& u. & u. THK(»IH")liI-; UOOS10YEL.T, THE CITIZEN. Amid America's Grandeur, Yosemite. THEODORE ROOSEVELT HIS LIFE AND WORK PICTURESQUE, VIRILE, STRENUOUS He Reigned an Uncrowned King In a Land that Had No Kings Written and Edited by FREDERICK E. DRINKER and JAY HENRY MOWBRAY Authors of "Roosevelt's Illustrious Career" and ''Renowned Hunt." Fully illustrated with reproduced photographs of the former President, his family and the actions in which he participated. FATIONAL PUBLISHING CO, o, 241 American Street PHILADELPHIA, PA, •D Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1919, by National Publishing Co., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. ICLA511923 J/ INTRODUCTION He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill; our antagonist is our helper. — Burke. He would not have liked it, perhaps, that one call him a peda- gogue, and yet in the passing of the great man Theodore Roosevelt on January 6, 1919, America lost one of her foremost teachers. Sturdy Americanism was his major subject and he taught it with a vigor and enthusiasm which left its mark upon the nation. No brick walls limited the sphere of his influence. The breadth of the land was his class-room and his students were of the millions everywhere who found their lessons in his daily life. For perhaps more than any other public man of his day, Theodore Roosevelt, with the courage of his convictions, practiced what he preached. The fighter is always the teacher, and Theodore Roosevelt was primarily a fighter. It would have been his choice to have faced death on the battlefields, doing his part in leading and inspiring his fellow- citizenship in the charge against autocracy. Denied that opportunity, there remained for him a field of service no less important in the counsels of the nation, to determine its course through tangled paths, and with tongue and pen he laid about him with a force and vision that left their impress. He sent his sons to battle for the cause and became a leader in the civilian forces which provided the sinews of war. No leader had loftier ideals than Theodore Roosevelt and he aimed to achieve them by red-blooded appeals to the heart of his fellow-men to "fear God and take their own part." In another age he might have been called a "militant Christian." Through his life the same forceful, picturesque conduct marked his path. »Coming generations will look back over the long list of Presidents of the United States and Theodore Roosevelt will be named as among the great. The story of his life has a resistless fascination for all who read VI INTRODUCTION and are interested in the history of the country and the progress of man, for not only was Colonel Roosevelt (as he chose to have himself called after he retired from the presidency) a great political leader, but he was "doer of things" and possessed a personality whose in- fluence reached into many spheres. No man worked harder than Theodore Eoosevelt and it is related of him that during the period of his incumbency as President of the United States no man who came to him to discuss a subject found him unprepared to enter into its consideration. Frequently his visitors found that he had delved into subjects far afield in order to establish a common ground upon which they could meet and talk. He invaded the fields of art, literature, science and business — every sphere of human endeavor — often reading and working far into the night that he might be prepared to discuss the matter which was to come before him. Shams and deceptions were his abhorrence and his antagonism in this direction was displayed in every position he ever occupied. His sympathy was strong for those in the humbler walks of life — the hardy yeomanry and rank and file of the nation — and they in return idolized him. The mere announcement that he was to speak or to appear at any public meeting was sufficient to draw a tremendous throng of enthusiastic adherents and worshippers in any community. As a public official — from his connection with the government of the city of New York and as a member of the New York State Legis- lature down to the last days of his presidency — he was the out- spoken foe of all political corruption, and no man dared to approach him with base or dishonorable suggestion. He arose like a giant in his wrath against intrigue and selfishness, and spared neither those in the high positions nor the low. A truthful portrayal of the life of Colonel Eoosevelt must contain the information that few men in public life aroused such antagonism as the dead ex-President, and few have been more bitterly assailed for inconsistenc3 r , but his bitterest enemies never questioned his Americanism or doubted his deep love of country or the high aspira- tions which he held for the future of the riation. Colonel Roosevelt's judgment of men, while not infrequently at fault, showed to wonderful advantage in the selection of those who were to direct matters for the Government, and particularly the Army INTRODUCTION vn and Navy. It was Mr. Roosevelt who, under a storm of criticism, lifted General Pershing from obscurity to a high place in the Army ; pushed into the line Major General Leonard Wood, and in bringing about the reorganization of the Navy gave opportunity to Vice Admiral Sims, then only a commander, who served with signal success as the commander of the American fleet abroad during the World War. It was, in fact, Colonel Roosevelt who lifted the United States Navy out of a position of inferiority and made it second only to that of England in size, and second to none in fighting qualities, and who reorganized the Army after the Spanish-American War and laid the foundation upon which was constructed the wonderful organization which thrilled the world during 1918 on the battle-fronts of old Europe. Colonel Roosevelt, too, was a pioneer in the world peace move- ment, and if the plans for securing universal peace were not carried out in the ultimate efforts to prevent future wars, it is nevertheless true that it was he who called the Second Hague Peace Conference, and received the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing to an end the Japanese-Russian War. And when the great European War came upon the world his ad- mirers took delight in recalling the fact that he was one of the first to appraise the Kaiser at his true worth and call Germany's bluff. In this connection the world will never forget the impression Mr. Roose- velt made as President when he summoned to the White House the German Ambassador and directed him to telegraph his Government that it must agree within forty-eight hours to arbitrate the Vene- zuelan dispute or meet Admiral Dewey's battle fleet. It is a matter of record that the Kaiser accepted the Roosevelt ultimatum and kept his hands off of the defenceless South American nation. No less picturesque was his method of meeting the situation when the whole world was filled with the idea that Japan, fresh from con- quest in Russia, was about to attack the United States. President Roosevelt met the situation by dispatching an American fleet around the world in command of Fighting "Bob" Evans, and invading Asi- atic waters. It is of interest in other fields that 'Colonel Roosevelt was one of the foremost advocates of the simplified form of spelling, and that he Vni INTRODUCTION was together platform orator, author, essayist, hunter, explorer, nat- uralist and most interesting of reconteurs. His home life was ideally happy and it can be said, as of few other men who have been accounted so great, that no breath of scandal ever touched his home or his private life, for to him home was a sacred thing. The spirit of Theodore Roosevelt will live always. Long after his words and acts have been largely forgotten, the marks which he set along the national course will remain and be honored in our history. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Theodore Roosevelt — American ,.-... 13 CHAPTER II. Roosevelt's Birth and Education 17 CHAPTER III. Member of the New York Legislature . 29 CHAPTER IV. Mr. Roosevelt as a Cowboy and Ranchman 45 CHAPTER V. Mr. Roosevelt's Adventures in the West 59 CHAPTER VI. A Masterly Secretary of the Navy 75 CHAPTER VII. Colonel Roosevelt's Famous Rough Riders 93 CHAPTER VIII. The Hero of the Battlefield 106 CHAPTER IX. Roosevelt's Brilliant Record in the War With Spain .... 122 CHAPTER X. Mr. Roosevelt Elected Governor of New York 140 CHAPTER XI. Roosevelt Nominated for Vice-President 154 CHAPTER XII. Suddenly Called to Be President 165 iz X CONTENTS CHAPTER XIII. President Roosevelt's Administration 171 CHAPTER XIV. Roosevelt Triumphantly Elected 182 CHAPTER XV. Curbing Predatory Wealth 19S CHAPTER XVI. Off for the African Jungle 209 CHAPTER XVII. Roosevelt the Lion Slayer 219 CHAPTER XVIII. Colonel Roosevelt a Remarkable Hunter 235 CHAPTER XIX. Roosevelt Hunts on Lake Naivasha 248 CHAPTER XX. A Sportsman and Naturalist 261 CHAPTER XXL A Lion-Spearing Safari 275 CHAPTER XXII. Triumphant Close of a Thrilling Hunt 290 CHAPTER XXIII. Royal Honors for Theodore Roosevelt 302 CHAPTER XXIV. Triumphal Journey Through Europe 312 CHAPTER XXV. Colonel Roosevelt's Speech in Paris on Citizenship in a Republic 3 2 4 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER XXVI. Distinguished Marks of Honor 331 CHAPTER XXVII. Roosevelt for World Peace 343 CHAPTER XXVIII. Colonel Roosevelt in Germany 352 CHAPTER XXIX. Colonel Roosevelt in England 369 CHAPTER XXX. Nation Greets Colonel Roosevelt 394 CHAPTER XXXI. Forms Bull Moose Party 409 • CHAPTER XXXII. Discovers River of Doubt 415 CHAPTER XXXIII. Roosevelt in War Crisis 429 CHAPTER XXXIV. Colonel — Man of Many Sides 439 CHAPTER XXXV. The Passing of the Great Man 456 CHAPTER I. THEODORE ROOSEVELT— AMERICAN. A Blood Clot Brings a Geeat Life to End — A Many Sided Man- - Champion of Democracy — A Model of Citizenship — Pic- turesque, Rugged, Versatile. "The lives of great men oft remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time." — The Psalm of Life. PROBABLY no man in modern history left a greater impress of his personality upon the country in which he lived than did Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth President of the United States, who died at Oyster Bay, N. Y., on January 6, 1919, in the sixty-first year of his life. In the darkness of the early morning hours, and with none beside to note the passing of his spirit, Colonel Roosevelt, as he choose to be called after his retirement from the Presidency, went peacefully to his end. Pulmonary embolism, or the lodgment in his lung of a blood clot from a broken vein, brought him to an untimely end, leaving a nation and a world to mourn his loss. Few men have touched the circumference of life at so many points as did Theodore Roosevelt. Though not a scholar in the closely defined meaning of the term, he had delved with under- standing into widely diversified fields of endeavor, finding time to consider with remarkable energy everything which came to his notice. A facility for grasping the essentials of a subject no matter how technical or abstruse ; a dynamic force that made him prone to action, and an intimate knowledge of the American mind, gave him the personal power of a leader possessed by few men. There are those who during his life, and for time to come, may question the judgment upon which Colonel Roosevelt acted at times, but no man questioned his honesty of purpose nor his sturdy Ameri- canism. 