Ambassadors Three

Cyrus E. Woods, slender, gray-suited, American Ambassador to Madrid; Colonel George Harvey, tall, horn-spectacled, with square-topped derby; Alanson B. Houghton, clean-shaven, florid and grave, Ambassador to Berlin, came down the gangplank of the George Washington together, back from Europe with the usual Ambassadorial truisms.

Harvey said that conditions in England were improving; Houghton said that Germany was poor and her people looking for work, and that he didn't think they wanted another war. Mr. Woods said that Spain was very prosperous and had virtually no unemployment. Referring to the political situation, he added illogically: "If Spain should become a republic, of which there is no possibility, I may say that her first president would be King Alfonso, who is that popular with the masses."

Particular interest attached to Mr. Woods' statement that he was going to Japan as American Ambassador. " Spain is a most delightful post, splendid climate, charming people, and all that, but it is not as active as I should like." Mrs. Woods defended bullfights and said she had purchased Spanish antique furniture for her new Japanese residence.

Mr. Woods was general counsel of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, from which occupation he entered public life. He was U. S. Minister to Portugal from 1912 to 1915, Secretary of State of Pennsylvania for the terms of 1915-1923. However, he resigned this latter position in 1921, when President Harding nominated him Ambassador to the Palace of the Escurial.

The general public has not yet been taken into the secret of why three American Ambassadors are returning to confer with the White House. Will they discuss Europe? Or the Far East?