The Coolidge Week

P: In London, England, Representative Ernest W. Gibson of Ver mont, a schoolmate of Calvin Coolidge at Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vt., told the following story last week: "A jackass found its way one night into a classroom on an upper floor of the academy. The long-eared animal didn't like the classical surroundings and played havoc with the desks, tables and books, and roughed the place up generally, to the great displeasure of the Faculty.

"Cal Coolidge and several of us other students were repeatedly grilled. The Faculty felt pretty sure it had the culprits, but failed to get a word out of Coolidge and the rest of us and it was never established who was guilty."

P: It was the first time that the eyes of public cameras had seen President Coolidge on the back of a horse, either iron or flesh & blood. Dressed in complete cowboy costume down to Mexican spurs, the President rode three miles up the side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, accompanied by his riding instructor, "Dakota Clyde" Jones; Senator Simeon D. Fess of Ohio and others. Following a presidential salute of 21 blasts,-- President Coolidge dedicated the national memorial which Gutzon Borglum began to carve on the granite face of Mount Rushmore. "We have come home to dedicate a cornerstone that was laid by the hand of the Almighty," said the President. P:At the annual carnival of the Rapid City Elks in the Alfalfa Palace fair grounds, President Coolidge saw a prize fight, smiled when Fisticuffer Brown nearly lost his balance swinging at Fisticuffer Gusk.

P: While her husband was thus engaged, Mrs. Coolidge went to Custer, S. Dak. to dedicate a $15,000 log community building, made her first public speech of the summer. Said she in toto:

"As I pour tea, may I add just a word? Everyone knows that I do not speak but once in a while. Sometimes when at Senate ladies' luncheons I do not say a word. I want to say a word to you. Some of the ladies who are sitting with me have indicated that South Dakota has just come on the map this summer. It has always been on the map.

"I have never taken a run into Florida, but this is the second time we have come to South Dakota. In 1922, when Mr. Coolidge was vice President, we came to Sioux Falls and the people here were so much like the people at home that we always wanted to come back. I hope you are all going to be very happy and will get as much out of this as you have put in. And as time goes on and you plan and progress, you will look back on this day.

"I appreciate this great privilege of being with you. It has been a happy time for me."

P: Beneath the windows of the President's schoolroom office in Rapid City, 250 members of the South Dakota Women's Christian Temperance Union prayed for Calvin Coolidge's continuance in office, for the upholding of the Constitution.

P: John Coolidge was cheered by 1,000 people when he climbed off the train in Rapid City, S. Dak., returning from his second season at the University of Vermont summer school. Newsgatherers told him that he had received a more enthusiastic reception than that given to his father on arrival in the Black Hills. He replied tactfully: "That's because mother is here." En route at Chicago John Coolidge had been asked to throw light on his father's statement: "I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty-eight." The son: "Father means what he says."

P: Repairs on the White House in Washington, D. C., costing some $325,000 were last week completed. The new roof has been made safe with steel girders. The attic has been enlarged to contain guest rooms, servants' quarters, cedar closets, etc. The south portico now may be used as a roof garden. President and Mrs. Coolidge plan to occupy the White House on Sept. 10.

*This salute was jerky because it consisted of the blasting of 21 trees instead of the firing of guns. Since the trees had to be blasted, this salute was cited by Republican newspapers as an example of Coolidge economy--although the President did not know it until after it happened.