Arkansans

Recently Senator Joe T. Robinson felled with a fist-blow, on the Chevy Chase golf course in Washington, a fellow-golfer whose behavior displeased him. Mr. Robinson was suspended from the club (TIME, July 7) and later his suspension was made permanent.

Senator Robinson is a downright man. He is quite the Sir Anthony Absolute of the Senate--downright almost to the point of being domineering. Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway, Mr. Robinson's colleage from Arkansas, is quite a different type. His movements are slow, his manner is mild, his eyes twinkle, his wit is wicked, but he prefers to express it with a drawl rather than with a growl. And last week Senator Caraway got into a fracas. He was motoring through New York State, according to his account. His son was at the wheel. Another car, driven by a man named Clarke, bumped into the Caraway car. Mr. Clarke declared that Caraway Jr. was at fault, demanded $10 to pay for a bent fender. The Caraways declined the payment and drove on. Clarke followed. When the Caraways stopped in a small town Clarke got out, stood squarely in front of their car, refused to move.

"I jumped out of the rear seat," drawled the rotund Senator, recounting the incident in his leisurely fashion, "and then I bumped into him. It's too bad there wasn't a motion-picture camera around. It would have furnished some good low comedy. He evidently didn't think I would drive into him. He turned around, sat down on the bumper, rather sprawled out and I carried him half way across the street. Then he jumped up and turned off the ignition.

"I opened a jackknife, intending to use it on his fingers if he tried to do it again."

The next thing he did was to jump on the running board. I took him by the neck with one hand and slapped him as hard as I could with the other. By that time a policeman came."

All went to the office of a magistrate, who sent them away without fines or imprisonment.

"I hope a wrong impression of Arkansas won't get abroad," Mr. Caraway lamented, with the usual twinkle in his eye. "Honestly, we are a mild people. These things just happened to happen."