The Washington times., 1922-05-30
BOY REPORTER
TELLSOF TALK
WITH HARDING
Horace Wade, 13. Finds Presi-
dent Still Has Memories Of
or Swimmin' Hole.


capability to "tep'. He is going
to "teu" you no,o about President
Harding, the boy as aoeH as the
later about his interviews pith
William r. Hearst, E: II. GGry
Mayor John F. Hylan of NetO York
and others. Here is the interview
SOith Warren G. Harding, President
of the United States.
BY HORACE WADE,
Thirteen-year- old Author of In the !
SHADOW %,o Sf 9rsSs wn, Peril and Other
the Chicago Evening American and
Cosmopolitan News Service.
lCopyright, 1922, by Evening American
Publishing Company and Cosmopoli-
tan News Service)
Reproduction ProhIbitedD
PRESIDENT HARDING.
"Take the message to Garcia"
said the city editor to me at |
Chicago, and / never saw an owl
look so solemn.
"Horcae," he continued in mea-
sured tones, the shadows on his
thought-eaten face deepening, "this
10 one occasion where you're got to
to a great occassion"-then, with
out warning, he shunted himself
off to a side track.
Want to Be President?
Want to be President OF the
United States?"I gazed at him in
astonishment.
us the job as soft as yours? ] i
asked. following with my eye the
graceful curves OF his manly leg
trailing over his desk
Easier" he laconicallly replied
"but don't tip II off. There'll be a |
cinch." and he puffed a cloud of
smoke into the office boys face.
think the office boy has Presidential |
aspirations.
II want you to go to Washington |
rs the representative Of twenty mil |
lion American boys and find out |
first hand from the President of the |
United States whether a boy must |
carry water for the elephant mot
to G. o. p. elephanD in order to get
free board at the White House for |
four years" and he busted himself |
while / went off in trance.
How II Happened.
That's how 1t came about that I, |
Horace Wade, found myself tramp.
Ing over the smooth, cleaning stone
walk that has echoed to the tread OF
many a President. and l wondered II
] would one day start that sort of an
echo. I remembered my thumb.worn
history and how l poured over the
stories of the poor boys who strug-
Eled and worked upward until they
stood on the mountain peak. / could
see framed in the White House 6oor
the face of Abraham Lincoln, and /
thought of the log cabin in the hills
OF Kentucky and the pine knots that
spluttered and flared as he painfully
dug for knowledge. | thought OF An
drew Johnson, the poor teacher,
whose wife taught him to read when
he was over twenty-one, and how he
became the head Of a great nation.
I thought of Garfield driving mules
along a canal: of Cleveland, the
school teacher, and know that IL
they went into a circus when they
were boys they had to carry water TO
the elephants.
Nv mind was crowded to over
flowing with memories of my history |
rs entered the wide doors of the |
White House and waited to be usher |
ed into the presence of Warren q. !
Harding and to find out first hand |
what a boy must do to become |
President.
After what the city editor told me |
about 1t being a cinch job, l had a |
sort O. hankering for the place. l
liked the looks Of the White House |
and how they had II fixed up inside. |
I saw men-lame political ducks,
Euess-looking for cozy nest. L
am going to ask the President to
rive me something soft, too, where |
! feller don't have to worry whether |
the ghost walks every two weeks.
President Is Kindly.
Then my good friend, Secretary OF
War Davis. brought me into Mr.. |
Hardings rooms, where / met the |
President. dressed in a blue suit. My, |
but he has a kindly face, and when
looked into it, and caught the sun
shine that played about the corners
Of his mouth and then raced toward
his blue eyes, where 1t reappeared
In a merry, merry twinkle, / could
strip off those extra pounds and
those needless inches and see him
rs he really is-a great, big boy
just as full Of fun as a school boy
when the hands on the clock point
10 the hour of three and he goes
scampering away, yelling and holler-
Ing like a Comanche Indian, to the
baseball diamond long side the "old
swimmin hole"
He has broad, open face-the
kindest l ever saw-and ] found
then why he had been elected Presi-
nent. His hair is white as snow and
calls in struggling locks over his
high forehead. And, say fellers, as
sat there in the Presidents chair,
which stands at bis cabinet table, I
got a sneaky notion that my good