Evening Star Newspaper, August 18, 1935, Page 51

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 18, 1935—PART FOUR. F-3 'S ALL IN A DOG’S LIFE AT THE WHITE HOUSE By James Nevin Miller. OR the first time since the administration of Warren G.| Harding the White House kea- nels are empty. Not a single | bow-wow has enjoyed the luxury of | America's “No. 1" dog apartment house for lo, these many months. The reasons are not far to seek. First, President Roosevelt has made | no secret of the fact that he doesn't | like the present kennel set-up and will | not maintain any canine pets until there’'s a new deal in kenneldom. Which is not at all strange when you realize that the kennels are located in the hottest part of Washington, just south of the blue room in the east grounds. Here the sun comes due | south and the direct rays of old Sol are so merciless that oftentimes the thermometer registers 120 degrees! Furthermore, unlike most Presidents, | Mr. Roosevelt isn't strocog for gift | dogs. An expert on canines himself, he prefers to make his own personal | choice in every instance. So that the scores of dogs of every breed and | description that are sent to 1600 | Pennsylveaia avenue from time to| time invarlably are returned to their senders immediately or else given away, A final reason is the unfortunate fact that an unprecedented amount of | bad luck or ill health has dogged the | lot of practically every one of the | aristocratic canines housed there since first Mr. Roosevelt entered the Execu- tive Manslon back in March, 1933. Mafjor, giant police dog and the Presi- dent’s favorite, and Meggie, wee Scotch terrier and Mrs. Roosevelt's pride and joy, were banished a year ago for biting and Major in addition, broke his leg in a mysterious accident. Winks, mischievous setter pup, was involved in a weird crash and took & quick trip to puppy heaven. Tiny, enormous English shepherd, seemed unhappy in his historic environment and so was presented to a close friend of the Roosevelt'’s for at least tempo- rary guardianship; General Grant, a gift bull pup, turned out to be & poor “mixer” and was given away; and Jack and Jill, Irish setters belonging to the President’s grandchildren, Sistie and Buzzie Boettinger, were too quiet and dignified for the exciting life at the White House. So they were sent to the peaceful, rural atmos- phere of Hyde Park. Major, & handsome buff and black German shepherd, trained for police work, was presented to Mr. Roosevelt shortly after he was elected to the presidency by a troop of New York State Police. Major's address for a few months was Krum Elbow, the Roosevelt estate at Hyde Park. THER! were several other police v dogs there and it was Major's job & keep them in order. He himself had a trick through which he was frequently misunderstood. He walked up to each visitor, took his wrist quietly but firmly in his teeth and scrutinized him before he let him go. This made Major unpopular with some visitors. But really he dida't mean any harm. It was presumably part of his training as an alert police dog. fortunately, Major brought his “fake bite” with him to Washington and it was sadly out of keeping with his newly acquired title of America's No. 1 dog. What had been regarded as a joke at worst in Albany was nothing short of a serious canine crime in the White House. Poor Major! He soon found that a dog’s life is just that in the Execu- tive Mansion. Only a few days after Mr. Roosevelt took office in March, 1933, the hapless dog started his long series of crimes by biting Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas on the arm while she was attending a Roose- velt party. Later he tore Prime Min- ister Ramsay McDonald’s trousers during the British statesman’s visit to Washington. And, just for variety, he broke his leg soon afterward and, barely recovered from that, had to have an operation on his back. One day early that September Major nipped another stranger and was im- prisoned in the dog house near the south portico for several days. And when finally released he was further humiliated by being forced to wear a muzzle. The very last straw was an incident that occurred some weeks later. A certain Washingtonian was passing the White House when he saw Major cavorting about on the other side of the fence. The man reached through to pat the dog. Major responded by biting his hand. Seven stitches were necessary. Small wonder that