Evening Star Newspaper, May 22, 1921, Page 68

| ) SENOR PUG AND By Mildred Cram | Iplateau and followed the nationalist: N hour later Pug and old Bi- anchi set out on foot for the starting point of the rack- and-pinion railway to the rim of the canon. The consul returned to the city, still secure in the pos- session of “an army and navy in both pockéts.” The litile railway—a single car—cut straight across the cindery slopes of the lower Santa Christina, climbing spasmodically into the air like the car of an observa- tion balloon. Bianchi was inordinate- 1y proud of his accomplishment, but he could not keep his eyes away from Magela, where his lively imagination pictured a general massacre. The city lay below them. the checker-board roofs touched by the first direct rays of the sun. Columns of smoke still spranz from water-front fires. The rabble was distinctly visible. a toss- ing sea of straw hats. horses. flags, gun carriages. Bianchi stared mo- rosely and shook his head. . “1 wrote vour father that something lik this was bound to happen. There is only one way to get the better of Gonelli—by deceit, treachery and trickery. His followers are sSavages. They have only one standard of be- havior—su 1f you can them. yvou are a great man. If you can defeat them. they 1 follow you like doi We must contrive to lick Gonelli oon as posgible, or else we retire from Magella altogether. _ iy Pugz remembered his father's warn- lure.” He t ing. “There must be no f SO remembered Rita's dismissal: “You've always had everything yvou wanted— it hasn't been mood for you.” He re- membered Miss Diego's direct glance, the mth of courage of her smile. He remembered the message flas to him in the depths of her eyves to it. Americano—winning was of the things they taught me in Pitts- burgh. Aloud. he said: “Don’t worry, Signor Bianchi. we will save the mines. When we have rubbed Gonelli's nose in the dust we ail be batter able to nationalists of our Are the Americans good intentions. armed? * ok kK thought so. The Ilast Bl.\xn'fll sieamer had brought a certain amount of ammunition, and some of it had got as far as Colombia during Gonelli's absence in Panama. Mc- Carthy, he knew, was spoiling for a Aght—but_what could he do against handful of snipers? “What we 1eed,” Bianchi said. “is a genuine en- ‘ounter with that mob of ragged .diots. They have terrorized Magella —now they'll come after us.” The jerky car stopped with a ter- sitic bump at the summit of the mountain; Pug and old Bianchi cast a final look at Magelia and plunged into the canyon mounted on two of the mpany’s pack mules. Across the profound, lush shadows of the deep- sliced gulch the enormous walls of the Santa Christina seemed to shut ut the very sky. Far below them a wisting thread of water wound through the dense forest of glossy- leaved trees and giant ferns, appear- ing here and there in the brilliant zreen of the dank foliage like a fine platinum wire. The sun had not pene- «rated the canyon, and as the nimble »ack mules clattered down the pre- pitous slopes Pug and old Bianchi felt as if they had been immersed in a sea of cool shadows. The face of the Santa Christina glowed flery-red above them. like a prodigious. lonely, illd_ awe-inspiring fortress. The petty furies of Gonelli's nationalists seemed far away and unimportant, but there was room in this amazing place to swing your arms. Bianchi drew rein at the ford and pointed to where, three or four miles down the river, the crosscut depres- sion of the old Indian trail sliced at ht angles through the canyon. Your railway to the Marias and into ihe interior would have to go that way. Gonelli will come through there 0 attack us. must attack him irom above.” “Abbasso Gonelli.” Pug laughed, and ‘hey splashed through the fora and tarted up the corkserew trail to Co- >mbia between echoing walls of tranite veiled under a clogging rowth of tropical plants and flower- 1% vines. Presently, far above them, ey saw the sheds and houses of the tine, like Noah's ark toys, clinging > the steep side of the mountains, ‘d Bianchi stared at the settlement ith something worshipful and proud 1 his expression. It was, after all, s mine—he had braved the hard- | :2ips and perils of that wild country | a , l wenty-five years before the interioy|but they were confounded far away.|alists were gon ad been expiored at all. The Fair- | hild Company. in New York, had paid | )r ihe practical realization of his | ream—to Bianchi, the inexhaustible -ealth of the mines was something | € his own creation, as if, in the stak- 1z of that remote claim. so many ears ago. he had impregnated the ocky flanks of the Santa Christina -ith_his rich and colourful fancies. Md Bianchi had seen Mr. Fairchild 'nly once, but the American capital- at’s belief in that golden chimera, aat romantic mirage at the other nds of the earth, had cpnvinced anchi that they shared the identical ream, worshiped the identical fetish reated by their common courage, .;ealth and energy. * % X % {SALLOPING a little ahead of Pug. old Bianchi entered the dusty ~laza of the settlement. \merican flag rattling smartly over ‘me of the long sheds. : a door opened suddenly, and a tall aan, barehcaded and without a coat. an out with a shout of welcome. “McCarthy.” Bianchi explained, in a oica full of satisfaction. “My son- -jaw. Youlil like him.’ Pug threw back his head and sniffed ‘he fragrant air of the mountains. ‘n excited crowd of men poured out «f the sheds and surrounded the old Aministrator. Pug heard English . zain—the staccato music of his own ‘merican tongue. He smiled down t that crowding mob of eager, sun- urnt, familiarly ugly faces—men -om Texas and Idaho, California, lichigan and Broadway: lanky tar. eels. bullet-headed negroes from ‘.oufsiana. big Irishmen, excitable agos. here and there an impassive ‘hinaman—Americans. all of them. Pug shoued, “I'm glad to see you. Euess some of you can help me put he fear of God into Magella and & ailway through the Indian trail. 1s « g0 The answering yell. wrung from he _very souls of all these bored. angry Yankees, was two of Gonelli's snipers, . following trails of heir own through the mountains, and vertaking Gonelli at the head of the ndian trail. told him that the Ameri- any had greeted their leader —“a mounted on a mule"—with n explosion of dynamite. thing of this to his ceary nationalists. They were drunk, xhausted and violent. Their raucous songs echoed in the narrow gorge. ind the tramp of their bare feet was huffing and_erratic. Thelr conical traw hats bobbed unsteadily forward in a cloud of pungent dust. Slattern- 'y native women ran along beside the men. And Diego, the persuasive Gonelli on this expedition of conquest. shivered in his boots. He had mounted a splen- 1id horse; silver spurs jingled at his feels: he held himself proudly with in air of martial fearlessness. But noor Diego felt, as he rode forward wn his prancing steeds like a small bout to be spanked. enor Puz _is at Colombia,” Go- whispe to him “Tomorrow. we shall have the ure of rubbing his impudent nose dust.” At dawn the Amerieans from (n- fubhia attached Gonel’s army while slept. The weary nationalists had ropped exhausted on the shallow lateau which opened, fanshaped, be- Jre_iheruined shaltssof thap Gonelli said fool Pug saw an | who had set out | |dawn the trail, leaving me with h: Tllustrated by F. C. Yohn. | | The plateau was covered with aban- fires had | rias mines. Their camp smoldered low. A very old. pale moon hung just over the lofty peak | of Monte San Felice. and a few sleepy sentinels pacing back and forth along | the rim of the plateau heard nothing | from the slopes of the mountain into | the heart of the nationalist camp. | * ¥ %k X | N\‘/,VE pussyfooted ‘cross country.” Pug wrote his dad, “and such ‘cross country! We had to tiptoe along the ragged edges of dizzy cliffs, | and chop our way through tropic for- ests, and jump across the ditches as| wide as the Grand Canon of the Col- orado. We had to creep on our hands | was as tightly braided as the seat of | a rush-bottomed chair. Dark—good lord! There were stars in the i Once we splashed throush a river. Ice cold. Deep. Black. We held our rifies over our heads and waded across, trusting to luck to reach the other side. Then we clawed our wi up a mountain—Monte San Felice. they call it, Heaven knows why—five thousand feet of the hardest climb- ing I've ever tackled. Gonelli was across the mountain, peacefully asleep. “We could not see the nationalists until we had crawled out on the bald polished crest of San Felice. They were down by the Marias—we saw the glow of their camp fires and the glitter of stacked arms. Gonelli, with Diego and a few officers, had taken shelter in the only house left by the Spaniards—a little frame building near the mouth of the tunnel not far from the waterfalls. We could see their horses grazing just outside. Go- nelli's men hardly expected us to fall on them from the sky, but we did. “Dad. it was glorious! It's fun to fight if you don't hate your enemy, but simply crave to teach him man- ners. Lickinz_Gonelli's nationalists | was like slapping .a grammar-school bully. We waited on the summit of | the mountain, getting our breath and spitting into the palms of our hands. | In the dark you could see the white flash of the men's eves as they looked | sver their shoulders at McCarthy | They were trembling for the word | 1'Go” You could hear them breathing —deep and _ steady—fighting every one of them. Now and then some one whispered hoarsely, and there was a faint stir and rattle as all the men wriggled forward a few yards. But McCarthy held us back— just by whispering to us—until dawn. i" “Have you ever seen the sun rise, dad? I guess not. It's hard to get a line on the sun in New York, isn't it? | In Magella it comes up like Kipunga' {sun. with a crash. The bass drum at Reisenweber's will give you some fdea of a Magellan dawn, if you will take the trouble to listen'to that jazz band. A big red ball came bouncing up from behind a range of snow- white mountains and the whole world blazed suddenly. You could hear the forests move and shiver, and there was a tremendous singing of birds. Do you know how you feel when the saxophone takes a deep breath and you step out on the floor with your best girl? That's the way I felt—glad and careless and thankful to God for everything, especially my enemy. * % X X “We Americans stared at each other in that magnificent spotlight and |burst out laughing. One of Gonelli's )sentries, stumbling sleepily up gnd down with a rifle over his shoulder, looked up and saw us silhouetted | against the sky. We heard him yell. | Then we broke and charged. 1 can’t tell you what happened. It was a great battle. 