President Hoover left Washington for the Caribbean a very tired man. Even a broken coupling that split his special train during the night was not enough to wake him in his private car. At Old Point Comfort, Va., his party—Secretary of War Hurley, Secretary of the Interior Wilbur. Private Secretary Richey, naval and military aides, 25 news and camera men—was put aboard the U. S. S. Arizona, Capt. Charles Freeman commanding. The President was assigned the captain's two-room-&-bath suite while Secretaries Hurley and Wilbur bunked together in the admiral's quarters.
Flying the President's flag (U. S. eagle-&-shield with four white stars on a blue field) from her main truck, the 31,000-ton dreadnaught nosed out into the Atlantic for her first "shakedown" run after two years in drydock being reconditioned. The cocky little destroyer Taylor served as escort. President Hoover had smooth sailing southeastward for four days. He took long naps morning and afternoon, lounged before a wood fire. On deck he played medicine ball, losing one ball overboard. After dinner (for which he dressed) an orchestra played softly, he attended talking cinema shows (Rain or Shine, The Temple Tower). The third day out the Taylor was to be relieved by the Dupont from Guantanamo. A miniature presidential review was arranged. For nearly an hour the President, Capt. Freeman and the Arizona's crew stood at the rail awaiting the Dupont which had miscalculated the battleship's position. When the Dupont did not arrive, as a substitute diversion Capt. Freeman sent his crew into the rigging to perform tricks, led them in three big cheers for their Commander-in-Chief.
Radio telephone communication was established the last day out between the Arizona and Herbert Hoover Jr., convalescing at Asheville, N. C. President Hoover talked briefly with his son and Granddaughter Peggy Anne, who chirped: ''It's snowing here. We're going back to Washington tomorrow." (Next evening he could have tuned in to hear his wife's voice in her Unemployment broadcast—see p. 10.)
The Arizona slipped through Mona Pass and came to anchor at night off palm-fringed Ponce on the south coast of Porto Rico (see map, p. 8). Next morning President Hoover went ashore, was welcomed by Theodore Roosevelt, Governor of Porto Rico. Bands crashed. Natives cheered. For them it was a double holiday—the 58th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and the second visit to Porto Rico by a U. S. President. At the City Hall the President was presented with a large tablecloth on which had been embroidered elaborate flower designs. Governor Roosevelt had asked President Hoover to leave behind his top-hat and tailcoat because few Porto Ricans own such ceremonial attire. By the President's compliance, everybody was in informal linens.