the German shepherd finally was deported to Hyde Park. Even 'so, Major has a better record than some of his White House prede- cessors. The prize for annoying visitors still belongs to Pete, pet bull- dog of Teddy. Roosevelt. One fine day Pete turned on French Ambas- sador Jusserand and tore out part of that distinguished diplomat’s trousers, Straightway the Ambassador sought safety in the low-hanging limbs of a nearby tree. | MR. HARDING'S Laddie Boy nipped at dignitaries and finally was sent away. Mr. Hoover had Sham- rock, a great Irish wolfhound that bit so many White House police and Marine guards at Rapidan camp that he had to be destroyed. Besides housing all these biting dogs, the [Executive Mansion has served as a veritable menagerie of pets of almost every conceivable sort. FMr. Tatt kept & cow, named Pauline, The White House Kennels Are Now Empty for the Firs Time Since Harding WWas President, But Many Famous Dogs g8 Have Occupied These “Royal Quarters” in This and Past . Administrations—Here Is a Story of the Pets of Presidents Who Have Capmrc’d Public Fancy and Help President as & member of the “kitchen cab- inet.” Mr. Coolidge at various times had a raccoon, a donkey and a couple of frisky tomcats. Probably the prize pets of theth | all, however, were Mr. Wilson's sheep. During the World War Dr. Cary T.| Grayson, the President’s physician, ! bought for the White House lawn a drove of sheep—fine, grass-eating, wool producers—to mow the lawn. Mr. Wilson wanted the animals to save manpower when labor was scarce. Fourteen sheep were brought to the inclosure just south of the Mansion. | 4he Wilson sheep became famous for their contributions to the Red | Cross. The President donated the annual clip to the cause of that or- ganization and at public auctions some of the wool brought as high as $10 a pound. In 1920, with conditions becoming normal after the war, Mr. Wilson de- cided to dispense with the sheep and gave them to L. C. Probert, then superintendent of the Washington Bu- reau of the Associated Press, for his farm near Olney, Md. Some of them still adorn the pastures, bringing forth lambs and providing & wealth of fine wool. Getting back to present times—Meg- gle, like Major, was brought to Wash- ington from Hyde Park at the outset of the Roosevelt administration. When first she frolicked on the White House lawn Meggie was 8 years old and very fat. And when she was taken for a walk she always barked until she reached the end of the first block, after which her deportment was most dignified. She liked to sleep in fire- places, loathed the resultant baths and never made a fuss over any one except Mrs. Roosevelt. Some one gave her a bright red collar for Christmas of '33, with a silver plate on it, bearing the in- scription, “Meggie, the White House, Washington.” She wasn't much inter- ested in this, however. Meggie’s canine crime took place over a year ago, when she snapped at Buzzie and Sistie Boettinger, the President’s grandchildren. Soon she was given away to Dr. D. E. Bucking- ham, White House veterinarian. To- day, he reports, the terrier is very well behaved and not at all mean to visitors. VWINKS, tiny English setter, was only a few months old when he was presented to President Roosevelt at Warm Springs, Ga., in the Fall of 1933. When the setter had matured somewhat he was brought to the White House to replace Major. Since Winks was the only dog in the ken- nels, you might suppose he would behave himself. Instead, he got in trouble almost from the very first. On February 26, 1934, he was in dire disgrace for having eaten the break- fasts set out in the servant’s dining room for 19 servants! The 19 plates on the enormous dining table were filled with steaming bacon, eggs and toast when Winks appeared in the doorway. No one was in sight. In an unbelievably short time he polished off every plate. Winks had finished and was licking his chops and beating a retreat just as the first of the servants arrived for the morning meal. And was he embaggassed? He put his tail between his legs, lowered his head and made a speedy getaway. President Roosevell was ad¥sed of Upper, left: White House lawn. Coolidge with her famous Center: Wilson’s prize sheep on the Portrait of Mrs. Calyin white collie, Rob <Roy, by Howard Chandler Christie, which hangs in the White House (Underwood & Underwood). Upper, right: Mrs. Coolidge on the White House steps with Prudence