Evening star. [volume], May 01, 1937, Page B-3, Image 19

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
riLJ?/1Virgin Islands,” a water color by Mitchell Jamieson, on exhibition at
the Little Gallery, Georgetown.. —Photo Courtesy Treasury Department Art Project.
V -— ——
By Leila Mechlin.
MONO the exhibitions opening
this week, that of drawings
and prints of animals by a
Spanish sculptor, Mateo Her
nandez. set forth in Studio House, is
perhaps most novel.
Hernandez is an interesting char
acter and has attained to very con
siderable distinction in France as well
as his native country. His father was
a master builder of Bejar, where the
young Mateo passed Ills boyhood, and
it was there, at the age of 12. that he
began his professional career by mak
ing a caning on a granite wall. In
his early 20s he went to Paris, estab
lished himself in a bare attic near the
“Jardin des Plantes,'’ and began carv
ing animals from living models. His
work soon found Its way into the
salon and won honors. An example
was purchased for the Luxembourg,
and gradually his fame was spread.
About 10 years ago, an exhibition of
his scultpure was held in Madrid
under the auspices of the Society of
Fine Arts of that city, opened by the
Duke of A’.ba, president of the society,
with members of the royal family in
attendance. His first exhibition In
this country was held in New York, in
the Brummcr Galleries. In 1935. The
following year the Metropolitan Mu
seum of Art acquired his “Black
Panther" carved in diorite, highly pol
ished.
Entirely self-taught, Hernandez is
said to combine in his sculptural work
the characteristics of the ancient
Egyptian and the modern French
plastic art. It is very simple, some
what stylized, but at the same time
vital. He has subjected himself to
rigorous training and spares no pains
lo attain perfection. It is his habit
in cut his sculpture directly in stone,
and the harder the better, without
preliminary sketch or model. He does
not work in clay and his scultpure is
never cast. He Is reported to have
brio mat ne nxes to ieei ms worn is
indestructible and will last into etern
ity. Not only is he a very skillful
craftsman, but Is noted for physical
strength and can lift and carry with
ease the blocks of heavy stone he
t» rves.
So much for Hernandez the sculp
tor. Of Hernandez the printmaker
and draftsman there is also much to
say. But the two do not seCm iden
tical. As sculptor he concerns himself
primarily with form, and gives expres
sion with great simplicity and direct
ress: as printmaker and draftsman,
he presents his theme with utmost
flatness and apparently feels his Way
through measurable confusion. If
these drawings were made as studies
they would be understandable, but to
the contrary, they are an end in them
selves. To an extent, his manner of
handling is very similar, whatever
printmaker's medium he employs, and
thp fact Is that it is difficult at a
glance to differentiate between his
dry points and his linoleum blocks,
neither of which exhibit the customary
distinguishing characteristics of the
media. But his line is extremely in
teresting. It 1s broad and not too
smooth; only occasionally does it
seem to flow; sometimes it is white in
stead of black, and conveys the im
pression of rough Incisions. In fact
there is more than a suggestion In
some of his prints and drawings of
line pictures cut on stone by Chinese
artists of the earliest eras. And what
a love he has for animals! Not it
would seem Decause 01 someimng
within themselves, but because of their
shapes, their engaging oddities. Take
for example a group of giraffes de
picted in outline against a smuged
background, or a group of zebra with
a camel, and other African animals,
oryx or impalla; dark against light,
very knowingly portrayed, but with a
certain naive simplicity commonly as
sociated with the beginnings of art in
a people or an individual. Perhaps in
this simplicity is discovered the rela
tion between Hernandez's drawings and
his sculpture, both of which hark
back to the primitive but without
crudity or deliberate intent. Sculp
turally he undoubtedly attains the
finer expression, eliminating all evi
dence of struggle and attaining his
result with the appearance of com
plete mastery. But perhaps, after all,
the prints are unconsciously a means
to this end, the study that has gone
Into them enabling him to attain com
plete plastic freedom. In any event,
the prints and drawing supplement
and enlarge our knowledge and ap
preciation of the sculpture, at the
same time that they permit insight
Into this artist's way of working.