1 remember plu®g- ing down the mountain, loading and firing. dodging behind rocks, falling headlong, scrabbling up again, yell- ing whenever I thought of it. iaugh- | ing whenever 1 dared, wondering| every hundred yards or so why some one hadn’t blown my brains out. Al few of our men died on the way down —fell forward in odd attitudes of ver or fatigus, flat on their faces | » couldn’'t wait for them. 1 doubt | any of us cared. | didn't ot then. | “We had surprised Gonelii's men and they fled down the narrow open- until the Yankee miners literaly fell ! | crestfalien as pluc | out | tator! TH . E SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTCN, D. C, MAY THE BIG BATTLE and Diego in the Spanish ruin where | his noble white head like & crown. they had spent the might. McCarthy and his men raced across the open a_dozen men to account for Gonel doned and the officer: Forses of Monte San Felice. where paused contentedly to graze. equipment, they “One of my men stood upright sud- shoulder. and those inside the Spanish denly. over. He above h oss u heap of Magellan er that we lay on our fac very still. We could hear the fight- ead. Aft- ing in the valley below us as Mec aCrthy pushed the frightened na- tionalists toward the lowlands. They were scrappinz, it out foot by foot down there. and a good many men died for the building of the Marias rajlw Later we found them along the trail, lying very still, their dirty hands bodie grasping their their rifles, sprawled in the dust. —IT WAS GLORIO keeping my eye on/the hut. T were silent’ in there/and 1 could agine their amazement. The nation- ed literally off the rim of the = by an enemy allen from the The sun had come up. and it was a8 hot as the sub- way in August. Swarms of flies buz- zed over the abandoned stores. There wasn’'t a sound except the whisper of the waterfalls and the faint rattle of rifie fire down below. But Gonelli was awake. He had an idea that if he could make a getaway the entire natlonalist army would answer to his whistle. I had promised to rub his beautiful nose in the dust, but I didn’t want to frighten Papa Diego. Not that Papa Diego had any tender feeling for me. Every time one of us slapped a fly, a sheet of flame burst from the windows of that hut. you see, a matter for speed. bovs to“make a noise like an army; then I shut my eyes and beat it across that pla‘eau like a Jer- sey commuter racing for the 8:10 ex- press. Civilization teaches you a thing or two, after all. I got there, thanks to my Manhattan diploma, thanks to you, thanks to the heredi- tary hatréed of surrendering, one's goat. \ “I wriggled under the hut and lay on my back, fighting fgr breath and listening to the conversation going on above my head. T think Gorelli groaned aloud. - 1 heard him say: ‘That Signor Pug! Tl shoot through the floor’ And he did. I rolled over, saw a little spurt of sand about a rd away and said, in a loud voi careful up there. I've got dyna- I'm going to blow you higher than a kite unless you open the front door and walk out—unarmed.’ * ¥ X % 2 §\A7ILL you believe it, dad—Dlego let out a most agonizing squeal, like a man who had burst suddenly into teams. I believe he had. I heard a great shuffiing and a flerce, subdued whimpering. Then Gonelli shouted: ‘You lie! ‘T'm telling you the truth, T an- swered. ‘There are 500 men beyond the rim of the plateau. I would rather die with you than let you es- cape’ And I began to count, at the top of my lungs: ‘One, two, three, four— It was hilarious. I could hear Gonelli shrie ‘It's a trick, you idiots’ And then Diego hurled himself at the door, prayinz, squeal- ing, begging for mercy. The door opened and those precious fools, d eagles, of the hut and ran u with their arms s rushed ross the plate bove their nead _“We tied Gonelli's hands behind him, not because we were afraid of him, but for moral effect. There is something 8o confoundedly undigni- fied about a trussed political agi- Some one went after the horses and we invited Papa Diego to mount. I made him a regular court bow, and the old chap was touched. 1 think he expected to be shot then and there. He saluted and we rode down the trail. Gonelli stumbling ahead of ux, kicking up as much dust as possible and now and then casting looks at over his shoulde venomous that were like th flush of a snake's tongue. Dicgo be 1 to enjoy himself. 1 lifted his head and iooked proutlly down it the wretched leader of the nationalists, twisting his Cy-ater of Cyatersville ing of the old Indian trail, leaving ) mmost-=0Lsheir<wllicers. svithsGonelll mustaches with a wide flourish. .Was itfunny2-<Diego'smolf-estecm.saton galloped up the grassy slopes | said, solemnly: t fired a volley which rolled him, his late ally. screamed, flung his arms | forward like a man who kno: is head and pitched forward | he is the savior of his count “I WISH YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN THERE. ALL THOSE SUNBURNED, INTENSE, ARDENT FACES; THE CHEERS m- | l “‘We have saved Magella from that scoundrel’ 1 said, poking my rifle o Gonelli's back. Papa Diego cast his eyes up to caven and sighed. And what do you think the old hypocrite said? He looked me straight in the eye and ‘God was on my side, or Pug.’ 3 jod" Gonelll hissed over his ‘You traitor!” “Papa Diego paid no attention to He rode magnificently that He was planning some soap-box orations Sign keeping | of his own. “Down near the river McCarthy had | cornered the nationalists, and we fin- ished them off with the neatest bit of guerrilla warfare in the history of Magella. 