13 14 THEODORE ROOSEVELT— AMERICAN Theodore Eoosevelt — American. This is the epitaph which a sorrowing nation inscribed upon the scroll of time. Colonel Eoosevelt was an American of the highest type. His personal integrity was without blemish and he was an earnest devo- tee of the home, not merely his own, which was the prominent ex- emplar of family life, but as an institution which forms the corner stone of the Nation. He was an advocate of an all-inclusive democracy, which would comprehend the whole people without dis- crimination, and he claimed justice and freedom under the law for every native-born and for all aliens who came to America honestly seeking citizenship. To the young man who would seek a model of citizenship the story of his life reveals unlimited possibilities, for he was at one and the same time, writer, statesman, politician, explorer, hunter, preacher of business and social morality and an advocate of the strenuous existence who stood unchallenged in his leadership. LIEUTENANT QUENTIN ROOSEVELT'S DEATH SAD NEWS. No man of his time gave to the world more epigrammatic or pic- turesque expressions and few men have had a fuller life. While lying critically ill in the Mercy Hospital, Chicago, in 1912, after he had been shot by a demented man while making a speech in Milwaukee, Colonel Eoosevelt said: "I am quite ready to die. I have had a full life, and I do not know anyone who has enjoyed life more. I have found life big, invigorating and worth while in everything that has come to me." Undoubtedly the strenuous trips which the Colonel made to Africa and to South America as part of the full life of which he spoke, had much to do with his ending at a time when other men are accomplishing some of their best works. It is certain that the fever which he contracted in the Brazilian jungle left its impress upon his rugged frame, and it is no less certain that the fate of his son, Lieutenant Quentin Eoosevelt, American aviator, shot down by a Boche in a battle in the air, in France, on July 17, 1918, hastened the end. For some weeks previous to confirmation of his death there were reports he had possibly been taken prisoner by the Germans and might turn up alive. This suspense added to the distress of the Eoosevelt household. THEODORE ROOSEVELT— AMERICAN 15 When the sad news finally was officially confirmed, General Pershing cabled Colonel Roosevelt that, if desired, the body of Quentin would be removed to America. France meanwhile had paid the fullest honors to the dead aviator. The Roosevelt family declined to accept the War Department's offer. In a letter to General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff, Colonel Roosevelt wrote : "Mrs. Roosevelt and I wish to enter a most respectful but most emphatic protest against the proposed course so far as our son Quentin is concerned. We have always believed that : " 'Where the tree falls, 'There let it lie.' "We know that many good persons feel entirely different, but to us it is painful and harrowing long after death to move the poor body from which the soul has fled. We greatly prefer that Quentin shall continue to lie on the spot where he fell in battle and where the foemen buried him. "After the war is over Mrs. Roosevelt and I intend to visit the grave and then to have a small stone put up by us, but not disturbing what has already been erected to his memory by his friends and American comrades in arms." Colonel Roosevelt had been looking forward to his journey over- seas with mingled feelings of sadness and pride. At the time of their father's death, Lieutenant-Colonel Theo- dore Roosevelt, Jr., was with the Twenty-sixth Infantry of the Amer- ican Army at Montebaun, France, while Captain Kermit Roosevelt was with the American Army of Occupation near Coblenz. The latter received a letter from his father which was not delivered to him until the news of his death reached the American headquarters. Friends did not inform Captain Roosevelt of the death until after he had time to read the last message from his parent. Dr. Richard Derby, son-in-law of Colonel Roosevelt, was also in France, being attached to the headquarters of the Second Division. The last public contribution of Colonel Roosevelt to any publi- cation was a characteristic article for the ' ' Metropolitan Magazine, ' ' entitled, "Eyes to the Front." The article reached the publishers but a short time before the ex-President's death and shows how up to the very last he looked to the future. 16 THEODOEE EOOSEVELT— AMERICAN Referring to the work of Congress the Colonel wrote : "Congress must keep its eyes on the future and begin to build for the future. The great war has put us in a new world. In this new world we must resolutely cling to the old things that were good, but we must also fearlessly adopt the new expedients imperative to bring justice under the new conditions. "The farmer, the working man and the business man are, of course, the three people upon whose welfare the welfare of all the rest of us and the country depends. ' ' Declaring that the farmer had not had a square deal, Colonel Roosevelt added that "we must never again permit the wageworkers to be looked upon as primarily a mere cog in the industrial machine," and urged recognition of their right to collective bargaining, suggesting that a system should be introduced which would provide for the representation of the workers on directorates, and cautioned that wages should be kept up. Rigid restrictions on immigration and efforts to keep people of the Bolshevist type from coming to America, a greater Merchant Marine and the granting of the vote to women without delay were among the things he advocated in this final contribution to the world. From One of His Best Pictures. This photograph of Theodore Roosevelt, released for public print, is considered an excellent picture. © w. ROOSEVELT AND HIS GRANDSON. The latest photograph of Col. Roosevelt and his grandson, the son of Captain Archie Roosevelt. French Official Photo. I. F. S. THE GRAVE OF LIEUT. QUENTIN ROOSEVELT. Lieut. Roosevelt was killed in combat with a German flier and was buried on the spot where he fell. Before the death of Colonel Roosevelt he and Mrs. Roosevelt were planning a trip to France to visit the grave of their youngest son. IN MEMORIAM-OUR COUNTRY IN SORROW COLONEL. ROOSEVELT AND COLONEL LENIHAX. Theodore Roosevelt addressing the 69th Regiment just before their departure over- seas. Colonel Lenihan was at that time in charge of the 69th. COPYRIGHT 190:, BY ClINEDINST, WASHINGTON, THEODORE ROOSEVELT WRITING HIS LAST MESSAGE IN HIS OFFICE AT THE WHITE HOUSE Copyright 1910, American Press Association, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, A.B., LL.D., Ph.D., D.C.L. This photograph was taken in London while the Colonel was on his way to Cam- bridge University to receive the degree of Doctor of Laws. ROOSEVELT AS A HUNTER WHEN A YOUNG MAN CO^YR.GHT, !8Q8 J BY GEO, O, ROCKWOOO, COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT Celebrated Commander of the Rough Rider c COPYRIGHT 1899, BY KUHZ & ALL I SOU COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT LEADING A CHARGE OF THE ROUGH RIDERS Copyright. Harris & Ewing, Washington, D. C. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. When President. COLONEL ROOSEVELT AT MONTAUK POINT Copyright 1902, by Clinedinst, Washington, D. C. THEODORE ROOSEVELT ON HORSEBACK. Mr. Roosevelt was an expert equestrian. This photograph shows one of his feats on his favorite horse. COL. ROOSEVELT AND HIS LIVING QUARTERS WHILE IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA CHAPTER II ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. Eight Generations of Knickerbockers — Quality of the Roosevelt Stock — A Pale and Delicate Boy — Fishing on a Steamship — Preparing for College — Amusing Incident at the Preparatory School — Fond of Wrestling and Boxing — Career at Harvard — An Original Character — Partiality for Natural History — Member of Many Clubs — His Idea of a Good Citizen — Roosevelt's Graduation and Trip to Europe. T^HEODORE ROOSEVELT was born in New York city on * October 27, 1858, and comes from a family that for genera- tions has been noted for wealth, social position, high intelligence, disinterested public spirit, general usefulness and philanthropy. The list of his ancestors includes many who were distinguished in public life, and were honored for their sterling qualities. He is a Knickerbocker of the Knickerbockers, being seventh in descent from Klaas Martensen van Roosevelt, who, with his wife, Jannetje Samuels-Thomas, emigrated from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam in 1649, an< ^ became one of the most promi- nent and prosperous burghers of that settlement. For two and a half centuries the descendants of this couple have flourished in and near the city of New York, maintaining unimpaired the high social standing assumed at the beginning, and by thrift, indus- try and enterprise adding materially to the wealth acquired by inheritance. With the special opportunities for distinction afforded by the Revolution, a number of them came into marked prominence. Just previous to that struggle, and during its earlier years, Isaac Roosevelt was a member of the New York Provincial Con- gress. Later he sat in the State Legislature, and for several years was a member of the New York City Council. For quite a long period he was President of the Bank of New York. Jacobus ■:— T.R. 17 J 8 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. J. Roosevelt, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 1759, g ave his services without compensation as com- missary during the War for Independence. A brother of this Revolutionary patriot, Nicolas J. Roosevelt, born in New York city in 1767, was an inventor of ability, and an associate of Robert L. Livingston, John Stevens and Robert Fulton in developing the steamboat and steam navigation. The grandfather of Governor Roosevelt, Cornelius van Shaick Roosevelt, born in New York city in 1794, was an importer of hardware and plate glass, aud one of the five richest men in the town. He was one of the founders of the Chemical Bank. One of his brothers, James J. Roosevelt, was a warm friend and ardent supporter of Andrew Jackson ; served in the New York Legisla- ture and in Congress, and was a Justice of .the Supreme Court of New York from 185 1 to 1859. . A DISTINGUISHED FAMILY. A cousin, James Henry Roosevelt, was distinguished for his philanthropies, and left an estate of a million dollars, which, by good management, was doubled in value, to found the famous Roosevelt Hospital in New York city. Cornelius V. S. Roosevelt married Mary Barnhill, of Philadelphia. Of their six sons the Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt was one of New York's most distin- guished citizens, served in Cougress and also as a United States Minister to the Netherlands. Theodore, another son, born in New York city, and deceased in 1878, was the father of President Theodore Roosevelt. He mar- ried Martha Bulloch, who, with four of their children, survived him. