Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-03-02
The True Story of
Woodrow Wilson
Rv DAVID LAWRENCE.

tho authors of certain quotations.
Each one would write quotation
and the next person would write an
first. until a long sentence had been
evolved. Members of the family
wrote lmericks about each other or
about ybody else who happened to
enter their thoughts.
4 Wilson Limerick.
They We're always on the lookout
for new limericks and when men,
bers of the family heard new verse
it was promptly brought home. One
of the most famous of these liner
icks was Mr.. Wilson's about himself:
For beauty | am not a star.
There are others more handsome by
far.
But my face-I don, mind it;
You see ] am behind it
1t is the fellow in front that jar"
Another favorite of MIR. Wilson's,
of which the authorship is unknown,
was the following:
"A wondrous bird is the pelican;
His mouth holds more than his
bellican;
He takes in his beak
Enough food for a week,
But | am darned if | see how the
hellican."
St!ll another favorite was:
There vas a young man who was
bant>hted.
He didn't know when he was sighted.
But went TO the party
Md ate just as hearty
Us If he had been really invited"
one of the dominant characteristics
Of the Wilson family was its regu-
larity and the. llethodical habits of
the man at the head of il. From his
boyhood on one could set his watch
by W oodrow Wilson's comings and
goinss. Meals were eaten at precisely
the same time every day. He always
arose at the same time and shaved
himself with an old-faShioned razor.
He used the same Strop for years
heavy we'll grained and oiled piece
OF leather upon which he was able
to predict the character of the wealth
er.
Razor StrGp barometer.
II can sometimes tell twenty-four
or thirty-SiN hours in advance when
ii Is going to storm" he remark ed
to Il friend. IF II is going to be clear
my strop is smooth and the razor
slips over it easily and without noisy
friction, and when il Is going to storm
the strop gets heavy and the razor
STICKS"
On the 5rd OF March, 1913. the day
before Mr. Wilson became President
he lauRhingly told his friends that
judging by his razor strop. it would
be clear day for his Inauguration.
And it was.
=. In one sense the Wilson family
life was exclusive. Tom, Dick and
Il T.
or to the table. or taken into full friend
snip IN the group. The home was con-
sldered sacred place, where none but
those worthy by culture. character
and breeding were urged to stay The
family was not the least bit snobbish.
II was simply selective of its com
panions once person was taken
into the home. the bars were COM
pletely down. There was neither re-
serve nor limit in the welcome. the
slowed. Even when he was President
Mr. Wilson seemed to give his COM.
plete confidence TO any one within the
famliy circle. Problems of state, his
opinions OF men and affairs-every-
thing-Were discussed with the ut
most abandon and without the slight
est hint that it was being said in
confidence. Mr.. Wilson held in good
faith to the old southern idea that
confidence given in the home or at
the table was invjolable. MANY of
those who were guests at his table
often gaSped with amaZment-almost
with fear-at the frankneSs manifest
ed by Mr.. Wilson.
Guests He Could Trust.
The reason. of course, that Wood
row Wilson was SO unreserved in his
conversation was that guests were
not invited indiscriminately to the
White House. Neither Mr.. Wilson
nor the members of his family
looked upon the Executive Mansion
itself as a public institution. but as
their temporary home. The executive
offices, connected with the White
House by ii covered corridor. were
different. There Woodrow Wilson was
the President of the United States.
acting the role of public official but
in the White House itself he was
Virginia gentleman entertaining his
CHOSEN guests, to whom his hospitali-
" ana confidence were given with
out restraint.
No such attitude, of course. was
noticeable In the state affairs in the
WHITE House. official dinners were
rather formal. Receptions were much
the same as under previous admins
tratlons. Musicals and teas, required
by officfal custom, were few in num-
Der and simply polite affairs. The
ilsonS were always gracious, but
they did not disclose the same init
macy 1hen as on less public occasions.
Nopyright, 1874. by the George II. Doran
COMPANY snn IN the United States. Canada. South
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current News Features. 1ncorporatedD
tTOmorrOw'~ chapter will tell WIN
Woodrow Wilson never invited p.m.
berS of Congress to dine nj the VXhft.