1 cannot remember much about it because I was so fearfully busy and the sun as so hot and T wanted so awfully to win. Dad, wonder whethersyou passed on your dreams to me? Your dreams, well as your resolution? 1 am inexpre: and knees through underbrush that| “I waited behind a buttressing rock. ! ibly fifalef“l'lfl you for both. { ! his “During that hot fight in the Santa Christina can: inz but this ridiculous, ratie littie country. I knew that I had jumped through the last hoop, and that all the rest of life would be safe nd sane goinz on level ground. Un- expectedly, I wanted to do great things for Magella. While T was load- ing and firing, creeping forward on my face toward the last of Gonelli's nationalists, I saw a reclaimed and glorified Magella—I saw the wealth of the Marias pouring back,over the entire republic; I saw railways, farm- lm;_ country, active ports, towns and cities springing up everywhere. Work to do. Lots of it. I tell you I wanted £0 to win that I wasn't surprised when the last of those stubborn. ragged na- ionalists threw down thel surrendered. e “We entered Magella at sundown— the most battered army_ of vl:l';l! the city had ever seen. McCarty had staved behind to guard the trail, but Diego insisted on making a trium- phant entry, still mounted on his con- iel s orse an iving G sbicuous h d driving Gonelll * ok k% ¢« A MULTITUDE of peoplo turned out to meet us, packing the streets from sidewalk to sidewalk so that we had to force our way through with fixed bayonets. People clung te the telegraph poles, hung out of the windows, swarmed over the roofs, climbed on each other's shoulders, There was a roar of welcome, and Papa Diego bowed to right and left as If he had intended to lick the na- tionalists all along. Every one knew better, but it was eohC At not the u.me to “I wish you might have heen ALl those “sunburnt, intense. et faces; all those cyes staring at us: the Cheers—it was glorious! r men were so tired that they tottered. We rode the length of the Via N zionale and into the big piazza: be- fore the palace and straight through the front door into the courtyard. Then Diego made a speech from the balcony and promised Magella ev- erything on God's green earth. Have you ever looked down into the up- turned faces of a thousand people? Have vou ever heard them shaken hy great sighs, stirred by great en- thusiasms. swept by frantic cheers? "I 8tood by Papa Diego's side and felt the puise beat of Magella—it came up through the soles of my feet and went to my head like a long gin fizz. Dad, I knew you were a sport, so T spoke for you, and I gucss I smoothed things out for the U.S. A. They listened, and 1 heard my voice go out over that silent crowd promising happiness. It was dark, and the sky was full of stars. 1" promised peace and wealth, work _ prosperity, progress—oh, I gave myself a man-size job! And 1 was happier than I've been in my life. When T finished they yelled Viva I'America! and Viva Fairchild! wnd Viva Diego! and 10,000 hats went spinping into the air. Papa Diego took it all for himself and saluted, standing upright. martial and incorruptible, like a marble statu “Mercedes - Mercedes Diexo—was standing by me when 1 made that speech. She isn't afraid of life. She likes the hig scrap. he loves and hates with all her heart. She is brave. he will never forget how to laugh. She has black eves and a few freckles on her nose. I'love her. Your son, PUG. lovable, er- is 1l on I could think of noth- | Our | 29 Sy BY JAMES A. BUCHANAN. HE story of the life of Warren G. Harding, President of the United | States, is an interesting one, | for it is replete with incidents | | that are typically American in their | character. It appears as if the Divine | Providence that watches over all has, | whenever a crisis threatened, pointed a | way for the people to select a man | whose career has enabled him to gain | the viewpoint of the American people— | not the viewpoint of this or that class, not the thought of a small coterie in | any given section, but a man whose life | from early childhood until just before the zenith of his career has Kept him in touch with the American mode of liv-, ing. | { The President's early childhood was | spent in a small town in Ohio and there | the boy who was destined to be the chief executive of over 100,000,000 citizens {rubbed elbows with the boys who fol- {lowed the plow, the youths who clerk- {ed in stores and the older men who had studied life’s problem for many angles His father was a typical country doc- | tor, learned and conscientious—one who | knew no night too stormy for his old { borse and shay to carry him to aid the | stricken fellow being There father, the is no doubt that from Fbis as well as from his mother. President inherited much of the v pathy which is one of his - As time passed the Harding family moved to a larger town. There (ke youngster. now grown to the awkward age between boyhood and manhood, gained a new and larger circle of companions. the years passed. and we find the Hardings in Marion, the city destined {to be famed for its front-porch paign and its hospitality. Harding's career as a member of the Ohio legislature did not stamp {him as an outstanding figure in the outside world: he was rather what might be termed a good legislator: one content to see that proper care was taken to safeguard the interests of the people rather than to make a name for himself as a bright and shining political light. He was cour- teous and