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., continued in the business founded by his father, and became a controlling factor in the plate glass trade. He greatly augmented the family fortune, and at his death was repated a millionaire. Thus President Roosevelt comes from a distinguished family. Good stock may turn out to be poor sometimes, but it makes a vast difference as to the kind of blood a man has in his veins, and good stock is much more likely to turn out well than stock of the ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 19 opposite kind. It meant something to be a Roosevelt. More was expected of every member of the family than would have been expected of anyone with a name less honorable. It was some advantage, and at the same time it involved a good deal of respon- sibility, to be connected by blood and birth with an old Knicker- bocker family that had helped for generations to make the history of New York. It was the Roosevelt idea that a boy should be taught to run alone, be independent, be something more than a pampered weak- ling. Money was intended to help a young man, not to handicap him. Young Theodore might have lived on his fortune and made his life one of sport and pleasure, but to do this he would have had to be something besides a Roosevelt. Such an aimless empty, worthless career would have been contrary to all the Roosevelt family history and achievements. There is no good reason why the self-made men should all be poor. It is possible to become great in spite of money. HIS APPEARANCE WHEN A BOY. Mr. Ray S. Baker, in a sketch of Mr. Roosevelt, says this of his boyhood : "As a young boy he was thin-shanked, pale and delicate, giving little promise of the amazing vigor of his later life. To avoid the rough treatment of the public school, he was tutored at home, also attending a private school for a time — Cut- ler's, one of the most famous of its day. Most of his summers and in fact two-thirds of the year, he spent at the Roosevelt farm near Oyster Bay, then almost as distant in time from New York as the Adirondacks now are. For many years he was slow to learn and not strong enough to join in the play of other boys • but as he grew older he saw that if he ever amounted to anything he must acquire vigor of body. With characteristic energy he set about developing himself. He swam, he rode, he ran; he tramped the hills back of the bay, for pastime studying and cata- loguing the birds native to his neighborhood ; and thus he laid the foundation of that incomparable physical vigor from which rose his future prowess as a ranchman and hunter." H. B. G.— 4 20 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. At the age of eleven years, young Roosevelt made a voyage across the Atlantic with his father. A boyhood friend, by name George Cromwell, tells several amusing incidents of the Euro- pean voyage. It was a great event in 1869 to cross the Atlantic, particularly for youngsters, all of them under eleven years of age. "As I remember Theodore," recalls Mr. Cromwell, "he was a tall, thin lad, with bright eyes and legs like pipe-stems. "One of the first things I remember about him on that voyage was, that after the ship had got out of sight of land he remarked, half to himself, as he glanced at the water, ' I guess there ought to be a good many fish here.' Then an idea sud- denly struck him, and turning to me he said : ( George, go get me a small rope from somewhere, and we'll play a fishing game.' I don't know why I went at once in search of that line, without asking why he didn't go himself; but I went, and it never occurred to me to put the question. He had told me to go, and in such a determined way that it settled the matter. A MASTERLY LEADER FROM BOYHOOD. " Even then he was a leader — a masterful, commanding little fellow — who seemed to have a peculiar quality of his own of mak- ing his playmates obey him, not at all because we were afraid, but because we wanted to, and somehow felt sure we would have a good time and get lots of fun if we did as he said. " Well, I went after the line and brought it to him. While I was gone on the errand he had thought out all the details of the fishing game, and had climbed on top of a coiled cable ; for, of course, he was to be the fisherman. " ' Now,' he said, as I handed him the line, ' all you fellows lie down fiat on the deck here, and make believe to swim around like fishes. I'll throw one end of the line down to you, and the first fellow that catches hold of it is a fish that has bit my hook. He must just pull as hard as he can, and if he pulls me down off this coil of rope, why, then he will be the fisherman and I will be a fish. But if he lets go, or if I pull him up here off the deck, why I will still be the fisherman. The game is to see how ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 21 many fish each of us can land up here. The one who catches the most fish wins.' " The rest of us lay down flat on our stomachs," Mr. Crom- well says, in continuation of his narrative, " and made believe to swim ; and Theodore, standing above us on the coiled cable, threw down one end of his line — a thin but strong rope. If I remember correctly, my brother was the first fish to grasp the line — and then commenced a mighty struggle. It seemed to be much easier for the fish to pull the fisherman down than for the fisherman to haul up the dead weight of a pretty heavy boy l}'ing flat on the deck below him — and I tell you it was a pretty hard struggle. My brother held on to the line with both hands and wrapped his legs around it, grapevine fashion. Theodore braced his feet on the coiled cable, stiffened his back, shut his teeth hard, and wound his end of the line around his waist. At first he tried by sheer mus- cle to pull the fish up — but he soon found it was hard work to lift up a boy about as heavy as himself. THE FISH CAUGHT BY STRATEGY. " Then another bright idea struck him. He pulled less and less, and at last ceased trying to pull at all. Of course the fish thought the firsherman was tired out, and he commenced to pull, hoping to get Theodore down on deck. He didn't succeed at first, and pulled all the harder. He rolled over on his back, then on his side, then sat up, all the time pulling and twisting and yanking at the line in every possible way; and that was just what Theodore hoped the fish would do. You see, all this time, while my brother was using his strength, Theodore simply stood still, braced like steel, and let him tire himself out. "Before very long the fish was so out of breath that he couldn't pull any longer. Besides, the thin rope had cut his hands and made them sore. Then the fisherman commenced slowly and steadily to pull on the line, and in a very few minutes he had my brother hauled up alongside of him on the coil of cable." The elder Roosevelt was a firm believer in hard work, and made this a part of the science he knew so well — the science of 22 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. bringing up a boy. Although a man of wealth and position he taught his children — the four of them, two boys and two girls — the virtue of labor, and pointed with the finger of scorn to the despic- able thing called man who lived in idleness. With such teach- ings at home, it is no wonder that Theodore was moved to declare: " I was determined as a bo}^ to make a man of myself. " His vacation days and little outing excursions to the farms of his uncles gave the boy a fondness for country life, which found appreciation in later 3-ears in these words: " I belong as much to the country as to the city, I owe all my vigor to the country." RESOLVED TO MAKE SOMETHING OF HIMSELF. In New York he was an example of the strong-spirited, well- educated young Knickerbocker of the better class. " He had no need to work," says a writer in McClure's. " His income was ample to keep him in comfort, even luxury, all his life. He might spend his summers in Newport and his winters on the continent, and possibly win some fame as an amateur athlete and a society man; and no one would think of blaming him, nor of asking more ihan he gave." Such a life, however, was not according to his taste or the high ideal of manhood and splendid achievement he had placed before him. He was not a dreamer, not a builder of air-castles. Better than the moderate wealth he had inherited were the family traits, the strong common sense, the noble purposes and true ideas of worldly success, which were as much a part of him as his fond- ness for fun and athletic sports. Let every American boy remember Mr. Roosevelt's saying that in earl y life he resolved to make something of himself. He attended a preparatory school, in order to fit himself for entering Harvard College. It was customary with the teacher in this school to call on the boys for declamations. Theodore at that early period lacked many of the graces of oratory, which he seems to have acquired afterward ; and, like most boys, when he was the victim of embarrassment his memory was more or less treacherous. ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 23 Upon one occasion lie was called upon to recite the poem beginning : "At midnight, in his guarded tent The Turk lay dreaming of the hour When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent, Would tremble at his power." Theodore arose and started out bravely. With all the flour- ishes of boyish energy he repeated the lines as far as "When Greece, her knee " and then he stopped. He stammered, shuffled his feet, and began again : " When Greece, her knee " The old schoolmaster leaned forward, and in a shrill voice said : "Grease 'em again, Teddy, and maybe it will go then." And Teddy, with his usual pluck, tried it again with marked success. " What strong direction did your home influence take in your boyhood ? " was asked Mr. Roosevelt. "Why," he replied, "I was brought up with the constam injunction to be active and industrious. My father — all my peo- ple — held that no one had a right to merely cumber the earth; that the most contemptible of created beings is the man who does nothing. I imbibed the idea that I must work hard, whether at making money or whatever else. TAUGHT THAT HE MUST BE A WORKER. " The whole family training taught me that I must be doing, must be working — and at decent work. I made my health what it is. I determined to be strong and well, and did everything to make myself so. By the time I entered Harvard College I was able to take my part in whatever sports I liked. I wrestled and sparred and ran a great deal while in college, and though I never came in first I got more good of the exercise than those who did, because I immensely enjoyed it and never injured niyself. " I was fond of wrestling and boxing ; I think I was a good deal of a wrestler, and, though I never won a championship, yet more than once I won my trial heats and got into the final round. I was captain of my polo team at one time, but since I left college 24 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. I have taken most of lny exercise in the ' cow country ' or moun- tain hunting." Theodore Roosevelt is the third graduate of Harvard Uni- versity to hold the highest honor in the gift of the American peo- ple. