The Wilmington morning star., 1947-02-12
As Pegler Sees 1t
Nv ~WESTBROOK PEGLER

(COnyright, BY King Features oyAulca'c, "a"
MANY of my 1ellow-robots, members OF that
inferior race known as the common man
have shared my feelings in the discovery mat,
as taxpayers, we have had the privilege OF
providing a furnished summer nome er Har-
I old l.. Ickes. one of our severest patrons, at
Arcadia Park, Maine, at the very moderate
rent of $50 a month. The phrase very moo
crate is not my own. but the language OF
Oscar Chapman, the assistant secretary OF the
interior, and is modest TO the point OF bash1ul-
ness inasmuch as Senator Ralph Brewster, OF
Maine, says that a fair competitive rental
would be ST, 900 for the season, OF about four
months.
The very moderate rental was establish
ed during Mr.. Ickes' tenure as Secretary OF
the Interior. The department is not gratultous-
ly confiding, SO it is not for me but for them
to say whether Mr.. Ickes himself hit upon this
figure and, i: SO, whether he based it on prac-
teal considerations or played a hunch like the
late President Roosevelt, when he hiked the
price of gold 81 cents because that was three
times lucky seven and thus a thrice-charmed
figure.
The common man is an anthropological dis
covery Of the twentieth century, generally
credited to Henry Wallace, a noted Indian
wrestler and boomerang-thrower of his time
who was also the indicated catchweight
champion at face-tag, musical chairs and spin
the-plate in his earlier athletic career in Des
Moines.
The common man is distinctly superior to
the Neanderthal man. but equally inferior to
the Hyde Park man, the highest point in hui
man culture to date. Mr.. Ickes is a Hyde Park
man.
Arthur Demaray. the associate superintend-
ent of the National Park Service in Washing.
ton, said the Chicago Office Of this service
would be the place to inquire for detailed in:
~~~No4,~~ rn-x az - - J
ever, that Thomas Corcoran, the exuberant &C
Gordon minstrel of the first and second new
deals. also known as Tommy the Cork, had
ever enjoyed the peoples hospitality at Aca-
dia tor "a couple of Weekends,' as Mr.. Chap
man thought he had. Inquiries were referred
10 the superintendent of this particular park,
but, much as l love my art, that is a far piece
to travel for such a detail at this time of the
year.
However, records in Chicago indicated that
Mr.. Ickes paid 500 in 1916 for use of the sum-
mer home in the park, a preserve of %, 900
acres. maintained at the common mans ex-
pense. Mr.. Chapman had volunteered that he
and his family spent two weeks there and the
records in Chicago indicate that he paid S25,
which would suggest that this beautiful furnish
ed summer home may be had for %split-months
at proportionate rental.
Although the price paid by Mr.. Ickes was
" WV iOit III IN
even after he had ceased to be Secretary of
the Interior, there was a superstition in the
Chicago office that he himself had spent only
three weeks there. However, it was stated that
orders were given that his presence was not
to be discussed nor his privacy disturbed, SO
he could have been in residence when they
thought he was not.
The summer home is near Bar Harbor,
whence Mr.. IcKes hired his servants, who lived
off the premises The ChicaQn Officp Describes
it as a ten-room house, well furnished and
equipped. Mr.. Chapman said it had a beauti-
ful great living room with a fireplace, three
family bedrooms. a servants room, dining
room, kitchen and bath, a discrepancy Of three
rooms, but agreed that it was comfortably
furnished, by the common man, of course, at
a cost of So, 500. A concessionaires' guide to
the various national parks mentions no such
accommodations for the common man himself,
where he might disturb Mr.. Ickes' meditations
on measures for the uplift of this faceless clod,
but two camp sites are spotted on a map is
sued by the department both well apart from
the house of privilege. Moreover, the booklet
containing this map does not mention the sec
retary's secret ma1se away from it all. So,
even though the common man paid for the
brochure, containing a picture of two nesting
eagles and a group of common men studying
nature" under a park guide, some higher au-
thorlty withheld information that might move
the slob to ask, in his low, dumb patois, What
the hell goes on here, anyway"
By a curious paradox, the booklet says that
persons who render themselves obnoxious by
disorderly conduct or bad behavior may be
summarily removed. These offenses are not
defined. however, SO Mr.. Ickes may ha We one
concept of obnoxious behavior and the com
mon man another.
Pursuing the subject, l was told that, yes,
MIR. and Mrs. Ickes also occupied a ranger sta
ton adjoining a fish hatchery on Lake Cres-
cent in Olympic National Park, in the state of
Washington, from Aug. % to Sept. 10, 1941.
There was no record that he had paid anything
at all for this vacation, but the record as to
Acadia said he had paid $50 in 1914, suggest
ing a split-week account, and 500 each in
1915 and 1916.
The budget tor Acadia Park for 1947 gives
the actual cost in 1945 as 500, 059 and estimat-
ed the costs for 1916 and 1947. at $40,O72 and
$o3,o72, respectively. The same figures for
Olympic Park were $61, 708, $95, 718 and $91, 9I8.
The new budget, for 1948, states that the &C.
tual cost of Acadia in 1916 was $40,065 and
estimates the cost for 1947 at $55, 1873 and for
1913 at $40, IA. ..s.s
Thus, Mr.. Ickes might have paid much more
for his vacations without being accused of ex-
travagance, a fighting charge with him.
Some of my fellow-robots have wondered
why Cap Krug, the new Secretary OF the In
terror, let Mr.. Ickes get away with this at
Acadia after he was out. One explanation was
that he had had the foresight to file his 'ap-
plication ahead of all others, but that we know
is nonsense, because an ex-secretary mas no
standing. My suspicion is that Mr.. lckes, like
Henry Morgeathau at the Treasury. Kept re-
corded diaries of minute conversations and
knew where so many bodies were buried that
nobody dared challenge him when ne decided
to move in with the lucky girl VINO won him
Cor her own, and thei1 chlldreh.
Where the atomic bomb strikes there Is I'M