Ploughing Home

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Not every day does a President of the U. S. set foot on Trinidad. Until last week, in fact, no U. S. President ever did so. Yet on the morning of Franklin Roosevelt's arrival at Port of Spain neither was he mentioned on the front page of any local paper nor was he the chief topic of conversation among the islanders. Trinidaddies that day were thinking and talking about their ex-King and Mrs. Simpson (see p. 14).

Nonetheless the amenities had to be preserved. Not knowing quite whether he was the Governor of Edward VIII or George VI, Sir Murchison Fletcher donned his black & gold uniform, his cocked hat with white feathers and had himself ferried out to U. S. S. Indianapolis. If Sir Murchison's stout British heart suffered any anxiety that Franklin Roosevelt might greet him with the same sort of bunny hug lately practiced on President Gabriel Terra of Uruguay (see cut) and other non-British notables, his fears were quickly dissipated. The President shook hands at arm's length, charmed Sir Murchison with nothing more embarrassing than a smile.

When Sir Murchison had departed, within a few minutes President Roosevelt followed him, went ashore in the local steamer Tobago, drove out to Government House. There after a few swizzles of excellent Trinidad rum, they shook their heads in private over Mrs. Simpson's triumph, ate a highly seasoned luncheon, motored for 25 miles through the countryside before the Indianapolis was ready to sail. /

Next morning off tiny Bird Island in the Leeward Archipelago Franklin Roosevelt accomplished the one thing still necessary to make his trip a complete success. At 7:15 a. m. after an early breakfast the Indianapolis and Chester anchored and while the destroyer Phelps sped north with pouches of Presidential mail, four small boats were lowered and Franklin Roosevelt in one of them spent three hours catching 34 fish, chiefly pompano and barracuda.

Then the cruisers laid their course for Charleston, S. C. Meanwhile, Washington was already anticipating the President's arrival:

P: Rumor had already fixed several appointments: Pharmacist's Mate George Fox, long attached to the White House, to succeed the late Gus Gennerich as masseur, companion of the swimming pool and personal handler; Son and Marine Corps Lieutenant-Colonel James Roosevelt to become an unpaid, untitled aide at the White House, taking over some of the functions of the late Louis McHenry Howe; Eugene S. Leggett, acting chairman of the nebulous National Emergency Council, to succeed Stephen Early as press secretary.

P: Oilman Henry Latham Doherty announced the President's annual birthday balls (poliomyelitis benefits) for Jan. 30. William Donner Roosevelt, 4, only one of the President's seven grandchildren not to spend Christmas at the White House, emptied his coin bank in Philadelphia and bought the first five tickets.

P: A White House dance in honor of the President's next prospective daughter-in-law, Ethel du Pont, was scheduled for the day after Christmas, then unscheduled and left dangling because her fiance, Franklin Jr., lay in Massachusetts General Hospital waiting an operation for an acute sinus infection.

P: Secretary Marvin Mclntyre secured the services of Rear Admiral Gary T. Grayson, who served in the same capacity in 1933, to act as Chairman of the Inaugural Committee, and Mrs. Roosevelt announced that for the inauguration she would undoubtedly wear her black broadtail. Said she: "I have had the coat three years, but it is perfectly good and I expect to wear it a good many years after this. I should not dream of getting a new one."

* Reason: his half-sister Ruth, half-brother Elliott, and their parents will be there.

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