RECREATION: F. & J. at Play

RECREATION F. & J. at PlayCome crisis, Congress, conference or Communism, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles tries to slip away from his job every couple of months to rest and think. And when he gets away, in thorough Thoreau-going fashion he goes very nearly to population’s brink. He and his wife Janet pack a single bag, fly to Watertown, N.Y., board a twin-engined amphibious plane near Lake Ontario, and fly out to their own private Duck Island (3 sq. mi.) and their primitive three-room log cabin—bare of telephone, electricity, running water and plumbing. Foster Dulles cherishes his island privacy, but on the urging of the New York Herald Tribune’s Washington Bureau Chief Robert John Donovan, he agreed to take along a reporter on his last trip. The reporter: wife Janet. Excerpts from her careful diary of a typical day at the retreat (with J. for Janet, F. for Foster):

7 a.m.—J.F.D. generally gets up.

7-7:30—F. gets open fire (and iron stove if it is cold) going. Heats hot water and squeezes lemon juice for J.

8—J. gets up and, if water is warm enough, swims and eats oranges on rocks.

8-9—Eat breakfast. Typical breakfast —fruit—oranges, bananas, local berries, other fruit in season. Cereal—oatmeal, or cold dry, according to season. Heavy cream. Meat, fish, eggs—corned beef hash with eggs; fresh fried blackfish with salt pork; ham or bacon with eggs; creamed chicken (left over) on toast, etc. Honey or marmalade on toast made over open fire.

9-10:30—Wash and dry dishes. F. both. F. dumps garbage, slops and contents of wastepaper baskets; hauls water, splits small wood and brings logs and small wood into cabin for day’s fires. Fills kerosene lamps, etc. J. dusts and sweeps, polishes tables, makes beds, replaces burned candles, etc. F. shaves and then both relax. J. does a crossword puzzle and F. makes “log” notes and checks on birds seen during morning.

10:30-5—Depends greatly on season and weather. Early spring and fall—walks, looking for deer, birds and flowers. Tree surgery, fertilizing, etc. In early spring, tap maples for syrup. Cut down dead trees, sawing and chopping. Target practice with .22 rifle . . . Trips to fishermen’s harbor, checking on supplies in stone house, and buying trout or whitefish from commercial fishermen. Clean black bass, perch or rock bass we have caught. Pick wild strawberries, raspberries or bilberries, according to season. On rainy days F. often works on speeches, particularly before dinner. J. typewrites for him.

No luncheons.

4:30 p.m. or thereabouts—Pre-dinner swim or wash. Plan dinner. (Meals are quite elaborate and are carefully thought out.)

6-7—Dinner. Typical dinner—cocktails (J. martini, F. rye) with appetizer: hickory nuts from island; raw carrots and celery; tinned lobster, crab or anchovies; broiled giblets, etc., or pâateé de foie gras. Hot hors d’oeuvres on Japanese habachi, making blinis (small pancakes) for caviar and sour cream, broiled mushrooms, etc. Soup—tinned (wide choice) or from chicken or beef stock we have made. Or broiled lobster tails or cold boiled fish with mayonnaise. Entree—meat (generally chops, beefsteak, chicken or veal cutlet) or fish (lake trout au court bouillon), Chops and steak broiled over open fire. Chicken similarly broiled or else boiled with rice. Veal cutlets dredged in flour, cooked in skillet with water and served with mushroom sauce. Squab chicken on spit before open fire. Two green vegetables, potatoes or rice. Sweet pie or homemade pudding, such as apple betty, bread pudding, rice pudding, custard; cookies or homemade cakes or gingerbread, canned fruit; canned babas au rhum, etc. Salad with French dressing in warm weather. Cheese—black diamond, Canadian cheddar, with pie or, usually, with cognac after dinner.

7-7:30—Cognac and cheese, out of doors if weather permits.

7.30-8—Clearing table, washing dishes.

8-8:30—Walks or canoeing if weather permits.

8:30-9—In bathrobes, in front of fire. J. reads aloud, some book of travel or adventure.