Evening star., 1921-05-22

task of choosing the members Of his
ca binet.
Next we find the President-elect in
St Augustine, a picturesque old town
made famous by Ponce de Leon and
his fountain of eternal youth. The
happy. easy life, the time for numer-
Gus games of golf, the strolls with
friends were things of the past. Ma
tlonal committeeman, captains of in
dustry. politicians of large and small
caliber. small army of trained
writer's and a platoon of secret serv-
ice men surrounded him from early
morning until the wee sma' hours had
come. He was. with the exception of
an hour or SO snatched in which to
play golf, busy every minute of the
time. and while the nerves OF some
were frayed and jangling his good
nature remained
the friends of early days. to take one
last look at the house which was no
longer home. then on to Washington
to take the oath of office, to deliver
his inaugural address and to take up
the reins of the government.
pEFORE describing President Hard
ing as we find him in the White
House, it will be better. perhaps, to
draw picture of a few periods of
The impressions of the earlier days
the writer was able to secure from
old-time friends. friends not given to
full some f1attery, and from his father.
man who considers we'll his words
before uttering an expression. From
these sources We find genial, kindly
nature. a love of country and a de-
~:,
lift. From some Of the old-timers on
the Marion Star. men who worked
with President Harding. we find an
expressed desire that his employees
say that they were working with, not
for, him. AS one of the old timers
on the paper expressed it. Warren
was Just one of us. He never was
bit bosSy, and when the Star COM
menced to make money. he gave us
all more pay. Sometimes. when he
would get tired of writing editorials
he used to go out and help set type.
He liked to mingle with the old
crowd, and / bet when he gets down
to Washington that he won't be a bit
stuck-up. Why, if 1 came down to
the White House and it was around
would say. Jim. come on in; it's pretty
near time for dinner. He's just that
thoughtful"
That this thoughtfulness is char
acteristic is evidenced by little in
Icident that took place while Mr..
of his cabinet. He had wired to James
]. Davis. now Secretary of Labor.
asking him to come to Marion. Davis
had taken the first train. and upon his
arrival at the home in Marion almost
the first question Davis was asked
was: Have you had supper" Mr..
Davis replied that he had. Whereupon.
putting his hand on Davis shoulder,
Mr. Harding said: Not unless you
got a bite to eat at the lunchroom in
that come in here. which ones have
diners and which have not" Mr.. Davis
acknowledged he had had couple of
sandwiches, whereupon the President
stepped to the door and said to his
wife: FLORENCE. please have another
plate put on the table. Jim Davis is
going to have supper with u.s."
The Presidents fathers estimate of
him is: Warren has always been a
good son. he has always been kind
the rights of others: he likes his fell
low men and likes to mingle with
them. He will earnestly try to do
that which is best for all the people
He is quicker to fig ht for a friend
must not imagine, however. that be-
cause he is good-natured he can
be imposed upon. for he can be as de-
termined as it is possible for a man
to be. and, while he is sometimes slow
in making up his mind. when he ar
rives at a conclusion there must be
extraordinary reasons presented be-
fore he will change it.
Several politicians have. since the
4th of March. found this to be fact
and the man who comes to the White
House seeking Office must be prepared
to place his cards on the table and
play the game fairly and squarely. AS
a candidate he used the word nor
malcy" and the papers throughout the
country laid much stress on his use
of the word While tho President is
not g. linguistic thaumaturgist. he