The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-07-12
TAFT SUMNER HOME
RICH IN CONF ORTS
PreSidential Candidate Sc
1ected Ideal Location for
Work in Hot Season.
: RUGGED MOUNTAINS
SURROUND HOTEL
Golf and Country Drives in Beau
tifuI Virginia Highlands Recrea-
ton for Nominee.
By JAMES HAY, j.

k7the dominant party today Surrounded
ieby every convenience and luxury known
FtO modern civilization, he can stand at
ssthe window of his office and rest MI |
Reye on the rugged riches of the untrav
keled mountains. Sought and visited BY !
E1he great men of the country. he can |
ksEet on his horse and reach the silent /
hsolitude o. primeval forests in TWEEN |
2ty-minute ride.
5 In the Homestead Hotel, where are
shis living rooms and mis- offices, and
Gin the surrounding country, he can see !
band experience every phase Of Amer !
kcan life, ranging from ease and comfort |
Fto hard toll and privations.
Ideal Place
81 Hot Springs is an ideal place for him. 4
Here il is always cool. Here are not !
honly the beauties of mountain scenery, 1
Ethe majesty of great falling waters, and
Ethe whisper OF the leaves of the forest. |
8but also the means OF outdoor life, /
kbenedciaI exercise, and amusements of
Eevery kind. Mr.. Taft confines himself |
kto golf and horseback riding. Once ne |
awas lured into a baseball game. but his |
Irregular routine comprises only the golf /
Band the riding.
Situated $500 feet above the sea-IeveI, !
aon the very summit Of the Blue Ridge
smountains. Hot Springs is reached only
BS1y7 one railroad. the Chesapeake and ONO, |
saud the trains of that road get here only |
batter a tedious climb up the steep I
Egrades from COvingtOn- Hot Springs /
BIS in a group of well-knOwn Virginia |
Eresorts, and is nearer 10 Healing Springs |
land Warm Sulphur than to any other.
Visits Fassifern Farm.
= In his rides Mr.. Taft sometimes goes |
1fo Fassifern farm, which is eight miles l
sfrom here, and which is a regular old
Virginia home. There the tourist IS !
lot AZ
sner In the spacious dining-room built
Jon the colonial style with the eve row
ling Icross the slender thread OF water
t1hat unwinds itself down the mountain
Isside. il is not hard to imagine oneself
hack in the Virginia days Of before the
wa"
Near here Is Falling Springs, where
"a spring bursts from the size of the
mountain. leaps against a ledge Of solid
rock. and springs many feet 70 another
ledge below, and once again to the level
kof the ground. Everywhere there Is
this rugged beauty Of scenery, the COM
,bination Of rock and tree and water
S1hat has made this part of the State
famous among travellers and artists.
Presidential Suite
In the hotel itself. in addition to the
RIiving rooms set aside for Mr.. TAFT,
l-lI-g- Taft, and their son. Charlie, Mr..
TAFT has a suite of five Offices. His liv-
ding rooms are called the Presidential
suite" and are similar to the suite
(which in the old hotel We're once oc-
acupied by President Mckinley
II is located at the extreme end OF
the north wing of the hotel. looking
,over a private balcony to the mountains
s,beyond. In the suite of offices. Mr..
Taft has Two private offices, two rooms
efor his private secretary, Fred w Car
penter. and for his clerk, w. ". Misch-
der. There is also a general reception
room.
The golf grounds are Mr.. Tafts de-
blight. The course is eighteen holes. and,
las Mr.. Taft says. there are hills on
that course which make a man pull
very strong In order 10 travel them"
EThe links are kept in excellent condI-
stion. and there is no hour in the day
,-when the players may not be seen
There MI Taft generally plays before
luncheon, and does his horseback rid
s1ng in the afternoon.
Charles Delight.
The bath house IS Charley Taft's de-
Eight. There he and some Of the other
youngsters of the place spend more than
ian hour every day in the big swimming
tpooi. which is kept supplied with con-
Sstautly running water from a combina-
gtIon OF several springs, some o. them
cunning hot and some cold.
In the evening, after dinner, II there
Is no pressing work on hand Mr. Taft
ssits on one Of the Yerandas of the
shoteL These verandas are built en-
ktirely around the whole structure. and
sare wide enough TO be favorite prom
fenade for the guests Of the hotel Mrs
fraft has not yet consented to ride
EhOrseback with the candidate, and the
speople here see little Of her. except IN
1.-THE evenings. when she is on the veran-
Sdas or in the mornings when she Is
going to the bathhouse or the club
house, where the orchestra plays in the
kmorning hours.
Baths as Treatment
Mrs Taft IS taking the baths here
eand, as everybody else does, is taking
.tnem according to the directions of 4
physician. This has to be done. as
Ethere are so many kinds of baths that
an ordinary person cannot tell which
d the best.
Sunday evenings there is what is
rcaIed a song service in the lobby of
sthe Homestead This is attended not
bonIy by the guests Of the hotel, but by
those who have cottages here. The
Lorchestra plays sacred music, and a
soloist is sometimes heard The serv-
ice ends with the singing of the dox-
tology by all standing
This lobby is one of tho most i'm
posing sights about the hotel With a
high ceiling, toward which immense
white pillars reach. and commanding 4
evieW of the mountains through the big
windows at the far end. IL is one OF
the most popular. places here
Altogether, Mr. and Mrs. Taft made
a wise selection when they came to
fHOt Springs.