Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-12-21
PRESIDENT ELECT HOOVER RECALLS HIS
BOYHOOD In PAPER BEFORE IOWA GROUP

(From an address made BY Herbert
Hoover before the Iowa Society,"
| prefer TO think Of Iowa ar | saw
ri through the eyes Of a I~0-year-old
boy-and the eyes Of all ~10-year-old
Iowa boys are or should be filled
with the wonders of iowa's streams
and woods, Of the mystery OF grow
ing crops. His days should be filled
with adventure and great undertak-
ings, with participation in good and
comforting things. I was taken far
Their west from Iowa when ! was 10,
to Oregon, and then to hat final
haven Of Observation-Disclosures
! have clung ever since.
Some say that these recollections
of Iowa are only the illusions of 40
years after. but | know better-for
] have been back and checked them
up. l was told that when | went
back everything would have shrunk
up and become small and ordinary.
For instance, there was Cooks
Hill-that great long hill where, on
winter nights. we slid down at ter
rifle speeds with our tummies tight
to homemade sleds. I've seen il
several times since; it's a good hill
and except for the older method Of
thawing out frozen toes with ice
water the operation needs no mod
ern improvement.
The Ole Swimmin' Hole
The swimming hole under the will
lows down by the railroad bridge is
still operating efficiently, albeit
modern mothers probably compel
their youngsters to take a bath to
get rid of clean and healthy mud
when they come home. The hole still
needs to be decpened however. II Is
hard 10 keep from pounding the mud
with your hands and feet when you
shove off for the 30 feet Of a cross
chanenl swim.
And there were the woods down
the Burlington track. The denuda-
tion of our forest hasn't reached
them even yet, and | know there are
rabbits still being trapped in crack
err boxes held open by a figure four
at the behest of small boys at this
very time. ! suspect, however, that
the conservationists have invented
some kind of a closed season before
now.
One Of the bitterest days Of my
life was in connection with a rabbit.
Rabbits fresh from a figure-four
trap early on a cold morning are
wiggly rabbits, and in the lore Of
boys or my time il is better to bring
them home alive.
My brother, being older. had sur
reptitiously behind the blacksmith
shop read in the youths Compan-
ion full directions for rendering
live rabbits secure. | say "surrep-
titiously," for mine was a Quaker
family unwilling in those days 10
have youth corrupted with stronger
reading than the Bible, the ~encyclO-
pedia. or those great novels where
the hero overcomes the demon rum.
A Herbert Hoover Failure
Soon after he had acquired this
higher learning on rabbits, he pro-
ceeded to instruct me to stand still
in the cold snow and % hold up the
rabbit by its hind feet while with
his not over-sharp knife he proposed
to puncture two holes between the
sinews and back knee joints Of the
rabbit, through which holes he pro-
posed 20 tie a string and thus arrive
at complete security.
0UOu ZIG A~HlTWAl&NiVh Vi AAt Up
Grafton the resistance Of this rabbit
was too much for me. ! vas not
only blamed for its escape all the
way home and for weeks afterwards.
but continuously owe the last forty
years. / had thought sometimes that
| would write the youths Compan-
ion" and suggest they make sure
that this method IL altered. For !
never sec rabbit tracks across the
snowy fields that | do not have a
painful recollection Of IL all.
mentioned the Burlington track.
II was a wonderful place. The track
was ballasted with glacial gravels
where on industrious search you
discovered gems Of agate and fossil
coral which could with infinite back
aches be polished on the grindstone.
Their fine points came out wonder
fully when wet. and you had 70 lick
them with your tongue each exhibit.
| suppose that engineering has long
/ since destroyed this inspiration to
young biologists By using mass
! production crushed rock.
4 Campaign on HoOver's Youth
Ny earliest realization Of the stir
Of national life was the torch parade
in the Garfield campaign. on that
occasion. I was not only allowed out
that night. but saw the lamps filled
and lighted. There was no great
need for urging voters in our village
there was a democrat in the viii
lage. He occasionally fell to the
influence Of liquor, therefore in the
esteem Of our group he represented
all tha fnrrau ~ owl AZ tfp,ns hg