Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-24
WHEN HOOVER FACED DEATH
Food Administrator Proved His Courage IN Boxer
Uprising, When He Directed the
Building of Barricades

were deserving Of punishment ana tnose
who were gutiess Hoover and Few others
made themselves unpopular In certain hlgn
quarters by going twice day 10 the guard
house at shooting time and rescuing sucn
of the Cinnamon as they could vouch ior'
coming back unnerved from the sights they
had seen"
Now how did this dlsinterestedly pas
sionate American meet the requirements OF
his task? We learn that he stuck TO pusi-
ness with frmness unmarked by any
theatricality or exploitation of the Hoover
personality:
"Admiring newspapers have credited
Hoover with directing the military defense
of Tientsin, but he disclaims this. lie nad
enough to do to look after the feeding of
his hundreds of employees and keep them
supported mentally and emotionally under
the strain of the rumors that flew about the
place and the more or less accurate knowl-
edge they acquired of actual happenings.
with all his European and American starr
he kept the terrified Cinnamon at work
building barricades of rice and sugar sacks,
bringing ice and provisions from the ware
houses on the other side of the settlement.
and constantly fighting fires. They maze
themselves generally useful doing what
they could, so that the entire force or 2300
military men could devote their whole
energies to fighting. Even with that 1t
was close thing. for 1t was all they could
do to hold off the tens of thousands OF
well-armed, madly brave fanatics who failed
only because of their faulty strategy and
tactics"
Dynamo of Energy
1t is not all dark and suspense and
tragedy, this story of the American who
now is planning properly to feed America:
The Shakespearean element or sudden ana
ludicrous comedy enters:
Hoover had COW famous
and influential in the community. and the
COW was the mother of promising calf
One day the COW was stolen, and Hoover
set to work with all his energy to find her.
After a fruitless search through the town
he had an inspiration. He took out the tiny
calf, and by the light of a lantern led the
little orphan about the streets crying for It's
mother. Finally, as they passed in front of
the barracks of the German contingent,
there was an answering moo. and Hoover
walked up and claimed his property. The
sentry, disregardng Hoover's statements,
countered with the inquiry, is that the calf
of the COW inside?' Upon receiving an af-
frmative answer to his Olendorf question
he calmly confscated the calf and sent
Hoover home empty.handed. 1t may be re-
marked in passing that this was Hoover $
first passage at arms with the Germans,
and that the Germans paid for that cow"
Nothing quite so takingly original as this
tale of the moo. the German sense of
fair play and the recompense is contained
in David Lawrences Hoover Comes To
Town" in the New York Evening Post
Magazine of July 21. But there is much
factfu comment on the hero of the story
Mr.. Hoover is described as modest but
aggressive, bluntly assertive when neces-
sary, dynamo of human energy-a genius
in executive organization"
Sidelghts are cast on the personnel Of
the Hoover bureaucracy:
There is no rank in the Hoover con-
tingent-all are aids, counselors, execu-
tives. Titles mean nothing. for each is
subordinate to the direction and command
OF the chief as he is Familiarity called
First, there is DR.. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
president Of Leland Stanford University.
Wilbur happened to be in Washington at
tending convention of college presidents
when asked by Hoover to take charge of a
department of education on questions of
food conservation. There was for
instance. Miss Sally Splint, of Today's
Housewife who brought a suggestion that
was promptly acted upon for the mobilza-
ton of the editors of women's magazines :"
Other biographical snapshots follow. But
the spirit of the controlling genius is over
it all That, evidently, is the sort of man
and mind that make up Mr.. Hoover, the
dynamo of human energy" B. D.