Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-19

own leisure With breakfast disposed of, Sec
rotary Richey would receive from the President
any messages the latter wanted radioed back to
Washington, and with this bit of business trans
acted Mr.. Hoover would go on deck and resume .
his walking. He rarely was tempted by deck
chair until the afternoon. Frequently though h
he would come to q stop in his walk and join
some standing group and talk for few mo-
naentS before Tesuming his exercise
Nearly every forenoon there was some form
OF ship routine to attract the attention Of the
Presidential party. Sometimes it was Q crew oe
ship inspection, life boat drill, or fire dr1l?
then there would be imaginary target practice.
With nothing else more exciting aboard, these
things never failed to attract large audience
on the part Of the presidential party and always
were interesting
The afternoons Just sort Of made themselves.
There were no schedules. In the evenings the
President and his party would sit on deck Tor
two hours to be entertained by sound pictures
Never once did Mr.. Hoover miss and never
once did he leave before the end Of the show.
and always he seemed TO enjoy them, althougn
several Of them were far below the par OF Whae
are rated g hrst-c3ass pictures. Attendance
ut these sound picture shows followed tmme~
siately after the Presidents dinner. Therefore
he and those who were his dinner guests thae
evening appeared q the show IN their evening
clothes, but always the air was cool enooenS
despite the fact that the ship was IN tropical
and semi tropical waters most Of the tune, ~
call for topeOats.
The nightly entertainments consumed ahous
two hours. Not once were they mATTed %
rain. The President and the members d his
immediate pax1v. along with captain and exc
ecutive OGnceR Of the Arizona, occupied large
wicker chairs IN the front row. The newspaper
correspondents and photographers took up the
next two rows The next several rows were
occupied b. the ships ofncers, and then came
the sailors and Marines.
Although 1Gr. Hoover banished the Nations
Nm~p n
of this voyage he did ind 1t necessary a& times
70 discuss matters relating to Porto Rico and
the virgin Is1ands, which he visited, with
Secretaries Hurley and wilbur. This was espe.
cially true after these nsular possessions nAo
been visited. mr. Hoover seemed eager 20 near
the impressions Of the members Of his party
and to receive their individual opinions IS 20
conditions and future prospects.
During these discussions Mr.. Hoover wouio
speak with the greatest eandor He made No
attempt 70 conceal his feelings. This natss-
rally prompted those whom he questioned ON
the return voyage to be equally outspOken
He made Il apparent he wanted the truth, ana
he got it. He gave unmistakable evidence that
he was not very fAyorably impressed from On
economic viewpoint with either Porto Rico On
the Virgin IslandA However, he seemed "a
think that there h some hope for the former
but Is for The latter he put them down Is 'vir~
tuaI1y hopeless. As he expressed 1t to gToup
OF correspondents. It was unfortunate that dc
He had never before been to either PoFt@
Rico or TIE Virgin Islands, and he was tn~
tenssly interested IN an he saw. HIS quick
eye seemed 70 miss nothing and his direc9
questioning made II possible for him TO %
away with o wealth Of information. Aside
from the disappointing economic aspects q
these islands the President could not help but
have been happy and eomplimented at tbs
lovahle and enthusiastic manner IN which he
was acclaimed IN FOrto Rico. The natives ae
AnGA Al ~ Tmln
% per cent Of whom are Negroes. appeared
proud 10 have theRTesident Of the great United
States Visik them and showed real reverence
but Otherwise were not demonstTative. But the
Porto Ricans, hguratively speaking went w16
over Mr.. Hoover's visit.
This writer has covered" many presidential
trips and has been with Mr.. Hoover on every
trip he has made since becoming Presidents
and therefore can say without hesitation tha4
he had never seen before such an enthusiAst9d
and apparently genuinely sincere and hAppM
reception as was accorded Mr.. Hoover during
his travels On the Island Of Porto Rico
Prom his landing at Ponce, on the south
coast Of Porto RioO. throughout his ride ACROSS
the island, and during his stay in San juan
the capital, and the return ride to Ponce tU
embark Mr.. Hoover was cheered loudly and
with feeling. Throughout it all he looked down
on faces that were IN smiles. He was appreo
ciative. Ha was touched, too, because he Ee1
allied that the great majority Of those people
were very poor and underfed and without any
immediate prospects Of better times. The nttla
children. and they were countless especially
appealed to him.
MIR. HOOVER 10 nothing Of the "shownlanH
and despdSes theatricals but the relaxaw
ton during his trip 10 Porto Rico seemed 10
make it easier for him to show the more hus
man side Of hig nature, and he was not lonA
among those smiling. happy-looking Porto
Ricans before no was returning those SnileA
with his own warm smile and friendly hand
wave. He has never been much Of q hands
waving President, but he took to it natnFaHG