In Brazil

After a week of eager expectations, the President, his family and official party were set for the 4,700-mile flight to Rio. The sleek new presidential DC-6, Independence, had been stocked with rubber life rafts, machetes, canned rations, rifles, insect repellents and parachutes--just in case of trouble.

The Independence, with Brazilian Ambassador Carlos Martins and his wife aboard, took off from Washington National Airport this week, two hours after a plane loaded with 22 reporters, photographers, radio and newsreel men. In the press plane was one woman: slight, sharp-tongued, fiftyish May Craig, a grandmother and longtime correspondent for Maine's Gannett newspaper chain. Reporter Craig was one of Harry Truman's few worries of the moment.

Hardy Mrs. Craig had asked Navy permission to return to the U.S. with the presidential party and the male reporters aboard the battleship Missouri. The Navy, which has a stern rule against carrying women aboard warships--even grandmothers--because there are no toilet facilities for them, promptly passed the buck to the White House. But Mrs. Craig was well aware that the Navy had provided facilities for Mrs. Truman, Margaret and a maid in the austere privacy of the captain's island.

Chemical Job. When the White House turned her down, Reporter Craig said: "Lack of toilet facilities is a trivial excuse. I would settle for one of those chemical jobs they sell at Sears, Roebuck. They'll be sorry. . . ." Clearly, Harry Truman would have to do something about May Craig.

Meanwhile, the President had only to polish the speeches he is to deliver this week at the closing session of Rio's Inter-American Defense Conference and the joint session of the Brazilian Congress, and get set for a round of official festivities unmatched in Brazilian history (see LATIN AMERICA). At the request of Brazilian President Eurico Gaspar Dutra, he would extend his stay from five to seven days, to help celebrate Brazil's 125th Independence Day. The big fiesta would be a pleasure for Harry Truman, who always has a wonderful time and does a wonderful good-will job on trips abroad.

Cloudy Session. Before he left Washington, the President had had a cool-to-cloudy session with hypertensive Democratic Party Chairman Bob Hannegan, accepted Hannegan's decision to quit the chairmanship with few regrets. With quiet irritation, the President dropped his speech coach, J. Leonard Reinsch, from the Rio passenger list. For weeks, columnists had spread a false rumor that Reinsch would be appointed FCC chairman to succeed Chairman Charles R. Denny. The President suspected Reinsch of what he considers a cardinal sin: starting the rumor himself. Washington heard that Harry Truman had acidly been asking his close associates if they knew anybody who wanted a radio announcer.

Perhaps the brightest spot in Harry Truman's week had been the letter he received from Pope Pius XII. On Aug. 6, the President had written the Pope: ". . . As chosen leader of the people of the United States, I am privileged to pledge full faith to you once again to work with Your Holiness . . . for an enduring peace. . . ." In reply, the Pope had taken a friendly tone, finished off with a sentence that was heartening for the Truman ego. Wrote Pius XII: "Let us assure Your Excellency of our good wishes for the people of the United States, for the members of their Government, and in particular for its esteemed Chief Executive."

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