The Hoovers

Happy last week, were officers and men of the U. S. S. Utah as their ship rolled up from Rio, taking Herbert Hoover home. Capt. C. R. Train praised his men for having aroused not a single complaint during their shore leave in Brazil. Every man received a Christmas card autographed by President-Elect and Mrs. Hoover. Homecoming plans had been altered to make Washington, not Florida, the journey's end. Inasmuch as most of the Utah's personnel live closer to Hampton Roads than to Key West, the change meant that many of them could see wives, families, friends again, before departing on a three months cruise to Panama. It was with joyous tones that some 1,000 gobs gathered on the quarterdeck and sang for their passengers, "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." . . .

It was the fourth Christmas that the Hoovers had spent at sea. The ship's carpenter had built a fireplace with red electric lights for coals. Capt. Train presented Mr. Hoover with a pair of binoculars, Mrs. Hoover with a blue and white Brazilian shawl. There was a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus. The Santa Claus (a disguised newspaper correspondent) hailed the President-Elect as "greatest fisherman," and presented him with a gift which he said would prove valuable. It was a toy fish labelled Congress. Mr. Hoover asked what bait was needed for this fish. Soft soap, said Santa. . . .

Since the President-Elect obviously had not altered his homeward journey solely for the good of the Utah's sailors, Washington rumored and conjectured reasons for the alteration. Some said that Mr. Hoover was returning because of unexpected opposition to supposed members of his cabinet--Andrew Mellon in particular, or he was coming home to save the Kellogg-Briand Peace Treaty, or the trouble was that Hubert Work, Republican National Committee Chairman, had planned to take "patronage" (i.e., job issuing) out of Congressional hands and into the committee's and his own, and Mr. Hoover was going to Washington to quell the protests of indignant Senators and Representatives.

There was also a theory that President Coolidge had summoned the President-Elect to Washington to discuss Germany's reparations. There was another theory that Congressional leaders wished to confer with Mr. Hoover on farm relief and on the possibility of an extra session of Congress. Finally it was just possible that Mr. Hoover had found too much for him the task of making up a cabinet miles away from everybody. Maybe he was returning to Washington to get some suggestions. Remote aboard the Utah, Mr. Hoover offered no specific explanation.