Show little white house made a shrine story of summer sanctums Sanc tums of U S presidents traced by BAUKHAGE nw news analyst and commentator washington this summer the warm springs infantile paralysis foundation turned over a little five room houst house on the mountainside to the state of georgia which will run it as a museum and national shrine and so another of the little white houses goes back to the people it is the only one in which a president spent his last days in one of its three bedrooms president roosevelt died in its living room he spoke his last words the warm springs house was different from other summer hideaways ot of P presidents resl dents because it was really a home the late president roosevelt h im s e if built it in 1932 at a cost of ile he willed it to the infantile para paralysis 1 ysis foundation it was a very simple structure in which the architecture actu e of the locality and a few Hoose Roosevelt lan ideas are blended there are the two bedrooms a third guest room a living room a kitchen and th Ws all but there Is a view that would make a park avenue penthouse 0 wrier owner jealous like all of the houses which pres ident roosevelt occupied this little c cottage otta 9 a Is crammed w with ith history much of it still unwritten warm springs was the symbol ol of Roosevel ts victory over disease and pain since then largely bet cause of 0 his ei ef 1 l i VS j forts many hundreds of others h have a v e a achieved c hilved similar victories in the community 0 of f which the little white II 11 0 us u s 0 was a part the simple cottage was also the scene of his death he w was posing for a portrait Baul Bauk diage liage when the terrible headache came ile he had signed his letters for the day and in his ia last st 6 signature gna ture which I 1 have seen there is evidence that death already already was plucking at his I 1 sleeve katein late in the war when it was dini difficult to go tar far from washington another summer white house in maryland was established it was gi given ven the name shangri Sh angri la the resident president himself named it jokingly when because of security reasons during the war its location had to be concealed it was discovered thanks to a slip of the tongue on the part of mrs roosevelt and because absurd stories were written about the tremendous amount of money which had been expended on it as a matter of fact it cost very little to convert it was thrown open to the pre press s one article described its million dollar pool I 1 have seen the pool it Is less than 20 feet across polly bogs wiggle in it rocks green with years of moss surround it it ha has been there a long time and I 1 doubt if anyone ever had the temerity to bathe in it although shangri la was a deserted boys camp when it was taken over it sits high on a mountain top beside a splashing trout stream surrounded by thick woods today there Is one overstaffed overstuffed over staffed stuffed chair in the corner of the solarium that somehow always seems to get turned around at a certain angle turned that way a side table is within easy reach a push button and a band telephone with an extension number on it lilt lift it and the answer comes white house it connects directly with the switchboard at 1600 pennsylvania avenue it gives me a rather strange feeling to look at that chair empt yand realize what messages went over the telephone beside it what words were dictated while the long cigarette holder moved nervously to the ash tray on the table at its arm president truman has not used shangri la very often but when he goes there next he and mrs truman will find a retreat which gives them more privacy than ably any other spot on earth tucked away in the deep woods is a new little cabin just big enough for two no guest room no parlor just a cozy cottage with a neat modern kitchen a dining room sitting room with a fireplace there two Is a company three a crowd A sanctuary any president de serves |