FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



Whitney and myself, put his arms around our shoulders, and 

 said in a low voice, "I have been delayed at a Cabinet meeting, 

 and as it broke up that fine President of ours took me by the 

 arm and said, 'Henry, I hear that it's your birthday. Come in 

 here.' And he took me into the next room, opened a cupboard 

 and gave me a drink of the best whiskey I have ever tasted." So 

 much for Prohibition! 



It is probably not strange that I have never met President 

 Hoover personally. He joined the Cosmos Club when he was 

 Secretary of Commerce, but I have never seen him there. I think 

 that his friends must have been asked not to introduce him to 

 people, and I judge that he is naturally a very reserved and 

 perhaps, even shy man. I know, however, that he is a lover of 

 nature, and that when he wishes to do so, he can write with very 

 great charm and with a pronounced sense of humor. One of the 

 most beautiful addresses I ever listened to was read by him at 

 a big dinner at one of the Washington hotels during a conven- 

 tion of the many societies of lovers of nature. It was on the 

 delights of fishing. 



[252] 



