The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-10-06
Intimate Picture of Former
: Presidents Simple Home Life

| film at the same time it is being
shown at the theaters down town.
Occasionally he goes to a vaudeville
show, his party taking seats in the
last row, and entering and leaving
with every effort to avoid ostentation.
1t rarely happens, however, that
somebody fails to discover the visi-
tors and a demonstrations of hand
clapping always ensues.
Evenings at home, however, are
spent in the family circles. The for
mer president and Mrs. Wilson read
a book together, or perhaps Mrs.
Wilson reads aloud.
Sometimes it is one of the detective
; stories of which Mr.. Wilson was said
to be so fond. They do not now
form as large a part of his read
ing as may have been the case years
ago.
| He takes to bed early, not to sleep,
however, but to relax, to read and
write. Like Mark Twain he does
much reading and writing in bed.
Propped up by pillows, and with a
little writing board across his knees
he reads and makes notes, some of
them voluminous and in shorthand.
Nobody knows what they are about.
He puts them carefully away. They
are not notes for book, which many
expect.
Not to Write Book.
Unless Mr.. Wilson changes his
mind decidedly he will write no re-
ply to Robert Lansing or any one
also who has criticised his policies.
A writer who has been given access
to Mr.. Wilson's papers of which there
is moss a ton, is writing book, but
it will be his own; not Mr.. Wilson's.
"I'll give you any material I have
for your book" MIR. Wilson told him.
Il II answer any questions you ask;
but it's your book, don even want
to see what you write.'
However the evening may be spent,
however tired he may be, there is
one thing the former president never
neglects. 1t is the reading of rev
verses of the Bible. When he says
goodnight he invaria bly, reads aloud
some short passage from the book
which always rests on the reading
table at his bedside.
Friends and admirers ask, what is
Woodrow Wilson's real condition
now?
He will be 65 years of age next
December and has been through an
ordeal which few men survive. The
measure of his progress toward
health must be measured with these
facts in mind. His normal weight in
health while he was president was
$50 pounds. He showed little depar-
ture from that figure now. His eye
sight is as good although he has dis
carded his favorite noseglasses for
spectacles. His hair has turned snow
white, but it has not thinned. His
appetite is too robust to please his
physicians. Last March when he left
the White House with president-elect
Harding, an attendant had to place
his feet on each succeeding step from
the portico. The other day he sent
his attendant away and climbed
alone, not without some effort, into
his automobile, just to see If ne
could do it, and seemed pleased to
find that he could.
Walks With Cane.
Motor nerves and muscles of his
left side have given more response to
treatment than was hoped for. OF
course they are not fully active now.
He still walks with a cane most of
the time but frequently hangs the
crook over his arm and 'goes it alone
without my third leg as he puts it.
Mr.. Wilson is far from a we'll man
today; he was far from we'll man
when he entered the White House
over eight years ago. But during the
last two years there have been times
when his voice was inaudible and
when he could not support himself
alone. His condition today shows
more improvement than his family
and friends dared hope for.
There are many angles to Mr.. Will
sons present day psychology. Living
in Washington and easy of access to
party friends at the capitol he might
give consultation on party politics,
but he does not. Whatever a visi-
tor may say in criticism of the Re-
publican administration Mr.. Wilson
never makes a reply. He never per-
mits any one in his presence to speak
what he regards as "disrespectfully