Mateo Hernandez is pa inter as well
as sculptor and draftsman, and in
cluded in this exhibition are some ex
periments he has made in encaustic
painting on cement panels. From the
experimental standpoint these are in
teresting. but the results so obtained
are artistically not significant or par
ticularly pleasing. Some years ago he
painted his own portrait in bpad
brimmed hat and high-collared" coat,
showing himself to be of typical
SpanLsh cast of features, dark eyed,
fcith large nose and firm mouth and
chin. By a well known English critic
he has been declared "the greatest
sculptor Spain has produced.”
Studio House Shows
Paintings by Artists of
Washington and Baltimore.
JN STUDIO HOUSE there also
opened, on April 29, to continue
through May 10, an exhibition of
paintings by a group of artists in some
w’ay associated with the Studio House
activities. The majority of these pic
tures arc recent productions, but some
have been shown during the Winter
in other exhibitions. For Instance,
there is a humorous painting of "Sun
day at the Zoo,” by Alice Acheson,
which was Included in the 8ociety of
Washington Artists' most recent an
nual exhibition in the Corcoran Gal
lery of Art. Here, too, is the original
sketch made by Marjorie Phillips for
her painting of a base ball game
which is in the current Biennial Ex
hibition of Contemporary American
Painting, set forth by the Corcoran
Gallery of Art. Bernice Cross is rep
resented, very pleasingly, by a paint
ing of pansies, broadly rendered with
effective handling of light and shade;
from Elizabeth Roberts has come an
excellent still-life study, well modeled
and with interesting color scheme, and
to the credit of Charles Walther is a
whole group of little flower studies,
gaily colorful.
These paintings occupy the walls of
the front gallery, while the prints and
drawings by Hernandez are to be seen
on the walls of the rear gallery, which
is commonly regarded as the ‘‘print
room,” but it must be confessed that,
shown in such close proximity, the
more mature works—slight as some of
them are—incline to disparage by
comparison the works of the younger
group of painters. At least it subjects
them to very severe test.
Clever Water Colors of
The Virgin Islands by
Jamieson on View.
QNE of the younger Washington
artists who undoubtedly owes
much to Studio House and the patron
age of the Phillips Memorial Gallery,
Mitchell Jamieson, is holding an ex
hibition of water colors in the little
gallery of the Intimate Book Shop m
Georgetown and making excellent re
port of progress. The water colors are
of subjects found in the Virgin Islands,
where Mr. Jamieson has been painting
for the past year under governmental
commission. One, entitled ‘‘Reflec
tions,” is owned and lent by Mr. and
Mrs. Edward Bruce, the others are
the property of the artist, and a sale
sign or two attest to tangible apprecia
tion. Two were painted at St. John,
two at St. Croix, one at San Juan,
others are not specificallv identified.
They range in subject master from a
life size portrait of a "Crucion Boy" to
market scenes, interiors with figures,
landscapes and marines. Mr. Jamieson
would seem to have a passion for paint
ing and to delight in transcribing
whatever he sees. Some of this rest
finds expression in his work to its
great advantage, in addition to whicn
there is evidence of increased com
mand of medium. Many of these pic
tures are broadly painted, with rich
color and a full, skillful brush. Two,
in which palm trees play an important
role in the composition, are particularly
well rendered and pleasing; others of
the sea, such as the “Long Roller” and
“Leeward Passage.” have a jewel-like
color quality which gives great charm.
“Cafe Internationale” is, if we mistake
not, the same group which figures in
the oil painting by which this artist
is represented in the Corcoran Biennial
Exhibition, than which, however, it is
more spontaneous in rendering.
"Taylor’s Bed Room” reminds of the
very excellent interiors which Mr.
Jamieson did in some of the well
known Washington homes before he
entered the Government service. Not
only is this exhibition a credit to the
artist, but to the Little Gallery in
which it is shown. It will continue
until the end of the second week in
May, and is open on Sunday afternoons
from 3 to 5, as well as on week days.
Howard Giles’ Modernism
Based on Tradition and
Universal Truth.
