HEARD
around the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
fly Carter Field ^
Washington.—Never very potent,
either as an orator on the floor or a
manipulator behind the scenes in
the senate, Joseph F. GufTey is be
ing advised by close friends to run
for governor of Pennsylvania. They
contend, as diplomatically as they
dare in their advice, that following
Guffey's denunciation over the radio
of the "ingrates" among his col
leagues, his effectiveness in the up
per house is destroyed.
Guffey is a very unusual figure in
public life. His importance forbears
was due largely to a general con
viction that he played along with
Tammany Hall in the days when
Tammany was pretty nearly New
York. At any convention he was
much sought after, on the theory
that he would "throw” the Pennsyl
vania delegation whichever way
New York decided to go, and it was
much easier to get a deal or a story,
according to whether the inquirer
was a politician or a newspaper
man, from Guffey than from any of
the tight-lipped New York leaders.
So Guffey was always in the
news, in the days just before and
during a national Democratic con
vention. After the convention he
subsided into comparative obscuri
ty, save for occasional visits to na
tional headquarters, when he would
tell every politician and every news
paper man with whom he talked
that Pennsylvania would be “in the
bag” for the Democratic nominee if
only he could get a liberal cash do
nation from the national committee.
His success in wheedling contribu
tions for these forlorn hopes was
astonishing. In 1928, for instance,
he had John J. Raskob convinced
that A1 Smith could carry Pennsyl
vania if Raskob would just let Guf
fey have enough money.
“It’s surprising,” said the late
Joseph T. Robinson, down at Hot
Springs, Ark., for his notification
ceremony, “what favorable reports
we are getting from Pennsylvania.
I believe we are going to carry
that state.”
“Don’t let Guffey kid you,” said
a newspaper friend. "He just wants
some of Raskob's dough.”
Four years later, however, the
sun really began to shine on Guf
fey's political fortunes. Right at the
outset he came out for Franklin
D. Roosevelt, breaking the hoary
tradition (never apparently very
much justified by developments) of
his alignment with Tammany. He
was credited with winning a major
ity of the Keystone state's delegates
for Roosevelt. In a way—assuming
he could have delivered the same
number of delegates to any one of
the "allies”—he nominated Roose
velt.
For all of which Jim Farley was
profoundly grateful. And so was
Roosevelt. Guffey rolled in cam
paign contributions for Pennsyl
vania. He didn’t carry it, but the
gratitude carried on. He was given
so much patronage that there was
a real revolt among the Pennsyl
vania Democratic representatives,
led by no less a personage than
Pat Boland, of Scranton, now whip
of the house.
As senator, Guffey has simply
been another pro - administration
vote. His speeches had a canned
flavor. He was accused of having
them written for him by the Brain
Trusters, and he has never denied
it. But he fumbles the reading!
Now he has arraigned against
himself every Democratic senator
who revolted on the Supreme court
enlargement, and, less openly, ev
ery Democratic senator who has re
volted on anything. They don’t like
this reprisal idea. They suspect the
President is accurately represented
by Guffey, but that docs not endear
the Pennsylvania senator to them.
So Guffey may decide to accept
the advice of some of his friends,
and run for governor.
Garner Manipulates Bill
Vice President John Nance Gar
ner’s holding the sugar bill after
all the formalities had been com
plied with — preventing President
Roosevelt from getting it in reason
able time for a veto, was one of the
most interesting, if unnoticed, de
velopments of the closing of the ses
sion of congress.
Garner held that bill until late
Saturday afternoon—virtually Satur
day night—before sending it to the
White House, although if he had
been in a real hurry to get it there
it could have been delivered Friday
evening.
The point of course is why Gar
ner did it. It must be remembered
that the President had sharply re
buked Senator Pat Harrison, chair
man of the senate finance commit
tee, for his proposed ‘‘compromise.”
The President had publicly de
nounced the lobby of the refiners in
mainland America as one of the
"most pernicious” in history. When
the final compromise was put
through, in form totally unsatisfac
tory to the President, it merely pro
vided that the provisions affecting
the refining of sugar should expire
ten months before the end of the
three-year period during which th*
quota system should prevail.
