Evening Star Newspaper, March 30, 1930, Page 89

THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 30, s e BY NELL RAY CLARKE. ISS BARKSDALE ROGERS, a young lady with a well developed funny-bone, has been going to the United States Senate gal- leries, listening to all that that august body of men say, watching their manner of saying it, and especially any of their little personal peculiarities, and recording ln clay figurines her humorous impressions. There is Senator Smoot’s crooked blob of a nose, Senator Caraway’s slipped chest, Senator Bingham’s exceedingly long legs, the shiny bald dome of Senator Harris of Georgia, Senator Borah’s long, curly bob; Senator David Reed's characteristic pose when expounding, and Sen- ator Joseph Grundy’s scrubbed rosy face, framed with his white hair. For the most part the figurines are good- humored—Miss Rogers is really a humorist, not a satirist—and so far most of the Senators have been good sports about being laughed at in this delightful fashion by a lady with so much perspicacity. The little figures are made of clay, painted in bright colors and then baked to make them durable. The use of paint has made possible an emphasis on peculiarities of dress. The poses are very lifelike and the coloring makes some of them excellent portraits with an amusing twist, much more revealing of personality than mere photographs. E of the most amusing and delightful of v the exhibits is a group composed of Sen- ator Carter Glass of Virginia, Senator Simmons of North Carolina and Senator Borah, leaders of the coalition, sitting on a bench. Miss Rogers said that one day when she was watch- ing from the gallery these three men sat down together on one of the benches that line the walls of the Senate chamber. They caught her imagination and so she modeled them. The slim Mr. Glass is slouched down on one end of the bench and is evidently doing the talking at the moment. One corner of his turned-down mouth is much lower than the other and parallels his eyelids, which slant downward peculiarly at the corners, making his expression that of cynical good humor. Sen- ator Simmons, always a prim, demure little man who wears inconspicuous clothes, is sitting in his prim fashion, arms folded, and Senator Borah is leaning over, listening. Of course, Senator Borah’s haircut, or rather lack of it, fs emphasized. But Miss Rogers left no doubt as to her @admiration for the brain power of these three men. She explained that “Senator Simmons’ personal appearance very poorly reveals the marvelous ability he has and the respect he commands from his fellow members in the Senate. He is the kind of man for whom they all stand up,” she said, and “when Sen- ator Borah speaks they all come in from their offices to listen.” One of the funniest of the statuettes is that of Senator Brookhart, with a gleeful ex- pression on his face as he reveals to the Sen- ate the revelry of the now mnotorious Wall Street dinner, and he holds in his hand the list from which he threatened to read the mames of the Senators who attended. i Figurines of I ahzous Fighters in the Upper - House of American Congress Provoke 1930. 3 o States Senate P £ a Riot of Applause in National Capital and Stir Risibilities of August Senators. s Miss Barksdale Rogers, Washington sculptress, and a group of her Senate caricatures, which depict some of the prominent members of the Upper House in humorous poses. Just a few inches away from him sits a little figurine of Senator Edge of New Jersey, now American Ambassador to France. Brook- hart had just said, “And I saw Senator Edge.” At that minute Miss Rogers fled to her studio (o put them both in clay. The figurine shows Senator Edge looking serious. He is slumped about as far down in his seat as he can get, his glasses perched far down on the bridge of his nose and his eyes rolling upward as if in a plea for mercy. “All my life I have been seeing the funny side of things. It was born in me,” Miss Rogers explained in answer to a question as to how she began caricature making. “Even when I was a little girl I saw the funny side of many things that were supposed to be treated solemnly, and it sometimes annoyed my mother that I laughed when she thought I shouldn’t have. Therefore, when I began drawing and modeling it was natural that I should make caricatures and cartoons.” Miss Rogers’ cartoons have appeared in numerous newspapers and humorous maga- zines, and the exhibition of statuettes she is now holding in Washington is shortly to be carried to London and Paris for exhibition. In spite of the fact that she has poked fun at the various Senators in her amusing figurines, she thinks that the present Senate is a wonderful body of men, and she spoke particularly of what they thought best to safeguard the rights of the people. “I think they are tremendously interested in their work and are very serious