J-JOWARD GILES’ water oolors, now
on view in the Gallery of Modem
Masters, 1367 Connecticut avenue,
provide material for thought as well as
enjoyment. Presumably, they are ex
tremely modem, certainly they con
form to the most advanced modern
thought, but they are utterly unlike the
majority of so-called modem expres
sion. At a first glance they would
seem to be ultra-conservative, so ac
curate is their statement, so finished
their style. But if one studies them
carefully one will find in their sim
plicity great knowledge which aims at
the interpretation of universal truth.
In these paintings there are but few
planes, the treatment is broad and
flat, and there is no evidence of per
sonality. No brush strokes are to be
seen, there is neither effect of haste
nor spontaneity. And yet the artist
creates an atmosphere, and one be
longing to the theme. He renders
light In very subtle and varying gra
dations; he transmits to the observer
the feeling of the place and the hour.
To achieve this end he employs the
utmost economy of means and the
greatest technical skill. Building on
tradition, using a world-old principle,
he brings forth something entirely
new.
A series of these water colors is of
lighthouses, many of them now aban
doned—on the coast of Maine. In
these paintings he has contrasted the
starkness of the buildings with the ex
treme subtleties of sea and sky ob
served under special atmospheric con
ditions or prevailing light. He has
also made interesting differentiation of
textures—as between plaster and
brick, sand and stone, water and sky.
It is Mr. Giles’ painting of skies, so
gentle, so smooth and yet so luminous
and modulated, that fascinates the vis
itor and is found unforgetable. He
also paints, it seems, and with no less
ability, Winter landscapes, such as
’’Mrs. Beauregard's Barns” and “Mr.
Bums’ Place,” observed in the vicinity
of his own home near South Wood
stock, Vt. The buildings in these
paintings are rendered with absolute
accuracy, flatness and simplicity, but
the rendering of the snow is extremely
subtle.
"Overcast Maine” is a charming
subject rendered with greater free
dom, as is also “Five Islands, Maine”—
a long stride from John Marin’s paint
ings of similar subjects, but strangely
akin In feeling, when Martn Is at his
best. There is a very lovely "Moon
light,” the moon surrounded by a
lunar ring and its ligh* gently diffused
over a slumbering landscape; and
there is an extremely handsome Ari
zona picture entitled “Strange Coun
try,” which epitomizes the strangeness
and magnificence of this creation of
Nature beyond man’s wildest dream—
and brings to the beholder in one
breath fact and fantasy.
Of Howard Giles it is said that few
have shown greater ability to discrim
inate between essentials and non-es
sentials in creating a work of art, and
that in capturing Nature's varying
moods in the spirit of design, he has
lifted them into a realm of artistic
significance rarely achieved. Some
persons, in spite of this, may find his
w’ork a bit monotonous and spiritless,
which may come from a too close fol
lowing of law, even that which is uni
versal; but monotony is not an alto
gether bad quality, and if one will
take time to gain acquaintance these
paintings will be found not without
spirit, but to possess reticent charm.
One does not weary of them. The
way in which they are painted is Mr.
Giles’ way, and is both competent
and, to the majority, appealing.
Out-of-Toion Artists Exhibit
Paintings and Woodcuts
At the Arts Club.
'J'WO exhibitions opened at the Arts
Club on April 25 to continue to
May 14, both of works by out-of-town
artists, Mildred B. Miller of Burlington,
N. J., and Dorothy McEntee of New
York City. Miss Miller shows oil paint
ings and water colors; Miss McEntee
woodcuts in black and white. The for
mer occupy the gallery, whereas the
latter may be seen on the walls of the
reception room.
miss Miner was at one time an in
structor In the Chester Springs Sum
mer School of the Pennsylvania Acad
emy of the Fine Arts, and of late has
conducted Summer painting classes at
Cape May, on the New Jersey coast.
It was there that the majority of the
paintings now on exhibition were
painted. In 1914 and 1915 she had a
traveling scholarship in Europe; in
1920 and 1931 she won the Mary Smith
prize in the Pennsylvania Academy’s
annual exhibition. This year she was
the recipient of a silver medal from
the Plastic Club of Philadelphia. With
such excellent indorsement, an ex
planation for the disappointing show
ing that she makes here at this time
Is far to seek. Her compositions are
simple and broadly handled, but with
out spirit or force; unfinished works
without the spontaneity of quick
sketches. The canvas which of all
those exhibited comes nearest to
achievement is that of larkspur seen
(growing) in the immediate foreground
against a landscape setting. In this
the treatment is original and the effect
fresh and impressive, but even in this
instance there is a feeling that the
theme has been unduly enlarged.
