The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-04-11
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Eleanor Roosevelt

AOOh1lS al t1e early 1tdllau pTlIlu~
tives. What marvellous collectioni
1t seemed to me I had never seen
SO many priceless treasures gath
cred together in one place. Mr.. Da-
vid Finley and his staff are particu-
larry happy over the fact that they
have had between eight and nine
thousand visitors daily. So, beauty
does appeal to the American public.
In the afternoon, went to the
concert at the Library Of Congress
to hear the Budapest String Quar-
tette, which was joy.
On the next afternoon, I went to
tea at Mrs. Florence Kerr's with
the regional directors for the WPA
community service projects. As
usual, was impressed with the
amount of valuable service which the
bulk of the WPA projects render in
every field of community life.
FUND APPEAL
There seems to be one more fund
appeal which cannot be ignored. It
Is the Royal Air Force Benevolent
Fund Of the U. S. A. Inc. Their
offices are at SIS Madison avenue,
New York city and they are help
ing the needy dependents of Raj
pilots, runners and observers, who
are killed or disabled in the per-
formance of their duty.
I think all of us have been stirred
by the extraordinary services of the
Raj, and you will perhaps be inter-
ested to know that the royalties from
the books written by Lawrence Of
Arabia, were willed by him some
time before his death to this fund,
which was founded in 1919. He, him.
self, enlisted as mechanic in the
Raj and was known in the service
as Aircraftsman Shaw.
One interesting thing about the
fund is that neither in England nor
In the United States, does a penny
raised go to overhead. The neces-
sary administrative expense is car
ried on by the small group of peo-
pie who were instrumental in set
ting up the fund.
Perhaps, because / like flying SO
much, I often think Of that particu-
lar branch Of the military services.
know that even in peace time pilots
worry about the care of their fami-
lies in case they Ego west" The
men who fly daily and nightly across
the enemy lines may meet death
almost any time. All we can do is to
give them the assurance that those
they leave behind will be cared for.
DOCK THEATER
In driving around the City Of
Charleston, S. c., I passed the Dock
Street theater, which is one of the
interesting buildings erected by
WPA. The theater is charming and
a real effort has been made, / un.
derstand, by certain people to re-
vive and present old plays. have
been told that they have been charm
ingly done, but that the support is
not really sufficient to warrant con-
tinuance of the effort. Audiences just
do not attend, and so it may be nec-
essary to close the doors Of the Dock
Street theater. This seems a sad
waste. It is hard to understand why,
in this city Of great culture and
taste, such a program as has been
carried on is not successful finan-
cially.
MIDDLETON GARDENS
The. sun has not been very kind to
us. The other day Miss Thompson
and walked around Middleton Gar
dens in Valdosta, Ga, in the early
morning bemoaning the fact that
no sunlight danced upon the water,
or played through the leaves of the
trees. However, nothing can really
spoil the beauty Of those gardens and
we enjoyed our walk and came back
to thank Mrs. Smith, who had invited
us into her house.
I always think that it must seem
very odd to have strangers wander
ing around your garden. But she
told us that though they marked with
care "private residence" outside the
house, people come in If they leave
the doors unlocked. One morning
the maid heard some people in the
dining room and. on coming in,
found them examining some silver.
OF course, in Europe certain
houses with wonderful collections Of
paintings, prints and furniture were
open to the public at certain times,
but never do remember the fami-
lies living quarters open while they
were at home. When one owns
works of art, there is an obligation
to let the public see them. But it
seems to me, that the public has
certain obligation in return to re-
spect the privacy Of the owners.
Mrs. George Huntington drove
with us well on the road to Savan-
nah, and then we pulled up under
some trees and ate delicious picnic
lunch. She feels as I do, that food
eaten out Of doors always has a bet
ter flavor. ] always rejoice when
the time comes when we can have
breakfast and lunch on the porch at
the White House.
We practically always eat on the
porch Of my cottage at Hyde Park.
The President likes n 90 ovor, ona