Evening star., 1937-07-10

trout rod, has the true fshermans
instinct and sensibilities Nor would
he, 1 imagine, be awed by a 500
pound blue marlin Of the variety
| they're landing right now off Bimini,
just across the gulf stream from
Miami. And being the ardent and
courageous angler he is, he'd stick
right to him down to the end, whether
it be a tWo-hour scrap or one stretch
ing out to 10 hours. which is quite
possible with those big fellows But
SO far in his angling career, Mr..
Roosevelt hasn't tied into big mar.
lin. Being the rugged mariner he Is,
as witness those Summer yachting
trips in Northern Maine waters a lit
tie thing like a l0-hour scrap on a
tossing small boat wouldn't bother
him.
RUT when he wants a smoke hs
wants a smoke, and no fooling.
It's one of the funnier yarns about
the presidential angling Of how the
President of the United States couldn't
get cigarette when he wanted one,
and how Harry Hopkins, relief ad-
ministrator and his fishing companion,
| couldn't help him. Mr.. Roosevelt had
hooked that big sailfSh that hangs
today in the National Museum. Now.
| a sail will. after six or eight lusty
jumps, settle down to a round OF lusty
tugging and running around. In
doing this he presents the full area Of
his three-foot sail against the pull Of
the line so the angler can't do much
about dragging him sideways through
the water. The ocean was = little
lumpy that day. which means that
the small presidential fishing boat
was jumping around quite q bit.
About the time Mr.. Roosevelt had
Gained that SailfiSh down to where
the fish no longer wanted to jump and
had started his running and boring
tactics, Mr.. Hopkins got seasick. And
when you get SeaSick out there in the
middle of the ocean, there isn't much
to do but let nature take its course.
So Mr.. Hopkins hung his head over
the side and carried on in the natural
way. And about that time Mr.. Roose-
velt could let up from fighting the
fish in some small degree and relax.
And, relaxing, he wanted a smoke
Hey, Harry, hand me cigarette
he said.
No answer.
Hey, Harry, give me a cigarette
President said
"Gulp. gulp, gulp and gulp," said
Harry, choking half to death.
Hey, Harry, toss me cigarette"
the President said in somewhat sharp
er tones.
BY this time Mr. Hopkins had re-
linquished his -the-rail position
and was coming more or less back to
life. But a new attack seized him.
and back he went.
Harry, give me a smoke" yelled
the President.
Reach over (gulp) and get one
(gulp)" said Mr.. Hopkins, They're
in my rear pants pocket"
The narrator doesn't tell whether
the President ever got his smoke, but
he landed the sail. And he has the
proof.
You don't often hear OF sailfsh
weighing over 100 pounds on the
Atlantic side. The authenticated
record is only around ll9 pounds.
But this sail. caught off Panama,
weighed much more than that.
Down in the Galapagos, where live
the last remnants of the great rep
tiles of the earth. the ocean also has
quite a shark population. There is
no swanky dock stretching out into
the Pacific where boats can tie up
and land passengers down there. Pas
sengers must be landed right through
the surf, frequently bareback, II they
don't want to get wet. Mr.. Roosevelt
wanted to go ashore and the surf
was running high, and some one had
to go overheard and carry him onto
the beach. So, sharks or no sharks. q
husky Secret Service man packed the
President on his back and toted him
through the breakers to the beach.
There weren't any sharks around that
day, and If there were they'd probably
been frightened far away.
OF COURSE, the White House is
the one spot in the land where
the fierce, white heat Of publicity
never stops focusing. The President,
being the ardent angler that he is,
never has to worry about the cost Of q
new rod or the latest thing in angling
equipment. But he buys EN- just the
same. Like presidential automobiles
and everything else connected with
the White House, it's an unwritten
law that there shall be no advertis-
ing ballyhoo about the equipment
used by the President. But you can
be sure he uses the same type Of
equipment which you can buy over
- AA