Evening star., 1939-08-13

their weary bones on tourist camp
beds after travelling endless Wash /
ington miles. They rode into camp
in 4907 cars from every State in
the Union and from many foreign
countries.
Sergt. Porter remembers with
particular interest the couple from
Germany who, after anxious wait
ing from October until March to
get out of their native land, were
now enjoying the freedom of an un-
regimented country as they drove
cross country to California. And
the wandering newspaper reporter
from Australia, Ell route from a
ringside seat at the seizure of Cze-
-Slovakia in March. to the frozen
calm of Alaska, made a great I'M
preston, with his tales of far places.
and his numerous photographs. and
his k-converted- o-a-house.
There are the frequent visits of
retired Army and Navy men and
their wives to keep the sergeant in
touch with service news. Then there
was the son-in-law of we'll known
public official, "garrulous but NICE
who found refuge from the conse-
quences of painful domestic pub
llclty in the anonymity of residence
in the tourist camp.
A daytime visit to the camp
elected from Manager Knode a
fund of stories about the people over
whom he has kept watch since 1881
The school groups appeal to him
most sometimes he has as many as
Is different groups at one time, with
anywhere from 10 to 100 IN each
party. They come from Culquitil,
Ga; West Frankfort, ILL.,; Roxbory,
N. c.; Magador, Ohio; brakes
Branch, Va; Maryville. Tenn. and
from points North, South, East and
West.
Receives School Band.
Among the school groups, Mr..
Knode speaks with particular pride
of the 80 members of the high
school band from Sioux Falls, S.
Oak, who stopped off in June after
playing for the King and Queen at
the Worlds Fair.
1T cost $500 to make that trip"
he boasted, "and those kids raised
every cent of the money with band
concerts and what not"
The students are rarely a disci-
pllne problem. The teachers or
superintendent or principals in
charge have lot at stake in keeping
them ell-behaved. Believe me-
wisely comments Mr.. Knode, IF they
can't make them behave here they
can't control them at home
Leafing through sheaf of letters
on his desk, Mr.. Knode chuckled as
he recalled episodes connected with
his departed guests. and the names
of their places of origin, such as Ac-
cident Md!
There were the prospective bride
and groom who wrote in for reser-
vations for part of their honeymoon.
On receipt of a friendly letter from
Mr.. Knode, assuring them that a
cottage was at their disposal, they
dispatched a lengthy epistle to him
describing the wedding plans in de-
tail; how the church was to be dec
Grated, what the bride would wear
Such friendly confidence was de-
serving of special attention, Mr.
Knode felt, so he and the camp
staff outdid themselves creating a
honeymoon atmosphere by deco
rating the bridal chamber with
) flowers, and by assigning them a
cabin in the most remote section OF
the camp!
Then there's the son of Adela
, Rogers St. John, movie writer, a
strapping youth in his early twenties
He is an ardent baseball fan, and
every spring brings his own private
, baseball team to play several semi
$ pro Washington teams. Football
r baseball and swimming teams are
frequent guests.
= Vanderbilt Visit.
1 Cornelius Vanderbilt, writing trou-
} oadour scion of the famous family
|. stops at the camp with his elegan,
I trailer. Canada's Edgar Hoover, 8
1 P. Wood, usually makes fieetine