Questioned on the floor as to why
this had not been made a full year,
Senator Harrison frankly admitted
that it was because he intended to
induce congress, if possible, to ex
tend these provisions in that first
two months of the third year. In
short, as Senator Harrison and his
friends viewed the situation, it was
not a compromise at all, but the
winning of all they contended for the
first 26 months of the law’s life,
with a chance to win everything
also for even the remaining 10
months.
Vice President Garner doesn’t
talk very much, but he knew what
the President had been saying and
how the President felt. Also he
knew the temper of congress during
those last few days. And he knew
the extreme probability was that, if
the President should receive that
bill on Friday night he would veto
it In that event, Mr. Garner fig
ured, there was little doubt as to
what would happen—congress would
rush the bill through over the Presi
dent’s veto.
This would have been another set- j
back for the President’s prestige. It
is the kind of thing that a good
party man does not like. Garner j
is above everything else a good
party man. Whether he sympathizes
with the President’s ideas or not has j
nothing to do with the case, in most j
instances. The paramount motive ,
with Garner always is that the Dem- !
ocratic party must be supreme—
must continue to present as solid j
a front as possible to the foe.
So smart “Cactus Jack” decided
to give the President a breathing
spell to cool off. The President of
course would know that congress
had passed the bill in the form he
did not want.. Secretary of the In
terior Harold L. Ickes could be de
pended on to rush to the Chief Ex
ecutive with a little oil for the fire j
even if no one else carried the bad
news. But the President could not
veto the bill without having the bill
to veto, and Garner saw to it that
the White House did not get the doc
ument.
As a matter of fact, if the Presi
dent had vetoed the bill when Gar
ner let him have it, assuming the
veto message was dashed off with
in five minutes of receipt, the mes
senger with the veto message would
have had to hurry to get to the capi
tol before the final gavel. And at
that stage Garner could probably
have gaveled his way to adjourn
ment without most of the senators
knowing what the "message from
the President" was all about.
Fight Only Beginning
President Roosevelt’s legislative
program for the congress, as out
lined in a conference with senate
and house leaders on June 5, is very
interesting reading now, but it
would have been a rash prophet in
deed who would have dared predict
any such percentage of failure as
actually developed.
Not that this means permanent
failure. Many of the things that
were caught in the stampede for
adjournment or went over for other
sound reasons may be enacted next
year. Only two defeats seem sure.
One was actual enlargement of the
Supreme court. The other was re
organization of the federal depart
ments and bureaus.
The President has not given up on
either of these. Actually in the Su
preme court case he has won,
though he is not claiming victory.
He has the substance, but he want
ed terribly to have the technical
knockout, shadowy as such a vic
tory might possibly have proved.
On government reorganization, as
predicted in these dispatchef many
times, he can- have a great deal
when congress Anally gets around
to voting on the bill—but not the
things he particularly wants, not
ably executive control over such in
dependent commissions as inter
state commerce and federal trade.
Wages and hours regulation will
of course go through next session,
but the chances are now that the
bill even then will be much more
moderate than the President
wished. The little sawmill and fac
tory owners of the South have felt
their oats, so to speak, and will be
even more outspoken from now on
about things they do not like.
Crop control was not mentioned at
the June 5 conference. It really
was on the agenda all the time, but
intended by the White House to
come after the bill enlarging the
Supreme court had passed. Obvi
ously the orrty satisfactory plan for
contracts not to grow crops with
individual farmers would not pass
the hurdles set up in the old AAA
decision until the court was
changed. But the probability now
is there will be sufficient change on
the-court before any such measures
can be gotten through the next ses
sion to assure fair promise that
this legislation will be upheld.
Indeed the President for quite a
time was for holding back the wages
and hours legislation until the court
bill had become law.
Natio lal planning, as to water re
source: for the various regions of
the country, was another item on
that June 5 program. While the
President has not specifically en
dorsed Senator George W. Norris’
seven TVAs measure, this is gen
erally understood as being in ac
cordance with his ideas.
On that bill there will be a real
fight next session, but the Presi
dent has a better chance of victory
there than on getting his own tax
ideas enacted.
