of the top of the desk and
parks his feet on it-Governor
Hoey has the same habit. He lights
a cigarette, puts it in the corner
of his mouth, and forgets about
it while he talks.
8. Yes, right busy. You see
that pile of papers there. Know
what it is? Songs. Ever since l
was elected, people have been
sending me songs they have writ
ten. They ask me what I think
about them.
Il got a letter this morning from
a lady who is anxious to make
the daisy the state flower. l guess
l ought to write and tell her that
I'm fond of all flowers except gold
snrod. hay fever.
Il received another note from
a lady who was having trouble
with her husband and, off the
record, she. . dts still off the
record.)
The conversation Unanswered it.
self around to the recent guber-
Material campaign, and the gov
ernor-elect confirmed the story
about the movie short which he
had made to further his candidacy,
and the $500 which is gone with
the wind.
The picture cost $500. But all
the way through it, the commenta-
tor referred to North Carolina as
Moth Cal-lina. Well. that would
never do, so the public never saw
the short. The $500? 1 never saw
that again"
The buzzer is buzzing as you
leave the office. The girls are
chanting 'two-oh-two-three seven
question-mark. The booming voice
comes through the door. THANK
you for calling. I'll bear it IN
mind"
Ring. Two-oh-two-three seven.
Buzz. I'll bear it in mind. Ring. 3