Prints by Dorothy McEntee
Make Excellent Showing.
A/JISS McENTEE Is a teacher in the
New York City High School of
Vocational Training in the Arts, a
graduate of Pratt Institute, Brooklyn,
and a former pupil of Miss Miller’s at
the Chester Spring School. She shows
herself to be an adept in her chosen
medium—the woodcut—in which she
essays elaborate compositions with ap
parent ease and very evident success.
The woodcut is the direct descendetit
of one of the oldest of the graphic arts,
and through modern adaptation, has
of late come into exceptional favor.
The line is in relief rather than sunken
or intaglio as in etching or line en
graving on metal. The block used is
of such wood as pear, apple, holly,
beach or sycamore, cut with the grain
and planed smooth. The drawing is
made on the block and the cutting is
done with knife or carver—the part
which is not to print being cut away
and that which is to take the ink left
standing. In what is known as "white
line” work the artist "thinks” in terms
of such, cut with a graver, on a block
of hard wood, across the grain. Artists
differ in distinction between woodcuts
and wood engravings, some claiming
that the black-line cut is a woodcut
and the white-line an engraving;
others make distinction according to
the tool used—works cut with a knife
being “cuts” and those with a graver
"engravings,” but the actual shade of
difference is at times very slight. Also
at times linoleum and other substances
are used as a base instead of wood.
After all, however, it is with result
chiefly that we concern ourselves. And
Miss McEntee's results are excellent.
For those who wish to go more fully
into process two books are recommend
ed, “Wood Engraving and Wood Cuts,"
by Claire Leighton, and "A Woodcut
Manual,” by J. J. Lankes, both of
which authors are accomplished crafts
men in this medium.
Woodcuts have come into special
favor because they so well accord with
the printed page and also on account
of their pronounced brevity of expres
sion—they tell their story with force
and at a single blow, for which reason,
as a rule, the simpler they are the
better. But it is remarkable how well
Miss McEntee has employed this far
from pliant medium to set forth elab
orate compositions without confusion
or loss of effect. "MacGregor’s Gar
den” is an excellent instance, but
there are numerous others wherein
figures, buildings and landscape fea
tures are combined effectively. One
of Miss McEntee’s woodcuts was se
lected by Miss Leighton as an illus
tration for her book on this subject.
s
The Corcoran School Will
Exhibit Works by Children
Of Kentucky Mountains.
A GROUP of drawings in charcoal
and colored chalks made by high
school pupils In Breathitt County, Ky„
HERNANDEZ PRINTS
Sculptor, in Different Medium, Able to
Produce Interesting Work—Studio
House Exhibit.
"Giraffes," a linoleum cut by Mateo Hernandez, on exhibi
tion at the Studio House. —Photo by Gray.
Bulletin of Exhibitions
CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART—Fifteenth biennial exhibition of
contemporary American oil paintings.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, United States National Museum
Permanent collections—Evans, Gellatly, Ralph Crow, Johnson,
Harriet Lane Johnson and Herbert Ward African sculptures. Stained
glass windows by John La Farge and William Willet, paintings and
etchings by Thomas Moran. Annual exhibition Association of Federal
Architects, foyer of National Museum.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DIVISION OF GRAPHIC ARTS—
Exhibition of etchings by various W'ell known American etchers.
NATIONAL MUSEUM. ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BUILDING—
Exhibition of pictorial photographs by members of the Washington
Photographic Society.
FREER GALLERY OF ART—Permanent collection, paintings, drawings
and etchings by Whistler. The peacock room, Oriental paintings,
bronzes, pottery, miniatures, etc.
PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY—Permanent collection, paintings by
old and modern masters; also works in sculpture. Exhibition of
drawings by Pierre Bonnard.