£ Bel) Syndicate.—WNU Service.
TRANSJORDAN
Curbstone Cafe In the Near East.
Wells and "Hair Houses" of
the Bedouins of Transjordan
Prepared by National Oengrcphlc Society.
Washington. D. C.-WNO Service.
Transjordan is a little
country^ Separated from Pal
estine by the great valley of
the Jordan, the Dead sea,
and Wadi el Araba on the west, it
is hemmed in by the Levant states,
Iraq and Arabia. It is a British
protectorate ruled by his highness
the Emir Abdullah Ibn Hussein, son
of the late King Hussein of Hejaz
and brother of the late King Feisal
of Iraq.
A little fringe along the Jordan
and Dead sea depression is fertile
because of perennial streams. Oth
erwise all is waste. It is a rolling
plateau desert, mostly composed of
white chalk and sandy soil. Flint
chips and lumps of basalt are wide
ly scattered.
There are no rivers. The Bedouin
gets his water from ancient rock
cut water cisterns, from pools that
collect in the wadi beds in winter,
or from deep wells.
After winters of abundant rains
and snows, the valleys and wadies
may be lush with vegetation and
aglow with wild flowers. In sum
mer the whole desert is parched
and dry. Scorching hot during the
day, it is often bitterly cold at
night.
Camel herders and shepherds who
pass the night in the open, with only
an old coat to sleep in, complain of
the temperature changes. So did
Jacob when he said. "In the day
the drought consumed me, and the
frost by night.” (Genesis 31:40).
The Bedouin inhabitants of Trans
Jordan are divided into three
classes: the peasant farmers who
live in villages and cultivate the
soil; the seminomads who live in
tents and have flocks and farm
lands; and, lastly, the true Bedouin
nomads, who live off their flocks and
herds and migrate over long dis
tances, even into the depths of Ara
bia proper.
Wells Are Valuable Possessions.
All three classes look like true
Bedouins and speak the same dia
lects, wear the same style of cloth
ing. eat the same food, and share
the same traditions. But the nomad
Bedouins look down on the other
classes and call them fellahin
(farmers). It is this wandering
tribe which is told about here.
Most vital in a desert country is
the preservation of water sources.
Wells are prized possessions. None
but the owner tribe may draw wa
ter from them. Disputes over the
use of wells have led to many a
tribal war.
When Abraham’s Ivells were
seized by enemies, he had to pro
tect himself with a covenant of pos
session. “And Abraham reproved
Abimelech because of a well of wa
ter, which Abimelech’s servants had
violently taken away” (Genesis 21:
25).
Around the wells at watering
times scenes are enacted which take
one back thousands of years to the
life of Bible days. Youths and men
lead up their herds of camels. Some
times hundreds of animals that have
gone without water for days will be
waiting in line for a drink.
With leather buckets and long
ropes, two almost naked men draw
water, chanting their weird, monot
onous melodies and calling to the
camels to drink. Herders keep the
animals back, allowing only one
or two at a trough at a time.
In these deserts where camels are
the chief wealth, girls tend the
goats. Shepherdesses often have a
hard time watering their flocks.
Camels are always favored. And
when the camel herders come in
from their waterless five-day graz
ing periods, the girls and their flocks
get particularly inconsiderate treat
ment.
Digging of a New Well.
Not long ago a traveler observed
an unusual event—the digging of a
new well. He greeted the patriarch
who was supervising the work with
"Gowak" (the Bedouin salutation
befitting such an occasion), which
means "Strength may Allah give
thee.”
"Gweet.” was the prompt reply,
meaning. "Strong have I become.”
Two stout youths were digging in
the well bottom, which was not yet
very deep. They kept filling a bas
ket with the dirt they excavated. A
camel, hitched to a rope and pulley
and driven by a frail, over-grown
boy, pulled the basket out of the
wellhole. Each time a load of dirt
reached the top, the old man seized
it, swung it to the surface, and
dumped it, while the camel walked
back for another haul.
