The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1894-11-12
PRESIDENTS AT PLAY.
Outdoor Sports in Which The
Have Found Recreation.
Some of the Eavorite Pastimcs OF the
Great Men VIII Have Ruled the
Nation from George Washing
ton to Grover Cleveland.


Nation from George Washing
ton to Grover Cleveland.
When President Cleveland goes to
his summer home on Buzzard's bay
he takes a few short fishing trips, but
beyond hat 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 bal time he may be mac
cessible by mail OIL 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 in the Potomac river and
Chesapeake bay to the sea. The game
includes wild duck (among which are
canvas Backs, quail, ~pheasants and
snipe, and occasionally wild turkeys.
If a president is a true fisherman and
will fish only with the rod and reel he
may 90 upon the outskirts of the pres
idential preserve and find streams
where trout are tolerably numerous.
From the beginning of the govern
ment, say 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 a 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 a Negroes
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 a good
shot. He could undergo unusual
fatigue and hardship, and even shot
ducks from a sink box, which, as every
sportsman knows, is a 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-
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 emu 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 a swim.
A president when he INDUCES in
recreation must take it quickly, for he
a prolonged vacation. President Ar
thur was about the last president who
took a complete vacation. One summer
ne and Gen. Phil Sheridan went out to
h Yellowstone region. They camped
out, hunted and fshed, and were often
a hundred miles from civilization. This
was his only prolonged vacation. He
was, however, very fond of taking short
fishing trips. He handled his rod we'll
and loved angling for bass and trout.
Among fishing presidents he ranks
first. When he vas on One of his official
trips in the south a fishing club at
Louisville presented him with a beauti-
full rod with a German silver reel, on
which were engraved Izaak WaltOn's
famous words about his love for all
good fishermen as a gentle, kindly ace
Of men. 1t is doubtful whether he yer
received a gift that pleased him more
than this.
His predecessor, Garf@ld, could shoot
tO%lerably, but never fished. Gen. Gar
field was a boy in his love Of other
sports. For some years the old nation
al baseball club bOasted Of him as one
OF it's honorary members. He was a
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 a billiard player also, and when he
came into the white house the billiard
room in the basement, which had
fallen into neglect and had o been
used for several administrations, was
renovated and a new table was put in.
All the earlier presidents were horse
back riders. Horseback riding afforded
an easier way of travelling than a 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 un-
doubtedly the best rider among the
presidents, and he enjoyed the exer-
else greatly. He had little time to in
duIge the taste after he became general
Of the army AID was too old for hard
riding after he had retired from the
presidency, but before that he was one
Of the o enthusiastic fox hunters in
a foX-hunting country. His diary re-
lates how he cut fox paths through the