Evening star., 1926-03-19

he voluntarily contributed to the inter
view.
The morning after my son was
! elected mayor of Northampton he hap
| pened to meet the man that he had
| beaten. i didn't vote for you. Cal.
! said he. Somebody did, said my son.
| The interviewer told the colonel that
| before he left he would like to see the
| parlor In which the father admins
| tered to his son the oath of the office
of President of the United States, an
experience that has come to no other
man in the Nations history. He led
the way inside.
THAT s where Calvin stood" he said
simply, indicating one side of the lit
tie table IN the center of the room.
Here's where l stood. The lamp"
But the oil lamp that had furnished
the dim light for that great event in
the fathers life was missing-doubt-
less having been put to use in some
other part of the house.
That the waved his hand toward
medium sized picture hanging on
the Wallis a. picture of Calvin when
he was Governor of Massachusetts.
That "a small tintype tucked in the
flame-''is his mother. THAT pic
ture hanging on the opposite wallis
my mother
"Calvin's mother and his only sister
died in this room where he took the
oath of office as President of the
United States
Then. quickly. he brought to his lips
smile that he meant to be deprecia.
tory.
Pretty rough sort of a room, isn't
it,"
Family Distinctive.
In the little hamlet among the
Green Mountains where five genera
tions of Colleges have lived. where
four of them were born, a place that
has produced as pure and stalwart
a brand Of Vermonter as any that
grows. the Coolidges always have
been spoken of as distinctive" They
have stood out as men of marked
characteristics. This was particu.
larly true Of Col. John c. Coolidge.
The colonel made his living by
farming and by holding small local
offices. IF John went out for any
thing he usually got it," one of his
twonsfolk once said. There were two
factions, but it was said that he ran
the town meetings.
Also he ran the church, according
to this neighbor.
Twenty years ago he said, John
took charge of repairing the church
He collected the money and bossed
the work Mr.. Brown came over to
our house and says: I'm willing to do
my part, but I'm going to say moth
ing. John Coolidge will have his way
ANYHOW, so there's no use my saying
anything Yes. John was very set.
But a good manager. He spent the
money we'll"
When the blacksmith left Ply
mouth, John Coolidge ran the shop
and could shoe a horse or tinker
buggy in good shape" He had a
pair of forceps and could pull a
tooth. At funerals he usually looked
after the seating of the people. He
taught the Sunday school,.
Demanded Real Work.
when he was road commissioner
the people didn't like him because he
was SO close. If a man didn't put in
full time he'd dock him. He'd only
pay a man for the time he worked.
How about money that was owing
him? Why. he expected to be paid
what was owing him, but he would
never crowd a man.
IF they were raising money Tor
any public purpose. he always gave
his share, and gave 1t willingly
During the war he was a large con
tributor to the Red Cross. But he's
not wasteful, very saving, even in
little things.
"He used to cut his cordwood in
such even lengths and pile 1t so
straight that we'd ask him if he
sandpapered the ends of the piles.
Hes a man that does what he
agrees. but who's mighty careful
what he agrees to-"