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were graduated from Harvard. It was in 1825 when J. Q. Adams became President. Now comes Roosevelt. Roosevelt entered Harvard in 1876, when he was eighteen years old. His work in college was char- acterized by the enthusiasm and earnestness which have become known to all the people as dominant traits of his character in public life. When he came to the Cambridge college he was a slight lad and not in robust health, but he at once took a judicious and reg- ular interest in athletics, and in a little while the effects were apparent in his stalwart figure and redoubled energy. He wrestled and sparred and ran a great deal, but never indulging in athletic work to the point of injury. EARNEST AND MATURE STUDENT. In his studies young Roosevelt was looked upon "as pecu- liarly earnest and mature in the way he took hold of things," as one of his classmates put it. Ex-Mayor Josiah Quincy, of Boston, who was in college with Roosevelt, says of him: " He exhibited in his college days most of the traits of character which he has shown in after years and on the larger stage of political life. In appearance and manner he has changed remarkably little in twenty years, and I should say that his lead- ing characteristic in college was the very quality of strenuousness which is now so associated with his public character. In what- ever he did he showed unusual energy, and the same aggressive earnestness which has carried so far in later life. "He exhibited a maturity of character, if not of intellectual development, greater than that of most of his classmates, and was looked upon as one of the notable members of the class — as one who possessed certain qualities of leadership and of popularity which might carry him far in the days to come, if not counter- ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 25 balanced by impulsiveness in action or obstinacy in adhering to bis own ideas. He was certainly regarded as a man of unusually good fighting qualities, of determination, pluck and tenacity. " If bis classmates bad been asked in tbeir senior year to pick out tbe one member of the class wbo would be best adapted for such a service which he rendered with the Rough Riders in Cuba I think that, almost with one voice, they would have named Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt is in many respects as broad and typical an American as the country has produced." ORIGINAL AND SELF-RELIANT. Both his fellows and his teachers say that he was much above the average as a student. He was just as original, just as reliant on his own judgment as he is now. In a mere matter of opinion or of dogma he had no respect for an instructor's say-so above his own convictions, and some of his contemporaries in college recall with smiles some very strenuous discussions with teachers in which he was involved by his habit of defending his own convictions. At graduation he was one of the comparatively few who took honors, his subject being natural history. When young Roose- velt entered college he developed the taste for hunting and natural history which has since led him so often and so far through field and forest. His rifle and his hunting kit were the most con- spicuous things in his room. His birds he mounted himself. Live turtles and insects were always to be found in his study, and one who lived in the house with him at the time recalls well the excitement caused by a particularly large turtle sent by a friend from the southern seas, which got out of its box one night and started for the bathroom in search for water. Although well toward the top as a student he still had his full share of the gay rout that whiles dull care away. In his sophomore year he was one of the forty men in his class who belong to the Institute of 1770. In his senior year he was a member of the Porcelain, the Alpha Delta Phi, and the Hasty Pudding Clubs, being secretary of the last named. In the society of Boston he was often seen. Roosevelt's membership in clubs other than social shows 26 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. conspicuously the kind of college man he was. In rowing, base-ball and foot-ball he was an earnest champion, but never a prominent participant. In the other athletic contests he was often seen. It was as a boxer that he excelled. Boxing was a regular feature of the Harvard contests of that day, and " Teddy," as he was uni- versally called, was the winner of many a bout. He had his share in college journalism. During his senior year he was one of the editors of the "Advocate." Unlike the other editors, he was not himself a frequent contributor. The range of his interests is shown by this enumeration of clubs in which he had membership. The Natural History Society, of which he was vice-president; the Art Club, of which Professor Charles Eliot Norton was the president; the Finance Club, the Glee Club (associate member), the Harvard Rifle Corps, the O. K. Society, of which he was ti ~asurer, and the Harvard Athletic Association, of which he was steward. HIS APPEARANCE AT GRADUATION. Roosevelt's share of class-day honors was membership in the class committee. All who knew Roosevelt in his college days speak of him as dashing and picturesque in his ways and hand- some appearance. His photograph, taken at graduation, shows no moustache, but a rather generous allowance of side whiskers. Although he was near-sighted, and wore glasses at the time, they do not appear in the photograph. Maturity and sobriety are the most evident characteristics of th e countenance. A companion of student days tells a story to shov that the future President did things then much as he does then now. A horse in a stable close to Roosevelt's room made a sudden noise one night which demanded instant attention. Young Roosevelt was in bed at the time, but he waited not for daytime clothes — nor did he even wait to get down the steps. He bounded out the second-story window, and had quieted the row before the less impetuous neighbors arrived. It was while in college that he conceived the idea of his his- tory of the American Navy in the War of 1812. This volume ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 27 was written soon after leaving college. He was not yet twenty-foui when it was completed. In view of the position which the anthoi afterward held, next to the head of the American Navy, the preface, written before the beginning of our present navy, is of striking interest. He says : "At present people are beginning to realize that it is folly for the great English-speaking republic to rely for defense upon a navy composed partly of antiquated hulks and partly of new vessels rather more worthless than the old." IDEAS OF PUBLIC LIFE AND CITIZENSHIP. Mr. Roosevelt's ideas of college education, and the results thereof in the making of good citizens, are well denned in his admirable essay on "College and Public Life," written for the Atlantic Monthly, in which he says: "The first great question which the college graduate should learn, is the lesson of work rather than of criticism. College men must learn to be as practi- cal in politics as they would be in business or in law. A college man is peculiarly bound to keep a high ideal and to be true to it ; but he must work in practical ways to try to realize this ideal, and must not refuse to do anything because he cannot get anything. No man ever learned from books how to manage a governmental system." Yet he never disparaged book knowledge. He says further : " This obligation (of being good, active citizens) possibly rests even more heavily upon men of means ; of this it is not necessary now to speak. The men of mere wealth never can have, and never should have, the capacity for doing good work that is possessed by the men of exceptional mental training ; but that they ma)' become both a laughing stock and a menace to the community is made unpleasantly apparent by that portion of the New York business and social world which is most in evidence in the papers. "Wrongs should ;be strenuously -and fearlessly denounced; evil principles and evil men should be condemned. The politician who cheats or swindles, or the newspaper man who lies in any form, should be made to feel that he is an object of scorn for all honest men." 28 ROOSEVELT'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION In giving advice to college men, and he knew whereof he spoke, he denies that they are better or worse than men who have never been inside the walls of a college, while their responsibili- ties are infinitely greater. "The worst offense that can be committed against the repub- lic is the offense of the public man who betrays his trust; but second only to it comes the offense of the man who tries to per- suade others that an honest and efficient public man is dishonest or unworthy. This is a wrong that can be committed in a great many different ways. Downright foul abuse may, after all, be less dangerous than incessant misstatements, sneers, and those half-truths which are the meanest lies." HIS LOFTY AIMS AND PURPOSES. It is evident that Mr. Roosevelt did not pursue a college course merely to gratify some ambitious member of his family who wished him to obtain and flourish an academic degree. Nor did he care to be known merely as an educated gentleman. Neither did he count the friendships and pleasant associations of college life a compensation for four years of study. He had a higher purpose in view than to be able merely to say he had been through college. He was a student, a scholar, an athlete, a man with a college degree that he might be something else. His education was only a stepping-stone to those grand achievements for which a course of study would help to prepare him. He had lofty aims. He wished to be more than a money maker or a money spender. He did not despise wealth, but he did despise the base, sordid, vulgar use of it. " Each of us who reads the Gettysburg speech," he writes, " or the second iuaugural address of the greatest American of the nine- teenth century, or who studies the long campaign and lofty states- manship of that other American who was even greater, cannot but feel within him that lift toward things higher and nobler which can never be bestowed by the enjoyment of material prosperity." CHAPTER III MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. Mr. Roosevelt Resolves to Enter Political Life — Elected Assemblyman by the Murray Hill District in New York — His Views of Good Citizenship — Duties of Public Office — His Youthful Appearance — Enemy of all Polit- ical Abuses— What He Thinks Concerning "Bosses" and " Machines " — Every Citizen Expected to be a Patriot and Do His Whole Duty — Corruption in High Places — Frank to Admit an Error— Author of Civil Service Law — Roosevelt 'Sneered at as a Reformer— Victory in a Personal Encounter. MR. ROOSEVELT graduated from Harvard University in 1880, at the age of twenty-two. Returning from his trip to Europe, he began the study of law with his uncle, Robert B. Roosevelt. He had planned to write a history of the United States Navy, and was more engrossed with this, which was work congenial to his tastes, than he was with dry and musty law books. He had set his face toward the field of literature, and devoted all his spare time to the history which he was preparing for publication. The Roosevelts had always taken great interest in public affairs. They did not believe a man could be a good citizen with- out doing this. If they were not public officials they had a voice in making them. They were property holders and voters. They set a low estimate on men who are always ready to cry out against public evils and then neglect their duty at primaries and the polls. They knew that municipal government is al\va}'S what the citi- zens make it, and if decent, honest citizens are recreant to their sacred trust, bad government will result, and, in fact, is only to be expected. This has been the history of all legislation from time immemorial. If there is ever any improvement in the adminis- tration of public affairs it must come from the citizens themselves. Influenced by such considerations, young Roosevelt resolved 29 30 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. to launch into politics. He