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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1936)
aVW,. vitke V Y ( 1 &K1 14 " ' A 1 i I 4. r ol" "i?m V J 1 T ' I -"V iil I v-' UC. J n ,r- i r 1 u criij. rn r - Canines Have Been the Favorite Pets of Presidents Since the Days of Teddy Roosevelt Of (II White Hotinc clojjn, I.nddie tiny, (he pet of the lata J'renldrnl Warren G. Jlnrdititf , prnhnlily gained the moHt fnme Mrs. Calvin Coolidj;e had 1 regular menogerie. Here hIic Ih with her chow dog, Tiny Tim; the donkey, Ebcnezer, and Dlunn, the whit follio By James N. Miller FOR Uia flrat time since the Hording Administration the White House kenncla are empty, Not a single bow wow haa enjoyed the luxury of Amer ica's No. 1 dog department house for lo, these many montlu. The rensona ara good enough. First, President Roosevelt hu made no secret of the faot that he dislikes the present kennel aet-up and will not maintain any canine pets until there's n new deal in kenneldom. Furthermore, unlike most Presidents, Mr, Roosevelt Isn't strong for gift dogs. An expert on canines himself, he prefer lo make hla own personal choice In every Instance. 60 that the scores of doga of eery breed and description that are sent him from time to time Invarlubly are re turned to their senders Immediately or are given away. A final reason la that an unprece dented amount of bad luck or 111 health has dogged the lot of practically every one of the arlstocratlo canlnea housed there since Mr. Roosevelt entered the Executive Mansion In March, 1033. Mujnr, giant pollee dog and the Presi dent's favorite, and Meggle, wee Scotch terrier and Mrs. Roosevelt'a pride and Joy, were banished a year ago for bit ins. Major, In addition, broke hla leg In a mysterious accident. Winks, mischievous setter pup, was in a weird crash and took a quick trip to puppy heaven. Tiny, enormous English shepherd, seemed unhappy In his historic environment and so was presented to a close friend of the Roosevelts for at least temporary guardianship. General Grant, a gift bull pup, turned out to be a poor "mixer" and was given away. Jack and Jill, universally beloved Uth terriers belonging to the President's grandchildren, Blstie and Bustle Dell were too quiet and dignified tor the exciting life at 1800 Pennsylvania Ave nue, (to, afu-r only a very brief resi dence there, they were sent to the peaceful rural atmosphere of Krum Klbow, the Roosevelt estate at Hyde Park, N. Y. MAJOR, a handsome buff and block German shepherd, trained for police work, was presented to Mr. Rixvevrll anortly altr his election to the riesldrnry by a troop of New Ycrk mate police. Majors address for a few months as Knun Klbow. There were several other pollee degs I here, and It as Majors Job to keep them In coder. Ha himself had a tract through hlch he was frequently mis understood. He walked up to each Ulor, look his artst firmly In hla teeth and scrutinized him before he 1st 79 j A M sfffl a a 1 J m L.. yJ doors the raccoon was kept chained, but Inside the mansion she enjoy real lib erty. Especially did she like the privacy of the bathroom. In the tub she often frolicked about with a cake of soap. Tige and Blackle were kings of the Coolldgo cats. Tige, a gray, striped tomcat, was the President's favorite. During his life of ease and comfort in the White House Tige often strayed off, but generally only for a night or so. But he never failed to march right back Into Mr. Coolidge's good graces and In a few hours was the same meek and affectionate kitty the President loved so well. Finally he went on one of his mysterious nocturnal excursions and never came back. Ironically enough, the highbrow Blackle finally turned vicious. Suddenly he started prowling around the White House grounds and killing squirrels and rabbits. He was also blamed for the demise of a number of birds. Bo even tually he was banished. One of Mr. Coolidge's closest compan ions was Rob Roy, the snow-white collie Probably the prize of all White House pets were the sheep which roamed the spacious grounda during the regime of the late President Woodrow Wilson Major, Preaident Franklin D. Roosevelt's favorite pet, had been trained In pnlire work, and when he put his training Into practice at the While House, it became neeeasary to aend him away him go. Tills made Mnjor unpopular with some visitors. But really he didn't mean any harm. It wns presumably part of his training as an alert police dog. Unfortunately, Major brought his "fake bite" with htm to Washington, and it was sadly out of keeping with his newly acquired title of America's No. 1 dog. What had been regarded as a Joke at worst In Albany was noth ing short of a serious canine crime In the While House. Poor MaJorl He soon found that a dog's life is Just that In the Execu tive Mansion. Only a few days after Mr. Roosevelt took nlllce In March, 103!, the hapless dog sinned his long series of crimes by biting senator lliillle Caraway, of Arkansas on the arm while she was attendli't a IVxwe velt party. Later he tore Prime Mii'i.nt rtamsay MacDonald'e trousers dun '.ie British ttatesman'e visit to Wxni;igton. And Just for variety he bmkt, his leg soon afterward and, bare recovered from that, had to have su operation on his back. One day earl' thai September Major nipped another stranger and ss im prltoned In the doghouse near the south portico for several days. And when finally released he was further humiliated by being forced to wear a inutile. The very last straw was an incident that occurred some weeks later. A certain Washlngtonlan was passing the White House when he saw Major cavorting about on the other side of the fence. The man readied throunh to pat the dog. Major rc aponded by biting his hand. Seven stitches were necessary. Small wonder the police dog was deported to Hyde Park. Even so Major haa a better record than sonio of his White House predeces sors. The prize