STUDIO HOUSE—Exhibition of prints and drawings by Mateo Hernan
dez. Paintings by artists of Washington and Baltimore.
TEXTILE MUSEUM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA—Permanent
collection, rugs, tapestries and other textiles of the Near and Far
East. Open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 2 to 5 p.m. Admis
sion by card, obtainable at office of George Hewitt Myers, 730
Fifteenth street.
ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON—Exhibition of water colors by Mildred
B. Miller and woodcuts by Dorothy McEntee.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, DIVISION OF FINE ARTS—Exhibition of
etchings and other prints by contemporary printmakers; Pennell
lithographs; drawings by American illustrators. Special exhibition
of illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BUILDING—Exhibition of works by pupils
of Eugen Weisz.
WOMEN'S CITY CLUB—Paintings by Hattie E. Burdette.
DUMBARTON HOUSE—Historical art exhibit, furniture, articles of
utility and pictures.
INTIMATE BOOKSHOP, LITTLE GALLERY—Exhibition of water
colors by Mitchell Jamieson of Virgin Islands.
GALLERY OF MODERN MASTERS, 1367 Connecticut avenue—Water
colors of New England and the West by Howard Giles.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY GALLERY OF ART—Exhibition of children’s
work, New York and Washington P. W. A.
will be informally exhibited in the ]
Corcoran School of Art this coming
week. These were shown at the Arts
Club about a fortnight ago under the
auspices of the club's Educational
Committee and excited so much in
terest that the showing in the Cor
coran School was immediately ar
ranged, through the courtesy of the
principal, Mr. Lahey, who was most
cordial in praise. Breathitt is a
mountainous section of Kentucky,
where feuds and “moonshine” have
been for generations the order of the
day. The mountain inhabitants, of
good Anglo-Saxon stock, have been,
up to the present time, almost com
pletely isolated. Until three years
ago, when a group of paintings by
Washington artists was sent to Jack
son, the county seat, for display, these
people had never seen an original
work of art. Since then Breathitt
has been chosen as a demonstration
center for certain educational work
which is being carried on under the
joint auspices of the Southern Wom
en’s Educational Alliance, the Univer
sity of Kentucky and one of the great
foundations. Under this new regime
the curriculum of the public schools
has been revised and a course of art
teaching instituted under a teacher
who has, as the son of a local phy
sician, grown up in that vicinity and
is by training peculiarly well fitted
for the position, David Donoho by
name.
Mr. Donoho's pupils, ranging from
11 to 17 years of age, had at least
nothing to unlearn, no preconceived
prejudices or ideals; they had seen
no works by the “old masters,” but
also, impossible as it may seem, no
comic strips or cheap colored pictures.
Wisely, he spent the first two months
teaching observation, opening the
eyes of his pupils to that beauty
which lay at their doors. Then he
encouraged graphic expression, not
as something foreign to life, but as
a common language, inducing the
young people to record, without self
consciousness. things seen.
The results are astounding. In a
few pregnant lines these boys and girls
of the mountains have revealed con
sciousness of form and sensitiveness
to beauty in effect. Their works are
crude, of course, but very sincere and
significant. It is this kind of primi
tive simplicity that the modernists
have striven for but. because of sophis
tication, have not been able to capture.
In this case there is no pretense—and
the reaction to beauty in nature is as
natural as the breath they breathe.
They have been in a measure stimu
lated by difficulties—lack of materials,
etc. But they are resourceful—when
charcoal gave out they made their
own; when they wanted clay for mod
eling they got It from their own creek
beds; when pottery had to be fired
the cook stove was pressed into service.
This is an experiment worth trying
and happily its conduct has been in
trusted to a wise and well trained
enthusiast, whose feet, however, are
planted on firm ground. Those con
cerned In art education cannot fail
to find this exhibition of great Interest.
Prizes Awarded Local Artists
In Exhibition Sponsored
By Club Women.
'J'HE exhibition of works by local
artists, held in the foyer of the
National Museum, under the auspices
of the Art Committee of the District
of Columbia Women's Clubs, in co
operation with the various local art
organizations, came to a close this
week after scoring real success from
the standpoint of attendance and
interest.