had the commendable example of a long line of worthy ancestors. They had been powerful factors in moulding the commercial and social life of New York. His ideas of good citizenship had come to him as a kind of inheritance. He did not have to sit down and reason himself into a political career. Being a Roosevelt, he was expected, of course, to be public spir- ited, and take a constant interest in city affairs and government. EVERY MAN SHOULD SHOW HIS COLORS. " I have always believed," he has said, describing his entry into the political field, " that every man should join a political organization and should attend the primaries ; that he should not be content to be merely governed, but should do his part of that work. So after leaving college I went to the local political head- quarters, attended all the meetings, and took my part in whatever came up. There arose a revolt against the member of assembly from that district, and I was nominated to succeed him, and was elected." What could be expected of a young man who was but twenty- three years old ? Yet he was not held back from active effort by what the great English statesman, Pitt, described, in words of bitter irony, as " the unpardonable crime of being a young man." When the famous Jeremy Taylor went to his bishop to obtain orders as a clergyman, the bishop looked at his youthful face and figure, shook his head, and said, " You are entirely too young." " If the Lord spares my life," quickly responded Taylor, " I will remedy that little matter." The reply captivated the bishop and carried the day. The callow youth was ordained, and afterward became the celebrated Bishop Jeremy Taylor, whose brilliant discourses and writings are among the classics of English literature. There was something about Theodore Roosevelt that indi- cated a maturity beyond his years. When he spoke he had some- thing to say. When he gave an opinion it appeared to come from a well-trained judicial mind. He soon showed himself to be the deadly enemy of all political abuses. He was a problem on the MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 31 hands of men of a different character ; they were puzzled to know what to do with him. It was in the fall of 1881 that he was elected from the Twenty-first district, and he was twice re-elected, serving in the legislatures of 1882, 1883 and 1884. This district embraces a considerable part of Murray Hill, a locality long noted for its aristocracy of wealth, and equally notorious at that time for the unprincipled, corrupt and infamous character of the men who rep- resented it at Albany. So far as its wealth, intelligence and hon- est virtues were represented, it might as well have taken its assemblymen from the reeking dregs of the Bowery. FIGHTS FOR DECENT GOVERNMENT. Here was a chance for Mr. Roosevelt to make a determined fight in the interest of decent government, and with coat off and sleeves rolled up he went into the contest. He was never dis- mayed by anything in the nature of a fight, and his courage was equal to the emergency. There was a rattling among the dry- bones. A new force was in the field. His weapons were truth, honesty, downright denunciation of all corruption, and a rallying cry for such a State government as would redeem the great metropolis and rescue it from the grip of the plunderers and low politicians whose chicanery had made it a hissing and a by-word. By dint of hard effort and aided by men who thought and felt as he did, he secured the nomination, and as the district was republican his election was assured. He was to be a law-makei at Albany, representing a constituency that had hitherto paid little attention to its own best interests and had become the victim of designing men. His personal appearance at this time was not such as to give promise that he would become a leader in the lower House at Albany, or would be anything more than a good, well-meaning stripling, but one who could be easily managed and manipulated by older men experienced in all the arts of questionable legislation. He had a youthful look; he was the youngest member of the assembly. He was well dressed and immediately was nicknamed 3 a MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. "Silk Stocking." There was nothing of the swagger and assump- tion invariably exhibited by small men "clothed with a little brief authority." He was very near-sighted and his eye-glasses gave him the appearance of a man of books rather than a man of* affairs. What were his conceptions of the duties belonging to pub- lic office may be gathered from his own words : "The terms 'machine' and 'machine politician' are now undoubtedly used ordinarily in a reproachful sense ; but it does not follow that this sense is always the right one. On the con- trary, the machine is often a very powerful instrument for good ; and a machine politician really desirous of doing honest work on behalf of the community is fifty times as useful as a philan- thropic outsider. In the rough, however, the feeling against machine politics and politicians is tolerably well justified by the facts, although this statement really reflects most severely upon the educated and honest people who largely hold themselves aloof from public life and show a curious incapacity for fulfilling their public duties. " MACHINES" FOR PERSONAL BENEFIT. " The organizations that are commonly and distinctly known as machines are those belonging to the two great recognized parties or to their factional subdivisions; and the reason why the word machine has come to be used, to a certain extent, as a term of opprobrium is to be found in the fact that these organizations are now run by the leaders very largely as business concerns to benefit themselves and their followers, with little regard for the community at large. This is natural enough. The men having the control and doing the work have gradually come to have the same feeling about politics that other men have about the business of a merchant or manufacturer ; it was too much to expect that if left entirely to themselves they would continue disinterestedly to work for the benefit of others. " Many a machine politician who is to-day a most unwholesome influence in our politics is in private life quite as respectable as any one else ; only he has forgotten that his business affects the MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 33 State at large, and regarding it as merely his own private con- cern he has carried into it the same selfish spirit that actuates in business matters the majority of the average mercantile community. " A merchant or manufacturer works his business as a rule purely for his own benefit, without any regard whatever for the community at large. The merchant uses all his influence for a low tariff, and the manufacturer is even more strenuously in favor of protection — not at all upon any theory of abstract right, but because of self-interest. Bach views such a political question as the tariff not from the standpoint of how it will affect the nation as a whole, but merely from that of how it will affect him personally. CONSTANT VIGILANCE NEEDED. "If a community were in favor of protection, but neverthe- less permitted all the governmental machinery to fall into hands of importing merchants, it would be small cause for wonder if the latter shaped the laws to suit themselves, and the chief blame, after all, would rest with the supine and lethargic majority which failed to have enough energy to take charge of their own affairs. Our machine politicians in actual life are in just this same way ; their actions are very often dictated by selfish motives, with but little regard for the people at large, though, like the merchants, they often hold a very high standard of honor on certain points ; they therefore need to be continually watched and opposed by those who wish to see good government. But, after all, it is hardly to be wondered at that they abuse power which is allowed to fall into their hands owing to the ignorance or timid indifference of those who by right should themselves keep it." In one of his addresses President Roosevelt had something pointed and wholesome to say for the individual, as an individual, and also as a member of the body politic with a duty to perform to the government which shields him. As usual, the President put aside, as did Carlyle, the enervating doctrine that mere per- sonal happiness, the primrose path of ease and delight, is a worthy aim for strong men of a vigorous race who have done 3— T.E. 34 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. things, and in doing the hardest tasks find and should find the highest and best satisfaction. Let us not make believe that there are no obstacles in the way of life, he says ; "living is fighting" ; let us quit ourselves like men, and happiness will follow or not, as it may be : " For many of us life is going to be very hard. For each one of us who does anything it is going to have hard stretches in it. Otherwise, men would not do anything. If a man does not meet with difficulties, if he does not put himself in a way where he has to overcome them, he would not do anything that is worthy of being done." BROTHERHOOD MUST BE RECOGNIZED. Gird yourselves, then, for the work to be done, and Ameri- cans will never shirk. Nor does the individual lack vigor ; but in the midst of this seething, restless activity huge problems, social and industrial, face us that must be solved, and they can only be solved by the recognition of the brotherhood of man, in which is involved the fact that all the people in the country have rights, and all equally have duties. Ours, he says, is the best form of government in the world ; but it is not automatic. It is adapted only to the highest general level of intelligence and education, and to. a moral and highly patriotic people, who not only feel their patriotism swelling when the for- eign foe threatens, but always have the steady glow of devotion to the common weal. If, for instance, employers and workers could be got together and made to know each other better, and recog- nize the rights the one of the other, industrial war would not be frequent. " Now, in our life of to-day — in our great complex industrial centres — what do we need most ? We need most each to under- stand the other's viewpoint — to understand that the other man is at bottom like himself. Each of us should understand that, and try to approach the subject at issue, or any problem that arises, with a firm determination not to be weak or foolish. That is help ful to your neighbor." MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 35 According as we one and all do onr duty by the nation and by one another, in the spirit which animated our two great Amer- icans, Washington and Lincoln, will this nation, he says, " suc- ceed or fall in the century which has opened before us." Now this seems to be a sufficiently indefinite and hazy plan for the cure of the defects in the body politic and for the preser- vation of the republic. Here is no brilliant or striking pro- gramme, no patent method ; but in truth there is no patent method attainable. Laws and ordinances are all futile if the people be not imbued with the spirit of justice. In a frank and direct way the President enforced the old lesson that the nation will be just as good as the individuals who compose it, and not a whit better. All the legislation that the wit of man has conceived never made a strong nation, nor ever will. CHARACTER IS EVERYTHING. It