Work ceased while the traveler
stopped to chat. Becjouins never
hurry. With pride the old man sur
veyed his three sons and the new
wellhole. They “digged the well on
ly that man and beast might drink.”
The traveler asked whether he
would charge for the right of water
ing to repay him for his labors. His
slight form unbent. Lifting his head,
he pointed to his sons with a ma
jestic sweep of his hand.
He said, “Allah has requited me
mercifully. In addition to these, I
have other children and from His
bounty we have yearly a sufficiency
in our tents, besides flocks and cam
els. Should I pile up gold like yon
der hill? What would it satisfy?
Better we leave behind something
whereby our fellows are benefited.”
Bedouin’s House of Hair.
The black goat’s-hair tent is the
Bedouin’s home, but he never speaks
of it as a tent. To him, it is the
beit sha’ar (house»of hair). Most
flexible of all abodes, it keeps out
sun, sands, and winter winds. Dur
ing hot days the sides can be lifted
or removed at will. Then the tent
is little more than a sunshade. In
winter the coarse, heavy fabric cuts
off icy blasts.
With few exceptions, the goats of
these lands are black. From their
shearings the Bedouin makes his
tents. Thousands of years have
brought little change in their con
struction.
The house of hair is oblong and
has a long pitched roof with droop
ing ends. The smallest tents have
nine poles altogether, with a row
running lengthwise down the cen
ter, and shorter, lighter rows in
front and back. Guy ropes extend
outward from both sides and from
the center of each end.
Detachable goat’s-hair curtains
form the sides and ends of the tent.
They are fastened to the edge of the
roof with wooden pins and fixed to
the ground with pegs driven through
rope loops.
The tent is pitched with its back
to prevailing winds and storms. A
curtain at the central pole usually
divides it into two parts. One end
is called the mahram section (be
longing to the harem). Here lives
the family, and here are stored bed
ding. rugs, copper cooking pots, and
saddlery.
The other end, usually left more
open, is called es-shigg and is the
guest section where male visitors
are received.
Sheik’s Tent Often Large.
The average Bedouin tent is 8 or
10 yards long and half as wide.
But there is extreme variation in
size. Poor herdsmen’s tents are fre
quently much smaller, while those
of sheiks and richer tribesmen may
be as much as 100 or 120 feet long.
In more elaborate tents, addition
al tent poles support the center.
These tents are referred to by the
number of central <or wasit) poles.
A 4-, 6-, or 10-wasit house of hair
means the same to a Bedouin as a
4-, 6-. or 10-room house to us.
There are sheik's tents that nave
nine wasits, or ten sections. Three
sections at one end are curtained
off with sahas for wives and their
families.
The chief wife has a double sec
tion to herself. But her apartment
is also the storehouse for rugs, bed
ding, and food supplies for guests.
Half the tent forms the shigg. or
guest section.
If a Bedouin keeps no goats, he
buys his goat's-hair cloth. But
most families can provide their own
goat’s hair, and the women spin
the yarn, weave the cloth, and sew
the tent together. Pitching and strik
ing the tents are also women's
work.
The only time a new tent is made
is when a youth leaves his parents’
home and sets up housekeeping by
himself, usually with a wife or two
to do the work.
ADVENTURERS' CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI
“Breath of Life”
By FLOYI) GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter
Hello everybody:
I’ll bet you’d have felt pretty tough, too, if this had
happened to you. If you were lying at the door of death
depending for your very life on the efforts of two or three of
your pals who were trying to save you—and you hegrd one
of them say, “Aw, heck, fellows, we’re not getting anywhere
with this. Let’s give it up for a bad job,”—well—in a case
like that I wouldn’t blame any man for getting discouraged.
And so was Don Ward discouraged, on that day back in May,
1932, when that identical thing happened to him.
Don has a job now at the Pilgrim State hospital at Brentwood, N. Y.
He doesn’t go out any more to shoot trouble among the electric wires
and cables of Long Island, but in 1932 he was a lineman employed by a
firm of electrical engineers in Northport, L. I., and worked with a gang
of six men, stringing wires all over the surrounding country.
Chris Anderson was the boss of that crew, and there’s another
lad in that outfit whom we might as well mention now as at any
other time, because he played a big part in this story of Don’s.
