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Show Former Senate Page Boy Tells Of Washington Adventure Straight from five years service as Senate page boy in the nation's capitol comes Richard "Bud" Palmer, who thinks South High has a "nice bunch of girls and boys." Appointed by Senator Elbert D. Thomas in 1937, Bud, together with nineteen other pages saw to it that files, offices and calendars of the senators were kept in order. When a senator snaps his finger, that's the call for a page to assist him. From January until the senate adjourns, the boys are on the job. In the event that a special session of congress is called, pages must be ready to work. Bud, during his Washington sojourn, so-journ, became acquainted with all the senators, several of the President's Presi-dent's cabinet, including Secretary Cordell Hull, and chatted with several sev-eral big name movie stars. To prove it, he has the autographs of James Cagney, William Powell, and Gary Cooper. Even a page boy has to go to school, so each morning from 7:15 until 9:30 classes were conducted for the fellows. Then follows a session in the senate chamber until 4:30 p. m. after which the boys resumed their school work. Boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen six-teen are eligible for work as pages. They must dress uniformly in black knicker suits, white shirts and black ties. Bud's an athlete, too; played second sec-ond shortstop on the senate page boy baseball team. "The best food you ever tasted is in Washington. There are colored col-ored cooks who really know how to cook. Their apple pies are 2 inches thick, and with a scoop of ice cream, just melt in your mouth," boasted Bud. His stay in the senate chamber has inspired him so that now it's his ambition to study law and become be-come a senator. As for Western .hospitality, Bud has this to say, "There's a nice bunch of boys and girls at South, they're really swell. The kids in the West are plenty friendly." |