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Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929
Boone Papers. Chapter on President Coolidge from the Memoirs of His Physician, Joel T. Boone.
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{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}The Hospital Corps School was a subordinate command{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
. . . .
part
of the
command at the
U. S. Naval Hospital at Portsmouth, Virginia--the oldest Naval Hospital in the United States.--
December of 1925
. Besides his classes in such subjects as Nursing, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Weights and Measures, Anatomy and Physiology, Hygiene and Sanitation, he took a course in French to improve his ability in that language. He was fortunate to have as one of his instructors Ch
ee
{begin inserted text}ie{end inserted text}
f Warrant Officer, named H. L. Ridel, whom I became very well acquainted with and with whom I was intimately associated when he had a long tour of duty
{begin inserted text}at{end inserted text}
of the U. S. Naval Dispensary of the Navy Department in Washington. He was an outstanding warrant officer who later got a full commission in the Hospital Corps. He was one of the most cooperative and kindly and considerate Naval associates that I had had and very helpful to me in my period of service at the White House while he was at the Naval Dispensary.
Eyer thought him about the most thorough and con
s
{begin inserted text}c{end inserted text}
ise instructor that he had ever had in any of his educational pursuits.
Eyer wrote that he continued to maintain a very keen interest in every bit of news he read about the MAYFLOWER,
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}and its{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
personnel,
and
he noted in one newspaper article that I had, as the President's physician,
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}that I had{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
attended to the injuries of a motorcycle rider,
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}protecting the President,{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
one day. He was particularly proud that he had had even a short period of service on the Presidential yacht. He certainly was a creditable representative of the United States Marine Corps during the period that he so served on that ship. He was elected to be a color bearer for White House formal evening receptions. Place for these receptions
{begin handwritten}This paragraph needs much {ILLEGIBLE} by me{end handwritten}
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to stand at one side of the main entrance into the State
R
{begin inserted text}R{end inserted text}
eception
R
{begin inserted text}R{end inserted text}
oom,
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}a{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
very formal
{ILLEGIBLE}
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}and{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
designated
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}the{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
Blue Room, where
the
Presidents and the First Ladies received their guests on big formal occasions. There will be much more to narrate about this and a part that Eyer took one night years after he had been an enlisted man holding
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten},{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
the National Colors for long hours at the entrance to the main door to the Blue Room. He would not let any of his classmates at the pharmacist's mates' school know that he had served on the MAYFLOWER, for he did not want them to feel that he was advertising himself of
speaking
seeking any special consideration from the fact that he had had that unusual experience of serving on the Presidential yacht and being a President's orderly. He was very critical of the conditions for liberty in the city of Norfolk at the time that he was a student at the pharmacist's mate school in 1925 and he found after one or two trips to the city that he did not wish to take liberty.
The city had a bad reputation years ago and when there was much criticism of the conditions existing in the city, {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}as{end handwritten}{end inserted text} harmful as a liberty port. When I had duty there in 1915 I was not subjected to some of the situations well known to the enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps. I was married and lived in a very pleasant boarding house on Freemason Street. In later years it became a very splendid city and very popular area in which to have duty. Officers, men, and their family became very much amoured to Norfolk. In 1964 it is one of the great seaports where one of the largest Naval bases exists in the United States. Hampton Roads nearby is the headquarters of the Naval Commander, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Forces,
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Commander, United States Atlantic Fleet. Duty for many years now continues
so
up
until
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}into{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
1964
is
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}as{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
a very much sought after place for duty,
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}by{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
Naval
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}and Marine Corps personnel. It is now a fine community and in market{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
personnel
. Entirely different place than it was in 1925, even ten years before in 1915 when I had duty there at the Training Station and Receiving Ship. There were always very fine people living in the Norfolk-Portsmouth, Virginia, area
{begin inserted text}(??eeked){end inserted text}
we felt in 1915, left-over aura of the Deep South. One of the difficulties to, not on all occasions, live over the War Between the States.
Not having the finances myself to provide for Eyer's medical education upon his release by special order discharge from the United States Navy, I had the good fortune of having a request I made of one of my most stalwart friends and patients while I was in attendance at the White House provide most of the funds for Eyer's medical education, but they needed to be supplemented by some borrowings that he had to do himself, scholarship basis, and also by my being able
for
to have a cousin
{begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}railroad official{end handwritten}{end inserted text}
of mine provide employment for Eyer at the Philadelphia Reading terminal. Originally he worked from 6 in the evening until midnight, handling mail sacks and express parcels. He liked the work very much, for he found it provided not only assistance
for
of a financial nature, but gave him much needed exercise out of routine school hours, although he found there was a good deal of inconvenience and difficulty preparing for the lessons every day by working six hours at night. Early he had confidence that he would be able to get accustomed to this added work, to be able to work out a satisfactory school program in conjunction with his working at the Reading terminal.
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He stated in a letter to me, dated December 3, 1925
.
:
"I greatly appreciate your aid, Doctor Boone,
{begin inserted text}(enabling){end inserted text}
in aiding me to secure this work. And although I believe it will only last until the Christmas holidays are
now
over it will prove a tremendous aid and in all probability prove invaluable in securing work in the future."
Eyer expressed himself so very well in his letters. I am going to
{begin inserted text}(wand ?){end inserted text}
to quote quite liberally from some of his letters to me. Not only did he express himself well, but he
wrote, he
was a beautiful penman. In a letter of December 22, 1925, to me he stated:
"It is impossible almost to believe that the dawning of a new year is so close. Indeed it seems but a step from the past
{begin inserted text}?{end inserted text}
at an ever changing reality to the present. It is somewhat awe inspiring at times to review the succession of events as the wheel of progress turns on its unending cycle grinding out an endless procession which daily is augmented. Since December 11 have been working steadily at the Reading terminal from 6 to 12 during school days, from 6 to 3 on other days. . . . Even working six hours I find it rather difficult to put sufficient time on studies. In fact, during the last month my work has not at all been pleasing to me; however, I am endeavoring to repair some of the damage wrought by constant application during the holidays. During a recent interview with Doctor Pearson (he was the Dean of the Hahnemann Medical School of Philadelphia at the time), he informed me that he believed in young men biting off more than they
can
{begin inserted text}could{end inserted text}
chew and he seemed very pleased
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with the mouthful I had taken. Of course, the future alone will determine the measure of my chewing ability."
(End of recording on 9-29-64.)
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