Evening star., 1925-03-04

Rumors were flying thick and fast.
Any number of possible selections
! were being printed In the m ost
| authoritative style. President Cool
fdge maintained his customary
silence. Then one morning he asked
a number Of Senators to be his
| guests at a White House breakfast.
Harlan r. Stone Of New York was
1 one of the breakfast party. He had
arrived In Washington on q sleeper
| from New York, having accepted the
| Presidents invitation to accept the
attorney generalship. No mention of
| this was made by the President to
| the other guests. Mr.. Stone had been
included in the rumors about the ap-
| pointment, and his appearance natu-
rally caused some surprise. But the
President merely introduced Mr..
| Stone as Mr.. Stone, and not as the
| new Attorney General, and 1t was not
| until later in the day when the story
| of the appointment appeared In the
newspapers did these Senators actu-
| ally. know of 1t.
Mr.. Coolidge, born in Plymouth, VT.
in the Green Mountains, has all the
| characteristics Of the New Englander.
His silence Is one of them. Another
| is his policy on economy. A third
Is his insistence on unvarnished and
abbreviated facts.
Likes His Old Home.
To his mountain home Mr.. Cool
idge has, with the exception of three
years, returned each year in the 35
| he has been away as a college stu
dent, a lawyer and public official
After he was admitted to the bar at
| Northampton, Mass, he did not take
a vacation for three consecutive
years, and told his father that 1T was
I T. l.. l..
| annual visit because of the necessity
| of establishing a practice. Mr.. Cool
idge particularly enjoys his vacations
| at the old homestead. There he Is
admist the silence of the people
among whom he was born and free
from interruptions from visitors. He
| learned his ideas on economy as a
| schoolboy while g. clerk in the village
store of his father. He became well
| ideas from his father and his native
| teachers in St. Johns Academy at
| Ludlow.
| The President likes to hear a good
story. But he rarely tells one. He
| recently told friends that his train
| ing as a lawyer in the Northampton
bar. which he said compelled the
presentation of cold-biooded facts,
! early got him in the habit of follow
ing Blackstone. AS a consequence. he
has never illustrated his speeches
with an appropriate story and even
| in conversation he never uses an
| anecdote to strengthen his point or
to color his narrative.
| Mr.. Coolidge enjoys praoticfng Jokes
upon members of his family, and quite
often Mrs Coolidge finds an innocent.
practical joke by the President at her
expense. One of the earliest of Mr..
Coolidge's jokes on his wife relates
| to the buying of Our Family Physi-
clan" Shortly after the birth of the
| first son, Mrs Coolidge departed from
her budget plan and purchased from
| book agent a large sized volume,
which told how to treat the ordinary
diseases Of children, The book cost
| IS, and made a heavy hole in her do
mestic budget She said nothing to
the President about her extravaganza,
but laid the book upon the library
table in such a conspicuous place the
| President could not help seeing It.
One day Mrs. Coolidge found the fol-
| lowing written in ink on the inside
| covering:
Don't see any cure for suckers.
Calvin Coolidge"
One Remark on Long Trip.
| A story illustrating the taciturnity
| of the present occupant of the White
| House is told by one of his old friends.
| A few days after his nomination as
Vice President, the then Governor Of
| Massachusetts, invited one of his old
est and most confidential friends to
accompany him on an automobile trip.
which covered 90 miles. There were
| many things both were interested in,
and which naturally they might dis
| cuss on such a trip. The governor,
after travelling As miles and reachin g
a mountain section of the State, said
to his companion, "It is colder up
| here" He then gave directions for
| the chauffeur to turn back to Boston.
The only observation. the only con-
versation on this whole trip of 80
miles was that brief sentence deal
1 ing with the weather.
| President Coolidge enjoys having
| sympathetic friends about him. Their
| presence in his atmosphere makes his
work easier, although he rarely seeks
| their advice or suggestions. A few
| days after he inherited the presidency
| and was considering important mat
ters of policy. he summoned his friend,
Frank w. Stearns, into his private
| office. The President waved him to a
| chair, while he continued writing. Mr..
| Stearns smoked two cigars, and at the
end Of about an hour the President.
without asking his caller anything,
| thanked MIN rOr coming 10 the room
| and said that's ALL"
| Mr.. Stearns understands the Presi-
| dents moods, and quite often had
| similar experiences. He knew that
| President Coolidge merely wanted a
| sympathetic friend near him and did
not desire to consult him or to con-
verse with him on any pending prob
| lens
| President Coolidge is simple in his
habits. This he inherited from his
| ancestors, who have managed to ac-
| quire a competence from the rugged
| hills of Vermont. On his vacations
| President Coolidge returns to the
work Of his earlier days and helps the
| hired man with the haying and other
! farm duties. On the day President
/ Harding died he was engaged in
doctoring the trees in the front lawn
of his fathers home. On that occa-
sion he resembled more a tilier of the
soil than a Vice President of the
| United States. He were q smock, one
of his now priceless possessions,
which was made for him by his
grandmother, and which he has used
| on the old farm during his vacation
for more than 80 years.
The President took the oath Of office
as President Harding's successor un-
der a kerosene light in the home OF
dro nnd Dn1I,ps