Evening star., 1934-04-01
Tales of Noted Folk in
Art, Literature, Politics
President Enjoys Lure Of the Sea-Late Repre-
/. sentative Cooper, Friend of Filipinos, Hon
ored-Russians Splendidly Housed.

Since those early boyhood days
when he sat on the string piece OF
his Grandfather Delanos stone wharf
at Farehaven and discovered the
strange fascination of ships, Frank
lin Roosevelt's interest in them and
love of the briny has grown with the
years. The old sailing vessels have
romance in every spar and the wind
whistling through the rigging is music
to him.
With an Unborn love of the sea that
came from generations of seafaring
ancestors, President Roosevelt, with
a few congenial friends is calling the
blue during Easter week, in search OF
the giant barracuda and ether fishes
caught in the waters off the West
Indies
A week or two ago the President
looked into the faces of the news
paper men who attend his press con-
ferences and told them they looked
awfully tired after the grueling Win
ter's work, and that he though they
needed a rest-and with sly smile,
said I'm going fishing"
So on Wednesday last he sailed
away or. Vincent Astor's yacht, the
Nourmahal-read Moore's Lalla Rookh
over again and got acquainted with
the fair Nourmahal-with a goodly
company of kindred spirits, including
Chief Justice Frederick Kernochan of
the Court of Special Sessions of New
York. Kermit Roosevelt. DR.. Leslie
Heiter of Mobile. Ala, and George st.
George, New Yorker.
The tang of the salt has an ire
sistible call for the President, and he
worked long hours overtime and there
were precedentS to be broken, but like
the call of the wild he must away
Congress was in session and it has
not been the practice of Presidents to
leave the White House at such times.
But Mr.. Roosevelt had broken prece-
dents before. On January 3, at the
opening of the Seventy Third Con-
gress. tradition was sacrificed to eX-
pediency and a telephone call sup
planted the usual formal notification
to the President that the Congress
was in session and ready for business
A committee. according to custom,
had been appointed to notify the
President. but at the last minute a
distant White House instead Motor
cycles swung into line, the usual Is
cort formed and President Roosevelt
was on his way to the Capitol. :
In his preface for Ashley's Whale
Ships of New Bedford" Mr. Roosevelt
writes: With a budding historical
sense, I rummaged in the attlc"-of
his grandfathers house About that
time he read Admiral Mahan's In
fluence of Sea Power Upon History"
One reading was not enough for his
mother in her story Of the early years
of My Boy Franklin" says he read
Mahan until he fairly knew it by
heart
Then came John Paul Jones, Perry,
Decatur and Farragut in turn, and it
was later when at Harvard that he
began to assemble the collection of
books on naval history, which has
grown to several thousand volumes
perhaps one of the best private
libraries on the subject.
Justice KernoChan, who has been
with the President on many a fishing
trip says he tells some pretty tall
fish stories, and is more fun than a
circus when he goes fishing.
Before leaving for the South the
President signed the Philippine inde-
pendence bill, which will give freedom
to the islands in 1945 or soon there
after.
To no one will this bill give more
pleasure and satisfaction than to Mrs.
Henry Allen Cooper of Racine. Wis,
who for years has looked forward to
the freedom of the Philippines. to
which she and her husband, the late
Representative Cooper, were so warm
ly attached.
Mr. Cooper was a member of Con-
-gress fol- 36 years. and during a large
part of that time Mrs. Cooper shared
with him delightful hospitality at
the Capital.
On March l an official delegation
from the Filipino Gibbons Society of
Chicago went to Racine to visit the
grave of Mr.. Cooper and present to
his widow the flag of the Philippine
Islands.
Mrs. Cooper writes to a friend in
Washington about the delightful BAN
ouet and ball given in her honor by
the Philippine Womans Club of Chi
cago. at which representative Fill
pinos in this country We'd with each
other in honoring the widow of their
friend, who for 30 years fought their
battles in the House.
Another distinguished scion of an
historic family, in the person of Mr..
Thomas Jefferson Coolidge of Boston,
Is expected shortly at Washington, as
an assistant to the Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr.. Morgenthau. In just
what capacity is not known, but So
cially he has a host of friends in the
Capital.
Mr. Coolidge claims to be The
Coolidges of Boston" AS all the
sCoolidges of New England seem quite
worthwhile when it comes to doing
things where a little unusual ability
: is needed, Mr.. Coolidge will be an
asset to the Government.
Now if he were down in Virginia
where his jefferson ancestors lived,
Senator Coolidge of Massachusetts
would be Cousin Marcus" and the
late President, Cousin Calvin" to the
Hast generation. Virginians who
sgrant the palm to no one when it
comes to gentle forebears, always
cousin" to remote generations.
1t is not recalled which branch of
the Thomas jefferson family Mr..
Coolidge descended from; whether the
5Eppes or Randolph branch. but it is
understood he has some Of the beau
tiful old jefferson furniture.
= The late Mrs Alexander Randall of
Baltimore, a cousin of Mr.. Coolidge,
twho was the granddaughter of Mar
stha Jefferson and Thomas Randolph.
sand the great-granddaughter of the
third President of the United States,
owned the beautiful Gilbert Stuart
.portrait of her grandmother, Mrs.
Randolph, and the stunning portrait
of William Byrd of Westover, dressed