FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



took the chair and in his very impressive way, which is an 

 extraordinary combination of the conversational and the thought- 

 ful and humorous, intensified by his partial stammer, began 

 something like this: "Dr. Putnam for many years has been 

 handing out books in decent and . . . [pause for a moment] 

 beautiful bindings." And then he went on, but the pause was 

 enough to horrify his hearers, and the burst of relieved laughter 

 that followed the latter words was very hearty. He spoke of 

 Putnam's wonderful work in the library, and especially of his 

 organization and carrying through of the enormous library serv- 

 ice among the troops in France. He showed that five millions 

 of volumes, if I am not mistaken, were circulated among the 

 men, and that the books they chose were on the whole serious, 

 rather than light. 



After Dr. Cotton Smith, Thomas Nelson Page spoke at some 

 length, and then Ambassador Jusserand made a gem of a speech. 

 Jusserand was an extraordinary and charming man. During the 

 luncheon, I told him that I was going to France in the spring 

 after an absence of seven years. His eyes sparkled with pleasure 

 as he said, "It is not as bad as you think, even in the devastated 

 area — reconstruction is going on so rapidly. I heard only yester- 

 day that although in this area four thousand four hundred 

 schools were destroyed, last month three thousand of them were 

 in full operation." 



There was still another assemblage of men that bears mention. 

 I have told of it before — an informal luncheon club, the members 

 of which were all secretaries of national organizations that had 

 headquarters in Washington, One of the last meetings of this 

 organization was held during the early years of the Great War. 

 Lord Aberdeen was the principal guest and told us some stirring 

 things about conditions at that time in England. 



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