MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—Two sweet little girls presented me with flowers on the stage where I appeared in Columbus, Ohio. They could have not been more than four or five years old, but they were as composed and as well behaved as possible. Each came on bearing a bouquet, was photographed and departed without saying a word.

We got off the next morning for Cleveland and there I was met by the young Congressman as well as by the Mayor's committee and the Stevenson and Kefauver volunteers. They had arranged a luncheon and reception and a rally at 4 p.m., all of which went off according to schedule.

The young Congressman, Charles Vanik, is a friend of my son, James, and I am told he is one of a group of fine young Congressmen of whom our Democratic Party is justly proud. The vigor of the party is dependent on this infusion of young blood.

I was very much amused to find on the plane when I left New York a representative of the Boston Globe, Mr. Banner. He told me that his editor had seen my schedule and decided that no one at my age could possibly be carrying it out, so he sent him along to find out how it was done. I have a faint suspicion about this!

I see this reporter at intervals and I think the trip must be rather dull for him, for there often are times when nothing is being done. But perhaps these are the times when he gets a chance to write down his own impressions of what he finds in the different parts of the country we are visiting.

We reached Minneapolis late Sunday evening. We began our day on Monday with an 8:30 a.m. press conference, which must have been very hard on the press. Newspaper people, I have always found, work more easily at night than in the morning.

At 9 a.m. there was a women's breakfast and then we started a trip to outlying areas. I had thought that I would spend the night with Miss Adelaide Enright, but when I saw the schedule I decided that it was not going to be possible to drive to her house and get back in time in the early morning.

The only point in going to see a friend is to have a little time to spend with her, and it did not look to me that we would have even enough time for breakfast together. So I gave up my plan to stay with Miss Enwright and instead spent the night in the hotel.

The weekend weather was beautiful, just cool enough to make everyone feel brisk and energetic. I was hoping that this weather would last so that we would have no plane complications. For according to the present schedules which I have received, we cannot afford to be late anywhere.