Prim, one of her two snow-white collies, and Paul Pry, the airedale (Underwood & Underwood). Left, center: Winks, President Roosevel t's wire-haired terrier, who committed the worst canine crime in White House history when he stole into the servants’ dining room one morning and gobbled up 19 orders of ham and eggs. Photo shows him polishing off the last plate (Under- wood & Underwood). Left, oval: Rebecca the race coon, presented to President Coolidge (Underwood & Underwood). Right, oval elkhound, a half-pint rascal (Wide-World). Right, center: : Weegie, the Norwegian that won the Hoover hearts Laddie Boy giving an official welcome to his birthday cake. The, magnificent airedale was one of the most beloved White House pets that ever lived. Yet he finally had to be deported for biting dignitaries (Underwood & Underwood). Lower, left: Unluckiest dog ever to command the White House kennels is the claim to fame of Major, shown with Dr. D. E. Buckingham, veterinarian, just before an opera- tion in 1933. The police dog, favorite of President Roosevelt, suffered two operations, broke his leg and finally had to be deported to Hyde Park for snapping at visitors (Wide-World). Lower, right: Mr. and Mrs. Hoover and King Tut, their beloved police dog (Under- wood & Underwood). his pet’s conduct and, it is said, he had one of the best laughs of many a day. Later in the morning he repeated the story to some callers. He said: “The only reason Winks didn't get away with the coffee was because it hadn’t been poured.” At the time of the crime Winks wasn't quite a year old. He had an imposing pedigree and up to this time his behavior was exemplary. While he committed a grave offense by loot- ing the White House lunch room, he wasn't punished. But Winks didn’t linger long in his historic environment. Less than five months after his hunger march the setter got involved in a peculiar crash. He was playing on the White House lawn with another dog belonging to a secret service man. Suddenly Winks got all excited about the fun he was having and failed to keep his eyes front. He cracked into an iron fence and died of concussion of the brain. ‘The pup now rests in a special canine coffin in Rosedale Dog Cemetery, Sil- ver Spring, Md. For months after Winks' demise Pal was the only occupant of the ofl- cial kennels. The dog, an American bull terrier, belonged to Gus Gen- nerich, a personal bodyguard of the President. Less than two weeks after Winks said good-by, Pal ran into bad luck. Late in July, 1934, he became affected by the heat. He ran amuck about the south grounds and the policemen and other attendants became alarmed for fear the terrier was actually mad. Dr. Buckingham was notified. One of his assistants arrived and assured one and all the dog simply was suffering from the heat. Pal had leaped into the President’s swimming pool, which at the time was empty of water, and was found there when the veterinarian ar- rived. After a sojourn of a day or so in the canine hospital Pal was pro- nounced O. K. But pretty soon Gen- nerich ‘gave him away, EY . ~ | ]PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT became 1 extremely fond of Tiny, big, | shaggy English sheep dog presented to the White House 'way back in the early Spring of 1933. It was the orig- inal intention of the Chief Executive to send Tiny to the Roosevelt farm at Warm Springs, Ga. Before so doing, however, he was turned over to Ad- miral and Mrs. Cary T. Grayson, close | friends, to keep temporarily, as doubt had arisen over the advisability of sending such a heavy-coated dog to such a warm climate. Until a final decision has been made as to his fu- ture, Tiny will remain with the Gray- sons. The Hoovers kept eight dogs, not all at one time, but during the course of their residence in the White House. | King Tut, the President’s favorite, was |a magnificent Belgian police dog, raised from a pup by the Hoovers. Tut assumed the throne of the White House kennels when his master and mistress moved, from their S street home to 1600 Pennsylvania avenue. So faithfully.and religiously did Tut assume the task of patrolling the reg- ularly assigned beats of the policemen about the rear grounds that he thought of nothing else. He gave up all thought of play and paid little at- tention to meals or sleep. ‘Tut never learned to relax. Toward the end of his canine dictatorship of the White House he did his guardian work a little too well. At