about it. Almost any of them would stand out as su- perior and distinguished in a group of people,” she said. She does not ask the Senators to pose for her. “I go down to the Senate and watch the men while they are talking and then I rush home when an impression is strong and make the figurines. I cannot work over them after my first attempt to express a personality as it appears to me. You see, the statues are really impressions. And, of course, I have emphasized outstanding characteristics and idiosyncrasies. I have never been able to work from photographs. “I am harsh with myself and know when I have done a r piece of work, and I have smashed dozens of these figures when I was not satisfied with them. “Yes, I have made a caricature figure of President Hoover, but after the criticism that flared over a recent caricature of Mr. Hoover I thought I had better not display mine in my exhibition. It is only fairly good—not humor= ous enough. I was too kind to the President.” She sculptured Senator La Follette “orating,” for already this “baby” Senator has made a name for himself as an excellent speaker. The pose is that of a veteran orator, his arms out- stretched and his mouth wide open. But “Young Bob” has a reputation, too, as a nifty dresser, and for all the seriousness with which he is expounding his beliefs about the rights ot the farmer, he is wearing a smart brown suit, one button of which is fastened in the middle; a blue shirt, a brown tie, with his usual gold pin in the collar, and, of all things, black-and- white sport shoes. “It was awfully funny, but he was actually wearing those sport shoes when . I heard him making that,gpeech,” Miss Rogers said, THE sandy-red-haired Senator Wheeler is de- picted leaning against a desk declaiming. “He is always talking about the workingman and looks as if he polished his nails every day,” said Miss Rogers, Senator Cutting sits in a chair laughing at all the fuss he has stirred up on the question of censorship. Around him are at least 13 huge volumes from which he expects to read to the Senate in the proposed secret session some parts of the suppressed books. “Yes, I have made most of the Senators ex- tremely long-legged,” Miss Rogers explained in answer to the question. “But they are nearly all very tall men, although they do not seem 30 tall when you are looking down on them from the gallery, “The blond Senator McNary of the famous farm-relief fight and one of the new leaders of the Republican party is shown with his mouth spread in a wide grin, displaying almost every tooth, because he seems to get along so well with everybody. He is said to have wonderful tact and, as far as I could judge from watching him, is a good little fixer. He is good-looking and seems to take pride in his personal appear- ance, but he is always pulling at his cuffs.” Therefore she shows below the sleeves of his smart dark clothes an exaggerated length of white cuff, his usual high stiff white collar, a white handkerchief tucked showily in his breast pocket and his bright, striped tie prominently displayed. “Senator Copeland is always warning the Senate about its health, and so I caught him talking on the subject—and, of course, I had to put his red carnation in his buttonhole. He wears one all the time, you know.” She also has made his glasses very cl:verly of little black wire, and has emphasized his mop of dark hair and his large, sharp nose, She caught Senator Grundy at the moment when the Senators were “boiling him in oil” previous to seating him. He had ducked his head to laugh when they repeated something particularly outrageous he had said during the hearings before the lobby investigating come mittee. His face is a broad grin, his blue suit and his white hair gleaming. It was the day, too, for him to wear a bow tie. “I wanted very much to do Senator Grundy on the arm of Senator Reed as he was being led down the aisle of the chamber to present his credentials. It was really a very funny picture—his being led to an altar, so to speak. Perhaps I shall try doing it some day,” she declared. Senator Allen of Kansas she has done very recently, since he has been so long-faced and subdued. She emphasises his long, sharp nose, his bald head and his down-turned mouth. When the Senator was first elected a short while ago, he was evidently enthusiastic about his new job and felt that he was well informed and consequently he talked on any and every occasion. For a while he was termed the President’s spokesman. The older Senators evidently got tired of it and decided to ride him, Senator Caraway informed him that “the grasshopper wasn't the only pest that came out of Kansas.” They evidently took the wind out of his sails; at least, he has recently been much quieter. There is one twosome jn the lot of figur- ofaub oltidnana qaie o on'' Beven '";L"“cofl T 2 drraens ‘*.mivo'lq 18dl vioes A1 Tarityet