The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-08-21
Hoover Again
Vie7e,S Scenes
of ChiMh0od
BY RAY TUCKER

VA EoL btLANCh, Iowa, Aug u
w Herbert Hoover's birthplace
is a respecting, self-contained and
friendly place.
1t walks in the fear of the Lord,
as it did when Hoover used to sit
for hours in the Quaker meeting
house without daring to wiggle his
toes, but it believes in making the
most out Of this world. There is
no great wealth here, but neither
are there any signs of poverty.
Neat but modest wooden homes of
mid-Victorian architecture, buried
behind vines and latticed flowers,
fringe the two main thoroughfares
and the few branching streets that
soon struggle out ito the fiat coun-
tryside encircling the town on all
four sides.
West Branch is content with its
peace and sunlight. 1t is satisfied
with present population of $50 souls
housed in $50 comfortable homes,
and never quarrels with the census
statistics.
The most pretentious structure in
the place is the MODERN high school,
The Quaker meeting house, now q
movie palace, and several other
churches are the only buildings Of
any size.
|DEsPITE agricultural depres-
- sions, West Branch declines to
skimp on the education Of its sons
and daughters or neglect their re-
ligious training.
In these respects it has not
changed much since Hoover spent
his first ten years here. In fact,
on arriving early this morning,
Hoover said the town differed very
little from his boyhood. Cooks Hill,
where he used to coast, seems to
have lost some of its awful distance
and steepness. The swimming hole
near the railroad bridge seems in
need Of deepening and dredging.
But the man who came back to
his home town as a candidate Tor
the highest Office in the world, thus
realizing the dream of almost every
American boy, could hardly be ex-
pected to gaze upon these familiar
scenes through the eyes of child
hood.
Even before he became a presi-
dental candidate, Hoover was
frequent visitor here. With the
! curiosity Of boy, orphaned at ten,
he has again and again sought in
formation about his father and
mother, Jesse and Huldah Hoover.
whose graves lie on the hill top
above the stop where he will speak
tonight.
EOOVERS father was the viii
H lage blacksmith, and a good
name on the tombstone reads the
inscription: Come unto me, all
We that labor and are heavy laden.
and 1 will give you rest-Matt.
1928" On the small headstone
over Huldah Hoover's grave is the
| inscription: For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them which sleep with Jesus will
God bring with Him.
The story is that Hoover's
mother, who survived his father by
a few years, worried over the con-
spicuousness of her husbands
grave, it was the first in the new.
cemetery, and had workmen sink
the base. Huldah was earnest and.
beStirring in the things of the
spirit. Her husband though a de-
vout Quaker, seems to have been
Of a livelier temperament lie was
progressive and made opportunities
for himself. He also made money.
He soon added a line of imple-
ments and opened a store, inserting
the following ad in the county
papers in 1879: "Ho, for Kansas.
But if you do not go there, go to
j. G. Hoover and buy your farming
implements. Come and see me.
for will not be beat in quality or
price. j. G. Hoover"