His name is Kelly, and he had a couple of sore feet and a stubborn
disposition, and if he hadn’t had both those things it’s a dif
ferent yarn we’d be telling today.
Kelly’s Sore Feet Started It All.
The crew was running a new street light circuit in Stony Brook, L. I.
Don and Kelly were working together. They had strung seven or eight
sections of wire when Kelly began to complain about his feet. He had
on a new pair of shoes that day, and climbing up and down the poles
made them sore. So Don told Kelly to stay on the ground. He'd take
over the part of the work that called for climbing.
Don went up the next pole. There were a lot of other wires strung
on it—old ones from which the insulation had worn off until they were
practically bare. Don admits he should have been more careful in tack
M-l
“I Struggled and Wriggled With All My Might.”
ling that mess. There were safety devices in their truck that he
could have used. But the fellow who works on even the most dangerous
job gets careless once in a while, and this was Don’s day to do it.
Don was passing one of the two new wires he was stringing over the
cross-arm of the pole when it happened. His left arm rubbed one of the
worn live wires, and at the same time his right leg rubbed against an
iron brace. It made a direct short circuit and sent TWENTY-THREE
HUNDRED VOLTS through his body.
“It held me fast,” Don says. “I was powerless to break the contact.
The only way I can describe the feeling is to say that it seemed as though
some monstrous being like King Kong had me held at arms length and
was shaking the daylights out of me. I could hear the generators throb
bing in my ears as though I was right in the powerhouse. I struggled
and wriggled with all my might, but it wasn’t any use.”
In the meantime Don's partner, Kelly, had walked down the
road a few hundred feet. Suddenly he heard a moaning sound
and turned, to see Don hanging on that cross-arm, his clothes
burning and his face contorted in a look of terrible pain. He
raced back to the pole, climbed up it and cut the wire that was
feeding juice into Don.
They Thought Don Was Done For.
Don, in the meantime, had slumped down unconscious, with only
his safety belt holding him on the pole. Kelly took a rope from his belt,
looped it under Don’s arms, and lowered him to the ground. The
other linemen came running from down the road a piece and gave Kelly
a hand. They stretched Don out on the ground and looked him over.
He wasn’t breathing—and it seemed as if his heart had stopped. It
looked bad for Don, but the boys went to work on him giving him arti
ficial respiration.
For twenty minutes they worked on Don, taking turns at pressing
with their hands to force a little air in and out of his paralyzed lungs.
Twenty minutes and no sign of life! But though there was no sign of it,
life was still there. Just a few seconds before, consciousness had started
to return to Don. He was trying to get his lungs to work again—doing
his best to help those fellows who were doing his breathing for him. He
couldn't move a muscle—couldn’t speak or even open his eyes—but
he knew he would be all right if his pals worked on him a little longer.
And then came the most disheartening moment of Don’s life.
Out of a clear sky Don heard one of the fellows say: “It’s no use,
boys. HE’S GONE. We might as well quit and take him back
to the truck.”
Saved by Kelly’s Stubbornness.
Don wanted to scream, but he couldn’t breathe by his own efforts.
Were they going to give up and leave him to die? All the terror of a
lifetime was packed into his heart in that one brief moment. But the
man astride his back still kept on pressing away, forcing the air in
and out of his lungs. Again the first fellow made this terrifying sugges
tion. “Let’s quit and take him into town.” And this time Don could
hear the man who was working on him reply. It was Kelly—and Kelly
was sticking to his job.
For five minutes—ten minutes—Kelly worked on, stubbornly refusing
to give up his battle for his friend’s life. Maybe Kelly remembered
that it was his own aching feet which had been the cause of Don’s climb
ing up that pole in the first place. Maybe Kelly figured that the least he
could do to a man who had almost died doing him a favor was to exert
every effort to save his life. Anyway, Kelly kept on—and in another
two or three minutes Don started to breathe.
