Evening star., 1942-07-26
Capital Side|ights
By Will P. Kennedu.

The Capitol pages have just published
their first year book of the pages school
very credltable document which fea-
lures an historical article by William
Tyler Page. most historic of all pages,
after so years Of service. The pages
school Is a unique institution, with Ern-
~est L. Kendall of George Washington
University as principal and eight other
professors. However, this year book does
not tell the real story OF the Capitol
pages-the story of their development
and progress-and Of the places they
take in life. There are men today doing
essential work for Congress, the Army,
the Navy, in finance, the professions and
political life who were congressional
pages. Mr.. Page, author OF "The Amer
leans Creed" former clerk Of the House
and now special Republican employe, is
an outstanding example. Others are Col
Edwin A. Halsey secretary of the Senate,
and Carl Loefler, clerk to the Senate mi
nority. There are Senate and House
members who have come from pages
Senator Arthur Pue German OF Mary
land was appointed page in the House
IN 1852, transferred to the Senate floor
through the influence of Stephen A.
Douglas. David Barry, a former page
In State Legislature eventually became
ot ~ ha
Senate; Bert w. Kennedy, a State Leg
lslature page progressed to be House
doorkeepec now retired), and Bill"
Bray became private secretary to POST
master General James A. Farley. There
are at least three former pages who be-
came members of Congress
tive Donald H. Mclean Of New Jersey,
appointed page in the Senate by Vice
President Garret A. Hobart in 1897, later
was secretary to Senator John Kean;
Representative Addison T. Smith OF Idaho
graduated from George Washington and
National University Law Schools, was
secretary to Senator George l.. Shoup
and Senator w. H. Hepburn for 81 years
and member of the House for % years,
now member of the Board OF Veterans
Appeals, and Representative Richard w.
Townsend Of Illinois, a member Of the
House for "A years
There are in the service OF Congress
today at least seven who have given
upward OF quarter of century each
of devoted service: William j. Donaldson,
superintendent Of the House press gall
lery; Chester Thrift, assistant superm-
tendent; James P. Griffin, who worked
up to chief page, assistant doorkeeper
and Republican minority clerk; H. New
lin Megill, by special act of Congress des-
ignated assistant to the clerk of the
House, with authority to sign in the place
of the clerk; Frank Collier. former chief
page, later House postmaster and now
special minority clerk; Humphrey S.
Shaw, clerk to the Rules Committee for
four years after being a congressional
secretary for % years, and Kenneth
Sprankle, secretary to Representative
John Taber of New York, ranking mi
nority member of the Appropriations
Committee.
The roster of Army and Navy officers
is dotted with former congressional
pages. Literally hundreds of the best
youth of the United States have served
as pages while awaiting appointment to
West Point or Annapolis. Among the
number are Col. Julian w. Cunningham,
who studied at George Washington Uni
versity; 1t. Robert E. Bourke, who is
teaching steam engineering at the Naval
Academy, and his brother, r. Evans
Bourke, mechanical engineer at the
Hercules Powder Plant, both sons OF the
veteran congressional secretary, Robert
Bourke, who has more than a quarter of
century of service at the Capitol Prob
ably one-third of the congressional pages
have left within the past two years to
enter the armed services. One of the
recent ones is James Strachan, trans
ferred from House page to service with
the Appropriations Committee as a ca
reer man, now in the Navy.