least he was too serious. Pretty soon it was not safe for workmen or others to present themselves on the rear grounds. So that Tut had to be watched ever so carefully. But when he was muzzled, that was the last straw. Shortly afterward, at the age of 8, he pined away and died. Mrs. Hoover’s favorites were the in- separable pair, Weegle, the frolicsome and playful little Norwegian elkhound, and Pat, a police dog. They appeared with the Pirst Lady in a photograph on her Christmas cards fof 1932 and ed NMake History. - | Hoover canines were: the greeting in her handwriting below the picture was “from Lou Henry Hoover, Weegie and Pat.” Other Patrick, an Irish wolfhound; Big Ben and Son- nie, wire-haired fox terriers; Glen, a Scotch collie, and Yukon, an Eskimo that so pined for the “North coun- tree” that the President had to send him back home. | PROBABLY the Coolidges had the queerest assortment of pets of | any presidential family. They kept a | gentleman donkey, a lady raccoon, two cats and something like seven| dogs. Just where the donkey came | from seems to be a mystery. Anyway, | the First Lady grew exceedingly fond | of him, named him Ebeneezer and | housed the beast in a special pen. Official records are conflicting as to just when the raccoon joined the | looked the part of a President’s pet. | One notation | gesides Blackie never strayed away. | says Thanksgiving, 1926, and another | e not only seemed proud of his | White House family. asserts that Christmas of the same year was the proper date. Anyway, the animal was the gift of an admirer in Tennessee, who intended her for | the President’s holiday dinner to re- plgce the traditional turkey. But Mr. Coolidge took a fancy to the little creature the moment he saw her ar- riving at the White House and named her Rebecca. Soon this feeling grew into a real attachment. Mrs. Coolidge also became fond of Rebecca and had a house built for he in a huge tree with a wire fence| around it, in the rear gronds. While | out of doors the raccoon was kept chained, but inside the mansion she enjoyed real liberty. Especially did she like the privacy of the bath room. In the tub she often frolicked about with a cake of soap. A Washington news sleuth, entirely by accident, achieved a peculiar “scoop” for his paper. One day early in 1927 he was standing outside the front entrance to the executive man- sion when all at once the official White House limousine drew up to the door. Pretty soon the President, car- rying something tiny, entered the car. Curious, the newspaper man man- aged a closer view and to his sur- prise there was Mr. Coolidge sitting in the rear seat with Rebecca beside him. It seems that he was moving to temporary executive quarters at Du- pont Circle while the real White House was being repaired and didn't want to trust his pet with anybody but him- self. Almost every evening when supper was over Mr. Coolidge insisted on having Rebecca close by to pat while he was reading or working with mem- bers of his household. But for some Teason or other, after a sojourn of less than six months, the raccoon lost the presidential favor. In March, 1927, she was banished from the White House animal aristocracy to make her future home in the Washington Zoo. Tige and Blackie were the kings of the Coolidge cats. Tige, & gray-striped tomcat, was the President’s favorite. During his life of ease and comfort in the White House Tige frequently strayed off, but generally only for a night or so. Usually he looked a trifle the worse for wear when he returned from these mysterious absences. But he never failed to march right back into Mr. Coolidge’'s good graces and in & day or so afterward was the same meek and affectionate animal the President loved so well. Btrictly speaking, Tige was outside the pale of feline aristocracy. Ace cording to the judgmens of fanciers b Ay B o TR gl he lacked good breeding. born with an amiable disposition, good looks, but tramp blood. Blackie, the other White House tomcat, had princely manners, an imposing ped- igree and for a time, at least, be- haved like a saint. Certainly he home and its historic surroundings but looked with disdain and disgust upon those common things beyond | the bounds of the White House grounds. IT in the first place. No one recalled how or when he first appeared on the scene. It was soon after Mr. Coolidge moved into the Executive ansicn, and all that any one knows of the