The Washington times., 1936-06-16
.LAND0N' EYES
INDICATE HIS
FR|ENDLINESS.

NBHIN Hub NHS~
1.-THE character and habits of
Coz. Alfred M. LGndon, Repub-
licGn nominee for President, are
outlined in the follotDing story by
a reporter tDho has been "coDer-
ing" him for the past sic nonthSJ
By ROBERT HUMPHREYS
TOPEKA, June 16 Q.N.S0.-Al-
fred M. Landon, the Republican
presidential hope, is 48, S feet 8
inches tall and weighs 165 pounds.
He is Stocky in appearance and
seems q bit shorter than he is.
He has graying hair that has
thinned bit. he wears rimleSs
glasses. He has brown eyes that
alternately question and laugh.
They are friendly eyes.
He has a firm chin and mouth,
and his face bears few lines. He
looks the part of modest man
who is pretty sure Of himself. He
smiles frequently as though sold
on the idea the world is a great
place in which to live.
To willard Mayberry, Landon's
secretary, a hard-boiled Eastern
newspaper photographer, once re-
marked after having first seen
Landon:
"This guys got a million
dollar face and don't know it
that makes it worth two mill
lion"
WEARS GOOD CLOTHES
Landon wears good clothes, but
he can put on suit in the morn,
ing and have the press out OF IL
by noon. His tie refuses to stay
put. He favorS old hats and hates
to buy new ones.
He smokes pipes and cigars. For
the old back slap in politics, he
has substituted the brand-neW
trick of cumming" cigarettes.
There is nasal quality to his
voice His diction is usually
good but he pronounces Roosevelt
"Ruse-i-velt." When intent on his
subject, his sentences come short
and fast. When preoccupled, he
hens and haws a great deal oe-
tween utterances.
Whatever his worldlineSs, Ian
don has not lost his Small-toWn
viewpoint. He calls most people
by their first name. He knows all
the kids in his neighborhood ana
most of them have been allowed
to sit in the governors chair at
the Statehouse at one time or
another. He probably knows as
many farmers as anybody in the
Middle West.
Belongs to Clubs
He is an Elk, Mason and Odd
fellow. He belongs to the Topeka
Country Club and the wealthy
conservative Kansas City CLUB at
Kansas City.
He can sit down to pitch game
under an oil derrick or in the IRE
station at Wamego, or, with equal
ease, to q bridge or poker game
with multimiIlionaires in the plush
OF the Kansas City Club. Reputed
to play cards well, he prefers
harmless stakes, but hates to lose.
He fancies himself a checker
player, but admits he has yet to
defeat his 8O-year-old father, who
was once checker champ OF MARI
eta, Ohio.
Takes Chances
In all games he takes Spectacu-
lar chances and when they Sue
ceed points out that his methoos
must have been sound.
Landon follows all sports avldly.
He discusses major league base
ball with two cronies, Ernest
Ouigley, American League umpire,
and steve O'Rourke, Detroit
Tigers scout, both Of whom live
in Topeka.
He is an ardent backer Of Kan
sas University athletic teams and
misses few big games. He admits
it takes his self-control to confine
his roofing to dignified applause.
He has a passion for riding and
fishing. He rides four or five
times a week on a fine stallion
named Cy. A plain worm fisher
man, with a hankering for fly,
Landon'S fishing ocurs mostly on
Kansas creek banks.
Great Reader
His reading falls into two classes
history, economics and biogra'
ply, and detective stories. He
claims to have two or three plots
for mystery stories in his mind
and has jokingly offered them to
newspapermen. There have been
no takers.
He appears to be completely
natural at all times. If he is
self-conscious, it is displayed only
when he cocks his feet absent
mindedly on the gubernatorial
desk and upon discovering it,
jerks them down.
He dislikes formality to the ex-