The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-24

that she adopted this practice deliber- ately: for his sake. Few men concentrate so intensely upon their work as the President, and this has heen his habit since boyhood Mrs. Coolidge must have felt that her duty as his wife was to l make home an absolute refuge from this intense preoccupation. Mrs. Coolidge and the guest do most of the talking, the President supplying an occasional comment--here a fact I needed to complete a sentence of his wife's, there question of anxious concern about her welfare when she described a slight accident to herself and again humorous, sometimes quiz zical, commentary upon a bit of her narrative. ~
 | The wonders of radio are discussed, and someone remarks that an expert has said that the President has an unusually good radio voice, that it. the, speaker gropes for the technical phrase-The President supplies it: it is ''cuts through"
 Dinner over, the party adjourns up- stairs, Rob Roy occupying the seat in the elevator and accompanying Mrs. Coolidge to the library, while the Presi- dent adjourns to the study for a cigar and glance at the news of the day. The study is very cheerful room. | The big fireplace, the easy chairs, the walls crowded with paintings of Amer lean historical events and characters, an enormous desk covered with books, papers, and magazines, flanked at the right by .silken American flag and at the left by the Presidents standard the room is really gay with color and warmth. -.
 President Lights Smoker
 The Presidents only use of tobacco is an occasional. cigar, smoked deliber- ately and with evident relish, and 1 firmly set at somewhat defiant up ward angle in the right-hand corner 4 of his mouth. After sharing his unique newspaper with the guest for ten min utes, the President suggests a visit to the studio across the hall-the boys bedroom temporarily cleared of furni- ture and made into workroom where Howard Chandler Christy has been painting the President's portrait and two portraits of Mrs Coolidge. Cross. ing the hall, the Presidents Lincoln Day speech. at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York is 4-entiOned-at the largest political dinner ever given in America, where 2,034 guests were seated, and 1900 more turned away for want of room.
 The President remarks, T don't see why they should want to hear mel"
 The guest dissents, and the Presi- dent adds, Did you ever hear Presi- dent Harding speak? He was great speaker l don't speak well!"
 To the guests rejoinder that an audience enjoys q graceful delivery, but that the substance of. a speech is the real thing after all, the President concurs with, 'sThat's the only thing that lasts"
 Man Of Few Vanities
 It may here be interpolated that the President has few vanities; but he is not without them. One is his style in writing--a conscious use of | short, crisp, poir ted, declarative sen- tences, in which he takes great pride. The way to the study leads past a handsome bit of up-tO-the-minute fur niture. That's our radio set. l don't like radio"
 The books at the White House are casual miscellany. The President does not read general literature either for pleasure or cultural development As young man he liked fiction and