THE PRESIDENCY: The White House Week: Jul. 19, 1926

¶ One thousand feet above the sea, on the shores of Lake Osgood (near Paul Smith’s, N. Y.), sleeps President Coolidge. The owls hoot, just as they did on the south grounds of the White House, (TIME, Apr. 26), but the air is fresher.

In the morning he rises, whiffs the sharp mountain air, glances at a portrait of Napoleon hanging in his bedroom, gazes across the lake at the mountains (A dozen trees which obstructed the view have been removed). He inspects “civilization in the abstract,” as Architect William G. Massarene calls the $500,000 White Pine Camp. He hears the soft voice of luxury speaking through French tapestries, Oriental rugs, Italian paintings, a Japanese pagoda, an alpine rock garden, a billiard cabin, a bowling alley, a grand piano, a personal telephone exchange, private house-movies. To all of which, thirty-seven acres of woodland reply with eloquence primeval.

¶ The exalted but unglamorous court at White Pine Camp included: the President and Mrs. Coolidge, Secretary Everett Sanders, Major James F. Coupal (White House physician who has occasionally hinted to the press that the President is not getting enough exercise), Captain Wilson Brown Jr. (naval aide), Commander Boone of the U. S. Marines and his fifty hearties, Caretaker Oscar Otis (native chaw-bacon), household and office employes, Collies Paul Pry and Prudence Prym, and Mrs. Coolidge’s canaries. There are additional cabins for personal and political guests.

Son John Coolidge, who at one time had scholastic difficulties at Amherst, will arrive next month, after he has finished three courses in economics at the summer school of the University of Vermont (his mother’s alma mater).

¶In the cool of the evening before dinner the President walked forth into the forest. Beneath a spreading pine tree he stopped, waved his arms about his head, legs; retreated. Mosquitoes had bitten him. The next night, the beasties became so annoying that ever-thoughtful Major Coupal equipped the President with a small bottle of citronella. Meanwhile, fifty marines scratched and swore that mosquitoes are worse than cooties. Commander Boone considered the advisability of spraying the waters around the camp with a poison which was successfully used at Quantico.

¶The President motored four miles through the rain to the executive summer offices in a cabin near Paul Smith’s Hotel. There, sitting behind a flat-topped desk, he talked with the gentlemen of the press. The rules of White House procedure were explained for the enlightenment of many newcomers among the correspondents. The spokesman for the President (i. e. the President himself) will answer questions and convey necessary information, but he must never be directly quoted.

Forthwith, Spokesman Coolidge began to inform the press. He did not see how the 69th Congress could have done better work, enacted any more constructive legislation, and wasted less time in useless debate. He believed that great credit was due to the Republican leaders. He approved of the Shipping Board’s policy of getting rid of government ships to responsible parties, and was satisfied with Brigadier General Albert C. Dalton’s appointment as head of the Fleet Corporation.

¶Hurrying, beaming, the President called to Mrs. Coolidge: “Look what I caught.” “You never caught that fish,” replied the First Lady. “Yes, he did, Madam,” assured Native Oscar Otis. That evening the catch was announced to a group of correspondents huddled about the fire at Paul Smith’s Hotel, by Secretary Sanders, who, however, did not disclose whether the fish was pike or pickerel. Experts estimated, writers visualized; and the news of a Presidential catch, 14 inches long, approximating three pounds, was clicked over the telegraph. The fish had been caught on the hook of a trailer from Native Otis’ boat, much to the surprise of the President. At the press conference it was supposed that the President would lift the cloud concerning the species and dimensions of his fish. He did not. Five days later, the President caught singlehanded a six pound bass on a troll line, and five brook trout with trusty bamboo pole and juicy angle worms—rain, high wind, notwithstanding.

¶ The clouds burst, lightning played among the pine trees; at 2:45 one morning a bolt hit the powerhouse. In the President’s room candles soon flickered.

¶The President and Mrs. Coolidge drove 14 miles to attend the Sunday morning service at the First Presbyterian Church in Saranac Lake, N. Y. It was chilly, so the President wore a topcoat during the service, as did most of the 250 in the congregation.