The Wilmington morning star., 1944-09-19
BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER

BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1914, King Features Syndicate. Inc |
This being my first campaign trip with al
presidential candidate, I thought you might
like to see things through my fresh, eager
young eyes and you maybe sure that am
being very alert lest the same thing Doesn't
happen again that happened when I covered
my first World Series. That was the memora-
BILE Cincinnati thing in which my fresh eager
young eyes and my fresh eager young nose,
as we'll, discerned nothing but some stirring
baseball contests although all the gamblers
in Cincinnati were talking about a fix and
one night Ring Lardner went through the train
on the way to Chicago singing TN Forever
Throwing Ball Games
LAS you probably know, Governor Dewey and
Mrs. Dewey are living in private called
the David Livingstone on the rear end of the
train. 1t is just like the car that President
Roosevelt uses when he goes out on his non
political inspection tours, the name of which,
however, I suppose I shouldn't mention, for
reasons of security although I don't believe
any rule of censorship forbids. The only 9TH
ers in this are Paul Lockwood, the gov
ernor's secretary, and Frank Hnida, detec-
tive of the New York Police department Who'll
served with Dewey when he was prosecuting
the rackets and nowadays is assigned to guard
him whenever he goes to New York. There
are two others in the party, Lieut.. William
Green of the New York State police, who has
been detailed as the governors personal guard
through several administrations and Sergeant
Alvin Johnson, also of the State cops. Each
state we traverse puts aboard couple of
state policemen who drop off when they reach
their borders and each railroad company
sends a detail of railroad cops. Still, things
are free and easy and the other day in Sher
idan, Wyoming, while the train stood on the
siding, a couple of local men, meaning no
HARM came aboard and walked the length
of the train, opening the doors to all our little
cells and dropping in some literature describ-
| ing the attractions of their country.
Lieut.. Gen. Hugh Drum, the commander Of
the New York guard and former chief Of
staff of the Army, lives in one of the regular
Pullmans and goes ashore, as we say, at all
the stops, dressing these occasions with his
three stars, his military bearing and his four
rows of decorations and service ribbons. But.
being a retired Army officer, he must be,
like Mr. Roosevelt, in his role of commander
in-chief, strictly non political. Well, then there
are dozen other members of the campaign
party and SO of us reporters and photogra-
pliers and four radio men, Of whom re-
veals that he is travelling all this way just to
say Il now return you to New York. about
half dozen times. We have one diner and
one lounge car and you can buy drinks if you
want to but there isn't much of that going
on because that stuff saps your character and
steals away your brain. Most of us are paired
in the cells and take turn about in the upper
and when we come to a stop, everybody splits
crack in the atmosphere getting to the prin-
! cipal hotel for a bath.
We don't see very much of Mr.. Dewey be-
cause he is back there driving away on those
important speeches of the next few days and,
anyway, he isn't as gregarious some.
forgot to ask how much social contact the
reporters had with Mr. Roosevelt when he was
in politics and actually campaigning in the
| conventional sense, but my roommate, Tom
Stokes. tells me that Wendell Willkie used to
prowl the at all hours and drop in and
throw leg over the arm of seat and visit
and then go to the next open door and Sc
forth. He also made lot of tailboard talks
in places where the train stopped for few
minutes and some think Dewey makes mis-
take not to do likewise, because the little
crowds might get sore and go away and
spread the word that he is heel, while 9TH
ers say Wlkie really talked too much.
I usually get around in the crowds to try
to hear what they are saying, but the results
aren't worth noting because l haven't heard
any strong expressions one way or another.
Apparently they just want look at the fellow
I did notice however that Mr.. Deweys re-
mark he drives through the crowds is just
how do" how do repeated over and over
as he bows left and right and Mr.. Stokes tells
me Mr.. Coolidge used to say "howdy, chow
dy"
We have two Negro reporters among us, Ju-
Illus ADAMS OF the Amsterdam News a New
York weekly published up in Harlem, and
Ralph Matthew's of the Afro american of
Washington, which is really a chain of Negro
papers operating in five cities. Matthews was
out with Willkie part of the way but I am
told that this is the first time two Negro re-
porters have gone all the way with a candi-
date These are two very nice fellows and
although haven't seen their copy, they talk
in the manner of real professionals and, of
course, you aren't conversing two minutes be-
fore you are on Topic A, meaning race rela-
tons, and there you stay. But the nature
of these talks is the first encourag cement that
have found in a long time to hope that
we might get by without that CORY brawl be-
tween white men and Negroes which the COM
munists are constantly trying to promote for
just after the war. These men realize that
they have power to take some of the heat
off the issue and probably save lives and still
accomplish the result of opening up jobs for
Negro workers and it all seems reasonable
and feasible when you just sit down and meet
as men and colleagues in a business and be-
gin to understand each other, instead of beat
ing one another over the head with meat-a axe
editorials as total strangers opposite sides
Of town. This sounds so much like something
from my old friend Mrs. R. that some edi-
tors are likely to think the Western Union
got the copy balled up, but just the same this
acquaintance and understanding is new expe-
rience to me and 1 recommend it.
By the way, General Drum a real good
trooper and a great companion, is beaming
| like sunrise and some of us have just had
with him a little dram Of that stuff that saps