Show A defeat of wheeler marks passing of able legislator by news analyst and commentator WV service 1616 eye street NW washington D C there was something rather pathetic about it to me when I 1 heard th the e president say two words that marked the obituary of a long career the terse reply was made at a presidential pr press e ss radio conference when a reporter asked mr truman if he C cared red to say anything about the senatorial primary in montana in which burton K wheeler was defeated by lell leif erickson there was nothing more that the P resident president could say ile he already had ad endorsed wheeler with that remarkable loyalty that he has tor for his friends a virtue which easily may go down in history as one of his faults wheeler gave the freshman senator harry truman his first opportunity to show his mettle by letting him bat for him as chairman of the important interstate commerce committee truman made goo good a and a warm friendship developed but even presidential aid save wheeler the other othe r day I 1 was looking look faig over the autom autographed graphed photographs with which H harold rold mcgrath superintendent berid mt of the senate enate radio gallery had decorated the walls it was just about the time that things began to look bad for the senator we commented on the senators we had known who had ended long careers in defeat of course sen george norris was the classic example five terms then he was replaced by an antl anti roosevelt man sen kenneth wherry senator norris closest contender for or the longevity record in recent years was ellison cotton ed smith of south carolina vi violently I 1 antly anti new deal he was defeated by a pro roosevelt man the year after norris morris lost out up on the radio gallery wall val Is a picture of henry ashurst the senator whose tongue fairly dripped epigrams he came to the dunate when new mexico was admitted to the union that was 1912 lie he left in 1940 serving five terms plus five years the year 1940 was a bad one for veterans besides ashurst william king of utah left us having served since 1917 and lynn frazer of north dakota who came to washington in 1923 senator wheeler served only four terms but his vivid personality made it seem longer he made many enemies many people disapprove of his isolationism and some of his other views most thoroughly but there are many even among his detractors who respect him for his integrity for his ability as a legislator something which perhaps Is understood in washington better than elsewhere and also because they consider his pacifism sincere I 1 remember a conversation I 1 had with jerry oconnell former representative who tried to take wheelers seat in a campaign somewhat similar to the one which brought victory to erickson jerry was pretty sore he had a copy of the anaconda standard in his hand as well as a clipping the clipping was as a report of one of senator wheelers campaign speeches made early in his career I 1 cant rem remember em ber the phraseology but the general idea expressed by wheeler was that if the anaconda standard which was supposed to represent the sentiments of the big copper interests ever praised wheeler it would be a sign that he was no longer worthy of the support of the people of montana oconnell read that to me then he picked up his copy of the standard and read from it some very kind words for senator wheeler however I 1 think it would be grossly unfair to say that senator wheeler ever sold out even figuratively to any interests As far as I 1 know he Is as sincere today as he was when he made his first fight on whatever issue had a side unpopular enough to attract him in february of 1935 1 I had a long interview with senator wheeler I 1 have the yellowing clipping before beforce me it Is illustrated with a huge photograph more picture than text showing wheeler his fist clenched about to drive it into his palm a favorite gesture I 1 kemem ber when the picture was taken here are two paragraphs from the story last autumn remember this was written in february 1935 citizens ot of montana sent r the same young man to washington as a sen ator for his third term with the I 1 larg largest est majority ever given a candidate by the mountain st state ate A decade passes and new voters grow up wheeler 1 I observed this in the same interview came back to fisl his office in the senate building with the pictures of 01 the high mountains and 1 the deep valleys of his adopted state on the walls and a victory measured in the same magnificent dimensions his hair Is a little thinner than it was b but ut he can w wake ake the echoes with the a same a me thunder he released when he first arrived he is still up and at em and the higher they fly the more anxious he be is to make them fall all wheeler norris ashurst they too hew flew high matron upsets solons aplomb it was during the day and night senate sessions on OPA the senate recessed at 6 p m to continue deliberations libe rations at 8 p m republican sen styles bridges of new hampshire bitter OPA opponent and mrs bridges went to a restaurant for di dinner dincler niler coming out they were caught by a sudden sharp rainstorm the dapper white suited senator hailed a passing cab and he and his wife piled in before they could shut the door and in accordance with group riding a huge and very damp labrador retriever bounded in landing landin 9 in the senatorial lap the dog was followed by his corpulent mistress some moments L elapsed as the quartet arranged themselves in the cabs back seat the dog continued to snuggle and drip on the white linen suit suddenly the corpulent lady glancing gan cing sharply at the senator sa sigid ia why youre oure senator bridges arent you undoes pleased to be recognized nodded graciously well said the lady jerking the sycophantic canine away from the republican senator im a regis Demo democrat cratl Sch yearns for west theres a persistent rumor that labor secretary Sch would like to desert the potomac for puget sound not hard to understand der stand since heavy pressure Is being exerted to r nake make drastic changes in the labor department and since Sch Is as popular as he is in his home state in 1934 when he was running for the united states senate lew Sch carried every county of the state the first time this ever had happened vicariously as shown in the recent resounding success of his brother edgar Sch in winning the supreme court tice ship of the state his pop popularity u lar persists today edgar scewel lenbach almost unknown outside his own community filed against the incumbent the court elections usually dont draw a very heavy vote yet the man with the former senators name received more votes than were cast for the republican and democratic candidates for the senate senator in for happy returns the eyes of washington post readers bugged out recently when ahel they read in in a story describing senatorial wives experiences with rising prices that mrs glen taylor buys groceries for a family of 10 the youngest of nhom was an 18 year earold ear old baby I 1 understood immediately med mediately fately that the reporter had meant 18 DAY old baby because just two weeks before I 1 had the pleasure of smoking one of the 50 excellent cigars sent up to the radio correspondents gallery by the senator it often that cigars are distributed tri buted in the senate for this particular reason as most of the legislators have put aside childish things but radio correspondents smoked senator taylors cigars and congratulated him on his third son as well as on the other honor recently tendered him by a panel of radio experts they voted him the legislator most likely to succeed in 1 radio the two honors had no connection L BARBS by baukhage A new bird proof windshield has been approved by the civil aeronautics administration now let us look for or a bird proof automobile top the average person ot of 20 now has as many years of life remaining to him as a newborn new born child had in 1900 11 says the metropolitan information service but can he be use them to any better advantage seme homes have hav no central heating system says pe petroleum ro notes but what is worse several million veterans have no homes As late as 1880 40 per cent of mens clothing was ready to wear says the twentieth century foundation in 1946 it may be ready but its already pretty worn |