Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-18
Los ANGELES HERALD: WEDNESDAY MORNING.

~ the United States, passes the
seventy-first milestone of his
life. Only twice in the his
tory Of the country has the
nation been without living
ex-president. 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, General Grant. r. B. Hayes,
Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleye-
land have each In turn been the sole
survivors of the presidential office
When Abraham Lincoln came to the
helm of the ship of state, to steer her
through the tempestuous seas of the
civil war, there were fve living who
bad heretofore been Its guiding spirit
They were Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore,
Pierce and Buchanan. Never before or
since has there been five ex-presidents
| living at the same time. Unless Mr.
Roosevelt is squarely set on. retiring
iext March. Mr.. Cleveland will share
the honors after that date with the
present occupant of the White House.
What shall we do with our ex-presi-
dents? This is question often asked.
Perhaps no other eX-president has an
swered it so we'll as Mr. Cleveland.
surrounded by family for it's devotion
TO him, and provided with compe-
tency, though not fortune, for his
old age. living amid that simple ele-
sance which has characterized the
Cleveland home, whether it has been In
the White House, at Gray Gables, or
at Princeton. his declining years are
such as any man might wish. Between
his care for the interests of his fam
lily. his espondenee-which is not
small-and his contributions to the pc
l:odical literature of the day, Mr..
Cleveland's life is not an idle one. Yet
1t is marked by that dignified ease
that BELTS the station of one who has
been twice called to the chief mag
istracy of the greatest people on earth.
No visitor to Westlands, situated
among the classic shades of Princeton,
has ever come away without glowing
accounts of the home life of the Cleve-
lands. Everything about the place
bears the imprint of the woman who is
enshrined in the hearts of all whose
fortune 1t has been TO know her. as
one of Americas highest and best ex-
amples of womanhood. wifehood and
motherhood. People come away telling
of the sweet, 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
lazy the country has had since the
days of Martha Washington.
The Cleveland children are the de-
light of their father. and many are the
pictures 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 If he does not become a true
sportsman 1t will not be because his
father does not teach him the art. He
is rollicking little fellow, and may
be seen almost any day running about
the place in sweater and corduroy
trousers. Esther and Marion are now
school girls, and the pictures which
have been published of them show that
they are both possessed of their moth
ers beauty.
Mr. Cleveland's favorite pastime is
hunting and fishing. In fact. 1t is hard
ly fair to say that the latter is pas
time with him. 1t is a science. When
he goes about it he is as serious as
IL he were delivering an address which
would be read by millions. If the fish
bite freely he is happy, and IL they do
not bite he is hopeful. He has infinite
patience and can sit all day in the
stern of a little boat waiting for the
members of the finny tribe to tug at his
line. He Is heartily opposed to the pot
hunter and fisherman. One OF hiC most
stirring appeals in recent years was
against the fisherman who catches
more edible fish than can be advan-
tageously used. When he goes fishing
Mr. Cleveland dons an old brown suit
and a slouch hat and is a picture of
democracy. Joe Jefferson was one of
his boon companions, and when Eight
ing Bob Evans is not plotting fleet
from one ocean to another, he is pretty
sure to be found a frequent member
of Cleveland fishing rarty.
Mr. Cleveland is also fond of quail
and rabbit shooting. In a recent ar
ticle he said he had no sympathy with
those wo did not like rabbit meat. He
stated that he could not bow to fashion
enough to forego his fondness for it,
He probably remembers his boyhood
days, when rabbit hunting was popu-
lar among the boys and when rabbit
meat was the piece de resistance at
next days dinner
No other ex-president of the United
States has ever written as widely after
his term of office as has Mr.. Cleveland
Mr.. Roosevelt may be expected to
eclipse him in the volume of his ex-
presidential writings. as he eclipsed all
other incumbents of the office In his
contributions to current literature be-
fore becoming president. Mr. Cleveland
is not believer in the woman's club
idea nor In woman suffrage, and he
has had considerable to say about
those things in recent years.