The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-15
PRESIDENTS AT PLAY.
Outdoor Sports in Which Thew
Have Found Recreation.
Some OF the Favorite Pastimes OF the
Great Men Who Have Ruled the
Nation from George Washing
ton to Grover Cleveland.

his summer home on Buzzard's bay
he takes few short fishing trips, but
beyond that he INDUCES in no sports.
1t is when he is living in Washington
that he goes on his more important
shooting or fishing expeditions. He
usually does his cunning on the shores
of the Potomac river and Chesapeake
bay. He likes duck shooting. His
trips sometimes last a week, and dur
ing part of that time he may be mac
cessible by mail or telegraph.
His hunting ground is substantially
the same that Benjamin Harrison
used, and constitutes what may be
termed the great presidential game
preserve. 1t lies south of Washington,
and takes i'll the Potomac river and
Chesapeake hay to the sea. The game
includes wild duck among which are
canvas backH), quail, pheasants and
snipe, and occasionally wild turkeys.
If president is true fisherman and
will fish only with the rod and reel he
may go upon the outskirts of the pres
idential preserve and find streams
where trout are tolerably numerous.
From the beginning of the govern
ment, says the New York Sun, presi-
dents have used these grounds for
! their exploits with rod and gun. Gen.
Washington, living at Mount Vernon,
knew every inch of the land for miles
up and down the river. In his younger
days he was thorough sportsman, but
after he became president there is no
record of his shooting or fishing.
President Harrison's first experience
in the preserve was when he distin-
guished himself by shooting negro's
pig under the impression that he was
firing at a raccoon. He offered to pay
for the animal, but the owner consid-
cred that the accident was a compli-
ment to him aud declined to accept
remuneration. President Harrison aft
erward proved that he was good
shot. He could undergo unusual
fatigue and hardship, and even shot
ducks from sink box, which, as every
sportsman knows, is very uncomfort-
able thing to do. He never rode horse
back, and for field sports he had no
taste whatever,
When President Cleveland goes to
the seashore he does not indulge in
swimming, although some of his prede-
i cessors have been very tolerable swim
mers. John Quincy Adams, next to
Benjamin Franklin, was the greatest
of swimmers among public men. In
winter, when he was president, he
used to take long, solitary walks up
Pennsylvania avenue and around by
the capitol every morning before day
light, returning to the white house
| just as the day was dawning. In sum-
mer his walk was in the opposite di-
rection. Going up above Georgetown
he would there undress and plunge
into the Potomac for swim.
A president when he INDUCES in
recreation must take it quickly, for he
is seldom SO situated that he can have
a prolonged vacation. President Ar
thur was about the last president who
took complete vacation. One summer
he and Gen. Phil Sheridan went out to
the Yellowstone region. They camped
out, hunted and fished. and were often
ahundred miles from civilization. This
was his only prolonged vacation. He
was, however, very fond of taking short
fishing trips. He handled his rod well
and loved angling for bass and trout.
Among fishing presidents he ranks
first. When he was on one of his official
Louisville presented him with beauti-
full rod with German silver reel, on
which were engraved Izaak Walton's
famous words about his love for all
good fishermen as gentle, kindly race
of men. 1t is doubtful whether he ever
received gift that pleased him more
than this.
His predecessor, Garfield, could shoot
tclerably, but never fished. Gen. Gar.
| field was boy In his love of other
sports. For some years the old nation
al baseball club boosted of him as one
| of its honorary members. He was
constant attendant at the games and
knew the players personally, and he
used to play himself sometimes when
he was on the farm at Mentor. He
was billiard player also, and when he
came into the white house the billiard
room in the basement, which had
fallen into neglect and had not been
used for several administrations, wa.
renovated and new table was put in.
All the earlier presidents were horse
back riders Horseback riding afforded
an easier way of travelling than stage
coach, for the roads were almost uni
versally bad and the coaches were
built without much regard to the pas
sengers' comfort. Washington was I'M
doubtedly the best rider among the
presidents, and he enjoyed the exer-
else greatly. He had little time to in
dulge the taste after he became general
of the army and was too old for hard
riding after he had retired from the
presidency, but before that he was one
of the most enthusiastic fox hunters in
fox-hunting country. His diary re-
lates how he cut fox paths through the
woods at Mount Vernon, how he
''catched" three foxes in one day, and
how much interest he took in his pack
of hounds. Some of these were i'm
ported.
The gentle Madison, on the other
hand, was no sportsman. His ways
were those of the student, and he lived
tho Sirnrlo 1ifa of a coi,ptryy ,ropf1oDoor