Evening star., 1923-09-02

S o"i. Nht pstbltHl DtChlllS
of the woodpecker. the midnight salu-
tation of an itinerant Tom-cat, the
chatter of energetic squirrels and the
bunny talk of sleek and fat cotton
tails.
Yes, the animal fair out sightseeing
is not deferred by the formidable iron
fence which encircles our finest ma
tional home. What is a fence like
this for but to go through?" says the
Virginia rabbit to the Maryland squir-
rel. And forthwith the twain trek
their way into the White House
grounds to test out respectively, the
clover forage and the edible nuts to
be found there. Apace behind these
two may follow a slow moving turtle
also bent on the exploration of the
spacious fourteen-acre grounds which
are the delight and pride of no.
100000 patriotic Americans
The woodpecker and the screech
owl, the robins. wrens. sparrows
blackbirds, tiuejays and occasionally
a Kentucky cardinal come by cir
cuitous air routes to look over the
place where President Coolidge lives.
The bird life and the animal life are
as well and Hospitality received as
though they were throngs of rural
constituents and metropolitan voters.
Modern hotel accommodations in the
form of attractive bird houses are
provided for the wild flyers. The ami
NAL visitors prefer to camp out motor
tourist fashion. They bivouac
wherever fancy suits them. Even
food is provided for them during cold
oft urt fho
executive offices regularly scatters
raw peanuts near their nesting places
when the opportunities for rustling
and ranging are unfavorable.
decade or so ago a pair of honey
incoming rabbits came unannounced
TO call upon the then President Will
son. They We're natives of the Old
Dominion. Either these rabbits and
their sons and daughters er other cot
ton-tailed visitors from Virginia have
regularly made the White House
grounds their official headquarters
ever since. They, at least, are not
dependent on the fierce ballot-box
duel which is fought quadrennially to
determine what American shall re-
ceive his mail at 1900 Pennsylvania
avenue for the following four years.
X X x
CTRANGE isn't it that right in the
- heyday of the twentieth century.
when Washington, imperial capital of
all International capitals. prides her
self on her development and pro-
gressiveness, wild rabbits and squir-
rels such as sport lovers hunt in the
dense Woodlands of Virginia and
Maryland should be running at large
in the heart of the National Capital
ensconsed comfortably, within the
White House grounds.
Stranger still however are some OF
the ghost stories and spooky tales
that have been born as result of
the presence of the industrious wood
pecker family on the roster of the
unbidden White House grounds
guests. In the midst of the world
war, >when President Wilson was
wont to retire to his private study
after dinner each evening to ponder
over the enigmas to be faced the fol-
lowing day, our Chief Executive was
frequently disturbed by a curious and
Intermittent tapping sound. 1t seemed
to come from the open fireplace. but
examination of the fiue threw no
> light on the source of the unaccount-
able noise. That was in the days
when most everybody thought that
German spies were everywhere.
Day after day the tapping grew
worse Was it some subterranean
agency striving to undermine the
White House and destroy the Presi-
Dental family? Was it the incessant
clicking of some devilishly coptrived
Internal machine? Was it the warn
ing rat-a-tat of witchcraft giving no
tice of danger? No; it was none of
these. 1t was merely the pecking of
the tireless woodpeckers who were
sharpening their bills on the copper
sheeting which bounded one of the
White House chmneys. When the
woodpecker family was identified as
the cause of the noise. the White
House inmates just decided to forget
all about it.
The hoot of the screech owl at
night is cry of apparent distress
and mystery. Heard among the wide
expanses of unsettled land which ad-
ioin the everglades and the big
cypress swamp of Florida, it sets your
nerves on edge and your blood ating-
ling. Heard on the almost limitless
plains of a western desert it makes
YOU long for the companionship, the
glare and glitter of the bustling city
streets. Heard in the White House
grounds at night it is also lonely, but.
simultaneously. it echoes like a
clarion cry of democracy which makes
the abode of our President place
open to all visitors.
The abundance of shade providing
trees and the wealth of luxuriant turf
at the White House grounds are as
attractive to animal and bird life as
they are to human beings who crowd
to visit them from all parts of the
country. The policy at the White
House has been never to disturb or
modest any of the extraordinary visi-
tors as long as they were orderly.
seemly and non-destructive. That is
the why of the presence of so many
unusual specimens of bird and ami
NAL life within the famous federal
estate.
X X X
DURING the domination of John
l. Barleycorn it may have been
that snakes in the making passed
down the Avenue in front of the
Executive Mansion in the persons OF
'inebriates who had remained too long
among their cups. However. the real
article-garden and grass snakes and
others of the reptile family native in
the District of Columbia-has never
appeared within the White House
Of p