Down on the Farm

Several times during the week, white-tailed deer ventured in from the hills and copses, were sighted on the edge of the farmland. Muskrats and raccoons invaded the property, too, in search of winter provender. In the gracious house, the lamps were snapped on earlier each day in salute to the sudden evenings, and open fires on the hearth provided a warm welcome after a walk in the frosty outdoors. In the great stone barn there was a steamy, cozy air of expectancy; several of the cows were freshening, and soon the herd of Aberdeen Angus, Holsteins and Brown Swiss would be larger.

In the barn one early evening last week, the Brown Swiss cow was calving for the first time. A small knot of anxious men stood near by. Farm Manager Ivan Feaster, becoming alarmed at the slow process of birth, raced off to call a veterinarian. He was stopped in his tracks by a shout from the barn: "It's all right, Ivan," yelled Farmer Dwight Eisenhower, "don't bother to call." In the stall, the mother cow licked the quivering body of her offspring, a fine bull calf, while the President of the U.S. looked on in beaming approval.

For President Eisenhower, life on the farm was deeply and obviously satisfying. But as the days grew shorter, Ike's time was given over more and more to the burdens of office. Last week the President put in his longest single day of work since his illness, and the problems he faced became more vexing.

Twice during the week Ike motored through the frosty Catoctin Mountains to Camp David to confer with his Cabinet and other officials. There were many pressing items on the agenda: reconciling the needs of Defense Secretary Wilson's military establishment with the economies of Treasury Secretary Humphrey's all-but-balanced budget, the simmering farm problem of Agriculture Secretary Benson, the changing international situation, the State of the Union message. At one of the Camp David meetings, the discussions went on for so long that Presidential Physician Howard Snyder finally stalked into the conference room and ordered a luncheon break so that his patient could get some rest. While the meetings went on inside Laurel Lodge, marines and Secret Service men patrolled the woods, and a Filipino mess boy stood on the porch with the President's hat and coat held in readiness. At the end of his busy week (see below), the President went to Washington for a physical checkup.

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