The Wrangell sentinel., 1946-06-21
THROUGH THE SENTINEL PERFSCOPE

Getting away from it all for a few days rest and relaxation, Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Sehwellenbach paid Alaska a visit this week ac- companied by Mrs Schwellenbach. Following attendance at the Inter- national Maritime Conference in Seattle, where representatives of 22 nations sat down to discuss world maritime wages, working conditions and universal practices in the sh'p- ping business, the Secretary and Mrs. SchWellenbach slipped over to Vancouver by car Ga neat way to a. void a picket line) and boarded the Princess Louise for a round-trip cruise to Skagway. The newspapers, radio and the world generally could just go right on ticking any old way they Iiked-Lew SchwellenbaCh was having a little rest. There was one exception-he was hoping the radio would be clear enough to lis ten to the LOuis-Conn fight We'd nesday night. An old fight fan, the Secretary didn't want to get away
 
 Coming to Alaska was not novel to the Secretary. He'd been here in a private capacity several times be- tore in the days when he was practicing law down around Seattle, but attractive Mrs. Schwellenbach was eating it up. Through those many years of living in Spokane with her Lew" this winsOme na- tive of Ireland had thought about that Alaska tri This was it, and she was enjoying it to the fullest. To Alaskans, the visit of Lew Schwellenbach was like a neighbor coming calling. Many Alaskans knew him, if not personally, by re- putation. He was raised in the state of Washington, attended the Spok ane schools and was graduated from the University of Washington law school Veteran of World War I, he came back to the Evergreen state when the fracas was over to estab- fish himself in the law business. Prominent in American Legion ac- tivities, he was one of the first state Commanders of the Legion in Wash ingtOn. Always active in Democratic politics, he was once a candidate for Governor of Washington, a Demo- cratic nomination he lost, only laterI to be jumped up to the U. s. SenateI by the Washington voters.
 Schwellenbach went to the Senate about the time Harry Truman came up from Missouri. They were mem bers of a little Senate inner group which the newspaper boys labelled the young turks" Gov. Mon Wall gren of Washington was one of itsI membership. The young Turks" went down the line many a timeI for Franklin Roosevelt Later Sena- tor Schwellenbach became Judge Schwellenbach when President Roos- evelt appointed him to the Federal bench in Spokane. There he was serving with distinction when his old senate colleague, Harry Truman, became President of the United States. It was to his friend Judge Schwellenbach that Harry Truman turned when he needed a Secretary OL LhDoI, JoD WHICH turned out 10 be one of the toughest in the Cab inet. Schwellenbach laid aside his Judicial robes and took it on. His appointment was one of the popular the President has made, and the Secretary's hadling of the task since, under some of the most trying times in American labor history, has won him wide acclaim. Today he is rated one of the strong men of the Cab met
 In Juneau the Secretary spent a little time with various officials and was the dinner guest of Mrs. Ern- , est Gruening, wife of the Governor. The Schwellenbachs and the Gruen- ings are old friends, dating back to their Washington daysgwhen Ernest Gruening was Director of Territories and the Secretary was a Senator. The Governor, unfortunately, was out of town and didn't get to see his old friend.
 An interesting item in the life of the Secretary of Labor going some thing like this: When the tugboat
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