Show ice m e m A in 4 i 4 J nil a roseyelt Rowe longworth am 23 X alice yowe longworth he M H a 6 11 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON america Is a democracy believes that it believes firmly tit in that phrase from the declaration of independence which says all men are created free and equal and lias has i i elected more than one president ident be II 11 1 J also cause ll so lie wits born in a log cabin 1 or some such humble dwelling place thero have been times when it has riot not been averse to intimations of royalty in affairs of government it ing has accepted dicta dictatorships tor anil and despotism soine sometimes times benevolent and so sometimes mines not so in III fait fact if not in name and in various other ways it ins has departed rather far from the tradition of pure democracy I 1 it t would resist to the utmost the conferring of any such title na As kino king or emperor upon its chief but once upon a time it conferred the unofficial title ot or princess upon the daughter of a president and rejoiced in doing so and for a time princess alice daughter of president theodore roosevelt was a n symbol in the minds of the american people little as much as the wales Is a symbol tit in the minds of the english the llie bensons ren reasons sons which could be assigned to that fact nrc are various perhaps the best one lips lies in the fact that she appeared on the scene nt at the turn of the century when as one writer has expressed it america wits was just beginning to feel its international oats so the public tant idolized her father made of princess alice a lier olne after the pattern of its own desires and ami dreams 11 and they felt somehow Ju justified stifled in hi conferring royalty upon the daughter of their president when a few years later phe fhe went on a grand tour of the orient and aeo everywhere where wits ans received like a crown princess aej presented preson tod with lavish gifts another possible explanation lies iles in the fact that like her father she was a vivid personality which naturally attracts attention to itself hut but withal remains unspoiled by much lime lighting and keeps the common touch without condescending sc so go the american public accepts such a personality as one of our own kind and then paradoxically exalts it to a pedestal of hero bero worship till or invests it with robes of royalty when alice roosevelt was it n child she could spend end hours of time pretending I 1 was a flory flery horse preferably cream colored like Cinde rellas horses able at a bound to cover vast regions of the earth and also able ablena at will to turn into something quite different such as n princess with very tery long hair or nn an extremely martial prince theres something a bit prophetic about that tor for in fit tier her future career she was to cover coer some come of those regions to become a princess by popular acclaim to talk with cowboys cow bo s tind and kings emperors and presses empresses em and gypsies gipsies to behold a multitude of pageants and all sorts of people and things filings so its quite appropriate that she should choose for the title of 0 tier lier reminiscences the two words crowded hours and that book published recently by charles scribners sons Is a record of the crowded hours in the I 1 life I 1 re or of alice roosevelt longworth site she who was and still Is to miny many americans Amerlean princess alice to some extent a political history of the unit ed cd states during the last quarter of a n century in that she ins has been a participant in as well as an all observer of tint that history during that length of time crowded hours Is even more interesting ns as it a lively memoir of the great and near great whom she has encountered in that center of all political activity washington 1 D 0 lefore before her father had lert left the white house she had married a 0 mail destined for future political importance nicholis etchol is longworth congressman from ohio later speaker of the house of representatives and ft a min man whose friendships among nil all political factions made him film unique so as ills his wife the reign of princess alice continued iong ion after her rather had left the white house princess alice was initiated into politics when she wits was only six ifer her fattier father was appointed federal civil service commissioner all and she was taken to the white while house to met meet the first president she was to know athe the small braided harrlson harrison and later I 1 have a memory of sirs mrs cleveland there them youn lovely and friendly so some of her characterizations of later residents presidents niad their first ladles are not so mildly kindly but they me are the opinions of A strong personality strong in dislikes as well as likes and interesting in because of that as well ns its because they are arc based upon firsthand first hand knowledge the first of the vivid memories of princess alices crowded hours tire are of tho the spanish amer ican war which was a sort of a glorified picnic to alice and the other young A visit to camp wyckoff wicked where tier lier fathers regiment was stationed wits was nn an exciting exper experience lence in more ways than one at fourteen and a half if I 1 was in love with one rough rider I 1 was in love with twenty even though I 1 did have anve a pigtail find short dresses e theodore bodor Roo aselt os elT t the rough hough kider hider colonel returned to ride into office as governor of 0 new kew york that was the first campaign in which we had the indescribable excitement of our fattier running for office odice it was a purely personal and emotional interest centered on my father ile ho was right and van wyck wick the democratic candidate was wrong anil and that was all there was to that the governorship of new york la Is commonly regarded as a steppingstone stepping stone to the presidency hut but some of the politicians tried to sidetrack theodore roosevelt by sending him albeit unwillingly hack back to washington as vice president that meant more excitement for princess alice end and the other young Roosevel ts 1 I remember how that night of the inaugural ball I 1 perched on the arm of a chair until someone suggested that I 1 ought not to as mrs me ile willey was seated in it a fact of which I 1 was totally unaware uni ware when I 1 was amused and stimulated by an occasion I 1 wits was never very conscious of those whom I 1 did not know who made up the occasion at fat fathers tiers own inauguration in 1001 1 stood in the front of the box bos and gesticulated exuberant greetings to the friends I 1 recognized in the crowd until fattier father rather firmly told mo me to sit down I 1 had not had the slightest idea that I 1 was making it a show of myself I 1 sat down feeling reproved and resentful lie ile had been greeting friends whom lie he recognized in the crowd so why eliy should I 1 not do likewise her fat fathers tiers accession to the presidency was no surprise to alice 1 I was as