Presidents & Mothers
In col. 1, p. 26 of TIME of Nov. 14, I observe one of your rare errors of fact. You state: "Not since Mary Washington saw her son George elected had a U. S. mother had the supreme pleasure of seeing her boy become head of the nation."
Without referring to history, I remember that President Garfield immediately after taking the oath of office turned and kissed his mother and that President McKinley hurried to his old home in Canton, Ohio to see his mother after sending the telegram that is still famous in song, "Tell Mother I'll Be There. . . ."
ARTHUR H. STRICKLIN
Wheeling, W. Va.
In 1880 the mother of James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the U. S. not only saw her son elected but in 1881 personally accompanied him to Washington and there witnessed his inauguration.
It was on the train to Washington that she true to her innate sense of pioneer thrift, asked her son (the President-elect) to turn out the car lamp because it was daylight. The incident was made much of at the time symbolizing the campaign promises of economy in government which was to characterize Garfield's administration. . . . H. F. MEYER, M. D.
Chicago, Ill.
Sirs:
... I was present at the inauguration ot President McKinley and on Sunday morning after the inauguration I saw him leaving the church where he worshipped with a dear, little old lady on his arm. I was told at the time that she was his mother. That being the case your statement should be corrected. ANNA E. HALL
Walker, Minn.
Sirs:
Regarding your statement that no mother since"George Washington's has seen her son elected to be President until Governor Roosevelt's, I wish to call your attention to the "Foreword" in Henry L. Stoddard's As I Knew Them in which he says:
"I cannot help recalling the prayer uttered by McKinley's mother the night he left his home in Canton, Ohio for Washington to be inaugurated President: 'I pray God to keep my boy humble.' "
JAMES A. FRAZER
Medford, Mass.
The mother of William McKinley was living when he became President, and I remember a little anecdote about her first visit to him in the White House. At breakfast when she was served a cereal, she poured over it a very little cream. The new President said:
"Take more cream Mother. You can have all you want now." MAUDE MURRAY MILLER
Columbus, Ohio
Sirs:
I find in the issue of TIME for Nov. 14, p. 26, first column, this statement:
Not since Mary Washington saw her son
George elected had a U. S. mother had the
supreme pleasure of seeing her boy become
head of the nation.
The mother of James A. Garfield survived him.
Enclosed is a clipping showing the President's mother listening to the inaugural address of her son, President William McKinley. (See cut.)
Does this suggest to superstitious minds that the life of President-elect Roosevelt is in danger?
RICHARD B. HOLMAN
Boston. Mass. Sirs -- Some time ago I heard the following story, but can give no information relating to its source or authenticity. I should like to know if there is any truth in it. Immediately after his inauguration, Grover Cleveland confronted his mother and said, "Well, Mother, what do you think of your son now?" She replied. "I had always hoped you would be a minister, Grover." ARTHUR B. BERRESFORD
Cambridge, Mass.
Apocryphal. Mother Cleveland died three years before her son was first inaugurated in 1885.--ED. Allan Nevins in his Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage (Dodd, Mead, 1932) quotes Cleveland as saying, after the inauguration of McKinley, "I envy him today only one thing, and that was the presence of his own mother at his inauguration. I would have given anything in the world if my mother could have been at my inauguration." . . .
E. A. MlNARD
Auburndale, Mass.
Besides Mary Ball Washington, Eliza Ballou Garfield, Nancy Allison McKinley and Sarah Delano Roosevelt, two other women lived to see their sons elected President of the U. S.: Jane Knox Polk and Hannah Simpson Grant.--ED. Letter-Writer
Sirs:
Kindly advise explicitly the requirements for the publishing of letters from subscribers in your "vox populi." This information is requested because having twice attempted to have one published, I have each time failed.
It is axiomatic that I would expect the identical courtesy extended to others in this respect and will positively not be content until full data reaches me.
Needless to say, upon expiration of my present subscription no renewal will be effected unless utter satisfaction is obtained. . . .
Or maybe I'm too naive?
ALFRED A. LUDWIG
West Hartford, Conn.
Of the hundreds of letters received each week, TIME can publish only a few. Letters are published in the interest of all readers of TIME, not as the right of any. Basis of selection is the degree to which any letter is informative, timely, readable. But each & every letter which bears legibly the name Si address of the sender, is promptly acknowledged.--ED. Fascinated Fan
Sirs:
I have been wanting to write to you for months to tell you that "The March of Time" program fascinates me and I hear many favorable comments from friends. Your audience, I think, may not be the type of radio fans who write letters and you may not get as many letters as some of the others, but I feel that your program is going over. It is a marvelous one and always fascinates me. It portrays current events in a most dramatic and interesting way. The musical interludes are well played and the music is wonderfully well chosen.
RUDOLPH H. WURLITZER
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. Cincinnati, Ohio
Darien's Lieut. Anderson
Sirs:
As a subscriber for many (I think eight) years. I have noted that TIME gives credit where credit is due.
Crime-of-the-Week, issue of Nov. 14, was not solved by Private Detective Noel Scaffa, diamond-finder extraordinary, but by Lieut Amos Anderson of the small but efficient Darien Police Department.
Lieut Anderson interviewed all ot Mrs. Browne's guests, traced the theft to Mrs. Whitney S. Endt, and made the arrest at Montclair, Manhattan, assisted by Detective Sergeant Walsh of New York.
Lieut. Anderson, then Sergeant, made an enviable record from 1927-30 for the single handed capture of many notorious gunmen and hijackers, and was called the "Lone Wolf. On the night of Nov 17, 1930. Anderson was shot by one Jerome Melville (now serving 20-25
ear sentence in Wethersfield prison) and was
a the hospital for almost a year.
JOHN W. CLARK
Commissioner Department of Police Darien, Conn.
In the Movies
This afternoon 1 saw Night After Night, reviewed by you this week or last (TIME, Nov. 7) In one deliciously humorous scene between the speakeasy proprietor and ex-gangster, George Raft, and that grand old comedienne, Alison Skipworth, who as an impecunious teacher is trying to wise George up to correct speech, reading and current events, she hands him a textbook to read up on current happenings. Perhaps you already have guessed what name appears on the cover of the magazine she uses the lesson. CORRECT--none other than TIME. You've done crashed the movies'. . . . RALPH ELVIN
"The Old Cauliflower Orator" Indianapolis, Ind.
TIME also appeared in It's a Wise Child (1931), The Night of June 13.--ED. "Men Must Fight"
My husband and I have been faithful readers of TIME and are regular subscribers, t have been particularly interested in the Theatre department of TIME and read the play criticisms with great interest. I am, however, thoroughly disappointed with the write-up given the play entitled Men Must Fight. I had somehow hoped that your dramatic editor could have seen its greatness. I have heard many protests about the critics' versions of this play which have. naturally, hurt it materially, and it has occurred to me that your dramatic editor could not have seen the play personally and been so indifferent to its merits as an outstanding piece of writing. Everyone who has seen it and with whom I've talked about it, has come back enthusiastic. . . .
SYDNEY WILSON BOYD
New York City
Of Men Must Fight TIME reported: "In its quiet, ironic way it is stirring." Last fortnight able Men Must Fight quietly, ironically closed.--ED.
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