The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-10-06
Washington
Report
BY HELEN ESSARy

you hear somebody say, 'Wsv
doesn't the president manage 1Ir,
Roosevelt? Why doesn't he kea,,
her at home? What good does z5s
do, running around the place N
the way she does? He must no
downright embarrassed at her o.
ings-on.'
Nonsense! Such talk, Mr.. Roo.a.
welt isn't at all embarrassed Inv
Mrs. Roosevelt's goings-on. He !.
pleased and grateful that she DOES
just as she does. He wants her +,
go running around the place"
Why? you ask. Ill give you tho
correct answer to the question
because Franklin and Eleaoo,
Roosevelt are the most perfect
working team in any public Office
in the United States of Amerfc,
since Martha Washington planted
the crops at Mt Vernon vbrs
Gen. George was off winning the
Revolutionary war.
If l myself had ever doubted
such thought, would have known
1 was mistaken when I heard Mrs.
lRoosevelts report on her tn,
down Under at her first White
House press conference since ho,
return from foreign parts.
Mrs. Roosevelt stood in the cen,
ter of group Of about 100 men
and women reporters. The admit.
lance of 1.-The gentlemen, as Mis-.
Roosevelt called the male report.
ers was the sensation of the NEE.
ing. She talked not as woman
who had gone traispsin off o..
her own to see the sights. bur as
the other half of d working team
A working team that had a fer.
rifle job to do and which I quick
ly add, means to keep on do!og
it for years to come-naybe five
or six terms. Maybe.
MY own husband said that. as
long as l was going on this tuD
at the suggestion of the autaor.
ties in New Zealand and Ausua.
liza and of the American Red Cross,
it would be a good idea if Were
TO visit the hospitals and find os
about our own boys. And so I G5
this" she said calmly of the Must
remarkable journey any presidents
wife has ever made.
Quite subdued and a mucl
thinner Mrs. Roosevelt, this one
who had come back from 25O0l
miles Of travelling and II island
stops. Perhaps the trip had indeed
tired the presidents wife. There
was little of her characteristic cN-
uberance in voice and manner
when you saw the boys working
at their big and little jobs in
strange places with makeshift ma
, aterials-they looked SO young SO
very young! And then you'd see
them lying in the hospitals and
: you'd think, oh, they're old men,
Yet they never Whimper, l felt
: such pride in them. They are pay
ing heavily to do what has to be
: done at any cost to themselves.
Il don't think we at home know
what a big job we have to do,
she added solemnly. AS the sec
: ond in command in the White House
, team of Roosevelt and Roosevelt
the First Lady must have felt
heart-breaking responsibility il
! the plight of those boys and the
Job that is indeed yet to be done
Extremely definite was MIS-.
Roosevelt when she spoke of thf
work of the Red Cross. They
are doing the best they can witt
the materials they have.
Most of Mrs. Roosevelt's report
, was about our boys" This is as
:, it should have been. It is "oul
boys who are doing the real work
, of the war. She almost spoke The
, language of "our boys "GjLy.
she declared some of the men on
+ forgotten, far away islands sad,
"Golly! Aren't we ever gong to
get off this placer"
] When questioned about the cost
} of her trip, Mrs. Roosevelt sad
t emphatically, Il paid all the cost
: myself except for a seat on regu'
= lar transport planes after l leLl
, San Francisco. There is no otacl
, way to travel after you leave this
] country"
Has Mrs. Roosevelt already re-
t ported every small and large dis
t covery of her journey to her hus'
band? Of course she has. repeat
: Franklin and Eleanor Ro0scVcA
: are the smartest public team either
: hemisphere has ever known.
! ment the obligation of every man
: to keep abreast Of world atIat'