Evening star., 1941-05-25

reCreauOn. lie Is more COLLECTOR lldn
reader and, now that his time is closely
budgeted, he regards books as tools
rather than as anodyneS. He is selec
tive, efficient reader, and his amazing
memory enables him to astonish friends
who cannot see how he can recall epi-
sodes in Carl Sandburg's four-volume
biography Of Lincoln, let alone find the
hours necessary to read it.
For relief from the strains of presi-
dental Office he turns to his beloved
stamp collection, which has broadened
his reading interests. To know about
the varied issues, he reads up on the
countries and the leading figures repre-
sented by the previous bits of paper. If
he cannot sleep, an unusual occurrence,
he relies more often on governmental re-
ports and official memoranda, magazines
and newspapers or on telephone calls to
Secretaries Hull. Morgenthau and Knox
than on detective stories.
Reading for Trips.
On holidays and train Journeys. he can
indulge himself in light and pleasureful
reading, even mystery story or so, but
his close friends say they cannot re-
member seeing him with plain fiction.
He prefers magazines with their short
and complete articles to books requiring
more time For these trips he uses a
leather briefcase or dispatch book made
for books. He fills it up with current
month tho
Congressional Library sends to the White
House and the presidential yacht Po-
tomac patches of hundred or so books
roughly divided into fiction and non
fiction and mystery stories. There is no
indication as to who reads these.
At the White House the books the
President is likely to want are kept on
a shelf between his study and bedroom
so he can pick out one or two on his way
to bed if inclined to read. In the second
floor hall outside his study is a large
table filled with current weekly and
monthly magazines. When motion pic
lures are shown in this hall for the
President and his guests, the President
often will leave for his study and on his
way select several magazines. His
favorites include Time, Life, NewsWeek
and the Readers Digest. He occasionally
picks up The Nation or the New Republic.
Like President Taft and quite unlike
President Wilson, he Is an extensive
reader OF newspapers. To mis- bed are
brought the two Washington morning
papers. the Post and the Times-HeralG,
the New York Times, News, Herald
Tribune and Wall Street Journal and the
Baltimore Sun. During the day at the
executive Office he receives The Wash
ington Evening Star and at night he goes
over the late editions of the New York
World Telegram, the Sun and Post.
In the office of Stephen Early, his press
secretary, is the whirring ticker OF the
Washington City News Service. When
occasion warrants, Early clips important
items from the yellow paper roll of the
ticker and gives them to the President,
often with his own comment.
Childhood Incident.
The President reading habits on his
recent fishing trip to Florida. during
which he made the Jackson Day broad
cast, was reminiscent of an incident in
his childhood which his mother dis
closed in her book, MY Son Franklin"
On that holiday the President combined
reading and fishing, which probably
prompted him to say there is chance
for a bit of sunshine or a wetted line
or biography or a detective story"
The fishing boat was fitted with out
riggers to keep the trolling lines from
tangling. The President sat on the
upper deck. a book in one hand, his
fishing rod in the other. When he had
a strike, he stopped reading to fish.
His mothers story recounted how she
was reading to her young son as he
sprawled on his stomach, sorting and
pasting his stamps. 1t continued:
"On one particular evening when he
seemed less interested in the sound of
my voice than usual, put down the
book of stories and said, Franklin, I
don't think there is any point in my
reading to you any more; you don't
hear anyway
Franklin looked up, whimsical smile
on his face and a mischievous CLINT in
his eye, and, much to my surprise,
quoted verbatim the whole last para
graph Of the essay had been reading.
when expressed what felt was