Numerous prize awards were made
and ceremoniously delivered to re
cipients as follows; Silver cup, do
nated by the Herald, to Kathleen
Wheeler for her equestrian statue in
colored pottery entitled "The Royal
Drummer.” First prize, $50, to Cath
erine C. Critcher, for an oil painting
"Mr. Burns’ Place,” a water color by Howard Giles, on exhibition at the Gallery 0/ Modern
Masters.
of an Indian In white; second prize, |
$40, to Eleanore Parke Custis for a
painting tn gouache entitled “Street
in Cairo”; third prize, $35, to Robert
Motley for a landscape painting en
titled "Creek Farm”; fourth prize, $10,
to Basil D. Martin of the Free Lance
group, for a painting entitled “Cow
Point”; fifth prize, $10, to Marion
Lane for her illumination of “The
Lord’s Prayer”; sixth prize, $10, to
F. W. Westman for an etching, and
seventh prize, $5, to Leona Smith for
miniature.
Prints by Various Etchers
Now on View at Smithsonian.
'y'HE Detwiller print exhibition in the
Smithsonian Building closed the
first of this w'eek and was replaced by
a miscellaneous group selected from
—————-—
the collection presented to the national
art collection last year by the Chicago
Society of Etchers, not all of which
have been previously shown. A mixed
group of this sort gives excellent oppor
tunity to compare methods and styles
of the various etchers represented. The
exhibition of etchings and other prints
by Peggy Bacon, announced for this
month, has been unavoidably post
poned.
Local Committee of Museum of
Modern Art Formed With Mrs.
Dwight Davis, Chairman.
rpHE Museum of Modern Art, in New
York, which in recent years has
sponsored exhibitions of the most ex
treme expression in this field, such, for
instance, as that of ‘‘Sur-realism and
'Fantastic Art,” last Autumn, now being
circulated to museums throughout the
country, is extending its membership
and interest beyond metropolitan lim
its. A Washington committee has
lately been formed, or, more properly,
re-formed, as such was got together a
couple of years ago to sponsor a single
exhibition, and Mrs. Dwight Davis
has been appointed t.iairman. Ac
cording to announcement. Mrs. Davis
and Mrs. George Garrett, in co-opera
tion with this committee, propose to
open a branch gallery of modem art
in this city next Autumn. Presumably
in this interest, Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
Garrett have issued invitations to local
art patrons and others to meet Mr. A.
Conger Goodyear, president of the
Museum of Modern Art, New York, at
the former's home next Monday after
1 noon at 5 o’clock.
RECORD DEMAND FOR JOBS
(Continued From Page B-l.)
dog of the merit system, and increase
the salaries of key posts throughout
the service so that the Government
may attract and hold in a career
service men and women of ability
and character."
This was the third point in a five
point program. So far Congress has
not acted upon the President’s recom
mendations. The proposed program
is now being considered by a special
congressional committee and is sched
uled for a report before the close of
this session, from present indications.
Provided this third point becomes
law, the merit system would be ex
tended "upward" to include all per
manent positions in the Government
service except a very small number
of a high-executive and policy-forming j
character; "outward” to include per
manent or continuing positions not
now under civil service, whether
located in new or emergency agencies
or in the older departments, and
"downward" to include skilled work
men and laborers in the regular Gov
ernment service.
In their report to the President the
Committee on Administrative Manage
ment pointed out that such extension
would require the reorganization of
the Civil Service Commission as a
central personnel agency. "The Civil
Service Commission,” it stated, “was
established over 50 years ago to meet
conditions quite different from those
of today. The number of Government
employes was small and personnel
requirements were relatively simple.
Set up as an agency to protect
tne Federal executive establishment
against the evils of political patronage,
it has made many notable advances.
The Civil Service Commission and its
staff have devoted themselves assidu
ously to the public business and have
endeavored conscientiously to observe
the statutes and orders that have been
laid down for their guidance. The
commission has achieved its greatest
success in the administration of open
competitive examinations in the lower
grades of the service. It has pioneered
in personnel research and efficiency
rating. Its new series of general-pur
pose examinations for recent college
graduates to fill positions at the
bottom of the career ladder was a
marked step forward and has resulted
in Improved recruitment for positions
requiring general ability and capacity
for development.
