Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-10-24
Death ofPage
Leaves Void in
U. S.
Author Of Americans
Creed 81 Yrs. in House
BY GEO. ROCKWELL BROWN

pldSeu.
Such a man was William
Tyler Page, former clerk Of the
House of Representatives for
many years, and at the time of
his death on his seventy-fourth
birthday, the minority clerk of
the House, a position created eX-
pressly for him.
He became widely celebrated
throughout the nation in conse-
quence of his authorship of the
Americans Greed, known by
heart TO every student in our
schools, and TO every patriotic
society.
But my references 10 him are
concerned with the vast knowl-
edge of the inside workings of
the Congress of the United
States, and of its vast and intri-
cate background, which he has
carried with him into the Great
Beyond, and which must now
probably be lost forever.
For 81 years ne was init
mately associated with The Cap
itol, and with the hosts of states
men and near statesmen. who in
that period Strutted their brief
day upon that imposing stage.
I REMEMBER him telling me
L that when he arrived in
Washington, at the age of 13,
in 1881. to take a job as a page
boy in the House, he could smell
the Capitol long before he saw
il.
For this was before there was
central heating in the great
white marble building on the
hill, and strange as it may seem
today, the huge editice was
warmed in winter with an enor-
nous number Of fireplaces, all
OF which burned wood, and of
which they consumed scores of
cords every season.
Even in my early days on
Capitol Hill these fireplaces
blazed in winter in almost every
room, and the basement was
stacked with cordwood, which
furnished shelter for innumer-
able rats.
"All these smoking chimneys."
said Mr.. Page, "filled the air
around the Capitol with a de-
licious and pungent odor. One
could actually smell the Capitol
before IL came into view"
OF HIGH character and most
~ brilliant and tentive
mind, the 13-year-old boy who
took on the burden of family
support at this tender age, in
course of time absorbed the
whole of the historical and ro-
mantle tradition of the Capitol.
where he took his first modest
place when Chester A. Arthur
was president.
Fourteen speakers came and
went. as he continued to serve
the House. of which he became
so completely a part that one
could scarcely contemplate the
time when he should no longer
be there. on the floor, in the
lobby, or at his desk beneath
the dome, busy with his records
and his files.
1t is these which. like the
man himself. are unique. They
fill many cabinets. They con-
tain the secret, inside back
ground of virtually every inn
portant legislative happening in
the House of Representatives
for 81 years.
A ND. indeed, the records are
"A even more comprehensive.
for his inquiring mind led him
into the byways of the House
in earlier periods than those
with which he was identified.
There was never a man at the
Capitol who had Tyler Pages
knack of putting his finger in
stantly upon the most obscure
point of congressional history.
His memory was never at
fault, or if so. for only a short
time. Eventually he could pro-
duce the answer to any question,
and generally he could do it at
once.
He was an expert in the phras-
ing OF legislative language. and
many are the bills which he
drafted for m m bers of the
House, of both parties. who con-
suited him with no thought of
partisanship.
A THOUGH a Republican. and
"A once a candidate for Con-
gress in his native Maryland,
there was never anything mar
row or bigoted about him. and
he became and remained above
mere politics.
Unless the records and papers
which Tyler Page has left can
be indexed by experts. a valua-
bic historical store of knowledge
will be scattered to the winds.
1t is a great tribute 10 the
House of Representatives that
through so many regimes, so
many changes of party, his char
acter and value were always rec
4 u n