Capitol Page School - Congressional Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 60 text:

HOUSE PAGES - ' ' kg , . . . . .. , . ., Lm,,, . 1 - Lkk, .- g .- - ' . , : Q .-if em ' ' r '- V - A g I A ' P - - . , ,. M .f .- uf- - ' Are you one of the forty-niners? lf so, then you are one of the Pages of the House of Representatives. Our duties, much like those of the Senate Pages, are varied in that we run H. O. B.s and floor calls, file records, call members from the floor for visitors and friends or to the telephone. Each Page must be appointed by a Member of Congress, and he is assigned a job by the Doorkeeper of the House. Beside each chair on the House floor is a button, which when pressed, connects with a number on the board by the Page bench. The overseer immediately calls out the number and the Page sitting next to him runs to this assigned chair to ask if he may be of service, which will probably amount to getting a bill from the desk in the front of the chamber, running an errand to an office, or obtaining a Congressional Record of a past date. -.56-. . The telephone Pages place and receive calls for Congressmen. Through the Pages the of- ficers keep in touch with their various mem- bers. The Pages stationed on the doors of the House floor get members for friends and con- stituents. There are also Pages who are liasons between members of the press and Congress- men whom are asked for statements concern- ing some important event which happened or will happen concerning domestic or foreign affairs. The House Pages have in some respects more responsibility than the Senate Pages due to the fact that we serve a greater number of members, committees and constituents. We Pages are very fortunate in that we are witnessing history in the making and the pos- sible destiny of the world unfolds before us during our stay on Capitol Hill. J. R. F.

Page 59 text:

THE SENATE PAGES January 6, 1948, was a red-letter day for the Senate Pages, for, after more than a century, we graduated from the old knee length knickers into he-man long trousers. Feelings were mixed over the change because many of us wished to stick to the old system. The trousers would wrinkle too easily and time and money for pressing and cleaning would be needlessly consumed. In spite of the objec- tions, the Majority Policy Committee and the Secretary of the 'Senate ruled that long trous- ers were the order of the day, and, in spite of the jokes and insinuations which were to be expected, the new uniform has lived through. The general feeling is that they are here to stay. The chief reason for the change was the shortage of stockings and material for'the knickers. This, plus the time needed to change into the regalia, influenced the minds of the statesmen who instituted it. The Senate Page's work starts when he leaves school and does not end until some time after the session. As a rule his day is over at four-thirty, provided the Senate has recessed, but he stays late at night if his services are required. Filibusters and lengthy orations are not always appreciated by the Senate Pages. Early in the morning, on session days, the pages clear off the bills of the day before and put on the desks the records, bills, and calen- dars of business for that day. One of the boys of the majority side is assigned to prepare the desk of the President, and others have duties such as seeing that the racks are full of sta- tionery, the snuff boxes full of snuff, the ink and sand filled, and that the teletype ma- chines are in order. There is one chore boy in each cloakroom, and it is his duty to an- swer all ofthe many calls which come in each day, and to see that the other pages are doing their jobs correctly. Thesejobs are based on seniority and ability, one of the primary posi- tions being that of the phone boy. The Senate Pages are a long and standing tradition on The HiIl , and, unlike the snuff boxes and the sand, for which tradition is the only rope still binding them to the Senate, the pages still serve a useful and practical pur- pose. T. D. M.

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THE SUPREME COURT AND. ITS PAGES Today, of all the eighty pages on Capitol Hill, only four continue to wear the black knicker suitsf-the pages of the Supreme Court. The day of the Court Pages is somewhat dissimiliar from that of the Capitol pages. Our duties begin, after leaving school at ten o'clock, by signing in at the Marshal's Of- fice. Then we change into our traditional uni- forms after which we begin to carry out the duties assigned to us in the order of our senior- ity such as setting the Bench, the Bar, watch4 ing the conference room, or that of the Mar- shaI's. The buzzer sounds at five minutes before twelve sending us four hastening to the Bench, where at twelve o'clock Court convenes with the delivery of the famous Court Cry by the Crier, Mr. Lippitt, who is also the boss of the pages. Court sits from twelve to four-thirty o'clock except between two and two-thirty, which is the lunch period. When the session ends each day we hurry to the page room , where we take .off the monkey suits , and go home or sometimes play ping-pong. The Supreme Court sessions alternate between sit- ting for two weeks listening to cases and re- cessing for the following two weeks. We pages of the Court have an almost un- equaled opportunity to acquire knowledge at work. This has been confirmd by the fact that the Marshall, the Clerk, and other Court of- ficials have been pages. Besides the four pages assigned to the Bench, there are two boys who do messenger and clerical work in the library. Court pages are fortunate in having a new and very beautiful building in which to work. The Supreme Court building was completed in l935. The court-room is very impressive with its 500 pound drapes and huge marble col- umns. The building as a whole is one of Amer- ica's masterpieces in architecture. These and other conditions make paging at the Supreme Court a real pleasure. l, for one, feel proud and honored to have been appointed a Su- preme Court Page. L. J. W. .-57.-