superstitious ns its any an savage and its aa ruthless I 1 had made magles from the time my fattier father was nominated to the vice presidency I 1 made them ns as busily and believingly belles angly as any primitive man mail so when the news came though I 1 had a proper sense of horror at the crime the assassination of mckinley on the civilized side on the savage it brought a sense of fulfillment I 1 hut but she took it so much ns as a matter of course that she especially impressed by going to live in the white house whose interior at that time was both ugly and inconvenient she made tier debut in the white house but the mustard colored carpet then on oil the hast east room floor took some of the edge off her joy uy by tills this time the little pig tailed alice had grown up into princess alice then came the coronation of king idward edward in england and talk of her going to england for the event hut but her family asked her not to go because there was so much absurd discussion as to social precedence and what rank she would woid take A trip to the orient with a congressional party headed by william howard taft then secretary of war promised to bo be less spectacular as a theme for gossip hut but it got an amazing amount of 0 newspaper space tor for those lays days it was 0 series of for princess cess alice site she was presented to the emperor and empress of japan and to the old empress dowager of china every where presents were showered upon her alices toot loot tier her family called it when she brought it home the trip hati had one important result for alice one of the in members embers of the party was young jiing nick longworth of ohio they were together it great deal and the addable secretary of war was much puzzled as to their status A plaint of ills his from time to time wits alice I 1 think I 1 ought to know it if you ou are engaged to nick to which my reply was more or less mr air secretary more or less and all that ended that I 1 had find not been bick back long before nick and I 1 decided that we were engaged I 1 felt shy and self conscious ons clous about telling the family then princess alice alce became a white louse bride and the whole country took a personal I 1 in n terest in every detail of her costume but she remembers that her going awn away y dress was hideout hideous arnd unbecoming the iho wedding presents present were about what any bride might got get only more zo so the kalser kaiser bent a bracelet with tits his miniature apparently having forgotten that ile bo had sent a bracelet with till tits his miniature when alice christened I 1 his yacht j and the king of italy sent a mosaic table so large that she has never found room to longworth dl display play it in nuy any house she has lived in since the campaign of 1012 was a difficult one for this daughter ot of one leader and wife of another who were going separate ways although that never made the slightest difference in the personal relations of the two men nor their respect fo for reach each other nick longworth stayed staged on the stand pat republican side of 0 the fence to save ills his own political life and tills this fact made it more or less impossible tor for alice to campaign openly for tier her father throughout her fat fathers tiers career she was a loyat loyal passionate and complete partisan of his those who succeeded him in tho the presidency were somehow usurpers usurp ers in tier her eyes so when the break between roosevelt and taft came she took something of a savage delight in the defeat of taft in 1012 1912 she regarded him as an amiable and good natured follower of her fattier father who had been quite outside his rights when he had broken away from T Rs R s policies to mo me there was something not quite pleasing in the idea of my dear mr air taft as a great man and still less pleasing as a great president Ident rubbed in by ray my in laws too tool I 1 there was also an unmistakable attitude on the part of members of ills his family of here he Is where he ought to be and we dont owe so very much to roosevelt anyway he could have got along quite ns as well without him in reply to an invitation to the white house inaugural lunch mrs airs longworth explained to mrs tatt taft that she might not be able to attend is she was seeing her father off for new york at noon mrs taft said roost most civilly that was all right and in case I 1 did decide to coma come she would send me a ticket so that t should be able to get into the white house I 1 lew flew shouting to friends blends and relatives with the news that I 1 was going to be allowed to have a ticket to permit me to enter the white house I 1 a very large capital 1 I indeed I 1 gave myself over to a pretty fair imitation of mischief ranking making woodrow wilson wits was her fathers fat tiers political enemy so he was her enemy too and so when president wilson got back front from paris I 1 went down to the station and parked on the outskirts of the crowd it was a sparse crowd there was very little cheering I 1 hurried uptown to see how many people burned turned out to greet him its as lie entered the white house grounds there were not more than two or three hundred I 1 got out of my motor and stood on the t 1 e curbstone fingers crossed making the sign of the evil eye and saying A murrain on him a murrain on him a murrain on him As for succeeding presidents and administrations princess alice has some rather acid comment Il larding was not a bad man ile he was just a slob coolidge changed the atmosphere of the white house from that of the back room of a speakeasy to that of a new england parlor 1 I should say that his Ilo hoovers overs nomination was primarily owing to the huge publicity organization that he and his supporters had built up and kept on the job for him the present president roosevelt has the name of roosevelt marked facial resemblance to wilson and no perceptible aversion to say the least to many of the policies of bryan the much talked of gann longworth social war slie site lays to a foolish mistake by newspapers it was not a matter of social precedence between her and mrs airs aann she says but a question as to whether mrs garin as hostess for vice president curtis should precede wives of foreign ambassadors at official and boffl caal dinner parties it seems to me the word hostess has lost its meaning or acquired a new one brie since it hns has become associated with night clubs and hotels title she adds by way of comment the immediate cause of the whole affair was a dinner at the H u gene fit eyers a dry house and speaker longworth seized upon the gann precedent quarrel as an excuse for not go going 1 ng to t 0 this dry dinner party of course obviously there never was any row anyone who knew me was aware that rank and conventionality were things I 1 always lied fled from and shirked I 1 could not very well tell the true story that nick had seized a straw avoid a dry dinner so all I 1 could say was i have really nothing to do with it a 0 by union |