The Coolidge Week

P:Miss Ruth Wells, choir leader of the Hermosa church, paid tribute to Mrs. Coolidge: "We shall lose the best singer in our congregation when Mrs. Coolidge goes. Mrs. Coolidge knows the words of every hymn without looking at the book. She has joined us in singing every Sunday; in fact, almost leads the congregation with her strong, clear soprano. She seemed to enjoy it." P:The ladies of the Rapid City Fortnightly Club were in a state. "Who speaks first?" sputtered one fluttering matron. "You don't think we ought to call her --your Grace' do you?" "Nonsense, my dear, she'd think you were using her first name." "I must ask her what she thought of Lindy!" Into the midst of the furor walked Mrs. Coolidge. One lady, Mrs. M. W. Pangburn, immediately fainted, because, as she explained later, "the prospect of meeting the wife of a President" had caused her to lose consciousness. This was the first Black Hills social function that Mrs. Coolidge had attended. That she chose to make her debut at a meeting of the Fortnightly Club was due, not to her favoritism, but to the fact that the members of this club had been the first courageous enough to invite her. P:On the 21st birthday of John Coolidge, the President stayed away from the Executive Office in Rapid City in order to celebrate the occasion. No birthday presents were in evidence, so newsgatherers stated that the President had given his son a large check. Also it was said that John Coolidge, on becoming a major, received a property grant from his grandmother's will. In the afternoon the three Coolidges were photographed with the 75-- cavalrymen who have acted as summer White House guards. In the evening the President & Mrs Coolidge sat down to dinner with John Coolidge. In the middle of the table was a big cake. P:The day before the President's departure for Washington, Rapid City editors addressed to him their farewells. The Democratic Gate City Guide, under the heading, "A Heart-Warm Fond Adieu," said: "In your own quiet way you have shown us still another winning of the West." Said Mr. Patrick Sullivan, Wyoming Republican National Committeeman: ". . . The Republican Party on this side of the Mis- sissippi has been stimulated by the visit. . . ."

P:The long black snout of a locomotive snuffled loudly and puffed rings and flowers of white smoke into a dark blue breezy evening. Bands played and the people of Rapid City cheered, waved, called "Goodby . . . Good-by Grace! . . . Good-by Cal. . . ." President Coolidge stood bowing and gesticulating; he made no speech, for already he had told the assembled population that "the hospitality that has been extended to us has been nothing less than remarkable. . . ." Mrs. Coolidge and John Coolidge laughed and waved. Then the locomotive snout sneezed, the wheels began turning and the Coolidges, standing on the back platform of the Washington train, watched the Rapid City station turning into a tiny light spot in which molecular faces peered and electronic fingers wiggled the West's farewell. CT Reporters who traveled east- ward with the President remembering the trip west in June, were impressed with the improvement in his appearance since that time. Then his face had been grey with presidential pallor, etched with executive anxiety; now it was ruddy and wreathed in grins or smiles. P:At the South Dakota State College, Brookings, S. Dak., the President stopped off to make the dedicatory speech at the Lincoln Memorial Library, to lay the cornerstone at the Coolidge Sylvan Theatre, and to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Like many of his public utterances, his speech was packed with intensely local information which, though possessed by a few of his hearers, caused most of them to marvel that it should be part of a President's equipment. Said President Coolidge:

"Perhaps there is no better example of ... wonderful development than your own State College. It was opened 43 years ago ... as a preparatory school with 35 students. Since that time it has reached the proportions of a college of agriculture and mechanical arts with an enrollment of about 1,400 students. . . . What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? . . . Colleges should be temples. . . . The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. . . ."

P:President Coolidge, Mrs. Coolidge, John Coolidge, two white collies, two chows, Rebecca Raccoon arrived in Washington. At the station to meet the Presidential party were Cabinet Members Mellon, Kellogg, Jardine and Sargent. After handshakes and animal pat-tings, the Coolidges and their companions got into several limousines and swept rapidly through the Capital. Rob Roy, veteran collie, disturbed the ride with bounds, plunges, whines; shedding his white hair on formal apparel, then, he pressed his cold nose against the glass, to get a first glimpse of the White House. Arriving, he bolted down the corridor, into the elevator; jumped on the seat, and gazed upward, eager to rise. Mrs. Coolidge, good housewife, was enthusiastic over the improvements; insisted on touring the house before permitting the President to go to bed. The next morning he slept over; was tardier at his desk than he has almost ever been, arriving shortly after ten.

During the morning he had conference with Republican Floor Leaders of the Senate ( Charles Curtis of Kansas) and of the House (John Q. Tilson of Connecticut). Both advised against an extra session of Congress. Secretary of State Frank Billings Kellogg, occupied most of the President's afternoon.

--Of whom 19 are Indians.