"Nevertheless, the existing civil
service system is poorly adapted to
meet the larger responsibility of serv
ing as a central personnel agency for
a vast and complicated governmental
administration in which there are
over 800,000 civilian employes.”
pOR this reason the committee sug
gested the reorganization of the
commission into a civil service ad
ministration, with a single executive
officer, to be known as the civil service
administrator, and a non-salaried
board of seven members appointed by
the President. The administrator, de
clared the committee, should be se
lected on a competitive, non-partisan
basis by a special examining board
designated by the Civil Service Board
and should be appointed by the Presi
dent, “with the advice and consent of
the Senate,” from the three highest
candidates passing the examination
conducted to fill the post.
Under the present system there are
three civil service commissioners. They
are Harry B. Mitchell, the president, a
Democrat from Montana; Mrs. Lucille
Foster McMillin, widow of the late
Governor of Tennessee, who was also
Minister to Peru and Chile during his
“Zebra, Camel, Oryx and Impaela,’’ a sepia panel on wood, by Mateo Hernandez, on exhibi- \
tion at the Studio House. —Photo by Gray.
career, and Dr. Leonard D. White,
formerly of the University of Chicago,
and a Republican. Mrs. McMtllin Is
a Democrat. The law provides that
not more than two members shall be
of the same political party.
Mr. Mitchell was appointed in 1933,
Mrs. McMillin was appointed in 1933
and Dr. White w as appointed in 1934.
Lawson A. Moyer, chief examiner, was
appointed in 1933.
There are at the present time 831,
095 civilian employes, classified and
unclassified, in the service of the
United States. Of this number 668,
557 are men and 162,518 are women:
115.964 are employed in the District
of Columbia, and of this number 69.
551 are men and 46,413 are women.
Never at any period of our history,
not even in war times, has Uncle Sam
been responsible for such an extensive
pay roll. Should Congress pass favor
ably upon the President's recom
mendations for reorganization, and
should the present 26 temporary or
emergency agencies be made a per
manent part of the Government, there
will still be a record list of workers
in and outside of Washington. Unless
you should prove ineligible in the
non-competitive tests that will be
given every unclassified worker under
the new order, there is every likelihood
that you can continue to draw your
pay-check from Uncle Sam.
TF YOU are outside the Government
service, however, hoping to get in,
the prospects are certainly not encour
aging for your joining this vast throng
of workers. Never in the history of the
Government have so many applicants
taken civil service examinations. In
the last fiscal year 920.970 applicants
for examinations were filed and of this
number 780.885 actually took the tests.
Of those who took the tests about 55
per cent failed to pass. A fair average,
we are informed, is about 50-50.
In addition to this, so great are
the numbers applying that it is possible
to select from a wider range of hish
averages, which again reduces the
chances of the average applicant.
And, if this be not sufficient to show
you it is really difficult these days to
obtain Government appointments,
there is the additional fact that State
quotas must be taken into considera
tion. On the last day of June, 1936,
the report shows the following situa
tion with regard to the various States:
Massachusetts, quota filled: Minnesota,
Washington, Nebraska, Vermont. Iowa,
Virginia, Maryland, District of Co
lumbia, in excess of quota.
The States with the lowest quotas at
present—hence offering most chances
of appointment—are New York, Penn
sylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Cali
fornia, Michigan, New Jersey, and all
other States and territories except
Massachusetts and those listed above
as in excess of their quota.
The preponderance of civil employes
in the District of Columbia was due to
war conditions, Commissioner Mitchell
explains. At the close of the war thou
sands engaged in work in the Capital
departed for their homes. The quotas
had been filled on a war basis and as
Washingtonians remained after the
war the balance was never struck, but
has continued disproportionate ever
since. Entitled to 151 appointments,
the District of Columbia showed 9,200
on June 30 of last year.
CHILD HEALTH DAY
(Continued From Page B-l.l
i
through maternity and infancy activi- ;
ties more than 4,000,000 pre-school
children were given a better chance
for health and at least 688.000 pros
pective mothers were reached.
