Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-30

ute to Mr.. Beckley as a friend
and public servant.
There was not member of
the Senate nor the Senate press
corps who did not value the
friendship of Harold Beckley,
the Vice President said. II had
the good fortune to have a par
ticularly close relationship with
him when he took care of the
needs of the members of the
press who travelled with me dur
ing the 1852 campaign. All OF
us who came in contact with him
during that period were ire
mendously impressed by this
quiet. unassuming, friendly man
who was always at his best when
the going was hardest.
He set a standard for per-
Torrance in his work which may
be equalled but which can never
be excelled."
Senate Chiefs Pay Tribute
Senate Majority Leader john
son of Texas and Minority
Leader Knowland of California
joined today in paying tribute
to the long and faithful service
of Mr.. Beckley as a liaison man
between the press and the Sen
ate. Senator Wiley, Republican,
of Wisconsin, joined in the
tributes.
The Senate press gallery has
had only three superintendent
since its establishment nearly so
years ago. The first was James
Preston, who recently retired
from a staff position with the
Secretary of the Senate. Mr..
Beckley's immediate predecessor
was the late William ]. Collins.
Beck" watched-with expert
attention-the number of cor
respondents grow to the more
than 800 currently accredited to
the Congressional galleries.
Expanded Activities
From the time he became as
sistant superintendent of the
Senate gallery in 1881 and more
especially since he became super
intendent on September 10, 1910,
greatly expanded activities and
facilities added to the work of
supervising and regulating press
coverage operations. This went
far beyond the Senate itself. It
branched out to Congressional
committee hearings and national
political conventions.
Il wouldn't change jobs with
anyone under the sum-" he often
declared.
That was the way he felt about
it, despite pressures in solving
such problems as distributing
parking permits for reporters
cars at the Capitol or assigning
press seats at national conven-
lions, where demands invariably
exceed the supply.
One Of his last projects was
to draft at the request of the
Standing Committee of Core
Spondents a set of suggestions to
assure good order and consider
ate working conditions for re-
porters in the press gallery and
at committee sessions.
He was born october 81, 1897.
in Wilmington. Del, where his
father. John r. Beckley, is a re-
tired railroad engineer. He
started in the hotel and club
management business soon after
being graduated from Whining
ton High School. He and his
wife, the former Miss nellie Fuhr.
whom he married in 1923, moved
to Cleveland that year.
Offered Washington Job
While manager of a mems club
there, he met the then Repre-
sentative Theodore Burton. later
a Senator. Beck" recalled in
later years that, while they were
on a golf course one day the
legislator offered to sponsor him
for a job in Washington. He
promptly accepted and. from 1925
to 1881. worked in the House
and Senate document rooms.
He soon showed he possessed
or could acquire in good measure
the traditional qualities of a reli-
able, informed, alert and courte-
Gus newspaperman. And for a
man who said he never wanted
to be writer, he accounted for
a vast amount of correspondence,
reports and similar material re-