is the fault of the age that too much stress is placed on laws or systems or the things which Matthew Arnold called mere machinery, while the plain, but too much overlooked, truth remains that the character of the individual is the only preserva- tive of a people ; that safety depends on character, on devotion to those great principles of truth, honor, justice and mercy — " prin- ciples against which no argument can be listened to ; principles which are the books, the arts, the academies that teach, lift up and nourish the world, without which it is better to die than to live ; which every servant of God, over every sea and in all lands, should cherish." This is the simple doctrine the President would teach, and by word and example he furnishes an attractive and inspiring spectacle to the country, armed, as we believe he is, in simple truth and direct honesty. These were the ideas concerning private and public duty that controlled and actuated Roosevelt, the young legislator who was sent up to Albany to help make laws for the greatest common- wealth in the land — and not merely to make laws, but to unmake some that had already been made and were known to be vicious and unjust, when, at the connivance of public robbers, they were 36 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. placed on the statute book. It was an inviting field for a young reformer, provided he had grit and courage enough to undertake such a herculean task. Fortunately, he was not appalled by the magnitude of the work to be done. What his ideas were, and what were the principles he intended to act upon and advocate soon came to be known; men who were of his way of thinking, gathered around him, and before the first term of the legislature was over he was the recognized leader of the minority party in the assembly. . VIEWS ON STATE LEGISLATION. Mr. Roosevelt is the author of a paper on " Phases of State Legislation," in which he has stated clearly some of the views he holds on this subject : " There are two classes of cases in which corrupt members get money. One is when a wealthy corporation buys through some measure which will be of great benefit to itself, although perhaps an injury to the public at large; the other is when a member introduces a bill hostile to some moneyed interest with the expectation of being paid to let the matter drop. The latter, technically called a 'strike,' is much the more common; for in spite of the outcry against them in legislative matters, corporations are more often sinned against than sinning. "It is difficult for reasons already stated to convict the offend- ing member, though we have very good laws against bribery. The reform has got to come from the people at large. It will be hard to make any great improvement in the character of the leg- islators until respectable people become fully awake to their duties, and until the newspapers become more truthful and less reckless in their statements." But "there is a much brighter side to the picture — and this is the larger side, too. It would be impossible to get together a body of more earnest, upright and disinterested men than the band of legislators, largely young men who " (during the three years he was in office) " have averted so much evil and accom- plished so much good at Albany. This body of legislators who, MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 37 at any rate, worked honestly for what they thought right, were as a whole quite unselfish and were not treated particularly well by their constituents. Most of them soon got to realize the fact that if they wished to enjoy their brief space of political life they would have to make it a rule never to consider, in deciding how to vote on any question, how their vote would affect their own political prospects. VALUE OF THOROUGH ORGANIZATION. "Under our form of government, no man can accomplish any- thing by himself — he must work in combination with others; but there seems often to be a certain lack of the robuster virtues in our educated men which makes them shrink from the struggle and the inevitable contact with rough politicians (who must often be rudely handled before they can be forced to behave), while their lack of familiarity with their surroundings causes them to lack discrimination between the politicians who are decent and those who are not; for in their eyes the two classes, both equally unfamiliar, are indistinguishable. "Another reason why this class is not of more consequence in politics is that it is often really out of sympathy — or, at least, its more conspicuous members are — with the feelings and interests of the great mass of American people; and it is a discreditable fact that it is in this class that what has been most aptly termed the ' colonial' spirit still survives. From different causes the labor- ing classes, even when thoroughly honest at heart, often fail to appreciate honesty in their representatives. Thejr are frequently not well informed in regard to the character of the latter, and they are apt to be led aside by the loud professions of the so-called labor reformers who are always promising to procure by legis- lation the advantages which can only come to workingmen, or to any other men, by their individual or united energy, intelligence and forethought. Very much has been accomplished by legisla- tion for laboring men by procuring mechanics' lien laws, factory laws, etc.; and hence it often comes they think legislation can accomplish all things for them." 38 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. He then goes on to show, as he has done repeatedly in his writings and public addresses, that laws are powerless in them- selves. They are not automatic. They are only the instruments by which the community acts and unless the individual citizen is back of them they are utterly worthless. You may legislate until doomsday ; you may pile laws as high as the tower of Babel, but they are nothing more than useless rubbish unless there is a public sentiment that demands their execution and rises in right- eous wrath when they are ignored or violated. ELECTED AGAIN TO THE LEGISLATURE. After Mr. Roosevelt had served one term in the legislature his record was so satisfactory that he was re-elected by the 21st assembly district. His large majority of 2,219 showed plainly what his constituents thought of the upright course he had pur- sued and the efficient work he had done. He ran 2,000 votes ahead of his ticket, and with this strong endorsement took his seat again in the lower house at Albany. His party was now in the major- ity and his friends began an active canvass to make him speaker. He proved a strong candidate for the nomination, but failed by a few votes. This was not a cause of regret either to himself or to those who had supported him, as it left him free to lead his party on the floor and push through certain measures for the public good that were urgently needed. His frankness w T as one of his most prom- inent traits. If convinced that any bill he had advocated was against the true interests of the public or any corporation, he yielded promptly, and did it with a grace and readiness that elevated him in the esteem of his fellow legislators. • In the session of 1883 he began a vigorous warfare against the railroad companies, and introduced a bill requiring the New York elevated road to reduce its fare from ten cents to five. He did this for the purpose of freeing the public, and workingmen especially, from what he considered an extortionate fare. The bill met with much opposition, but with characteristic energy and perseverance he pushed it through and secured its adoption. MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE 39 Grover Cleveland was then Governor of New York, and he promptly vetoed the bill on the ground that the rate of fare had been taken into consideration when the companies asked the public to invest their capital, and also on the ground of an implied obligation that had arisen between the State and the railroad companies when the franchises were granted. These were consid- erations that Mr. Roosevelt had overlooked, and he came to believe he had been fathering an unjust measure, although his motives no one could impugn. The question came up as to whether the bill should be passed over the Governor's veto. To the aston- ishment of his associates he flatly opposed it, and was now ready to kill the very enactment he had urged with so much courage and ability. A REMARKABLE CONFESSION. " I have to say with shame," he began, " that when I voted for this bill I did not act as I think I ought to have acted, and as I generally have acted on the floor of this House. For the only time that I ever voted here contrary to what I think to be hon- estly right I did at that time. I have to confess that I weakly yielded, partly to a vindictive feeling toward the infernal thieves who have that railroad in charge, and partly to the popular voice of New York. For the managers of the elevated railroads I have as little feeling as any man here, and if it were possible I would be willing to pass a bill of attainder against Gould and all of his associates. "I realize that they have done the most incalculable harm to this community — with their hired stock-jobbing newspaper, with their corruption of the Judiciary, and with their corruption of this House. It is not a question of doing right to them, for they are merely common thieves. As to the resolution — a petition handed in by the directors of the company — signed by Gould and his son, I would pay more attention to a petition signed by Barney Aaron, Owen Geoghegan, and Billy McGlory than I would pay to that paper, because I regard these men as part of an infinitely danger, ous order — the wealthy criminal class." The motion to pass the bill over Governor Cleveland's veto 40 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. was lost, but Roosevelt had scored heavily in the respect and esteem of all honest men. He was as ready to admit an error as he was to do what he honestly believed to be right. Nor was this all. He had coined a phrase — "the wealthy criminal class" — that struck the popular heart and further enhanced his popular- ity with the plain people. It was a remarkable phrase to be uttered by one who was himself a young man of wealth. In this, as in many other instances, he showed his well-known habit of calling things by their right names, whoever might be hit or hurt. One of Mr. Roosevelt's biographers furnishes the following information concerning his third term at Albany : "After his third election in 1884 he introduced the Civil Service law, a bold and revolutionary political measure at that time. He worked hard fof legislation for the benefit of New York city, and was exceedingly active in furthering all philanthropic bills and those measures having for their object the interests of the laboring men. He was the man who instituted the movement for the abolition of tenement-house cigar factories. He was chairman of the noted Legislative Investigating Committee, the Roosevelt Committee, which brought to light many of the abuses existing in the city government at that time." HIS OPINION OF THE AVERAGE LAW-MAKER. His opinion of the ordinary State legislator is made cleai from the succeeding statement : " The worst legislators come from the great cities. Among them are a few cultivated and scholarly men, but the bulk are foreigners of little or no educa- tion. It is their ignorance, quite as much as actual visciousness, which