The Bismarck tribune., 1932-12-06

CdIIlly u tIle LdQU.
BY PAUL HARRISON
Measured in time instead Of dis
tance, it was a long way from the
Roosevelts' first modest home on N
street, in Washington, to the white
house. It was, in fact, exactly 70
years, for Franklin d. Roosevelt was
appointed assistant secretary of the
Navy in 1913.
But even in those days the selder
children, Anna and James, used to
wonder about the austere mansion
where President Wilson lived, and
wished that they could romp about
it's lawns and gardens. And once
they burst into their fathers study
with breathless question: When"
they asked, "are you going to be
president We were talking to the
Rogerses and they said -"
Franklin Roosevelt's laugh boomed
out. And then he told them about
the day when, at the age of S. he
was taken on visit to Washing
! ton. And how President Cleveland
said: II am making strange wish
for ,you, little man wish suppose
no one else would make. I wish for
you that you may never be president
of the United States"
The youngsters were puzzled by
that enigmatic story. 1t was a long
time before they understood what
President Cleveland meant. But after
that they were content to play in
their own back yard.
| u X X
EARLY MEMORIES
Anna was Z when the Roosevelts
first went to the capital, and James
| was 18 months younger. Elliott was
| only 3. Franklin, Jr., was born the
following summer at Campobello
! Island, New Brunswick, and John
came along in 1916, in Washington.
Golden-haired, blue-eyed "Sis," as
Anna has always been called, has
only Slight recollection of her ear
liest childhood at the Roosevelt
! estate at Hyde Park, N. Y, and of
living in Albany in 1909 and 10.
when her young father was men,
ber of the state senate. But she
! does remember her first winter in
New York, at the brownstone house
in 65th street, and her shy advent
at Miss Davidge's kindergarten. That
Kindergarten, incidentally, finally
became the Todhunter School, in
which Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt now
teaches and has part interest.
In washington, as the years sped
by, and the assistant secretary of the
Navy took on heavier responsibilities
Con,Iirinn c0NiaI &c Lo
Roosevelts moved to bigger house
on R street. 1t had spacious dining
and drawing rooms for formal din
ners and receptions. And it had an
almost equally large playroom, and
a glasSed-in sleeping room-roof and
sides-on the third floor. isis" and
Jimmy and Bunny" had perfect
ly dandy times tossing paper bags
full OF water from these windows to
the sidewalk in front, letting them
burst with startling plop at the
F., feet Of unwary pedestrians
X X X
IRIS MARVELLOUS WATCH
They went to the white house twice
on regular "rubberneck" tours, al
| ways in tow of a vigilant governess
who expected them to try to carve
their initials in the chief executives
| desk. President Wilson, weighted by
| cares, they seldom saw. But Elliott
does remember a visit to their house
| by the former President Theodore
Roosevelt. The boy, who had been
named for TR's only brother, was
taken on the big mans lap and al
lowed to listen to the chimes in a
marvellous and massive gold watch
that Teddy carried.
| Elliott remembers, too, still with
an involuntary catch of breath, the
| terrifying afternoon when he was
locked for hours in sitting closet.
Anna, nearly 10, was holding the
very young Franklin, Jr., in her lap
and grooming the rock-a-bye-bab
song. Elliott, then 16 years removed
from fatherhood, didn't like babies,
and cared less for lullabyes. He crept
up behind Anna and tipped her chair
over backward.
Down came baby, sister and all.
And down came the wrath OF a
panic-stricken nurse. She marched
Elliott, by one Of his large, crimson
ears, into a closet, slammed the door
and locked it with such a vigorous
twist that the key was broken off.
X X X
PUNISHMENT ENOUGH
F, Then panic reigned both inside
and outside that closet. The nurse
set to work with hairpins and nail
files, but to no avail. She was afraid
to tell the parents. And Elliott, who
knew nothing of the broken key, was
convinced that he had been left to
sutfocate in his dungeon.
Finally the furnace man was call
ed, and he laboriously chiseled the
lock from the door. Everyone peeped
| fearfully into the closet. Bunny was
still alive, but chastened. It was de-
clded unanimously that he had been
punished enough.
Discipline never was a very serious
problem in the Roosevelt menape.
| The older children still maintain that
| their parents were much stricter
With them than with Franklin, Jr.
and John. But the latter are able to
present an excellent case for the
negative side Of the question.
L t. r.