considerate, always willing the President’s love for his fellow members. In fact. the impressions I gathered from United States Senator Frank B. Willis, who succeeded Pres- lident Harding as senator from Ohio: W. E. Guerin, from Cleveland, Ohio. and Elmer Dover, formerly of Obio, the President’s love for his fellow- men is the same today as when they served together in the Ohio legisla- | ture. * x % URING the time that Harding was United States senator he did not {change. The fact that he had been hon- {ored by the people of the Buckeye state {and that he occuied an inevitable posi- tion in the councils of the republican party did not in any way tend to an en- i largement of the ego. Upon his election 1o the United States Senate Harding ex- pressed the desire that he might, during the time he was serving as a member of that body, be of some assistance not only to the citizens of his state, but to th~ people at large, and during the period of almost six vears that he sat in the upper chamber of our hizhest legisiative body he was looked upon b; olleagues as onc of the solid me: of that body. Not at any time of h carcer did he evince a desire to win oratorical honors. o While Senator Harding did not rush thing about him that, for want of a bet- ter word, we call personality, that caused { other senators to consult him from time to time. The writer recalls sitting in the Senate gallery onme afternoon and noting one of the guides pointing out the prominent men on the floor of the Senate. After the léaders on both sides had been Doirtted out the guide paused for an in- Stant and then, pointing to the senator from Ohio, sai i “That man sitting in the third row is | Senator Harding of Ohio. He doesn't make many speeches, but all the sema- tors are his friends. Those of us who have beén around the Capitol for a number of years look upon him as one of the substantial men of the Senate— the kind of a fellow vou feel like tying up with in a crisis. Some day he may be_Presiden i Before discussing Mr. Harding's at- titude toward chances for the nomi- natfon it might be just to state that never in his political career has he | pushed himself to the fore as a can ididate. His friends have always sought him out and insisted that hej {be the standard bearer of his party. |His personal desire has been to I the life of an average American citi . to be successful in business. to accumulate enough so that he could| live comfortably and take.part in the everydiy pleasures of life, to he able to visit friends, to find relaxation in golf, fishing or other amusements, but Gestiny has willed otherwise. While fricnds for a number of vears had been awaiting an opportunity to se- cure for him the nomination to the highest office in the gift of the Amer- fcan people, at no time did he actively work to the end that he might be chosen as the nominee of his party, and it was only in response to the in- Sistent urging of his friends in the Senate and that astute politician, At- torney General Harry Daugherty, as well as D. R. Crissinger, now con- troller of the currency; James Pren- dergast of Marion, George B. Chris- tian, jr., and many other friends from Qifterent sections of the country that Ihe permitted his name to be put for- {ward as a candidate for the nomina- lion, This attitude was not a desire on his part to evade any responsi- bilities that might rest on his shoul- ders, nor was it a lack of faith in 4elf, but rather a weighing in the balance as to whether he would be best fitted to serve the people of the | country as a member of the United | States Senate or in a higher capacity. hile the nominee, after the con- vention, was cordial to all visitors, one could note an additional degres of warmth in the salutation he gave o ‘'old friends. Friendship counts much with President Harding. When the day on which was to be held the formal motification exercises arrived thousands of political pilgrims, na- {tional and state leaders arrived to be present at the imposing event. In Company with the members of the committee, he journeyed to the grounds and entered the edifice in a Guiet, dignified manner, and as he ap- peared on the rostrum the assembled Thousands arose en masse, hailing him jag the next President of the United States. His smile and his salute to the assembled throng was no different from that he had used when first elected to the Senate. In reading his speech of acceptance there was noted, by the close observer, a more forceful emphasis than he had em- ployed on former occasions. It was as if he had realized that in accept- ing the nomination he had other and additional burdens to bear. * k% FROM this day until the evening of election the republican nominee carried his share of the burden, and no matter how strenuous a day, at night time he had a cheerful word for those assisting him and for the news- paper men who had their offices in a little bungalow at the rear of Secre- tary Christian's home. Occasionally there would be a let-up for an hour or two in the work, and it was then that Mr. Harding would take a quiet stroll with Mrs. Harding, engage in reminiscences with newspaper men or pitch horseshoes with one of the village policemen on duty at the Har- ding home. On election day he pro- ceeded to the polling place in his dis- trict. taking his place in line and refusing to take the place of those who had entered before. There was no marked elation when he received news of the victory he had ieved; there was, however, an earnest prayer that he might be given the wisdom and strength to serve successfully as President. A short respite, and then the famous trip to the south. He finished his wWisitaandwpreparedshimself -for—~the Again | cam- | into the limelight. there was that some-! 