makes it so difficult to secure the passage of good laws or prevent the passage of bad ones ; and it is the most irritating of the many elements with which we have to contend in the fight for good government." The qualities necessary to success in those legislative battles Mr. Roosevelt himself describes as follows : "To get through any such measures requires genuine hard work, a certain amount of MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 41 parliamentary skill, a good deal of tact and conrage, and, above all, a thorough knowledge yl the men with whom one has to deal and of the motives which actuate them. " Legislative life has temptations enough to make it unad- visable for any weak man, whether young or old, to enter it. A great many men deteriorate very much morally when they go to Albany. It will be hard to make any great improvement in the character of the legislators until respectable people become more fully awake to their duties, and until the newspapers become more truthful and less reckless in their statements. The servile tool of the 'boss' or the 'machine' in the legislature can rarely be a good public servant." PLEA FOR HIGH STANDARD OF CITIZENSHIP. In the same line of thought is the following extract from a speech delivered by Mr. Roosevelt at Hartford, Conn., when he visited that city and was welcomed by an enthusiastic throng: "Mankind goes ahead but slowly, aud it goes ahead mainly through each of us trying to do the best that is in him, and to do it in the sanest way. We have founded our republic upon the theory that the average man will, as a rule, do the right thing, that in the long run the majority are going to decide for what is sane aud wholesome. If our fathers were mistaken in that theory, if ever things become such — not occasionally but persistently, that the mass of the people do what is unwholesome, what is wrong, then the republic cannot stand. " I care not how good its laws. I care not what marvelous mechanism its constitution may embody. Back of the laws, back of the administration, back of the system of government, lies the man, lies the average manhood of our people, and in the long run we are going to go up or go down accordingly as the average standard of our citizenship does or does not wax in growth and grace. [Great applause.] " Now, when we come to the question of good citizenship, the first requisite is that the man shall do the homely, every-day, humdrum duties well. A man is not a good citizen, I do not care 42 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. how lofty his thoughts are about citizenship in the abstract, if in the concrete his actions do not bear them out; and it does not make much difference how high his aspirations for mankind at large may be, if he does not behave well in his own family those aspirations do not bear visible fruit. He has got to be a good bread-winner, he has got to take care of his wife and his children, he has got to be a neighbor whom his neighbors can trust. " He has got to act squarely in his business relations, he has got to do those every-day ordinary things first, or he is not a good citizen. But he has got to do more than that. In this country of ours the average citizen has got to devote a good deal of thought and time to the affairs of the State as a whole or those affairs are going to go backward; and he has got to devote that thought and that time steadily and intelligently. SPASMS IN THE WORK OF REFORM. " If there is any one quality that is not admirable, whether in a nation or in an individual, it is hysterics, either in religion or in anything else. The man or woman who makes up for ten-days' indifference to duty by an eleventh-day of morbid repentance about that duty is of scant use in the world. [Laughter.] Now in the same way it is of no possible use to decline to go through all the ordinary duties of citizenship for a long space of time and then suddenly to get up and feel very angry about something or somebody, not clearly defined in one's mind, and demand reform, as if it was a concrete substance to be handed out forthwith." It can readily be understood that Mr. Roosevelt had a very poor opinion of those New York voters who cried out against the evils that afflicted their city, yet did little or nothing to remedy them. One day he said to a gentleman, " I suppose you will, of course, vote next Tuesday." "I am sorry to say," the man replied, " that I have an engagement to go quail-hunting on that day." Imagine a man like Roosevelt deliberately setting aside the highest duty, the most important function of a citizen, to chase quails with a shotgun. The man who would not spend a moment's time, or a cent of his money, in the interest of good MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 43 government was little less than a traitor and was only to be despised. When Roosevelt began his career at Albany some one sneer- ingly remarked that he had "started ont to reform the universe." Those who can sneer at the honest efforts of a true reformer are not likely to reform anything, but finally disappear from public view, leaving behind them only the slimy trail of their own cor- ruption and knavery. At Albany Mr. Roosevelt boldly attacked public abuses that had been festering for years in the body poli- tic. He did not succeed in every instance, but the fault was not his. It lay at the door of the tricksters, the men who put them- selves up at auction, the party trimmers who were afraid theii political interests would be imperilled. VICTOR IN A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER. Of course, a "Silk Stocking" who believed in good govern- ment and upright law-makers encountered opposition and made enemies. But he never cherished hard feelings toward any one who did not choose to support the measures he advocated. In this connection the following incident related by one of his biog- raphers will be of interest : " It has always been a peculiarity of Mr. Roosevelt's nature that he never 'got mad' at people, no matter what the provoca- tion. He always remembered faces, and all that had passed in his association with a man ; but he never avoided that person, no matter what the latter's conduct may have been. In legislative life that is an especially valuable trait. He could fight a man all day on the floor and then meet him with a laugh and a jest in the evening. "And so on this night, after a day when he had been a par- ticularly sharp thorn in the side of corruption, he moved about, the lobby of the old hotel, chatting with friends, tossing a laugh and a good-natured thrust at those who had opposed him, and treating the whole matter from the standpoint of one who under- stands the motives as well as the actions of those with whom he is associated. He did not pose. He made no pretense of loftier 44 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE morality than those about him, but let them draw their own con« elusions from his conduct. "At ten o'clock he started to leave the hotel. On the way from the upper portion of the lobby, where he had been chatting with fellow members, he passed the door leading to the buffet. And from that door, as by a preconcerted signal from the ' honor- able men ' with whom he had been associating, came a group of fellows, rather noisy, and full of the jostling which follows tarry- ing at the wine. The}?- were not a pleasant lot. One in particu- lar was a pugilist called 'Stubby' Collins, and this bully bumped rather forcibly against Mr. Roosevelt. The latter was alone, but he saw in an instant, with the eye of a man accustomed to col- lisions, the fact that this little party had waylaid him with a pur- pose. He paused, fully on his guard, and then ' Stubby,' with an appearance of the greatest indignation, struck at him, demanding angrily ' What do you mean, runniug into me that way ? ' THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE SCRIMMAGE. " The blow did not land. The men who hired ' Stubby ' had not informed him that this young member of the assembly had been one of the very best boxers at Harvard, and rather liked a fight. They had simply paid the slugger a certain price to ' do up ' the man who could not take a hint in any other way. " In an instant Mr. Roosevelt had chosen his position. It was beyond the group of revellers, and where he could keep both them and the more aristocratic party of their employers in view. And there, standing quite alone, ' Stubby ' made his rush. In half a minute the thug was beaten. He had met far more than his match, and the two or three of his friends who tendered their assistance were gathering themselves up from the marble floor of the lobby and wondering if there had not been a mistake. "When it was all over Mr. Roosevelt walked, still smiling, down the room, and told the ' honorable ' providers of this combat that he understood perfectly their connection with it, and that he was greatly obliged to them — he had not enjoyed himself more for a year." CHAPTER IV MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. Dime Novels — Seeking Romantic Adventures— Emptiness of a Life of Mere Sport — Roosevelt Buys a Ranch — Far From Civilization — Advantages of Life on the Plains — First Appearance at Medora — The Ranch Building; — Breaking Wild Horses — Pursuit of Big Game— Thrill- ing Adventure with a Grizzly Bear — Frightens a Ruf- fian — His Account of a Flock of Wild Geese — Story of " Old Ephraim " — Winter Nights at the Ranch. IF Theodore Roosevelt, the boy, ever read a dime novel or a story of wild western life, no mention has ever been made of it. He did not get his love of frontier life from the cheap literature that kills bears and Indians on every page. The average boy who reads of the burly bandit and desperate outlaw holding up stage- coaches and railway trains, is apt to admire such bold deeds and imagine himself the hero of similar achievements. He is eager to outdo the ruffians whose exploits are all duly chronicled. Suddenly the band of desparadoes appears, halts the coach in an unfrequented spot, flourishes rifles and revolvers, terrorizes the helpless passengers, strips them of their valuables, paralyzes by threats all attempts at resistance, and, having secured the plunder, purses, watches and jewelry, vanishes from sight, leaving the outraged victims to express their thankfulness at having escaped with their lives. Stories of this description, dressed up in hysterical phrases, form the staple of that vast mass of pernicious dime literature which fascinates the youthful reader and in many instances turns him into an adventurer and an ou+law. He is thrilled by the strange, weird, sanguinary tales of pioneer life. He craves a career of romantic adventure. He would shoot a bear or an Indian ; he would ride a bucking horse on a hunting excursion ; perhaps he would become an armed rufhan 45 46 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. and make his name a terror by robbery and deeds of violence. His ambition is to roam the plains, lead the life of a marauder and become a freebooter like those whose exploits he has read of in books and which he is eager to imitate. It was not from such motives or with such intentions that young Roosevelt resolved to try the experiences of life on the western plains. If the thousand tales of daring feats, bold enter- prises and dangerous ventures that are so eagerly read by school- boys ever had any charm for him, they certainly did not influence his actions in the slightest degree. He had no