Evening star., 1920-02-06
PRESIDENT KEEPS
IN FAIRLY CLOSE
TOUCH WITH THINGS
Seems to Be improving in
Health; mo indispensable
Man, Quoted.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

President Wilson seems to be get
ting along about as well as could be
expected for a man who has had a
severe nervous breakdown. Interest
in his condition appears much more
acute outside of the National Capital
than inside, where the indisposition
Of the Presid ent has become 9 matter
Of course and where official folk busy
to a methodicai system of handling
the business which ordinarily would
have the attention of Mr.. Wilosn.
Inquiry at the White House reveals
that the President walks about his
bed room and the upper apartments of
the house with the aid OF a cane but
that he is wheeled outdoors to avoid
slipping on the snow-covered portico
and steps. He seems to enjoy his daily
exposure to the winter weather,
which for Washington is rather ex-
treme nowadays and more like that
of a city along the great lakes than
one south OF Mason and Dixon's line.
In Fairly Close Touch With Affairs.
The Presid ent leads more or less
monotonous life-closed in from all
friends and official colleagues. DR..
Cary 7. Grayson, his physician. man
ages to keep senators, cabinet mem
uers and am passadors from seeing the
4 Co
preferred anyway that official matters
be put in writing. He spends from an
hour to three hours a day reading
memoranda and the newspapers and
feels in fairly close touch with what
is going on outside of the executive
mansion.
AS for a description of the Presidents
condition, 1 was told that the Presi-
dent was progressing" and that each
week saw some improvement. In
- =, ~ Irnr hi nf
was slower than expected. the an
swer was that Mr.. Wilson'S conva-
lescence was ''encouragingly" good.
There still seems to be need for men
tai and physical rest, with nobody able
to guess accurately just how long Mr..
Wilson, will have to remain in seclu-
sion. 1t is a fact. however that peo-
Pile around the White House would be
disappointed if the President were not
back at his desk during the spring
visited the White House. Two of them
happened TO be in town-each on a
different errand-about three weeks
ago-and they dropped in for a
social call and not a medical examina-
ton. That means the Presidents case
is no longer regarded as 'complica ted
or doubtful. but that a course of rest
treatment has been prescribed in
which medical attention is not such
an important factor.
"MOvieo Machine Installed.
The President is naturally restless.
He wants to do more work than he
should He keeps in close touch with
Secretary Tumulty, either by tele-
phone or personal conference. To re-
lieve the monotony of the White
House, the Presidents household has
installed a moving picture machine
handsome salon of crystal chandeliers,
polished floors, gilded piano and or
namental vases. in which room cere-
monies such as the presentation of
distinguished foreigners and official
receptions and other functions OF So
ciaI briiIiance have been held in the
past
There sits the President nowadays.
surrounded by members of his family.
watching the antics of the slap-stick
episodes of film life-a diversion
which the American public enjoys in
crowded theaters. but which Mr. VII
SON, in the solitude OF the White
House, can have at any time ne waves
the presio entail wand.
The PRESIDENT is susceptible to colds
and his physician has had to be very
careful about bundling Mr.: wilson
nm when he went outdoors. The Wnlte
House Is not such an easy place TO
keep in an even temperature. which
ia one reason why the President has
had to be kept on the upper floors
Of the Executive Mansion. most of the
time before an open fireplace.
studies Treaty and Other Matters.
It can hardly be said that official
business doesn't reach Mr.. Wilson
when it should. There are numerous
questions which must necessarily be
resolved by cabinet officers on their
own resp onsibility, but when 1t comes
to the treaty controversy and matters
Of appointment to ~, high dno,nice offices. IN, MI
them. He gets daily reports from
Senator Hitchcock and a resume of
what is happening in the political
world from his private secretary, so
he MANAGES to keep informed
1t Is 81 distressing confinement to
woodrow Wilson. who has kept Wash
ington on the jump for the last seven
years in a pace reminiscent of his
arch political foe Theodore Roosevelt
But while 1t is true of Washington
always that the pace of the govern
ment is set by its chief executive. the