The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-02-05
President and First Lady
Were Married on Feb.
10, 1899.
MET IN SCHOOL DAYS
Couple Has Lived in Many
Foreign Countries During
Career.
BY BERYL MILLER

WASHINGTON, Feb. S. The
President and the first lady of the
United States celebrate their thirty
first wedding anniversary on Feb.
10.
Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry
Hoover have observed many ami
versarieS in remote corners OF the
world and under many strange Cir
cumstances since 1899, but this will
be the first time the event has &C.
Cured in the White House.
When a husky young engineer OF
25, then called Bert, Hoover mar
ried the tall and charming daughter
of a wealthy banker in Monterey,
Cal, and carried her off to far-away
China on their honeymoon, he set
her up beside him for life as work.
ing comrade. And they have
achieved remarkable success in
blending marriage and career.
Met in College
Hoover has trekked the African
veldt, ridden the Australian bush,
crossed the Siberian steppes, sup
pressed riots Of Chinese coolies, been
wrecked on the China coast. And
through it all, Mrs. Hoover has ac-
companied him, making her home
wherever his work took them.
The first time Bert Hoover ever
saw his future wife was while he
was working his way through STAN
ford university where she was a
coed. He waited on her at the
table, and short time later he put
away his apron to call on her.
Lou Henry's sorority sisters saw
their waiter and college laundry
agent in the front parlor and walked
out of the room with their noses in
the air. But she entertained him
the whole evening. And the next
day she moved out of the sorority
house.
BIacksmith'S Son
Hoover, the son of an Iowa black
smith, then was a poverty-stricken
student at Stanford, and Lou Henry
was the daughter of wealthy
banker. But she had the true de-
mocracy that is the test of blue
blood.
Young Hoover and Miss Henry
found much in common as they
pored over the rocks on hinges with
the geology class and studied the
strata that composed the earth'S
crust. She was the only girl taking
the geology course and their court
ship developed on these expeditions.
They built their castles in Spain,
as all lovers do, but neither i'm
agined they would some day occupy
the White House. There are tales
that Herbert's exams had their bad
moments and that Lou Henry
tutored him quite extensively.
Offer of Job
But at last the engineers diploma
was achieved and Hoover took a
job in Australia. Then came an
offer of a good job in China. En-
gineer Hoover decided to take it if
Lou Henry would marry him at
once. He cabled the question. Word
flashed back that she would.
AS soon as Hoover could get to
California they were married in
Monterey, and left Immediately for
China. The ceremony was per-
formed by a Catholic priest with
special dispensation to perform
Protestant marriages, as no Protest
ant minister was Immediately avail
able. Mrs. Hoover left the Episco-
palian church to embrace the faith
of her new husband Quaker.
One of her first jobs as helpmate
to her husband was to organize the
women of Tientsin during the Boxer
rebellion, to ration off food supplies,
and to feed the men behind a bar
ricade Of sugar barrels and rice bags.
She is even said to have manned a
machine gun at one time, but this is
probably stretching the truth.
She learned to speak Chinese to
help her husband more effectively.
Ask any one who has tried to master
Chinese and they'll tell you that any
wife who will do that is matchless
mate, and genius.
Successfully Hoover's work carried
his family to Mexico, Canada, Aus
tralia, India, Africa and various
European countries.