The Washington herald., 1908-03-18
MR.. CLEVELAND'S BIRTHDAY
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

To-day Grover Cleveland. the only liv-
ing ex-President Of the United States.
passes the seventy-hrst milestone of his
! life. Only twice IN the history Of the
country has the nation been without
living ex-PresidenL and that Was when
/ Washington had laid down the cares OF
/ life in the middle Of Adams term, and
in the interval between Johnson's death
and Grants retirement John Adams.
Gen. Grant r. 3. Hayes. Benjamin Har
rison. and Grover Cleveland have each
/ in turn been the sole survivors of the
Presidential office. When Abraham Lin
/ coin came 10 the helm OF the ship OF
state. 20 steer her through the tempes-
tuous seas OF civil war. there were Ave
men living who had heretofore been its
guiding spirit They were Van Buren.
/ Tyler. Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan
Never before or since has there been I'VE
/ ex-presidents living at the same time
| Unless Mr.. Roosevelt is squarely set on
/ retiring next March, MT. Cleveland viii
share the hOnOrs after that date with
the present occupant Of the White House.
/ What shall we DO without ex-Presi-
/ dents? This is a question often asked.
/ Perhaps no other ex-President has an
swered IL so well as Mr. Cleveland. sur
rounded by a family famous for its de-
votion 70 him, and provided with com
petency, though not fortune for his old
! age living amid that simple elegance
which has characterized the Cleveland
/ home whether IL has been in the White
/ House, AT Grey Gables. or at Princeton.
I his declining wears are such as any man
might wish Between his care for the in
/ terests OF his family. his correspondence
which is not small-and his contribu-
/ tions 10 the periodical literature or the
/ day. Mr.. Cleveland's life Is not an Idle
7 one. Yet il is marked by that digniied
ease that BELTS the station Of one who
4 has been twice called 10 the chief magis-
tracy OF the greatest people on earth.
/ No visitor 10 Westlands. situated among
the classic shades OF Princeton. has ever
come away without glowing accounts of
/ the home life of the Cieyelands. Every
| thing about the place bears the imprint
Of that woman who is enshrined in the
/ hearts Of all whose fortune it has been
/ to know her. as one OF Americas high
est and best examples OF womanhood.
wifehOod. and motherhood. People come
away telling Of the sweet, old fashioned,
simple hospitality of the place They
| declare that Mrs. Cleveland has lost nOne
OF that charm that made her perhaps
the best and most widely beloved First
Lady the country has had since the days
Of Martha Washington.
| The Cleveland children are the delight
| Of their father. and many are the pic
| lures which the mother has taken OF
| Dick" Grover Esther. and Marion.
/ showing the father as their boon com
/ paniOn. Dick is now quite a little lad,
and II he does not become a true sports
man il viii not be because his father
does not teach him the art. He is a roll
/ licking little fellow, and may be seen
almost any day running about the place
in sweater and corduroy trorsers Es-
/ ther and Marion are now school girls.
and the pictures which have been pub
lished OF them show that they are both
possessed Of their mothers beauty.
Mr Clevelands favorIte pastime Is
hunting and fishing. IN fact, it is hardly
| fair to say that the latter is a pastime
with him 1t is a science. When he goes
about 1t he is as serious as II he were
| delivering an address which would be
read by millions. If the fish bit freely
he is happy, and II they do not bite, he Is
L LpHtluA Ids lluliit IGlltUtSs ana
can sit all day in the stern Of a little boat
waiting f'r the members of the finny
tribe 20 tug at his line. He is heartily
opposed 10 the pot hunter and fisher
/ man. One OF his most stirring appeals
/ in recent years was against the fisher
/ man who catches more edible Ash than
can be advantageOusly used When he
! goes <ishing, Mr.. Cleveland dOns an old
brown suit Srt a slouch hat and is a
] picture of democracy Joe Jefferson was
one Of his boon companions, and when
Fighting Bob" Evans is not plotting a
fleet from one ocean to another. he is
pretty sure to be found a frequent men,
Der Of a Cleveland fishing party
| Mr. Cleveland is also fond of quail and
| rabbit shooting. In a recent article he
| said he had no sympathy with those
4 who dc not like rabbit meat. He stated
that he could not bow 10 fashion enough
TO forego his fondness for it. He prob
| ably remembers his boyhOod days when
rabbit hunting was popular among the
/ boys. and when rabbit meat was the
piece de resistance at next days dinner.
Nc ether ex-President of the United
States has ever written as widely after
his tenn OF Office as has Mr.. Cleveland.
Mr. Roosevelt may be expected to eclipse
him in the volume Of his ex-Presidential
I
j bents OF the Office in his contributions
to current literature before becoming
President. Mr.. Cleveland is not a be-
/ lever in the woTnan's club idea nor in
woman suffrage, and he has had consiG-
cradle 10 say about those things in recent
years.
The career of ldr. Cleveland has been
a notable one He was born the son OF
Presbyterian clergyman and had
Scotch, Irish, and Pennsylvania Dutch
blood in his veins. his maternal grand
mother having been a Quakeress. Left
an orphan at an early age, the fifth Of
family Of nine children Il devolved upon
him TO help support the family. And he
was never out OF a job. A rollicking.
lusty youngster, fond OF fishing and hunt
ing. he always Gid his work well, and
acted on the principle that he who does
| ali he is paid to do and more besides.
makes tenfold profit before the final
] reckoning. After clerking in a store for