The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-23

ingston has since sprung up in Southern
Montana. From there they struck into
the heart of the Yellowstone park.
and they slept no longer in houses
or sleeping cars until in about a month
they returned to civilization. They hunted
and fished and tramped and rode aud lived
in the open air or in tents. 1t was such a
relaxation as few Presidents have ever per-
mitted themselves to enjoy. The chief
magistrate took his hands off the helm OF
the ship OF state and grasped fishing rod
and breechloading shotgun instead. but the
ship drifted along very comfortably in the
meantime. and the pilot came back with re-
newed health and spirits. 1t was after this
trip that Mr.. Arthur, in passing through
Louisville, wss the recipient from local
fishing club Of a beautiful rod, with Ger
man silver reel, on which was engrev red Mr..
Izaak Walton's famous saying that he loved
all fishermen because they were Of a peace
full and kind disposition.
To go back to the early Presidents, we
find them not given to sports, as general
I thing. Thomas Jefferson was too busy I'M
til he became TOO old. In his young days,
OF course, he hunted, for to this day there
is very good shooting at Monticello, and be
was a good horseback rider up to the end,
but there is no record of his having been
anything Of a fisherman, nor, for that mat
ter, was there very good faculty for
fishing in his near neighborhood. As for
his neighbOr, Madison, his philosophical
disposition would have prompted him to
hsh, but the only place available for the
purpose would have been the Rspidau river,
which, judging from its condition now,
was never anything but an inferior fishing
ground. To be sure, he might have struck
west of Montpelier and found fine trout In
the Blue Ridge mountains. but it would
have involved q ride of twenty miles
through the forest, and during his eight
VaaT9 of a dantfal life ia praFarraI 70
to pass the brief vacations he had in rest
ing.
Monroe. at Oak Hill, Va, was no sports
man either. He took life calmly. The
Virginia Presidents had only one way of
spending a vacation, and that was quietly at
home on their estates. They never travelled
II they could help 1t. Monroe rode horse
back, of course, but there Is no record of his
following the hounds.
Turning to the New England Presidents
we see there fonduess for the water and in
John Quincy Adams we have the great
swimming President, and, 1t may be added,
the great pedestrian President also Every
| morning at o'clock In winter he used to
| start out from the white house and walk
| up Capitol hill and back again. 1t was a
full hour before daylight lit up the poor
| struggling little town OF Washington,
| and President Adams had his walk in the
dark. But in summer the walks began
SdElAtI huu were taken q QlIIeT6nt QlreC-
ton. Instead Of turning to his right as be
left the white house gate the President
would turn to the left, and, proceeding up
Pennsylvania avenue for a couple of miles
or 80, would come to that part Of the
Potomac where 1t runs swift and COMPARE
lively clear, and there he would plunge in
and swim. 1t was a refreshing way of be-
ginning the lahors of the day, and it may
be believed that he found in this innocent
recreation momentary relief from the in
cesEant cares that beset him during his
| stormy four years OF presidential life
He was noted not only for his fondness
for swimming, but also because he was an
excellent swimmer. In this, however, he
never was the equal Of Benjamin Franklin.
whose feats Of dexterity in the waters Of
the Thames when he was a young man,
used to attract many spectators along the
bank. Franklin was never President of the
United States, but he was president of
Pennsylvania, and the state might have
felt proud of having at its head one of the
rest swimmers in the world. There is moth
ing TO show, however. that the Schuylkill
ever was the scene of such aquatic exploits
as he performed in the Thames He was so
very old, too, when he was president of
Pennsylvau that his swimming days must
have been long past.
Ola number of the Presidents it would be
| impossible TO say whether they loved any
sports or not. They have had no lives, ex-
cept public lives. and their four years of
official life have been years of unremitting
| toll OF course, this remark does not hold
good of Andrew jackson, whose private
and public life have been held up for close
inspection for sixty years or more. There
is no word TO show that he ever fished, and
it is highly improbable that he did so. Fish
| ing is pastime that requires patience, and
if there was one quality In the world that
Andrew jackson did not possess it was the
| quality of patience With shooting it was diff
fereut. That is, killing violently, and jack
son must have found excitement in tt But,
even when he was President, he was great
patron of the turf, and loved above all
things to see good horse race. Rumor had
! 1t that he sometimes ran a horse himself.
1t is pleasant to think of our chief mag
istrates relaxing from their cares and en-
| joying the sports that all healthy men love,
| 1t is only fair to wish them good luck. Fish
are no respectOrs of persons, and it is proba-
bic that it is just as painful to be shot by
| President as it is to fall a victim to the
weapon of the humblest voter, but never
theless we can wish President more fish or
birds than most men get, simply because he
works harder than most men aud gets more
| abuse.