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Show Washington Comment Washington went romantic in a big way last week when word flew over the ocean that Secretary of Interion Ickes, the stormy petrel pet-rel of the new deal, had taken a 25-year-old bride in Ireland, traditional tradi-tional land of song and story. The president, one of the few let in on the secretary's - plans, had some chuckles at the expense of the Washington press which was most uncomfortably "scooped" on the whole business, along with the rest of the world. Even the palatial pala-tial "Normandie", on which Mr. Ickes sailed, and the French line itself, was unaware that it carried so distinguished a prospective bridegroom, rushing to romance with a youthful heart despite his 64 (a spiteful senator insists, 67) years. The secretary, who has a reputation for fighting for anything any-thing at the drop of a hat or without a hat even dropping was about the last member of the new deal to be suspected of negotiations negotia-tions with cupid, despite the fact that this administration is a veritable, veri-table, marriage-mart. JThe little god of love has had the Indian-sign Indian-sign on the new deal ever since it came into power. Before even Mr. Roosevelt had moved into the White House, his attorney general-designate, general-designate, Thomas J. Walsh, had married a beautiful Cuban widow. The present Secretary of War Woodring took a bride shortly afterward, and the daughter of Madame Perkins, secretary of labor was married this spring so much for Cupid in the cabinet not forgetting for-getting the recent marriage of the assistant secretary of state, Francis B. Sayre, one-time son-in-law of the late President Wilson. Senators fell left and right to the arrows of romance in this administration: adminis-tration: among them Senators Mc-Adoo, Mc-Adoo, Pepper, Tydings, Smathers. Bulkey, and Schwellenbach. The members of the house of representatives repre-sentatives who succumbed to the marriage fever are practically uncountable. un-countable. As for our diplomatic representatives to foreign countries, coun-tries, cupid had a heydey: Ambas-( Ambas-( Continued on last page) Washington Comment (Continued from first page) sadors Davies and Caffery and former Minister Ruth Bryan Owen marched altar-ward under the new deal. Of course the White House led all the rest with young Elliott, Anna, and Franklin jr., taking marriage vows since 1933, while young John is on the threshold of matrimony at this writing. There were a good many marriages during dur-ing the Wilson administration, but also a number of. deaths to sadden it; the Roosevelt regime, there-foi'e, there-foi'e, stands out unique thus far in any historical , record of love's young dream in American politics. |