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Show Washington, D. C. WHITE HOUSE SPRING DAYS When the White House butler says "Dinner is served," it doesn't mean what it used to mean. Most of the time, it's nothing more than a simple sim-ple three-course meal for two or three persons, served not in the state dining room, or even in the family dining room on the first floor, but in the President's study on the second floor. Except for the occasional visit of a South American president, social activity at the White House has disappeared. dis-appeared. Roosevelt dines with Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hopkins, Justice Byrnes, Judge Sam Rosenman, or perhaps with Grace Tully, his blue-eyed, blue-eyed, white-haired private secretary. secre-tary. Mrs.. Roosevelt is off-again, on-aftain, as usual. A friend of Gen. "Pa" Watson, aide to the President, sent him some finnan haddie the other day, and Watson passed it along to the President. Presi-dent. "Meat," said Watson, "or anything that passes for meat, is as precious as gold these days." The President enjoyed the free finnan haddie. If Grace Tully is there for dinner, din-ner, it means work after dinner. On the average of two evenings a week, the dictation isn't finished in the daytime, and Grace stays over. For the war has not decreased the President's Pres-ident's dictation. Jimmy Byrnes remarked re-marked the other day, "I don't see how he can handle so much paper work." Fact is, the President is leaning heavily on letters, and cutting down interviews. His appointments run from 10:30 to lunch, with an occasional occa-sional conference at two o'clock. But afternoons are reserved for dictating to Grace Tully. The only thing to throw this regimen out of gear is an afternoon press conference, a talk with a man like Anthony Eden or the spring sunshine. Sometimes the President swings around from his desk, takes a quick look at the sunshine over the South Grounds, and says to his Scottie, "Let's go for a ride what do you say, Falla?" A Ride In the Country. This means a quiet tour into the country, without motorcycle escort, In a car which looks like anybody else's shiny limousine, and stops at the traffic lights like the car of any ordinary citizen. Members of the President's intimate inti-mate staff insist they see no change In him under the pressure of war. The war hasn't altered his mood or his methods. He still laughs heartily, eats well, and dictates methodically, me-thodically, with never a "read that back to me." Grace Tully explains it by saying the President is a psychologist, and he keeps a good temper for the sake of the people around him. The slackened social activity doesn't shut out the house guests, however. Any day, Mrs. Roosevelt is likely to get a letter from old friends or relatives who are coming to town, and she replies. "Won't you stay with us?" They do. They come for a day or two, sometimes for a week. But they go their ways, and see little of the President. He will dine with them once in the course of the visit, but the rest of the time, "dinner is served" for two or three in the private study. In short, evenings are very quiet at the White House, and except for the President's own late hours at his desk, the electric light bill is the lowest in years. MERRY GO ROUND lO. Efficient Governor Holland of Florida is not expected to run against efficient Claude Pepper for the senate . . . The last time Claude ran he was vacationing in Scotland shortly after his nomination when a voice called his hotel room. "Senator, "Sena-tor, I am an American Press representative repre-sentative in Scotland and we have a cable that your election in Florida has been contested." "I'll be right down," replied the alarmed Pepper. It was Jesse Jones, with Stewart MacDonald, Federal Housing administrator, admin-istrator, playing a practical joke. C Nicest compliment Rep. Warren Magnuson of Washington received on his report for the naval affairs committee regarding ship-building bottlenecks came from the navy department, de-partment, which Magnuson criticized for delays in submitting shipbuilding shipbuild-ing plans and specifications as well as in furnishing materials . . . Undersecretary Un-dersecretary James V. Forrestal wrote: "I want to congratulate you both on the thoroughness with which your work was done and the restraint re-straint with which your criticism and suggestions were phrased." C. Supreme Court Justice Roberts agrees with Vice President Wallace that the difficulties of the Consti-tutional Consti-tutional convention after the Revolutionary Revo-lutionary war were similar to the difficulties of establishing world government gov-ernment now but not insurmountable. insurmounta-ble. d Abolition of the Austrian Legion under Crown Prince Otto as a U. S. army unit came as the result of vio-lent vio-lent protests from Austrians, Hungarians, Hun-garians, Slovaks inside the army who were glad to fight for the U.S.A. but not for the return of the Haps-burgs. |