The Washington times., 1936-03-12
Politicians
Agree On
Fishing
By KIRK MILLER
Times Sports Editor

80 far apart in their platforms.
In fact I find one plank on
which they agree, it being that
when a man in public life
wants to get away from it all,
the one and only way is to go
fishing.
In the past three years Presi.
dent Roosevelt'S penchant for
fishing has become household
knowledge If I'm not mistaken
q fishing trip is in the offing right
now, over at the White House.
Like as not the Chief Executive
steals a minute or two off period.
ically to oil up a reel or rub down
q rod. Half the fun. you know, is
tinkering ard fondling the &C
coutrements. Contemplation is at
least SO per cent of any sport.
Smith Fishes, Too
And Mr. Roosevelt isn't the
only high ranking Democrat who
loves the whir of the reel. Didn't
I see recent photographs Of AL
Smith, casting off the bridge at
Daytona, or Palm Beach or some
such?
But here's what I wished origi'
nally to get around to saying be,
fore my space and your patience
are exhausted: A fondness for
fishing is happily not delegated to
one political party or the other.
Fishin;: seems to be Americas uni.
Versal sport, if Frank G. Menke'S
All-Sport Record Book which states
the 100000 people go for it an
nually, is correct, and it usually is.
I observe that the Republicans
lay great store by fishing as sur
cease from the trip-hammer pres
sure of public life.
Former resident Herbert
Hoover tells the undergraduates
and alumni of Stanford University
in the latter's humorous publica-
ton, :'Chaparral," that fishing is
the one escape for public men
from the constant demand on their
mental and physical energies.
The Only Escape
Only in the average fishing YES
sci is one away from callers, tele-
phones, ubiquitous secretaries,
wives, sweetheartS and business
contacts.
It is refreshing to observe Mr..
Hoover'S analysis of the solitude
which fishing affords. I've had
the same feeling. When one is
miles off shore nobody can rush
UP and open daily discussions.
None can inquire %fNt'll win the
Kentucky Derby or whether Brad
dock can beat Louis? Or, will the
Red Sox win?
Golf doesn't quite isolate the
addict who happens to be a right
busy individual in his non-playlng
hours. A public figure is exposed
to a lot of hand-pumping and so
cial strain at a ball game, at the
race track, in the streets, lobbieS
and restaurants. Ask any of Wash,
tngton's hundreds Of prominent
public figures if all of these things
aren't a Strain-a drain on his
nervous system.
Can't Offend Well MeanerS
He must keep smiling. He must
laugh naturally, not forcibly.
But in the quiet of mountain
stream, in high rubber boots, cast
ing for the trout, or far out in a
river, bay or ocean, he can laugh
at, not with the public which so
often unintentionally and uncon-
SciouSly becomes bore.
You, and you, and I, with our
comparatively insignificant exist
ences, do not know what it means
to never get away from it all. Even
if we do get fed up, we can tell
somebody around us to tell 'em
we're not in.
The big shots can't do that
The newspapers clock their every
move. They are in public life:
they can't even afford to appear to
be rude. They've got to take it
and like it.
Read Mr.. Hoover on that phase
Of being a high public servant
he ought to know.
Mr.. Hoover, on Fishing
Everyone comedies that fish
will not bite in the presence Of
representatives of the press.
Fishing is thus the sole avenue
now left to a public man that
he may escape to his own
thoughts; may live his own
imaginingS; may find relief from
the pneumatic hammer of con-
slant personal contacts; may
find refreshment of soul In the
babble Of ripping water, with
the satisfaction that the fish
will not be influenced either by
the headlines or the text.
ut is generally realized and
accepted that prayer is the most
personal of all relationships, and
that on such occasions as that
men are entitled to be alone and
undisturbed. Next to prayer,
fishing is the most personal re-
latiOnShip of man."
AS Mr.. Hoover say, fishing is the
only 100 per cent escape from
normal pursuits; and, by the way