1921-PART 4. Harding by a | Closely: Followed || Writer Who Has ' | His Career — The iEarly Days in Marion, Ohio — The [ Entrance Into Politics—In the Ohio ' Legislature and Then the Senate—With | Harding During the Campaign, Trips to | the South and at Inauguration—Daysin | E the White House—Personal Character- | istics—Meeting Hundreds of Visitors. With the President at Work and play. i | | | I i i DMOMSTON PRESIDENT HARDLE SIGNI; i task of choosing the members of his cabinet. lgNext we figd the President-elect in I St. Augustine, a picturesque old town made famous by Ponce de Leon and his fountain of eternal youth. The happy. easy life, the time for numer- ous games of golf, the strolls with friends were things of the past. Na- tional committeemen, captains of in- dustry. politicians of large and small caliber, a small army of trained jwriters and a platoon of secret serv- tice men surrounded him from early morning until the wee sma’ hours had {come. He was, with the exception of an hour or 80 snatched in which to play golf, busy every minute of the time, and while the nerves of some were frayed and jangling his good nature remained. Back to Marion to say good-bye to | the friends of early days, to take one last look at the house which waf no longer home, then on to Washington to take the oath of office, to deliver his inaugural address and to take up the reins of the government. * * % % BEFORE describing President Hard- ing as we find him in the White Hpuse, it will be better, perhaps, to draw a picture of a few periods of his lige before becoming President. The impressions of the earlier days the writer was able to secure from old-time friends, friends not given to full some flattery, and from his father, a man who considers well his words before uttering an expression. From ithese sources we find a genial, kindly nature, a love of country and a de- sire to help those who need a little 1ift. From some of the old-timers on the Marion Star, men who iWworked with President Harding, we find an expressed desire that his employes {say that they were working with, not for, him. As one of the old-timers on the paper expressed it. “Warren Iwas just one of He never was |a bit bossy, and when the Star com- menced to make money. he gave us all more pay. Sometimes, when he would get tired of writing editorials, |he used to go out and help set type. He liked to mingle with the old crowd. and I bet when he gets down to Washington that he won't be a bit stuck-up. Why, if I came down to the White House and it was around meal time. ] konw for sure that he would say, “Jim, come on in: it's pretty near time for dinner.’” He's just that thoughtful. That this thoughtfulness is a char- acteristic is evidenced by a little in- lcident that took place while Mr. Harding was selecting the members of his cabinet. He had wired to James J. Davis, now Secretary of Labor. asking him to come to Marion. Davis had taken the first train, and upon his arrival at the home in Marion almost the first question Davis was_asked was: “Have you had supper?’ Mr. Davis replied that he had. Whereupon, putting his hand on Davis' shoulder, {Mr. Harding said: “Not unless you got a bite to eat at the lunchroom in Columbus, for I know all the trains that comé in here, which ones have diners and which have not.” Mr. Davis acknowledged he had had a couple of sandwiches, whereupon the President stepped to the door and said to his wife: “Florence, please have another plate put on the table, Jim Davis is going to have supper with us.” The President’s father's estimate of him is: “Warren has always been a good son, he has always been kind and thoughtful, ever considerate of the rights of others; he likes his fel- low men and likes to mingle with them. He will earnestly try to do that which is best for ail the people. He is quicker to fight for a friend than for himself.” The politicians must not imagine, however. that be- cause he is good-natured he can be imposed upon, for he can be as de- termined as it i possible for a man to be, and, while he is sometimes slow in making up his mind, when he ar. rives at a conclusion there must be extraordinary reasons presented be- fore he will change it. Seyeral politicians have, since the 4th of March, found this to be a fact and the man who comes to the White House seeking office must be prepared to place his cards on the table and play the game fairly and squarel a candidate he used the word malcy” and the papers throughout the country laid much stress_on his use of the word. While the President is not a linguistic thaumaturgist, b e AT HIS DESK IN THE THE MEMORIAL DAY PROCLAMATION EXECUTIVE OFFICES, | | has, for years, both in editorial writ- ing and public speaking, been using words or phases that accurately and | concisely describe conditions. If one | will look over the files of the paper | of which he is publisher he will find the President’s knowledge of the English language to be extensi The late Mark Hanna once made this femar “Harding of the Star up at Marion has the faculty of writing things in Such a manner as to cause people to remember what he writes. In his inaugural address there are numerous instances where, in terse, concise English, we find phrases that state clearly and forcefully his posi- tion in uffairs concerning the country. In his utterances there is a lack of pomposity and a marked evidence of his lack of desire to impress upon the people that he alone is running the government. One reading between the lines of h an appeal for the highest standard of citizenship possible to obtain. * ok k % TH.