Evening star., 1948-04-11


reel selections Of the man and his tt
paign against Dewey at the team
sters' dinner at the Statler.
These Republican leaders have
not been content with attacks upon
me-" the voice rolls out in resonant
tone, "or my wife, or my sons-they
now include my little dog Fala."
He reaches for glass Of water
and sips it during the laughter.
Unlike the members of my fam
lily, he resents this"
There is another pause and more
laughter. The camera catches Dan
Tobin next to him enjoying the
gag hugely.
A Personal Loss Was Felt
Being a Scottie, as soon as he
learned that the Republican fiction
writers had concocted story that
/ had left him behind on an Aleu-
tan island and had sent destroyer
back to find him (again he reaches
for the water)-at q cost to the
taxpayers of two pause or three
(pause) or 40 million dollars-his
Scotch soul was furious"
He takes his time. He has them
eating out of his hand now and he
knows that the radio audience is
enjoying the story and the resultant
laughter.
He has not been the same dog
since. i
IT am accustomed to hear mali
cious falsehoods about myself-such
as that old, worm-eaten chestnut
that I have represented myself as
indispensable. But think have a
right to object to libelsus statements
about my dog"
The film goes on to the fourth
inaugural. 1t shows unsparingly how
shocking his appearance became as
he lost weight in the months before
his death. And it shows the stirring
tribute in Congress to his gallantry
the applause from both sides OF
the aisle-at the joint session on his
return from Yalta, when, in his only
public reference to his affiiction, he
asked to be excused If he delivered
the message sitting down because
he had Travelled $4,000 miles and 10
pounds of metal braces on his legs
sometimes became burden.
And it shows the funeral, the
slow procession with the flag
draped coff1n on the caisson, when
men wept and women crowding the
curb OF Constitution avenue all the
way along the line said, with a di-
rect sense of personal loss as the
caisson passed them-"He's gone"
Parallel With Lincoln
The Roosevelt story has grown
apace since that funeral. For one
thing members Of his cabinet, filled
with the wonder Of the drama they
had witnessed from front-row seats,
have got out their diaries and writ
ten memoirs.
The parallel with Lincoln suggests
itself. Both Presidents died in ofnce
at the end of major wars. There
the parallel stops. The differences
In the wars, the times and the men
put too much strain on compari-
sons But there is much indication
that Roosevelt, in legend, biography
and history will get as much or
more attention than Lincoln has
had.
The proprietor of the Abraham
Lincoln Bookshop in Chicago deal
ing exclusively in Lincolniana has
sold out his interest and moved to
California where he has opened the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Bookshop
dealing exclusively in Rooseveltiana.
In a few days million persons
will have filed past the huge rec
tangular block of Vermont marble
inscribed FRANKLIN Delano Roose-
welt 1882-1945, Anna Eleanor Roose-
welt 1884" in the hemlock -hedged
garden at Hyde Park. The figures
are these: In the first year Of Hyde
Park as museum-from April IL,
1s46, to April u, 1s47, 462,603 persons
visited the grave; in the second
year almost $4,000 visited the grave.
From the start Hyde Park has out
stripped Mount Vernon which is
visited by about 100000 persons a
year, and Hyde Park Is 80 miles
from New York.
Skillfully Rode Three Horses
Bus tours in Chicago and Bir-
mingham and Atlanta are advertis-
ing it like Niagara Falls. American
Legion posts, Masonic groups,
church societies and Grange lodges
come by the bus full. The care
takers have been impressed with
the number of farm families in the
Middle West-where Roosevelt was
minority candidate after 1886
who have taken a few days off just
to see Hyde Park. They don't 60
on to see the skyscrapers of New
York-they head home. They are
also impressed with the number of
Europeans who make it their Amer
ican mecca.
World interest in Roosevelt ap-
pears to be as great as it was in
President Wilson after World War
I. Roosevelt has suffered no set
back such as Wilson did in his ap-
peal to the Italian people over the
heads of their government, and the
American Senate's refusal to ratify
the treaty and join the league.
Roosevelt monuments have been
started or are planned in many OF
the capitals of the United Nations,
and foreign scholars are applying
to the Roosevelt librarians for data