Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-19
Keeper of Presidential Pets
BY Frederic J. Haskin

w Boy is name which will figure promi-

w Boy is name which will figure promi-
W nently in White House annals during
the Harding administration. We have, there
fore, seized an early opportunity to call at
the Executive Mansion to interview this i'm
portant young member of the Harding house
hold.
After following clues from the executive
offices to the White House basement and
down the portrait lined corridors in search
of the elusive Laddie Boy we finally located
the official keeper of the Presidents pets,
Wilson Jackson.
Jackson smiled broadly at our mission and
led the way to an inner hall away from the
crowds of tourists doing the White House
basement. He opened a door and called,
! "Heah, Laddie Boy" and a black and tan
airedale galloped out and fell upon US. After
enthusiastic greetings and exchange of
compliments the party Gained down some
what. Laddie Boy shook hands after insist
ent demands from Jackson, who has already
taught him to come, lie down. and shake
hands on command The White House aire-
dale is only a year and a half old and is
very much of a puppy. On account Of his
youth and frequent interruptions as White
House maids and clerks passed and hailed
him, his valet did most of the talking.
"Yessur," said Jackson, this is the first
animal turned ovah to me since Mistah Hard
in came. He's fine dog. The man that
gave him to Mistah Hardin back in Ohio, is
goin' to SEN his pedigree.
Il been toP there's alligator comm
I'm glad the dog got heah first.
"Yessuh, l reckon L will have charge of
that alligator. I'll have to keep him in the
fountain. L understan Mistah Hardin"s goin'
to have bull dog, too, but it hasn't come yet.
"Yessuh, I like dogs. Heah, Laddie Boy
come back heah. Everybody that works
round stops to talk to that dog, and he is just
so friendly he wanders off with them.
me? I been heah since President Roose-
velt's time. Yessuh, had enough experiences
to fill geography. 1 was kid workin' at
the census bureau and when they wanted
messenger at the White House in rush sea-
son l was sent up. An then Mr. and Mrs
Roosevelt said they liked me, so they had
me put on the regular roll of White House
employees.
A Colored Diplomat
my title? I'm special messenger to the
first lady Of the Ian. Sometimes | go shop
PIN to get things in a hurry. An take mes
sages. It's a diplomatic kin of job.
But mostly the dogs'll keep me busy now.
1 take Laddie Boy up to President Hardin's
office every day, and he stays with the .presi-
dent while, and then go call the dog out.
An airedale is mostly a one-man dog, and
while's he's friendly with everybody, Mistah
Hardin is his mastah."
Jackson is more of an expert in handling
dogs and horses than some of the more I'M
usual pets that have been given the freedom
.
he never was on intimate terms with Pau
line, the COW of Taft's regime. Nor did he
have much to do with Mr.. Wilson's flock of
sheep which grazed so picturesquely on the
White House lawns.
But in Roosevelt's administration, Jack
son busy man. Not only did the execu-
tive mansion possess guinea pigs, a pony
trick MICE kangaroo rat and collection
of dogs, but Jackson was expected to help
look out for the Roosevelt children as well.
He played with them and sometimes accom-
panied them when they rode, and he had
some of the care of the Icelandic pony, AL
gonquin.
Jackson tells the story, which you may re-
member, how, when Archie Roosevelt was
sick in bed with measles, he missed his pony
so much that the servants decided to take
Algonquin as a surprise up to his room.
That pony wasn't much bigger than big
dog" says Jackson. eve got him in the
elevator and elevated him upstairs, and took
him into Mistah Arches bedroom. The pony
trotted right ovah to him and they had
fine time together. Mstah Archie certainly
did love that Algonquin pony"
Roosevelts Pets
The Roosevelt children kept Jackson on
the jump, but he enjoyed it. The pets were
very much a part of the household and were
accounted Of considerable Importance They
were a constant topic of family conversa-
ton. When one died it must be buried with
formal pomp in a reserved corner of the
White House grounds, and disappearance
was cause for commotion.
In one instance, a small black and tan dog
was lost. 1t boosted no noble pedigree, but
Quentin loved it devotedly, and mourned it's
loss with increasing gloom as the days went
by and it not found. Finally some one
reported that a dog answering the widely
advertised description was at the city pound.
Scarcely stopping for hats, Mrs. Roosevelt
and Quentin set off foot for the pound.
The dog proved to be a stranger, but Quen-
tin held it and talked to it all the time that
Mrs. Roosevelt was consulting with the Of
fetal. She inquired the fate of the dog that
looked so much like Quentin's, and when
told that it would be killed soon, as it had
not been claimed, she paid for it and Quen-
tin struggled home with it in his arms.
Any one who lives in the spotlight at the
White House is target for the gifts of the
nation. The Roosevelt family's love for ami
mails brought them a more conglomerate col
lection than any other president has ever
been called upon to accept with thanks. But
not even the Roosevelts with their fondness
for pets could keep some of the gift animals.
One man who heard that Mr.. Roosevelt's
dog whipped in fight sent a huge,
vicious looking bulldog, and assured the
president that while he had this dog. the
White House honor would never suffer at
the hands Of any mongrel outsider Mr..
Roosevelt soon saw that the bull, pup could
be trusted to confine his fighting to dogs, and
| that it lacked judgment. It could never be
| trusted to distin guish between cabinet Of
ficer and an officeseeker. So the dog had
! to go, but the Roosevelts found a home
for it.
Mr. Roosevelt also received a zebra and
several tigers which he turned over to the
National Geological park, to Jackson's relief.