Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-03-05

" " pants of the White House, who
often have been men knowing
the lure of the outdoors.
In the early days, it was natural that
President of vigorous mold, seeking to lay
down for a little while the burdens Of office,
should find solace on trail or stream. Sucn
were the pastimes they had always followed,
and opportunities for others necessarily were
limited.
As time has gone on conditions have changed,
and far wider field has been opened, but
despite that, the playground that nature affords
continues to hold its place in presidential favor
In the past few months, the public has be-
come accustomed to seeing Franklin Roosevelt
cast as fisherman swimmer or boatman. Those
are not acquired tastes, but the things he has
done since boyhood. At Groton, the young
Roosevelt played base ball and foot ball, but
when he went to Harvard it was place on
the crew to which he aspired. The fortunes
of war we're not with him there, however.
In taking his place in the ranks of those
Presidents with a penchant for some particular
form of sport, Mr.. Roosevelt Is member 81
that larger group of his predecessors including.
notably, his kinsman, Theodore Roosevelt who
have been inclined that way.
ON the other side of the picture, there have
been several Chief Executives to whom any
appreciate amount of recreation seems to have
been entirely foreign, if the silence of history
on this point may be accepted as guide.
George Washington set the mode for the
Presidents of active bent, spending hours In
the saddle In his earlier days, he was an ath-
lete of no mean ability being skilled in foot
racing and jumping And it Is interesting to
speculate on what he could have done with
base ball or foot ball when account is taken Of
the powerful arms and hands with which con-
temporaries say we're physical attributes.
John Quincy Adams also had a decided
liking for athletics, particularly swimming, and
when he first came to the White House WAS
accustomed to arise at O'Clock, walk to the
Potomac in company with his Swiss steward,
and plunge in. Sometimes he would pass an
hour or so in the water making the round
trip from the mouth of the Tiber to Long
Bridge. Whether Adams wore bathing suit
for these matutinal excursions Is open to de-
bate. At any rate, there is an apocryphal story
to the effect that a woman journalist Ann
Royal won the promise Of an interview at the
White House by posting herself at the waters
edge, where President Adams had left his
clothes, and then calmly remaining as he swan
up informing the Executive that the interview
she had sought previously without success would
be the price of departure.
Andrew Jackson who followed the second
Adams to the White House was noted marks
man and also was fond Of race horses.
A BRAHAM LINCOLNS great recreation
n was bowling and in this he often IN
dulged when he came to the Capital as a men,
Der of the Thirtieth Congress
In a chapter on Abraham Lincoln in the
National Capital" in the records Of the Col
umbia Historical Society, Allen C. Clark has
written as follows:
Mr. Lincoln was very fond of bowling. With
members of Congress he had match games on
the alley of James Casparis' hotel, known as
the Congress Hall Refectory, on Capitol Square,
the corner Immediately east and opposite the
House Of Representatives, now q part Of the
Capitol grounds. He played the game with
great gusto. Whether he won or lost it was
all the same to him. His gaunt figure added
to the bystanders' entertainment. When he
played, crowd gathered, especially to hear his
Jokes some Of which were reduced to the ap-
probation Of q mere man."
In his boyhood, Lincoln had won quite S
reputation as a wrestler.
Ulysses Grants skill as q soldier was equalled
by that with which he could handle horses.
Love Of horse1esh was one Of Grants out
standing traits and many stories are told Of
HIM As q result, including that Of his arrest