—\T the President is not imbued with the idea that because he has been selected for the office of the chief come a superman. is demonstrated by the remark he made to an old friend, John H. Edwards, when he said: “In the -minds of a number of those who have visited me here since elec- tion there seems to have formed (be- fore their arrival, of course) an im- pression that the mere mnomination and election to the presidency has endowed me with some supernatural powers to immediately solve all the difficulties which beset our own coun- | try, as well as those with which the rest of the world is harassed. If this mantle of wisdom has fallen upon me 1 am as yet happily unconscious ot the fact. The writer has on several watched him as he received visitors at| the White House, and in the expression of his face there was something reminis cent of the late President McKinley There was evident honesty in his ex- pression of being pleased to meet hi fellowmen and that he believes it as well as a pleasure, to mingle | his fellow citizens is best illus- | trated by two events that transpired within the past few weeks. The Presi- dent, on this particular occasion, had an extremely busy day, having conferred | with several members of the cabinct in the morning, listened to the claims of a delegation of railroad men, given an au- dience to eight or ten senators and rep- resentatives, accepted 2 memorial from an organization representing the farm- ers of the country, shaken hands with about one hundred and seventy-five sightscers from Massachusetts, to say Jothing of other work, and had hoped | 40 leave the White House at 5 o'clock to find relaxation at a game of golf with three former cronies of the Senate, when along came the Daughters of the American Revolution and their friends. It was well past 6 o'clock when the last delegate. had paid her respects to the President. The) senators plaved the threesome. Another case was when he went out in a storm in_order mot to disappoint the Baptists, who had asked him to break ground for the memorial to be erected at 16th street and Columbia road. * k k% TTHE President, up to the present time, has been very good-natured in the matter of receiving visitors, and while he has not sacrificed any time necessary to the carrying on of the country’s matters, he has forfeit- ed hours that might have been de- voted to recreation, hours that should have been spent out of doors in playing golf, walking. or some other form of exercise. Should, later, the : hours devoted to receiving the pub- lic be considerably curtailed, it should be understood that he is merely obeying the mandate of those who {have his and his country’s interest i at heart and recognize the fact that ja man carrying so many burdens must have sufficient time in which to keep physically fit. An incident oec- ! curred some weeks ago that illus- trates the correciness of Harding's father's estimate. 1t happened when a certain politician who, a few da Dbefore-had been edvised that an-ap- | the President speech carefully will find | ! pupil from th | she has received an educa® i means, magistrate of the nation he has be-| writer last summer that there were Y After Three Months in White House: CHARACTER Study of President . pointment he wanted could mot be ,* made. appeared at the White House to again urge his claim. The Presi- dent was courteous but firm, so firm Xllal when the politician left the Executive Mansion he made this re- mark to several newspaper men: “The P'resident is genial: be is cour- teous, but. by heck. when he is firm he is the firmest human I ever met® When he spells no. it is with a capital N and a large O™ During Mr. Harding’s political ea- recr he has found that the political Pathway is not always a bed of roses - his faculty of accepting A ppointment. ~ without becoming grouchy won for him _many In the earlicr days of Ohio friends politicians the editor of the Marion Star was aligned with the Foraker forces as against the Mark Hanna As Hanna's star began to d his strength recognized., Foraker and others iaid aside their political tomabawks and worked in unison against the common enemy-— the democrats. It will be remem- bered by some of the old-timers and political historians that there was in Ohio what was known as the “four-H campaign.” So named because three of the candidates, namely, Hanna. Herrick and Harding, had agreed on of harmony > President of the United States A man who has paraded his tianity, but those who huve been to him for years have often re- d that Warren Harding has, whenever a question of religion has been brought into discussion, shown that he has a true Christian faith #nd that he a sincere believer. His unostentatious but earnest support of is home church has long been ommon knowledge of the officers of Baptist reh at Marion. Probably no man in political 1ife in the U'nited States is & member of more fraternal orders than the Presi- e « i a Mason of high de : i active member of the A1 Order of Moose. is a member | 1 Benevolent Protec ve Order and ks joined the Knights of r of years ago. He he Sons of Veterans Sons of the American . lution. 