Evening star., 1952-07-26

dc a certain amount of unescorted
his veto message stated.
'The State of Illinois and its local
governing bodies already have
enough to do without trying to
control feline delinquency"
Long Days on Job.
This bit of gaiety probably was
written late at night in his execu-
tive office in Springfield. Gov.
Stevenson spends an unbelievable
IA to 16 hours day on his job.
To stand the pace. he smokes
only moderately and has one drink
q day--a bourbon on the rocks.
He often shows up at his office
wearing a tweed sports jacket and
odd trousers. He has a hat he
has worn for years. zone OF his
aides once threw it in an ash
can, but a wind blew it back down
10 street and Gov. Stevenson
picked it up without comment)
He also wears favorite pair OF
golf shoes with the spikes re-
moved. He likes soft-collared
shirts and windsor -knotted ties.
Gov. Stevenson has been able
Ito see only one movie In 80
months and leads so little social
life that he says. II feel like a
nth wheel at dinner parties"
This devotion to his job has
led to the saddest incident in his
|life-divorce.
In 1928. he married beautiful
Ellen Borden, heiress Of the dairy
family. They have three sons.
Adlai, 81. q Harvard graduate. Is
now a Marine officer candidate at
the Quantico Marine Base. Bor-
den. 10, is now a Harvard student.
John, Is, attends Milton Acad-
emy, Milton, Mass.
Their life was happy. so far as
outsiders know, until the husband
entered politics. One year after
he was elected Governor, his wife
obtained a Reno divorce on the
grounds Of mental cruelty.
To Vote Republican.
She explained to friends that
she could not accept his political
life or his political leanings. She
stated recently that she does not
want to harm the Governor, but
she intends to vote for a Repub-
Ilican President this year. regard
less of who the candidates are.
After her ex-husband won the
Democratic nomination early to-
day. she sent him congratulatory
telegram calling him "the finest
available Democrat for President"
Nobody has suggested any scam
dial in connection with the divorce.
Neither Gov. Stevenson nor his
wife has remarked. They both
know, however, that no divorced
man has ever been elected Presi-
dent.
Gov. Stevenson lives with an
aide in the gloomy. 11-room ex-
ecutive mansion at Springfield.
He does little entertaining, except
on New Years Day. when he re-
ceives the public.
His official hostess at these af-
fairs is his only sister, Mrs. Err
nest "Buffie" Ives, the wife of a
retired foreign service officer.
She made her debut here in 1918
and doubtless would come back
TO serve as White House hostess
should Gov. Stevenson be elected
President.
Several newspapers have re-
ported Gov. Stevenson was about
to marry one woman or another.
Gov. Stevenson. in denying the
reports, cracked that the news
papers think the plural of spouse
is spice"
Gov. Stevenson appears physi-
cally as well as mentally fit to
run for the presidency. He is
active enough to play fair game
Of tennis-if he had the time.
He is 5 feet 8 inches tall and
weighs 180 pounds. His flesh Is
punched bit around the mid
section-newly acquired evidence
of his long hours at the Cover
nor's desk.
His work there has not been all
success. His Republican foes will
find targets to attack.
His critics may cite, as an ad-
ministrative failure. the West
Frankfurt dll.) coal mine ex-
ploSion which claimed ll9 lives.
The blast was blamed on improper
inspection by State authorities.
Although foe of corruption,
he found that nine legislators and
his own executive secretary
owned stock in a harness track.
The track had benefited from a
new State law that the legisla-
tors wrote. He fired the execu-
tive secretary.
Fired Revenue Agents.
He had to dismiss three State
revenue agents for failing to
break up a racket in counterfeit
cigarette tax stamps.
The Office of Price Stabiliza.
tion-an arm of the big Federal
Government that Gov. Stevenson
dislikes-found that Illinois rack
eteerS were selling hamburgers
made from horsemeat instead of
beef. Gov. Stevenson fred IA food
inspectors.
One old incident may plague
him in the campaign to come.
When the Government investiga-
tion Of Alger Hiss began, Gov.
Stevenson gave deposition stat
ing that he knew Hiss slightly and
generally understood him to have
a good reputation.
Gov. Stevenson says the state
ment is true-so far as he had
heard Hiss was an honorable man.
man.
Gov. Stevenson contends he has
had misgivings about the Reds
since 1926. when he went to Rus
sia to interview Soviet Foreign
Minister Vasilievich Chicherin for
the Paragraph. He never got the
interview. His passport was picked