Imperial Valley press., 1923-07-30
SECRETARIES INVITED TO
FILL PROGRAM IN SOUTH

greet the president, but his coming
was marked by a comparative ap-
senee of crowds or demonstrations:
Mr.. Harding smiled as he stepped
from the platform of his private
'ar and walked to the waiting au-
tomobile of Mayor James Rolph IN
which he was whisked through
back streets to his hotel where the
presidential suite had been prepar-
ed.
He entered the hotel by n side
entrance and it was half an hour
later before the crowd of appro-
ximately 1000 people waiting
around the main entrance knew
that he had arrived and gone to
his room.
The corridors on the floor where
the president was quartered were
kept clear by secret service men,
while Il detail of sixty police and
plain clothes men stood guard in
| and about the hotel
Every effort was made to insure
! absolute quiet.
During the morning it was re-
| ported that the president was en-
joying a rest and the tension which
his sudden arrival first. created
was considerably lcssened, only to
be drawn tight by the announce
ments of the evening.
During the day there was Il con
| stant stream of notables from Cali
fornia gathering in the hotel, but
none were permitted to see the
president, nor were they given any
encouragement us to when thcz
might see him.
| Quantities of flowers were sent
to the hotel but few received
more than formal notice from the
immediate members of the presi
Dental party.
| Hoover Refuses To Talk
| Secretary of Commerce Herbert
Hoover was the first member of
the president s immediate party
stirring this morning. He was up
before a. m. and soon went into
the presidential suite where he re-
| manned for a short time.
| "'There is nothing | can say
he declared on leaving the suite.
"All announcements of the presi-
dent s condition must come from
medical men.
Hoover then went to the room of
Secretary Work. 1t was believed
Hoover had merely inquired as to
the president s condition.
The Palace Hotel, where Presi-
dent is guartered, stands in the
heart of the business section on
Market street, a stone S throw from
the financial district. 1t is ripe
with historic interest, having housed
practically all ,of the presidents
and many of the people of prom
inen who have visited San Fran
cisco i'll the last forty years.
Quiet About Hotel
Aside from the fact that the
floor on which the president S room
is located was being kept quiet,
and the presence of many notables
| among the guests, there was little
to indicate that Il president was i'll
inside the building. There were no
| crowds on the streets around the
hotel during the evening, and early
today only bellboys and :, janitor
sweeping up cigarette stubs peopled
the lobby.
The presidential suite is located
in the west wing on the eighth floor
of the hotel. Secret service men
guarded the corridor leading into
the wing during the morning and
refused to answer casual questions
Sections of the eighth floor which
newspaper men were allowed to en-.
tere were Uttered with cigarett
stubs, bits of papers and the debris
of a nights watch.
Correspondents accompanying the
president S party had quarters on
the fifth floor of the hotel. In
mediate members of the president S
entourage including Brigadier Gen
cral Sawyer, Secretary Work, Sec
retary Christian and several others
had rooms on the same floor as the
president. DR.. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
former president of the Am Medican
Association and of Stanford I'm
state another assistant on part
ed in consultation, had q nearby
room assigned to him.