Evening star., 1953-04-19
By Isabelle Shelton

SSo
history-William Pettus Hobby,
is a big, slow talking Texan who
was tWo-time Governor of the
Panhandle State.
Since his wife. the energetic
Oveta Culp Hobby, Joined the
new administrations official fam
ily as Federal Security Admins
traitor (now Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare), Mr..
Hobby has been sole editor and
publisher of the Houston Post,
with general responsibility also
for KPRC, the Houston radio
and television stations owned
by the newspaper.
Mrs. Hobby shared manage
ment of the paper and broad
casting station as co-editor and
co-publisher until she came to
Washington. She resigned both
posts January 10.
The Governor" as most peo-
pie still call him, expects to
spend about half of each year
in Houston looking after his af-
fairs and the other six months
here with his busy wife, whose
cabinet responsibilities prob
ably won't let her get home very
often.
That will make him the first
cabinet husband" to be a fac
tor on the Capital social horizon.
The late Paul Wilson. husband
of the Nations only previous
woman cabinet officer, Frances
Perkins, was in poor health dur
ing the years that his wife was
Secretary of Labor in President
Franklin D. RooSevelt's admins
tration and he spent little time
here.
Mr.. Hobby came to Washington
for a few weeks in January, to
be with his wife through the in
augural festivities. He rode with
her up Pennsylvania avenue in
the inaugural parade, attended
the various social functions, and
was in the audience with other
official families when Mrs. Hobby
and the cabinet were sworn in.
He returned to Texas then, but
came back last week end in time
to see her sworn in for second
time-thiS time as a full -f1edged
member of the cabinet. During
the past week the couple has
been on a merry-go-round OF
parties, many of them in con-
nection with the annual meeting
of the American Society of News
paper Editors. Mrs. Hobby was
once a member of the ASNE
board, as well as having served
as president of the Southern
Newspaper Publishers AsSocia-
ton. They did not eat dinner at
home one evening last week.
Two Children
The Hobbys have two children,
Bill, 81, a senior at Rice Institute
in Houston, and Jessica, 16, a
Junior at Chatham Hall, an ex-
elusive girls finishing school in
Chatham, Va. Young Bill, who
graduated from st. Adams here,
works as a reporter on the Post
three evenings week, and is as
siStant secretary-treaS Of the
company.
A staff of three servants eff
GENTLY care for Bill and his
father in the Hobbys' big three
story English-style red brick
house in the exclusive Shadyside
section of Houston. A Dalmatian
named Duchess and a Cocker
named Andy also are part of the
establishment.
MY wife is a very efficient
woman" Mr.. Hobby declares.
"The house runs like clock
work. She has always run her
house by remote control from
wherever she is. She trains the
servants so we'll in the begin
ming that they know just what
to do"
Beautiful Apartment
In Washington the Hobbys
live in a handsomely decorated
f1ve-bedroom apartment at 2101
Connecticut avenue, the house
hold details of which are pre-
sided over. by a maid Mrs.
Hobby brought up with her
from Texas.
The Welfare Secretary Sc
lected the decor, with the help
of a New York decorator. The
living room walls are covered
with a delicate silver paper,
which is Sparsely decorated
with delicate Towering branches
yellow forsythialike branches
on one wall. large pink flow-
erS on another. The dra-
peries are gold raw silk, and
there are white sheer curtains.
The rug is a soft gray green, and
some of the chairs are uphol-
stored in the same gold silk.
There are three huge red and
black screens, which appeared
to be japanese or Chinese CI'm
not much on furniture styles"
says Mr.. Hobby. Also eye
catching are two immense break
fronts, one at least ten feet
long.
All of the furniture was
brought from their Houston
home, where they had more
than we needed" the former
Governor said.
Earlier Riser
At home in Houston Mr.. Hobby
is an early riser. He is up by
$50 each morning, likes to re-
tire by about 10 at night. He gets
up and goes to bed later in
Washington, because of the
heavy social schedule.
He reads the three Houston
newspapers and the air-mailed
New York. Times each day, and
spends some time in each of
his three offices. One is at the
Post building, another in the
radio-televiSion plant. The third,
where he keeps a secretary to