1In all of these organizi- - tions he is what is known as & “good lodge member.” o P is fond of outdoor oxs FTHE President sporis. He el tennis not only by reason of its value an exercise. but also because of the skill required to pla good game. He is a base rooter and in his early days *d a fair but not brillian game. game. perhaps. on a par with his ,, village teammates. As a musician in the t band. he played well, but it was never predicted that he would be 1 Imore. Golf is his favorite sport, and while he cannot be classed ball Pl t with “Chic ns, Ouimet, Vardon or Ray. his game is above the aver- age. He is rather too much of ! quick player. and so loses some of the | benefits of the game. It is not that he is impatient, but rather that he wants to see how well he can do on * the mext shot. His shots from the ' tee are more accurate than lengthy. His best work is on the green, with his mashie shot as a close second Early morning visitors to grounds and back of the White House have often bewe afforded a sight of walking around the ipse with “Laddie Boy.” the White __ House Airedale; and were the late Senator Vest alive he would realize ;| that here was a dog that loved a ' man, a man who loved a dog. On these walks the President generally stops be playing on the walks or grounds ' at this hour, and many a little tot o has told its mother or father of the talks that they had with the “big. nice man and the dog.” Usually, some of the older children recognize the President. President Harding In the earlier | days of his administration won for | himself the gratitude of the soldiers and approbation of the fair-minded i people of the country in his attitude toward those who played a part in the world war. and h bringing to Gen. Sawyer—and appointing Gen. Dawes to See that the disabled vet- erans were given a square deal, has caused a waking up of several bureau- , crats who heretofore seemed to have had the idea that the line of least re- sistance was the one they should fol- visited Walter Reed Hospital, but Mrs. Harding has many times sent flowers and souvenirs of the maimed , and wounded. . The President is a great believer in | education and has repeatedly stated | that it is a great mistake io take a classroom until he or ; would enable them to successfully | fight the batties of life, and while the President is not a man of ext-usive friends at Marion told the numerous instances where tha Presi dent and Mrs. Harding have aiged young men and women to complete their education. The President is “pro” in two things at least. He is " pro-humanitarian and he is pro- American. The Signs of Trade. TREET sounds and street cries ' have changed in character and most of the “symbol signs” of particu- lar trades or crafts have been die- ! carded. When the arts of reading and writing were practiced by few of our fellowmen nearly every branch of ' trade had its symbol, and most of us can recall when the apothecary an- nounced his calling by setting out a great golden mortar and pestle in - front of his shop in addition to the red and green liquids which lent color to the windows. Every pawnbroker - hung out three golden balls as the sign of his business, and a barber '~ shop would not be conventional with- out a red and white striped pole, which was the shop sign when bar - bers practiced certain forms of sur- ™ gery and were confessedly blood-let- ., ters, and the red stripes on the pole symbolized blood and the white stripe: represented the bandage. In the old- | en times the barber pole stood on, or in a bowl-shaped piece of wood, and that represented the basin into which the blood flowed and in which was the water with which the wound was laved. One can now walk the streets of Washington without secing the wood- en Indian, who or which, with a bow and arrows or a tomahawk in one - other announced to passers-by that “this is the tobacconist’s" No longer do you find the black plaster cast of a bootblack boy outside a bootblack stand, and no longer does a giant boot stand in front of the boot and xhoe . store. A watch still hangs in front of some watchmaker shops, but watch- makers and jewelers generally set up a public clock on the sidewalk. The woogen horse no longer stands in front or on top of the blacksmith shop, and even the blacksmith shop has almost passed from the scen Here and there an imitation horse ., holds his own in front of a harness- maker’s shop. but this is now an un- , usual sight. White horses, blue drag- ons, golden eagles, green pheasants, swans and owls are not now to be found as the signs of taverns and wayside inns, and the green bush no _ longer beckons one to the wine room or the ale house. Not only has the . green bush passed away, but the pub- lic wine room and the ale house has gone. at least, in this country. Dur- ' ing the middle ages and at an earlier period a green bush was the sign of a drinking place for men and from this fact arose the saying, which Shakes- peare borrowed from the popular lan- guage of his time. that “Good wine needs no bush.” The phrase meant that good wine needed no public an- the ** and talks to any children who may [ Washington, Dr. Sawyer—now Brig. low. Not only has President Harding ..’ / hand and a bundle of cigars in the ., . ’ ouncement, but was its own recom- |