Evening star., 1935-09-10
Long Staged Show for Guests
Of Capital 4 portment House
Death Mourned by Members of "Amen
Corner'-Bodyguards We're Back
ground for Clo,rning and Jokes.

were always with him at the hotel
were Landry, Voter and Murphy
Roden
1t was Roden who, according to
news reports, grappled with Dr. Weiss,
the Senator's assailant at the louisiana
State Capitol, and fired the first shot
into the asSaSsin's body
Roden was we'll known at the
Broadmoor. He was sometimes seen
back of the desk and at the Office
switchboard. When certain expected
long distance calls would come in
Roden would plug in to them. He
could initiate the Senator's voice to
perfection-and would often i!nper-
senate his chief over the phone. Long
received more phone calls than all the
other guests at the Broadmoor put to-
gether. Often he had the operators
at their wits ends trying to handle
them all. They were most numerous
after his radio broa6casts when they
would come in from all parts Of the
country.
Careful With Calls.
He was usually very pleasant over
the phone" said the hotels chief op-
erator-"but there were times when
he'd get pretty impatient. We had to
be mighty careful with his calls, can
tell you"
The Senator sent reams IF kilograms
from the hotel usually debating these
himself to the switchboard operator.
He sent many to Will Rogers, always
collect, and in his last one, sent shortly
before Rogers death he wired him.
Had the galleries roaring again.
Keep your eye on the Senator from
Louisiana and you might get to be a
great humorist some day"
Senator Long never took his meals
in the hotel dining room. He usually
ate alone with his bodyguards up
stairs" and he always had breakfast
in his apartment. A guard would
cook his meal for him. The Senator
was known to be constantly in fear
that some of his enemies would try
to poison him-and everything he ate
was carefully watched while being
prepared-though he had no court
faster" in his retinue. Sometimes he
cooked his own meals and frequently
boasted about his cooking. There's
only two fellows in the world who
know how to cook oysters right" he
once told the writer, "and I'm boIh
of EN-"
Guards Slept Nearby.
Two of Senator Longs bodyguards
occupied a bed room adjoining mis-
own. A third slept in another room
in another part of the building The
Senator never went to the door and
no one ever entered his apartment
who was not known to one or the
other of his guards. The bed Senator
Long slept in was sent to him by the
management of the Hotel New Yorker
in New York City. While on a visit
to that hotel he told the manager that
the bed he had there was so comfort
able that he wanted to buy it and take
it to Washington. That same bed was
promptly boxed and shipped to the
Broadmoor.
Senator Longs wife and children
paid him several visits while he lived
at the Broadmoor, but they never oc-
cupied the same apartment with him.
The methods used to guard his life
made this impossible. He said that
he would not expose his family to the
risks and annoyances
The Senator's automobile, which
bore Virginia tags, was kept in the
hotel garage. When leaving the
building he would send his chauffeur.
who was also his bodyguard. to get
the machine and drive it to the front
entrance. Another guard would pre-
oede him to the door. The Senator
would linger for a moment in the
lobby, third guard close beside him.
He would not take a further step
until he was given the signal that
all was clear. This was usually the
jerking of a thumb.
When he left the Broadmoor for
the last time on his way South he
waited as usual for this signal that
all was clear ahead of him. 80
long" he called over his shoulder to
the little group standing In the lobby
behind him. And so long 1t was.