for annoying visitors still belongs to Pete, pet bulldog of Teddy Roosovelt. One f.ne day Peta turned on French AmvaMndv-"' Jusse rand and tore out p"t of that distin guished diplomat's i.ouscrs. Straight away the Ambassador sought safety In the low-tumglng limbs of a nearby tree. Mr. Harding's Laddie Boy nipped at dignitaries and finally wns stmt away. Mr. Hoover had Shamrock, a great Irish wolfhound that bit so many White House policemen and marine guards at Hapldan Can p that he had to be de stroyed. BESIDES housing all these biting dogs, the Executive Mansion has served as a veritable menagerie of peta of al most every eonoelvable sort Mr. Taft kept a eow nam ad Pauline as a mem ter of the "kitchen cabinet." Mr. Cool Idie at varlnua times had a raccoon, a donkey and a couple of frisky tomcats. Probably the prise pet of then all however, were Mr. Wilson's sheen. Dur ing Oie World War Dr. Cary T. Oray son. Presidential physician, bought them to mow the White House lawn to save manpower when labor was scarce. Four teen sheep were brought to the lnclosure Just south of the mansion. In 1920, with conditions becoming normal after the war, Mr, Wilson gave the animals to a close personal friend for his farm near OIney, Md. Winks, tiny English, setter, was only a few months old when he was pre sented to President Roosevelt at Warm Springs, Osk, In the Fall of 1933. When the setter had matured somewhat he was brought to the White House to re place Major. Since Winks was the only dog In the kennels, you might sup pose he would behave himself. Instead he got In trouble almost from the very first. On February 36, 1934, He was In dire disgrace for having eaten the break fasts set out In the servants' dining room for nineteen servants! Winks had finished and was lick ing his chops over his enormous repast of steaming bacon, eggs and toast. Just as the first of the servants arrived tor the morning meal And was ha em barrassed? He put his tall between his legs, lowered his head and made a sixH'dy getaway. Winks wasn't punished. But he didn't linger long In his historic en vironment. Less than five months after hit hunger march the setter got Into a peculiar crash. He was plnylng on the White House lawn with another dog be longing to a Secret Service man. Sud denly Winks got all excited about the fun he was havtmj and failed to keep his eyes front. He cracked Into an iron fence and died of concussion of the brain. The pup now rests tn a special canine coffin In Silver Spring. Md. President Roosevelt became fond of Tiny, big. shaggy English sheep dog presented to hlro early tn IMS. The ord inal plan was to send Tiny to the Roosevelt farm at Warm Springs, Cia Be lor so doing, however, he was turned over to Admiral and Mrs. Cary T. Dray ton, close Mends, to keep temporarily, a doubt had arts?n oier the advisabil ity of sending such a heavy-coated dog to such a warm nhmala Until a Anal decision has been made as to his future, Tiny will re main with the Graysons The Hoovers kept eight dogs during their residence in the White House. King Tut, the President's favor ite, was a magnificent police dog, raised from a pup by the Hoovers. Tut assumed the throne of the kennels when his master and 'mistress moved from S Street to 1600 Pennsyl vania Avenue. So faithfully and reli giously did Tut assume the task of patrolling the regularly assigned beats of the policemen about the rear grounds that he thought of nothing else. He gave up all notions of play and paid little attention to meals or sleep. Pretty soon, at the skc of 8, he passed away, presumably from sheer exhaustion. Probably the Coolldges had the queer est assortment of pets of any Presiden tial family. They kept a gentleman donkey, a lody raccoon, two cats and something like seven doss. Just where the donkey came from secmt to be a mystery. Anyway, the First Lady grew fond of him, named hini Ebcneeser and housed the beast in a sixcial pen. Official records are conflicting as to just when the raccoon Joined the White House family. One notation says Thanksgiving, 1026, and another asserts tluit Christmas of the same year was the proper date. Anyway, the animal was the gift of an admirer who intended her for the President's holiday dinner to replace the traditional turkey. But Mr. Coolidce took a fancy to tt little tlT'ti're the moment be saw her arriv ing at ttt W hite rouse and named'her Rebecca. Soon this .'"illng grew Into a real attachment. Mrs. Coolidce also became fon of Rebecca and had a house built for her in a hose tree with a wire fence around It In the rear grounds. While out of ; iV Ml 1 j , t J;4 t if V Ay .v SrV -Hi Dejected? Contrite? Or Just plain ashamed of himself? Anyhow, this la the way V, inks looked after he had helped himself to nine teen breakfasts on the aervants' table which supplanted the Harding I i;ldie Boy as canine boss of the White V.y.iiC. Rob quickly worked himself In'. 3 the affections of the President. Often wiicn his master retired to his office eTicr luncheon the handsome collie 1.1 '..d along to take a snooze In front 0.' t'le fireplace, curl up In a leafier ch'. 'r nt the President's elbow or look out 0.' t it window, yearning, perhaps, for a run around the yard or out In the a: ot where he wouldn't have to observe r. let White House rules of etiquette. K n during mealtime the faithful collie g n erally was near the chair of his ma r and always profited to the extent of getting choice morsels of food. Another Coolldge favorite was Paul Pry, frisky alredale and half-brother of President Harding'! Laddie Bey, Paul waa a big. overgrown, awkward puiw when first he entered the White House. Mrs. Coolldge tied him to a lush and managed to calm htm down somewhat. Nevertheless he never quite grl o- rtu. habit of galloping. Other well-known Coolldge dos were Diana, a white collie: King Cole a blark B-'.jian dog, and Bessie, a ycl'.ww collie. CwimM PACE TWO