event was that Tige just came. That’s all. grounds, and refused to leave. Event- ually he went on one of his noc- turnal excursions and never came back. Ironically enough, the high- brow Blackie finally turned vicious. All of a sudden he started prowling around the White House grounds killing squirrels and rabbits. He was | also blamed for the demise of a num- ber of birds. banished. One of Mr. Coolidge’s closest com- panions was Boy Roy, the snow-white collie which supplanted the Harding Laddie Boy as canine boss of the White House. Bob quickly worked himself into the affection of the President. Often when his master retired to his office So eventually he was after luncheon, the handsome collie | trotted along to take a snooze in front of the fireplace, curl up in a leather chair at the President’s elbow or look out of the window, yearning, perhaps, for a run around the yard or out in the street where he wouldn't have to observe White House rules of etiquette. Rob Roy got excited when he spied any of the squirrels which scampered around” the grounds. He frequently made a dash for one but always gave up the chase after a sharp reprimand from his master. Mr. Coolidge seldom went for a week end cruise aboard the yacht Mayflower without taking Rob along and he was forever the President’s shadow at the Executive Mansion. Even during mealtime the faithful collie generally was near the chair of his master, and always he profited to the extent of getting choice morsels of food. / For & while after retirning from Swampscott, Mass.,, the presidential recreation retreat in 1925, Rob Roy was - lonesome. His playmate, Paul Pry, the snappy airedale, had been turned over to the Marines for dis- cbedience. But another collie, also white, but somewfat smaller, soon ) He was IS not known just how the tramp, | Tige, became a White House cat He wandered onto the | came from the Wisconsin kennels where Rob was born. Despite the newcomer, given the name of Prudence Prim by Mrs. Coolidge, Rob seems to have maintained claim to the Presi- dent’s affections. Mrs. Coolidge ap- pears to have been fonder of Pru- dence. Really Prudence was distinguished. She and Rob Roy were great pals. Prudence was the constant companion of Mrs. Coolidge, following her ail around the house and sleeping by her bed or on her couch at night The lady collie’s drawing room man- ners were perfect. Often she was invited to tea, where she achieved exactly the correct manner—friendly, but not familiar. Prudence languished in 1927. Though Mrs. Coolidge seemed to prefer Prudence she had her portrait painted with Rob Roy. He died late |in the Coolidge administration to be deeply mourned by his master and | inistress. Rob was buried at Walter Reed Hospital by the side of Prudence. | ANOTHER Coolidge favorite was Paul Pry, frisky airedale and | half-brother of President Harding's Laddie Boy. Paul was a big overgrown, awkward puppy when first he entered the White House. Mrs. Coolidge tied | him to a leash and managed to calm him down somewhat. Nevertheless he never quite got over the habit of dash- ing and galloping. Paul Pry's buddy for a while was Peter Pan, a magnificent wire-haired | terrier. Unfortunately he was so high- | strung and nervous that he soon was deported to a quieter household. Short- lv afterward Paul Pry also was given away because of his mischievous and frolicksome habits. In Paul's place the First Lady adopted Tiny Tim, a red chow puppy. Actually he was a birthday present for Mr. Coolidge. But the very moment Mrs. Coolidge laid eyes on the pup she claimed him for her own. Tiny Tim was barely thre months old at the time. Mrs. Cool- idge, herself rigged up a wooden box for him with a soft blanket in it. Tim later became a member of the Coolidge househeld at Northampton, Mass. Other well-known Coolidge dogs were: Diana, a white collie; King Cole, a black Belgian police dog, and Bessie, a yellow collie. President Harding’s Laddie Boy, probably the best known of any white House dog, became well nigh a na- tional pet. A huge statue of the mag- nificent airedale was cast from pennies contributed by newsboys all over the country and is exhibited today in the Smithsonian Institution. Laddie Boy went to the White House on March 4, 1921, a gift to President Harding from an Ohio admirer. One of the airedale’s unusual traits was his foundness for coffee with sugar and cream, a trait acquired at the Execu- tive Mansion,