The Washington times., 1921-02-15
Today
Mr.. Harding Plays Golf.
Not Afraid OF Holes.
Ne viii Attend to Cotton.
And Other Problems.
-by ARTHUR BRISBANE
tcopyrisht. Isli.J

~ecouAu Dy tuc way ne IOuHut y
duel. Later, at Chamberlin's, in
Washington, you might judge him
oy his style in playing poker. Now.
you watch him play golf, and that
gives information.
Senator Harding, who will be
President Of the United States in
q Few days, Is playing golf at St
Augustine in the afternoon. listen
ing to people in the morning and
In the evening.
This is how he plays. He takes
Intense interest in his game, and
starts out at 2 o'clock to the min
ute. He asks the first three men
among his callers to play, and
lends them clubs, his own, II they
haven't any. You know how rare
iy men lend clubs.
MIR. Harding plays in knicker-
bockers. not at all fashionable in
cut, not at all like those of the
Prince of Wales.
The Prince of Wales has "cuffs"
to his knickerbockers.
And the baggy breeches loop
and fall down below the knee.
The Princes stockings are
pulled up on the outside of the
cuff" then turned down six
inches, then turned back four
inches, then turned down two
inches. Thus, you have the "cuffs"
plus four thicknesses Of woolen
stockings, which makes an impos-
ing calf, even if you haven't any.
Nobody ever taught Mr.. Hard
ing how to do all that. He pulls
his long gray stockings up over
his knee, as little boys do before
they have "long pants" Then he
buckles his knickerbockers over
the stockings below the knee and
goes his way. not fashionable, but
comfortable.
The links at st. Augustine have
holes that most men would find
disconcerting. At number six,
! there is a marsh, fifty yards wide,
that begins hundred yards from
the tee. A coward takes his mashie
and lands short. A nervous man
: tries to "kill' the ball and lands in
the middle of the marsh. Last Fri
day, when this reporter went
around with Mr.. Harding. he
cleared the mar~h easily, and did
the same with the two water holes,
including the hole at number nine.
which is a regular golf ball mine.
Mr.. Harding in the next four
years will meet many marshy spots
and uncomfortable holes, here and
abroad. Those that know any
thing about the irritating game of
golf will realize that the way he
plays across water and marsh is
encouraging. The fact that there
is something in the way seems not
: to bother HIM at all: And that is
unusual with all except the best
class of players.
Mr.. Harding doesn't belong in
the best class and knows it. He
never took lesson, and shows it,
never making a full swing in his
drives, although he plays good
game. Last Friday he went out in
fifty, and came back in fifty-one.
and that is better than the real
score of the average golf player
who says and really believes that
he does eighteen holes "in about
ninety"
While travelling in the South,
Mr.. Harding has heard and seen a
great deal Of the cotton situation.
And the South will be glad to know
that the situation interests Mr..
Harding, disturbs him, and arouses
his keenest desire to remedy the
situation, if it can be remedied,
and it can.
II Mr.. Harding will treat the
dangerous -hole" in our industrial
and financial proposition present
ed by the cotton situation as de-
terminedly as he goes at the marsh
in sixth hole Of the St Augustine
course the thing will be simple.
And the South will be able to plant
its full acreage of cotton and sell
it, besides selling the so-called
surplus" now on hand.
There is no surplus, in reality.
Europe needs every pound of cot
ton, Of every grade.
Sir Charles NIAGARA, speaking in
Manchester, calls On the British
government to buy and store
our surplus cotton so that grow
ers in America may realize a
profit on their production and,
free from discouragement. con-
tinue planting and producing.
Mr.. Harding Is not the sort of
man to rely on the British gov
ernment to take care Of American
cotton growers. And, in the opin-
ion of this writer, he will find
some way to solve the problem of
the South without compelling
cotton growers to create an arti-
f,cial famine by cutting down their
acreage and production.
Cutting down acreage means
depriving Southern colored work
ers of employment that they must
a