Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1937-10-07
GETTING DOWN TO
"BRASS
THE PRESIDENTS VISIT

cial train as one might imagine, but
to one like myself who had never
done so, it is an experience, the an
ticipation Of which holds a decided
thrill and reflection afterwards of
Cn%forgettable pleasure. OF course
there must be some particular basis
or ''angle" to start from to secure
the privilege, and being a member
OF h press-good or bad-is one
pretty good way to get an Gin
AT any rate. an invitation was ex-
tended me by the Presidents con-
genial and capable secretary, Marvin
H. Mcintyre to board the train at
Fort Peck and ride with the party
to Williston. Naturally this was one
time in my life when opportunity
didn't need to knock more than
once.
At the outset it might be stated
that this train is no different from
any other on the Great Northern, in
a commercial sense at least. Every
passenger on the train. and this goes
for newspaper correspondents, pho
t%ographers and other guests of the
President, pays his or her regular
fare between points travelled, and if
you eat on the diner, there too the
service is identical with that found
on the regular Empire Builder. The
big difference comes in the atmo-
sphere. Immediately following a
speech, such as at Fort Peck, news
paper writers rush to their private
compartments to get the story to
their papers in the fastest possible
time. Special representatives of the
two large telegraph systems are con-
tlnually at the beck and call of these
newsmen, who put off messages at
every station, even though the train
makes no stop.
These Presidential specials are
carried through as a complete unit
from the starting point Of the tour.
In this case, the nine-car train was
made up at Washington, and all
cars, except the diner. which is
changed with the system ovel which
the tour is route, remain intact. |
was curious to learn how crews
were selected for the trains, and was
told that, in each case, the superin-
tendent of the railroads over which
the special travels, selects the crew.
Here was Chef Grace, for instance,
veteran brakeman from Bainville.
who had been called for the second
time to work President Roosevelt's
train over the G.. N. Naturally, these
men are chosen from veteran en-
ployees with excellent ratings of SER
vice, such for instance, as j. A. Mey-
er, conductor, "Bill' Cloud, brake
man, r. Murphy, engineer, with
Walter Wagner, fireman, all from
Havre.
Even the porters are carefully Sc
lected on the basis of their record
of service. One porter on this "spe-
cial' had accompanied every presi-
Dental train since Warren G.. Har-
ding was the nations chief eXecu-
tive, and all others but two had
made previous trips with Roosevelt
specials. AS one congenial darkface
commented, while in the process of
making the beds for the night ride
across North Dakota, Eyes sab, boss,
you'se got to have a clean record to
make desc tripsi' And it sounded
like he was mighty proud to be
classed with such a group. l used to
wonder why it should require so
many cars just to take the President
and his party on a tour across the
country. Now I know. The rear car
is the travelling White House. of
the chief executive, where he con-
ducts all his business enrQute, holds
conferences with officials from var
ious states accompanying him, and
can work in exclusion from the rest
of the passengers aboard the train.
Two Pullmans just ahead of the
white House" car provide accom-
modations for actual members of the
official party and members Of the
secret service-of whom there is a
considerable number. The diner of
course is for use by all those outside
of the actual official party group
who ride in special cars on toward
the head of the train. These are
compartment cars and accommodate
IL persons each. AS there were some
two dozen newspaper correspondents
they required two cars, the news
reel and other photo men another,
and a fourth car was carried just
back of a commodious lounging
"club car for extra passengers who
might board the train from time to
time. And there, you see, with a bag
gage car, is your nine-unit special,
with every part of its space well
utilized.
At some announced time each day
a press conference is held In the
dining car, conducted either by
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