The San Francisco call., 1909-04-03

as any who have preceded them,
and as the family of the presi
dent their names will soon be known
and spoken in every freside circle In
the land. Each of the three newcomers
has a distinctly positive personality.
personalities that are going to tell"
says Helen Corinne Hambridge in the
New Idea Womans Magszine.
The Taft luck is proverbial, and the
children are perhaps the luckiest Of
all the family, for they are fortunate
enough to possess parents who live
very close TO them in thought and feel
ing, and who have imbued them with
the desire to make the most possible
out of their lives. Consequently, you
will not find anywhere young people
who play harder or study with more
interest They are head and front in
every bit of school fun, are interested
in games and athletics, and yet rank
more than usually high in their classes.
To the people at large Helen Taft.
the Is year old daughter of the house,
is, perhaps, the most interesting OF
the three children of the new presi-
dent, for the American girl holds the
center of the stage always by right di-
vine Miss Helen is an excellent type
of the young woman of today for be-
sides her youth and magnificent health
she has nerve and mental force, and
that baffling, spiritual something which
looks out of the clear eyes. She is
unusually tall. being in height feet
s inches, an inch taller than her moth
err for whom she is named, Her lux
uriant brown hair. which she wears in
a simple coil on top of her head most
1, arl-a a al Golden lnSfpT
to it: her eyes are a deep blue.
with long. sweeping lashes, and,
like her father. she has pronounced
dimple in her chin. Her smile is rare,
but is pleasant when it does come, and
illuminates her face wonderfully.
Helen Taft is an ardent student,
simply gobbles up facts" her brother
Charlie says of her, but she is also
an out of doors girl. She rows, swims,
is croquet expert, a fine tennis player.
and much interested in her college
basket ball team Her favorite form
of exercise is walking, however, and
in this too she takes after her father.
The two are great pals. and at their
summer home at Murray bay, Canada,
may be constantly seen taking long
tramps across country, often engaged
in a heated argument over some ques-
ton in which they are mutually in
terested. President and Mrs. Taft give,
nerhaps. more time t6 their children
that did even former President and
Mrs. Roosevelt, and never allow any
social duty to interfere with the
childrenis hour when they are all at
home. Miss Helen is a rather reticent
girl and little shy in public.
For one of her age Helen Taft is a
very travelled young woman. She has
made four trips across the Pacific and
circled the globe once, accompanying
her parents on their famous trip around
the world She speaks French and
Spanish, as we'll as the native lingo of
the Philippines
The presidents daughter is as old
fashioned a girl in some ways as she
is up to date in others. She has been
taught not only to "sit on a cushion
and sew a fine seam" but to cut and
make her own dresses; she can even
trim a hat in a pinch, and also knows
how to cook and manage a house. Mrs.
Taft has always been insistent on her
daughter having a domestic as well as
a social and mental equipment for life.
The Tafts are not rich people by any
means. and the new presidents wife
believes that the domestic arts are as
much a part of a girls education as a
knowledge of Greek roots or drawing
room etiquette.
Helen's older brother. Robert A.
Taft-"Rob" Taft, as he is known to
his friends--is keeping up the tradi-
tions of his family and winning prizes
almost as fast as they are offered at
has alma mater, Yale. His grand
father graduated third In his class.
his father took second place. and Robert
is now leading his class, 10. He was