They flagged a passing car and took Don to a hospital, and they kept
him there seven weeks. Kelly was cited for bravery and received a
medal from the company for saving Don's life. But I think Don ought
to get some sort of a medal too. for living through a twenty-three-hun
dred-volt shock of electricity. The electric chair up at Sing Sing. I'm
told, only has twenty-two-hundred.
©—WNU Service.
Few Live Over 100 Years
During the past 2,000 years, about
2,000 persons have claimed to have
lived far longer than a century.
Some of them, with their reputed
ages at death, were: Czarten (185).
Roven (172). Jenkins (169), Surring
ton (160), Agha (156), Parr (152),
Drackenburg (146) and the Countess
of Desmond (HO). But none could
definitely prove their statements. In
fact, absolutely authenticated cases
of human beings having lived more
than a hundred years are extremely
rare.—Collier’s Weekly.
God’s Gift to Haydn.
The famous composer, Haydn,
once asked how it happened that his
church music was almost always of
an animating, cheerful, and even
gay description, answered, ‘‘I can
not have it otherwise; I write ac
cording to the thoughts which I
feel. When I think upon God, my
heart is so full of joy that the notes
leap and dance as it were from my
pen; and since God has given me
a cheerful heart, it will be easily
forgiven me that I seek Him with
a cheerful spirit.”
_n
□ Ques/Ionr
Eggs and Mushrooms—Put 3
ounces of fresh butter into a stew
pan; break over it 4 fresh eggs,
and add 3 spoonfuls chopped
mushrooms, teaspoonful salt, 1
saltspoonful ground white pepper.
Stir the mixture with a wooden
spoon over a clear fire until of a
thickish consistency, and serve
very hot on buttered toast.
* • *
Laundry Hint—Transfer marks
left after a piece of embroidery
is completed may be taken out
before the article is squeezed
through in warm water by rub
bing gently with a piece of cotton
wool moistened with methylated
spirit.
* Si *
Use*for Old Shaving Brush—A
discarded shaving brush makes a
splendid blacklead brush, as it
penetrates parts which are diffi
cult to reach with an ordinary
stove-brush.
* * *
Rhubarb Charlotte—Wash and
stew rhubarb but not to breaking
point. Fill dish alternately with
rhubarb and sponge cake and cov
er with lemon jelly. Leave to set
and serve with whipped cream.
WNU Servic*.
<Tavoxite Kecijae
of} the WqqI^—
D REPARE a huge crock of apple
* sauce and your efforts will be
well rewarded for this delicious
concoction never fails to appeal
to jaded appetites. Apple sauce
is also the basis for any number
of easily prepared desserts that
have definite palate appeal during
the summer months.
Apple Sauce. *
1 dozen apples
iy2 cups apple cider
Granulated sugar to taste
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
1 tablespoonful butter
Pinch salt
Wash, core and cut up apples.
Put them in a saucepan with the
cider and cook until tender enough
to rub through a sieve. Mixture
should be thick. Stir in the re-*
maining ingredients. Pour into a
bowl. Garnish with a light driz
zling of cinnamon. Serve hot or
cold as desired.
YOU CAN THROW CARDS
IN HIS FACE
ONCE TOO OFTEN
HEN you have those awful
cramps; when your nerves
are all on edge—don’t take it out
on the man you love.
Your husband can’t possibly
know how you feel for the simple
reason that ho is a man.
A three-quarter wife may be
no wife at all if sho nags her hus
band seven days out of every
month.
For three generat ions one woman
has told another how to go "smil
ing through” with Lydia E. Pink
ham’s Vegetable Compound, lit
helps Nature tone up tho system,
thus lessening the discomforts from
the functional disorders which
women must enduro in the three
ordeals of life: 1. Turning from
girlhood to womanhood. 2. Pre
paring for motherhood. 3. Ap
proaching “middle age.”
Don’t be a three-quarter wife,
take LYDIA E. PINKHAM’S
VEGETABLE COMPOUND and
Go "Smiling Through.”
WNU—U
36—37
WATCH
the Specials
U can de
pend on the special
sales the merchants of
our town announce in
the columns of this
paper. They mean
money saving to our
readers. It always pays
to patronize the mer
chants who advertise.
They are not afraid
of their merchandise
or their prices « « «
