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Show PHES. HARDING ADMIRES CLEVER BUflKOlOSIfJ' Distant "Relative" From Virginia Taps Executive for Small Loan and Does It Painlessly WASHINOTOX. July IS (By A. P.) President Harding has confessed to a characteristic often ascribed to Americans by foreigners fondness fond-ness for being buncoed when it is dona painlessly. . ' The confession was made In a let-tar let-tar to Colonel George B. Christian, father of the secretary to the president, presi-dent, and baa a background extending extend-ing Into tbs daya when Warren O. Harding waa editing Uie Marion Star. It waa then that a stranger dropped into Marion one day, called on Editor Harding and. Introducing himself aa a member of the Virginia branch of the Harding family, men- SvaMseSdl "that -nrrWOevSv's awl "sTs" KkvsH expectedly run low and that a small loan would be useful. The president then aa now was proud of the name of "Harding,'' and fea extended the loan. - A few daye later Mr. Harding mat Judgo Boofleld, a leading eltlsen of, Marlon and a close friend, and told the atory of the stranger's call. When he had finished Judge Sco field announced that hs had beeif visited on the seme dsy by tbs same gentleman, who described hlmseir as a distant cousin named "Scnfleld." snd a member of the Ucofleld family fam-ily of Virginia. The Judge, Ilka the editor, extended financial aid. Mr. Harding and Judge Scofleld had many a hearty laugh over the Incident, and they laughed even mora heartily on learning several weeks later that Myron T. Herrlck. then a Cleveland buelness man. but elnea governor of Ohio and ambassador ambas-sador to France, also had bslped out In the hour of need "a cousin by ths name of Herrlck from Virginia Vir-ginia who needed carfare homo." Hut gradually Mr. Harding ceased to think of It, until ths other day he received a letter from Colonel Christian, Chris-tian, recalling the vlelt of the -Vlr-ginla cousin." and saying that hs himself had been recently victimised victim-ised in a almllar way. "I am In receipt of your letter," President Harding wrote In reply, -In which you tell me of the call upon you by the breesv and companionable com-panionable ch ip who, after the fash-Ion fash-Ion of ths gentlemen who waa named Harding ons dsy, Scofleld snother day, and Herrlck another day. took you In for a small loan which would accommodate him on hla virtuous way. I can only sym- rathlse with you. Too rememrrsr ma chap who represented hlmeetf to me aa a Harding from Old Virginia,' and I recall that I presented him ' to yon and that he took yon In aa well as me, and that you and he fought over soma of the battlefields of the Civil war without your de-looting de-looting any fraud In him, but you did escape being touched aa I waa for a email draft upon my caah account. ac-count. W -Somehow. I have always enjoyed being buncoed by that fellow. Ho wae so olever about It that he skinned me without wounding me. One encounters o manv confidence men In the activities of our present dsy life that It la a pleasure to meet ap with an artlet who can akin you without your having felt It. Ths thing that gets on my nerves most Is the cruder and bolder confidence man who trlea to put something over on me, and I know that ha la trying It, and yet he thinks me susceptible sus-ceptible enough to be wholly Innocent Inno-cent of his plana -In other words, when you are taken In It le a Joy to be taken In so beautifully that you haven't the slightest knowledge of It until you come to the later realisation that a promised loan la not returned. 1 do not know but that It la a good thing that wa have soma of them In our midst at atl times. It serves to e-mlnd e-mlnd us thst one -feeds to be cau-lloua cau-lloua without being suspicious, and also that the world Is full of won-i-erftil talent, which. If only applied In righteous war. might result In notable accompllehment. Moreover, I think It brings us to a helpful degree de-gree of humility to be reminded that there are smart cnapa who can take tie In without our even suspecting It." - . |