Evening star., 1949-10-30

The fed-up bureaucrat of yes
and indulge freely in any kind of
to Mr.. Gutheim, who is a great
student of these parts.
Capital inhabitants of today
lead almost too-orderly lives, ir
Mr.. Gutheim's opinion, and he
wonders if beneath ali the tidiness
with the streets picked up, the
neat, meek buslines and the traf-
fic going discreetly around the Cir
cles, there isn't a suspicion that
life must be brighter and bawdier
than it seems.
Musing on the question the other
day, he said he felt that the
anxiety created by so much organ
ization might possibly be reflected
in the preoccupations with the
racial situation and the accept
ance of the loyalty program.
A brainy, fair-haired man who
came here when he was one year
old and who has established his
family on a farm at the foot of
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Mr.. Gu
theim is still an ardent Washing
ton fan, finding here "a pattern
of gracious living, good manners
and friendships easily made and
long held" that can be found no.
where else in the world.
A city-planning expert who
writes for the Herald Tribune on
architecture and related subjects.
Mr.. Gutheim has tried to make
his book a study in regional in
terpretation," concentrating on
the critical period following the
Civil War when our fair city was
transformed from "the same rude
colony camped in the same forest
to charming city of which Henry
Adams said, This is the only place
in America where society amuses
me or where life offers variety"
In more than a decade of Gov
ernment service which began in
1881. Mr.. Gutheim says the most
amazing bureaucrat he ever met
was George Creel, with whom he
worked when the Elmer Davis of
World War r was Federal COM
missioner for the San Francisco
Fair.
The Amazing George Creel.
George had been provided with
two secretaries by Dan Roper, and
they knew the civil service ropes,
especially with regard to the sane
tity OF paper" Mr.. Gutheim re-
called smilingly. But he wanted
to open his own mail and he did.
Whenever a letter displeased him,
he just tore it up into little pieces
and scattered them all over the
Office. After he had been through
the mail, disposing of more than
half of it in this way, he would GO
of to lunch at the Metropolitan
Club. Then the secretaries would
come in, literally crawling on their
hands and knees, and assemble all
these scraps and paste them to-
gether with tape and glue and file
them. They knew right we'll that
If people in Government Offices
were throwing letters away that
something was wrong and they
would all be packed off to Leaven-
worth IN no time at ALL"
y X X X
The Antarctic explorer between
explorations Is apt to be found,
not sitting happily by the fire with
his trophies. but busily plotting to
get himself snowbound again as
soon as possible.
At least, this is the case with
Comdr. Finn Rome. who, having
passed three winters in the Ant
arctic, which would seem quite
enough for any man. is spending
all of his time writing letters to
potential hackers of an expedition
he would like to make to the
White Antarctic a year from now.
"As long as there is one square
mile OF unknown land, men will
search it," he explains.
His last expedition, made on
his own in 1946-1948. and shared
by his wife, he has described in
lively fashion in the newly pub
llshed Antarctic Conquest"
Ever since Columbus, explorers
have had trouble persuading stay
at-homes to back them On voyages