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Show NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS. Written for Tha Telegram By Ray TuckerV V WASHINGTON-Tha 8eventy sixth congress numbers mors picturesque pic-turesque newcomers among the Incoming members than any recent re-cent session. Their age and experience, ex-perience, incidentally, seem greater great-er than thoaa of the usual batch of first-timers. Plus L. Schwert. sn old New York Ysnkee baseball catcher, succeeds Jim Mead as Buffalo representative. rep-resentative. William J. Miller of Connecticut entered the chamber In a wheel-chair, having lost two lege In an airplane crash in France. James H. Fsy, who "purged" Rules Chairman O'Connor O'Con-nor ef New York, also left a eg on the battlefield. Foster Stearns of the Uranite state is the son of Frank W. Stearns. Calvin Cool-Mxe's Cool-Mxe's friend. He served overseas, laier entered the diplomatic service, serv-ice, then became Holy Croea col-lego col-lego librarian. T. V. Smith, former for-mer Illinois state senator and University ef Chicago instructor, la a brilliant writer oa economic and political subjects. If the house needs an ace investigator in-vestigator It ran call on Forest A. Harnee ef Kokomo. Ind. As a pecial aaaiatant attorney general, he took part in the prosecution of Samuel Inaull. It can get advice on picking Jhe wife's presents from Frank C. Oemers of Mew Jersey, gem expert and dealer in precious atones. To cure cbn-greasional cbn-greasional achea and pains there are several medicos, including -foot - Georga Gillie of Indiana a veterinarian. Veteran pollticoa and parliamentarians parlia-mentarians will have extraordinary extraor-dinary difficulty in restraining the 1939 group of freshmen. They're not afraid to open their mouths and minds. The times are peculiarly propitious propi-tious for. rapid congressional advancement. ad-vancement. The O. O. P.-era, still numbering only 169. will need every able-bodied and strong-lunged strong-lunged man they ran muster in committee and on the floor. If a youngster shows promise, he will be pushed ahead instead of hased for his precocity. House Leader Joa Martin Is more kindly disposed dis-posed toward youngsters than was his predecessor Bert Snell of New York. Democratic bosses 1 Bankhead, Taylor, Houghton. 8a-bath 8a-bath are growing old and weary, and they will be only too glad to . unload their burdens on stronger shoulders. It is a young man's world In politics as well aa In industry. in-dustry. The newcomers also appear to be well equipped for playing a responsible re-sponsible part in legislative activity. activ-ity. Many have served as state legislators, secretaries to local officials, of-ficials, taught politics or economics. eco-nomics. Moreover, the tremendous public Interest F. D. R. has sroused In government problems has transformed every Tom. Dick, and Harry into a curbstone statesman. states-man. Although the feminine contingent contin-gent in this congress is slimmer than in many years four in the house and one In the senste the gentler sex scored remarkable gaina throughout the country In the last election. They are beginning begin-ning ta combat the men seriously after lg years of slow trsining. Reserved New England, where woman's place is supposed to be in the home, roiled up the best record rec-ord from the feminine standpoint Maine has 2335 In elective or appointive ap-pointive offices a It per rent gain since 1933. There are 32 women In the New Hampshire house of rep-reaentatives. rep-reaentatives. Connecticut has a woman secretary of state and 22 in the house. Massachusetts boasts one congresswoman Edith Nourae Rogers two in the state legislature, two as clerk of court and county commissioner. Vermont Ver-mont sent one to the state senate, 12 to the house. In Pennsylvania, other seaboard states and the deep south the voters have not been so chivalrous. States like New Mexico. Oklahoma, Okla-homa, Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska, Ne-braska, however, showed a willingness willing-ness to place their political trust In their wives and sisters and mothers, with emphasis on educational educa-tional and philanthropic posts. Hawaii surprised the ladies by electing two women to the house. Nelson Loom is' assignment as head of the newly organized United States travel bureau Is to transform the world's vacation 1 habits for economic as well aa recreational reasons. For more Americans and foreigners to travel here Instead of abroad will mean aeversl hundred millions of dollars annually In our pockets. It's a big and growing business. Europe for years has regarded tourists as definite economic assets, as-sets, and has persistently developed devel-oped the trade with governmental aid and eubttidiea. To other nations na-tions a vacationing and liberally spending American represents pounds and francs and marks and liras. Not until Secretary Ickes commandeered Mr. Loom is tall, handsome, energetic, a travel expert, ex-pert, an amateur boxer, a painter, a movie villain did our government govern-ment deliberately enter the Marco Polo competition. Mr. Ickes will ask congress for a generous appropriation probably proba-bly (200.000 for this new agency. With European and Oriental travel dwindling because of war and war scares, he will argue that such an investment will return at least 1000 per cent. A peculiar argument for the hater of "economic "eco-nomic royalists," who demand too much return on their investment, in hia opinion. Neverthelees. he'll make it and probably get the cash. With characteristic puckiahness, Harold Ickes chose New Year's day to broadcast a nerve-racking message to the world. Forgetting Herr Hitler for the moment, he announced that old Mother Earth haa become a jitterbug. "Pleistocene sediment." read his January 1 release, "was found on the mesa tops both of San Miguel and San Nicolas Islands In the Channel Islands group (this current cur-rent year). To scientists this discovery dis-covery means that a movement of the earth's crust has taken place since the Ice age. The organisms in the deposit, etc., indicate that they were laid down in the sea in the pleistocene period popularly popu-larly known as the ice age." Mr. Ickes forgot to explain his Orson Wellea joke. The Ice age was several hundred million years ago, and it's time that something moved. Copyright, 1939, for The Telegram |