Evening star., 1952-03-09

voters cool their heels is not con-
sidered good campaign etiquette.
A second lifelong Taft voter Of
fered himself at Tilton, as did a
pudgy, 15-month-old boy who So
berly; allowed himself to be held
by Taft, but showed far more in
terest in a bus parked nearby.
Neither the baby nor the Senator
seemed too unhappy at parting.
Taft demonstrated his sense of
proportion by refusing to kiss the
baby, but this was about the only
trick in the bag of standard vote
getting techniques not featured that
day. At the next stop. Laconia,
he received a wooden key to the
city-3 feet long. The key was the
first of a number of pieces of loet
handed the Senator in what his
public address announcer kept call
ing Bob Taft's whirlwind victory
tour"
It was at Laconia that Senator
Taft made the first Of his several
unimportant but amusing hobbies
of the, day. He told the voters that
he was offering himself for "nomi-
nation to the candidacy for the Re-
publican presidency" Later-at
Meredith-he was to submit my
candidacy to the voters of Wiscon-
sim" These bonerS, however, had
scant effect on the crowd. Almost
to a man, his listeners all along the
line seemed as interested in what
Taft had to say as Taft was-and
II blunder crept into his speech
occasionally, no one appeared to
hold it against him.
Greet White Father
At Laconia, too, Senator Taft
was exposed to two real live In
dianS-one brave, one squaw-from
the nearby Weirs tribe. These van
ishing Americans, dressed in leather
suits and appropriate decorations
including a full head of feathers
for the male-preSented the candi-
date a plaque on which was affixed
a stone arrowhead.
Having sewed up the aboriginal
vote, and having again demon
strated a sense Of proportion by
not donning the Indian headdress,
Taft opened the meeting in La
conia'S central square to questions.
The question-an -and-anSwer routine
was a particularly important one
for Taft in New Hampshire; he was
doing for the voters what Eisen-
hover has not yet done" Both
queries and replies were routine
about foreign policy, about the
cabinet CT can tell you that If I
am elected, Dean AcheSon will not
be Secretary of State on January
20, 1953')-about labor-the usual
things that people ask Taft. There
was no heckling evident, at Laconia
or anywhere else on this first Cruel
ing day.
At luncheon at the American
Legion Hall in Laconia, Taft spoke
briefly and then went to factory
where overalls are made. He came
away with another souvenir - a
little doll dressed in blue Jeans.
Meredith-"the Latchkey to the
White Mountains" as they say
hereaboutS-was the next stop.
Before Taft arrived, midget car
rugged up as sound truck went
up and down the main street, it's
sides labeled II Like Ike" its elec-
tronic voice blaring an invitation
to big Eisenhower rally starring
Taft'S newly-acquired arch-enemy,
TV Entertainer Tex McCrary. A
small group of waggish reporters
tried to locate McCrary and get him
to confront Taft at the meeting.
They couldn't find him.
The town, being itself a latchkey
of sorts, of course had to present
a key to the candidate. Under a
big acrostic sign reading, "Take
Action, Follow Taft" the Senator
received his key and prepared to
speak.
But his public address system re-