WARREN R. AUSTIN
VERMONT
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, D. C.
January 3, 1933
My dear Mother:
Thank you for your Christmas remembrance. Your beautiful tie
is just the appropriate color for my brown suit.
I am going to mail you some clippings from newspapers which show
something of the wonderful vacation which Mildred and I enjoyed
with the President and Mrs. Hoover. They entertain guests very
graciously and pleasantly, and you can imagine that every conve-
nience and luxury was provided on the trip.
We were taken in a White House car to the Union Station, where
we embarked at the President's special waiting room there. After
a short wait the doors were thrown open and the President an-
nounced. A small army of secret service men preceded and fol-
lowed the President and Mrs. Hoover, and I was asked to march in
with the President and Mildred with Mrs. Hoover. We quickly
passed through the station to a private car where a battery of
photographers was waiting with flashlights, and they took pic-
tures of us as we went onto the platform of the car. This car
was equipped with an observation end, staterooms, and a dining
room, and we traveled in comfort by rail to Savannah.
After an early breakfast we went out and were met by a great
delegation of Savannah citizens and taken in motor cars about
the City of Savannah on our way to the docks, where we boarded the
Sequoia. This boat was quite substantial and we had staterooms
with two beds, private baths, beautiful lounges, and everything
for ease and rest.
This boat was accompanied by another Merchant Marine called the
Kilkenney, which carried baggage and many of the secret service men.
In the fleet there were three Coast Guard cutters manned by an
officer and members of the Coast Guard.
We steamed slowly down the inland waterways along the coasts of
Georgia and Florida, which constituted the Spanish Main, and I can
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readily understand how the pirates found this a natural and
effective sanctuary to which to retreat when pursued, or when
trying to hide the dubloons and other Spanish property captured
on the high seas between the Gulf of Mexico and Cape Hatteras.
The whole place is redolent of olden times: ruins of Spanish
houses, and even of the houses of emigrees from France were
seen on various lonely islands in our course, while hogs, deer,
wild turkeys, quail, wild doves, and numerous waterfowl inhabit
these places. Mr. Richey and Dr. Boone went out at one place
and shot two deer and some waterfowl, and we had game on our
table most of the time.
We visited an island owned by Mr. Howard Coffin, which has been
improved at great expense, and is very picturesque where not im-
proved. This was within a mile of Blackbeards Island, which we
saw. Oysters and fish from these waters were on our table,
although we did not catch any fish in the inland waters.
Where the natural channel was not deep enough, dredges had
lowered it so that at all places, save two or three, we were
able to pass without touching bottom, and it is an amazing fact
that we sailed hundreds of miles in lagoons and rivers no wider
than the Winooski or the Mississquoi. The banks were lined with
live oak, festooned with gray moss of the country, and often we
saw swamps of mangroves, palms, and Southern pines. These swamps
were like jungles, in which we occasionally saw an egret. We
often saw beautifully colored herons and wild ducks. Where the
water broadened out we encountered flocks of other sea fowl, in-
cluding pelicans, both brown and pure white, gulls, and frigate
birds, as well as eagles.
We did our real fishing in the Gulf Stream off Palm Beach. In
all, we caught twenty-four sailfish and some dolphins, wahoos and
amberjacks. All of these fish are game fish of the highest or-
der. Our sport was intensified by our using light tackle. My
own was a No. 13 line, which is the size I commonly use at home
for black bass. My rod was a Pfluger rod, which is only slightly
larger than the bass rod, certainly not as large as those used at
Lake Sacracoma for lake trout. The fish we captured were more
gamey than the lake trout, and whereas a large lake trout weighs
about ten pounds these fish ran as high as eighty or ninety pounds.
Therefore, you can see that the performance of the fisherman, as
well as of the fish was necessarily skillful in order not to break
the tackle.
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Some people would say that I had hard luck, but I think my
experience was enviable, because it was unique. No one else
had a shark do away with the useless fish about the time he
was to be hauled in, but I did. I hookéd a very large fish
the largest one that was caught - and had a battle with him
for about an hour. When hauling him up the second time, a
shark cut him in two as neatly as you could cut him with a
knife. I kept the head, which weighed approximately fifty
pounds, and the shark got the rest. In the meantime, I had
had a wonderful experience, and a moving picture camera
probably will show me biting my tongue off. They say it was
a wonderful fishing study.
When we were not fishing, and when the President was not busy,
we grouped and engaged in conversation which was the most
enlightening of any that I ever participated in. You see that
here was the President of the United States, a Justice of the
United States Supreme Court, and a great and noted author and
journalist, whose points of view, and intimate knowledge of
great events and issues were broad and deep, and I feel as if
I had had a liberal education in visiting with these men.
The President was especially entertaining in his stories of his
life as an engineer in the gold mines of South Africa, Australia,
and the lead mines of Burma, Russia and Siberia. He gave us an
intimate picture of the Belgian Relief Commission, which finally
resulted in the establishment of the University of Belgium, on the
lines of an up-to-date American University. His history of the
relief of Russia and other European countries was brilliant and
instructive.
Of course, we discussed pending issues of the day, both domestic
and international, and I obtained points of view which will be of
great service to me in arriving at a judgment upon which I can safe-
ly act in the United States Senate.
Considerable care was taken to avoid gatherings of people who
were either interested or curious, and on only a few occasions were
people permitted to call upon the President, who had a quiet, rest-
ful time, without a single untoward event.
Mrs. Hoover is a very intelligent and wise woman, and perfectly
lovely as a hostess.
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We enjoyed Mrs. Stone very much. She was the only woman
who caught a fish. She caught one sailfish and handled it
entirely herself. It was a plucky fight in which I thought
she would be worn out.
Mildred stayed aboard the Sequoia on the placid water of
the lake where we anchored at Palm Beach, and she was wise
to do so, because the Gulf Stream was extremely rough and
both Mrs. Hoover and Mrs. Stone were quite glad to retire
from it after a short time of being tossed and thrown by
the great breakers.
Sundays we did not fish. We made our visit to Sabelo Island
the first Sunday, and went about Palm Beach the second Sunday,
Throughout the trip the weather was perfect and we all arrived
in Washington this morning with more or less tan, and a feeling
of reinvigoration for the performance of our very serious and
difficult duties here.
We had a wonderful time, and were very grateful for it.
We hope that you enjoyed Christmas and New Years, and I must
say that we had many a moment of loneliness in not being able
to see you all.
Love from both of us.
Your affectionate son,
Warren,
Mrs. Chauncey G. Austin,
91 South Main Street,
St. Albans, Vermont.