THE PRESIDENCY: Fishing

Swimming comfortably along near West Caicos Island last week, an obscure 20-lb. barracuda spied something that looked edible. He snapped at it. Ten minutes later, the barracuda was amazed to find himself thrashing about in the bottom of a whale boat confronted by the beaming face of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Over most other U. S. fishermen. Franklin Roosevelt enjoys one notable advantage. Because he is President, people are presumably interested in hearing what he caught. Last week, while the Navy’s new light cruiser Philadelphia cruised 2,744 miles to the Lesser Antilles and back, U. S. newspapers, wire services and radio antennae hummed with the number of trifling pompano, red snappers and mackerel which had achieved a perishing notoriety by attaching themselves to the Presidential line. The 20-lb. barracuda became easily the U. S. fish of the week. He was the biggest of 60 caught by the Presidential party on next to the last day of the cruise off the Southern Bahamas. Runner-up was an 18-lb. barracuda caught by White House Executive Clerk Rudolph Forster.

In the whole cruise only one item more exciting than the story about the President’s barracuda was wirelessed back to shore by Secretary Marvin Mclntyre. This was the story about the steel splinter that had got into the eye of a seaman on the Norwegian freighter Marathon. The Marathon, en route from Montreal to New Orleans, sent out an S.O.S. The President ordered the Philadelphia, running back toward Charleston, to head south and intercept her. The Marathon was sighted at 8:15. While the President stood on deck to watch, the Philadelphia’?, surgeon. Commander Oscar Davis, climbed into the Presidential fishing boat and was lowered into a choppy sea. Half an hour later the whale boat came back. Dr. Davis reported to the President that he had removed the splinter, the Marathon gave three whistles which the Philadelphia returned and the incident was closed.

More important than the news the Philadelphia sent to the U. S. last week was the news the U. S. sent to the Philadelphia. Most of it—about the Florida primaries (see p. 17) and the progress of the Wages & Hours Bill (see p. 14)—was well calculated to add to the President’s enjoyment of his holiday. When the Philadelphia docked in Charleston, reporters found him tanned by his fishing, in high good spirits about what had been happening in his absence. Greeted by an enthusiastic crowd on the dock, Franklin Roosevelt noted with pleasure that the historic old Hartford about which he had complained eight days before, had already had two coats of paint. Then he drove to the station, and entrained for Washington. Next day, his week’s work was started as usual by a White House conference with John Garner, Alben Barkley, Sam Rayburn, William Bankhead.

¶ Last January Franklin Roosevelt made known his intention of appointing Ambassador to Soviet Russia Joseph E. Davies. Ambassador to Belgium to succeed Career Diplomat Hugh Gibson. This week. President Roosevelt’s first official act after his return was to send the nomination to the Senate.