Efforts to renew the Sheppard
Towner act after 1929 failed. Depres
sion aggravated the desperate need
for care of mothers and children. The
bureau intensified its work, studying
increase of child labor and under
nourishment among the 8,000,000
minors in relief families and advising
mothers how to make the most of
inadequate food budgets.
The epochal story of the Children’s
Bureau would fill weighty volumes,
yet review of the highlights in the
revolution in child treatment since
its creation yields some idea of its
immeasurable service.
The number of infants who die dur- I
ing their first year has been nearly
halved since 1912.
Babies of 1937 are born to parents
much better prepared to care for
them. Mothers understand the im
portance of medical attention and the
value of milk, fruit and vegetables, i
Most of us remember the typical
infant of two decades ago. Pale, fre
quently bow-legged, he lay swathed
mummy-like in his crib. What a
contrast is the 1937 baby—the gurg
mig iii/tic icuuw wnwe si/uruy, uare
limbs match a lifeguard's in hue!
It was the Children’s Bureau which
demonstrated that rickets causing
“soft bones’’ and deformities could
be prevented, and often cured, by
use of sunlight and cod liver oil, and
popularized these simple measures.
In the past 25 years child labor
has been cut more than half by State
regulation, although industrial ex
ploitation of minors continues un
abated in some districts.
Nearly 300,000 children who would
have been in cheerless orphanages
under 1912 conditions, are leading
normal lives at home today. Twenty
five years ago only two States pro
vided aid to preserve children’s homes
when the breadwinner's support failed.
Almost all States now give financial
help to keep dependent children with
their relatives.
■JV/fANY communities in 1912 tried
and punished child offenders just
as they did hardened criminals. In
1937, 48 States have juvenile court
laws. Young wrongdoers are treated
with cure, not punishment, the objec
tive. Probation officers study and guide
them, making every effort to treat
causes of misconduct and to train
their charges to become useful citizens.
Children’s Bureau research prepared
for the most important national child
welfare legislation ever enacted, that
included in the social security act.
Under it the Government annually al
lots funds to the States for maternal
and child health work, care of crip
pled children and child welfare serv
ices. States are responsible for their
programs after the Children's Bureau
has approved them. Hawaii. Alaska,
the District of Columbia and all States
now have plans for maternal and
child health work. Programs for crip
pled children number 45 and 43 child
welfare measures have been accepted.
All maternal and child health
projects aim at educating parents,
children, doctors and nurses, protect
ing health of mothers and children
and providing expert medical supervi
sion.
Child welfare services include in
vestigation of adoptions, inspection of
children's institutions, co-operation
with child guidance agencies and de
velopment of community recreation for
preventing delinquency.
The crippled children's program, the
first for such Federal-State co-opera
tion. is. indeed, a milestone in social
progress. It aids States in locating
crippled children, supplying diagnosis,
medical, surgical and corrective serv
ices. hospitalization, after care and
vocational training.
Hundreds of letters poured into the
White House and Children's Bureau
after the provision for crippled chil
dren was announced. The following
plea is typical: “I am writing concern
ing my two little girls hit with infan
tile paralysis—I hear so much of
Warm Springs, please give me in
formation about getting them in.—I
would do anything to get them in,
would give all of my services free of
charge.—It makes you feel so helpless
to have two children as I have so help
less. It seems as there ought to be
something else that we could be do
ing.”
Twelve-year-old Jean seeks Mrs.
Roosevelt's assistance promising "to
pray every night for God to bless you."
She continues, "I wanted to write this
for a year, but was afraid you would
be angry, but my big sister told me
how wonderful you are. Here is my
address, and please don't forget it or
lose it.” Handling such correspond
ence and helping writers contact the
proper State agency is one of the
Children's Bureau's many services.
Large Celadon and Bronze Vases for
porch or garden; also hand-painted
Japanese lanterns.
ASIAN ARTS
1143 Conn. Avc. Na. 4535
Abbott Art School
SPRING AND
SUMMER CLASSES
Commercial Art — Fashion — Life —
Costume Designs—Fine Arts—
Interior Dec. — Etching — Block Print
1143 Conn. Ave. NA. 8054