"Give me a chance to go hunting," grinned President Eisenhower, "and I'm not going to fool around." The President, seizing his first opportunity in three years, flew down to Treasury Secretary George Humphrey's Thomasville, Ga. plantation last week for a brief quail-shooting holiday. Five minutes after he arrived, on the afternoon of Lincoln's birthday, Ike was togged out in a natty corduroy cap, green windbreaker, whipcord jodhpurs and (as a protection against the locally prevalent rattlesnakes) sturdy natural-leather boots. Under his right arm, the President carried two shotguns, which he had carefully selected from his own collection: a standard 20-gauge double-barreled shotgun and his favorite, a small .410 "over and under."
When Humphrey and the rest of his party were ready, Ike climbed aboard a shiny black, red-wheeled "Thomasville wagon,"* drawn by two white mules. Secret Service Man James Rowley sat on the tail gate and the others—Secret Service agents, beaters, Humphrey and guests —mounted horses. At dusk, after three hours of shooting in the marshlands, Ike returned with nine quail—three short of a day's legal limit.
Next morning the President was up early and off again in the balmy Georgia weather for more hunting. At noon he helped to broil quail over a charcoal grill. When the day's hunting was over, he had bagged his limit—an even dozen quail. On Sunday, after 36 hours out of doors, Ike emplaned for Washington.
Last week the President also: fl Emphatically reassured an agitated Congress, at his press conference, that he had no intention of involving the U.S. in the hot war of Indo-China. The arrival of U.S. Air Force technicians in Hanoi did not mean that U.S. troops would follow. He could not conceive of a greater tragedy, Ike said, than for America to get involved in an all-out war in that region. What we are doing is to support the Vietnamese and French in their conduct of that war against the encroachment of Communism. But there would be no se cret military commitment: there is no attempt to carry on the affairs of the U.S. in a darkened room. ¶ Asked Colorado's Governor Dan Thornton, as chairman of the 1954 Governors' Conference, to take a party of governors to Korea about April i, and appraise the progress of rehabilitation there. ¶Nominated Career Diplomat John Moors Cabot, 52, to be Ambassador to Sweden.
¶Presented the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal to British Explorers Sir John Hunt and Sir Edmund Hillary for their successful expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest. ¶ Prepared a message to be delivered to Congress this week, asking leave to 1) share U.S. atomic information with other NATO countries, and 2) permit private industry to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes. ¶ Announced that he and the First Lady would leave this week for a flying, five-day work-and-play vacation in Palm Springs, Calif, as the guests of his old friend Paul G. Hoffman.
A long, topless wagon with three seats and a built-in kennel for the dogs under the two rear seats.