"Don't Go Away Mad"

On a mole not 200 yards from the Little White House at Key West, a 3-in. cannon boomed out the Navy's 21-gun welcome to its visiting Commander in Chief. Harry Truman stirred fitfully in his sleep. Not until the 17th report, he told his aides, did he shake himself fully awake. Then he hopped out of bed and acknowledged the last four booms by standing at attention in his pajamas. When the firing ended, he tumbled back into bed and snoozed peacefully until 9:30.

After breakfast he usually slipped into his swimming trunks for a few hours of splashing in the Atlantic, and a session in the hot Florida sun. In the afternoons, he napped, thumbed through state papers, or got worried word from Administration leaders in Washington. In the evenings he usually took a hand in the regular poker game, was in bed by 10:30.

He got a big kick out of passing out some cards Brigadier General Wallace Graham had brought down from Washington. In large type the cards read: "Don't Go Away Mad." In smaller print: "Just Go Away."

The vacation was doing wonders for the President, said White House Physician Graham. After the first week of it, Harry Truman was tan, fit and relaxed. His weight was at a perfect 176 Ibs. He was in fighting trim, and judging by the week's news in the Senate, he would need to be.

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