thought of achiev- ing distinction by scalping Indians. But he wanted a ranch in the West and secured one in North Dakota during his third term at Albany. He was fond of hunting big game. The long expedition with his trusty rifle and a few associates or attendants was his pastime. BOOKS WERE A PART OF HIS OUTFIT. Mere sport is commonly an idle thing, a device for whiling away time and obtaining a temporary pleasure. Roosevelt had no thought of going to the Bad Lands for any such purpose. He had other objects in view, and although enjoying the chase as any full-blooded man would be apt to enjoy it, he never would have ventured into the far West merely for this. He had aims and ideals that could not be realized by trout fishing and bear hunt- ing. His books went with him, and were as much a part of his outfit as his gun and cartridge pouch. He felt that vigor of mind and body would result from roughing it on his ranch. He would breathe a pure air, drink from unpolluted streams, climb steep cliffs and stand on their summits in the glow of healthful exercise. The winds would bronze his cheek and tougheu his fibre. The weariness of toil would bring refreshing sleep ; the silence of the evening camp would give him an opportunity to think ; books would be read with a keener relish ; the wild horse, spirited and hard to subdue, would test his nerve and muscle ; association with the shrewd, yet untutored, ranchmen would hold him in contact with common, MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 47 ordinary men ; he would learn much from the rough character!? whose names are never written in histories, but who are after all heroes in their way. Mr. Roosevelt's ranch was a long distance from even the out- posts of civilization, six hundred miles from St. Paul, on the northwestern border of North Dakota. Nature there is pure and unadulterated — no snorting locomotives, no whizzing automobiles, no street cars or fashionable promenaders, no demoniac yells from brokers on the exchange, no church bells or operatic choirs, and no rank odors from gutters and alleys. There is something to be said in favor of Dame Nature — dense forests, high bluffs, dark ravines, noisy waterfalls, suns that modestly hide their afternoon faces behind mountains, birds and animals that fly and roam in their native haunts, rivers that sweep on majestically to the sea. God made all this. ADVANTAGES OF FRONTIER LIFE. If Mr. Roosevelt wished to flee to solitude and a retreat from all intrusion, he made a good choice of location. The nearest town is Medora, eight miles away, so named after the wife of the Mar- quis de Mores, who, before her marriage, was the beautiful Miss Von Hoffman, of New York. In such a region as that, one is not likely to be troubled by his neighbors. Many miles intervene between a ranch and the one adjoining it. Your business is not interfered with ; there is no neighborhood gossip ; reports that have to travel twenty miles to find a listener must be pretty robust if they do not die on the way. One need not complain of depredations by his neighbors' chickens or annoyance from pedlers. Out into this remote corner of the Bad Lands Mr. Roosevelt went and left the world behind him. He ceased to be a legislator that he might become a cowboy. He made as good a cowboy as he did assemblyman of the Empire State, determined always to do well whatever he undertook. His life on the ranch was not a play- spell. He did not ask his men to do what he was not willing to do himself, and any one who got an earlier start in the morning 48 MR. R005EVELT A3 A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. than lie did or worked later at night might have been considered a good candidate for rapid promotion. When Mr. Roosevelt first appeared at Medora in the early eighties he was an object of great curiosity. A central saloon was the place of rendezvous for both the respectable people in town and those who belonged to that class of adventurers who frequent all frontier settlements. They eyed him curiously, wondered who he was and what brought him to that place, made side remarks about his personal appearance, and did not for a moment class him as one of themselves. He was young, rather tall and slim, dressed well and had the bearing of a gentleman entirely unused to a wild western life. They were figuring how much could be made out of him. NOT A VICTIM FOR CHEATS AND ROBBERS. He was too good a judge of human nature, and too expert in handling men, to be made a victim of any set of adventurers how- ever shrewd or desparate they might be. As Mr. Roosevelt had gone to this locality for buffalo hunting he singled out a guide and found his experience of great service. This young fellow, named Sylvane Ferris, finally became a sort of companion to his employer. He was pleased to learn that the near-sighted sports- man from "way down Bast" could walk, ride, climb, shoot and rough it equal to any one who had grown up in that region and was accustomed to the adventures of life on the plains. All tbis was only preliminary to securing a ranch, and com- bining sport with profit derived from raising such stock as cattle and horses. The ranch building is made of logs, hewn on one side for ornament. Some attention had to be paid to looks even in that wild country ; no spot on earth can be found where out- ward appearances are of no account. There is a long, low veranda shaded by thrifty cotton-woods ; a stretch of meadow lies in front and this is buttressed by precipitous cliffs. The building is a story and a half high. On the ground floor is a living room, a library and kitchen. The sleeping apart- ments up stairs are of the most primitive kind, and none but cow- MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 49 boys accustomed to sleeping anywhere would be willing to take the chances of a night's rest in such rude barracks. In front is a horse corral, an enclosure in which to round up horses. This . Is built in circular shape to prevent the injury that might follow from the animals crowding into corners. Mr. Ro >sevelt stocked his ranch with sixty head of wild horses. These were all to be broken to bit and bridle. No person except a cowboy could fail to have a vision of broken bones, and contusions ending in life-long scars and injuries, in view of the dangers of the work to be undertaken. Mr. Roosevelt appeared to enjoy it, and no one was more willing than he to mount a buck- ing mustang that preferred standing on either end to standing on all-fours. Once he was thrown by a long-legged, vicious brute that went by the name of " Ben Butler," and being too plucky to stay thrown he re-mounted and not until some time afterward did he disclose the fact that by his fall he had three ribs broken. STORY OF HIS "MOST THRILLING MOMENT." He could roam to any distance through the Bad Lands and pursue big game over a vast territory. The land is government land, is unsurveyed and likely to remain so for an indefinite time to come. It is fine hunting ground, being well stocked with such game as an enthusiastic hunter likes. Mr. Roosevelt occasionally had startling adventures while engaged in his favorite sport. Once he was in Idaho, was out alone with his gun, and was charged upon by a wounded grizzly bear, an animal terribly fero- cious when face to face with a foe. We append his graphic account of this encounter, which he calls his "most thrilling moment :" " I held true, aiming behind the shoulder, and my bullet shattered the point or lower end of his heart, taking out a big nick. Instantly the great bear turned with a harsh roar of fury and challenge, blowing the bloody foam from his mouth, so that I saw the gleam of his white fangs ; and then he charged straight at me, crashing and bounding through the laurel bushes, so that it was hard to aim. I waited until he came to a fallen tree, raking 4— T.R. 50 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. him, as he topped it, with a ball, which entered his chest and went throngh the cavity of his body ; bnt he neither swerved nor flinched, and at the moment I did not know that I had struck him. " He cam i steadily on, and in another second was almost upon me. I fired for his forehead, but my bullet went low, entering his open mouth, smashing his lower jaw and going into the neck. I leaped to one side almost as I pulled the trigger ; and through the hanging smoke the first thing I saw was his paw, as he made a vicious side blow at me. The rush of his charge carried him past. " As he struck he lurched forward, leaving a pool of bright blood where his muzzle hit the ground ; but he recovered himself, and made two or three jumps onward, while I hurriedly jammed a couple of cartridges into the magazine, my rifle holding only four, all of which I had fired. Then he tried to pull up, but as he did so his muscles seemed suddenly to give way, his head dropped, and he rolled over and over like a shot rabbit. Each of my first three bullets had inflicted a mortal wound." GOOD MARKSMAN AT RUNNING GAME. Mr. Roosevelt has the name of being a good shot, particu- larly at running game, although he says his eyesight is too defective to admit of his taking first rank in this respect. This is what he has to say on this score : "I myself am not and never will be more than an ordinary shot, for my eyes are bad and my hand not over steady ; yet I have killed every kind of game to be found on the plains, partly because I have hunted very perseveringly, and partly because by practice I have learned to shoot about as well at a wild animal as at a target." A correspondent of the New York Herald writing from Medora, in 1895, tells an incident which is indicative of the mettle in the make-up of Mr. Roosevelt. The incident was this : " For a long time after he had established his ranches the feeling between the outlaw element and the cattlemen ran high. It culminated MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 51 in a meeting, held in a little, unfinished freight shanty at Medora, for the purpose of banding the cattle owners together for mutual protection. It was openly hinted that a certain deputy sheriff was in collusion with the tough element. Not more than a score of quiet, determined men made up the meeting. The sheriff was present, an interested spectator. BOLDLY FACES A DISHONEST SHERIFF. "After some preliminary forms of organization, Mr. Roosevelt got up and addressed the meeting, or rather, addressed the sheriff. Never in the history of the frontier has such a speech been list- ened to. He openly accused the sheriff of dishonesty and incom- petence, and with the reflected light from the officer's pearl- handled revolver at his belt flashing across his gold-rimmed glasses, the speaker scored him as a man unworthy and unfit for his office. It is one thing to deliver a fiery accusation of general or personal charges at a crowded meeting of law-abiding people. It is another to coolly stand before a silent handful of frontiersmen and openly accuse one of dishonesty. " Death stares closely in the face the man who dares attempt it, for these men, bred in isolation, are sensitive to the quick os their personal honor, and an accusation that would be laughed at in Cooper Union would eat out a man's heart here. With down cast head the sheriff said never a word, but his prestige was gone forever." President Roosevelt's hunting experiences were not always so dangerous as the one just narrated. While preferring what goes by the name of " big game," he was not indifferent to an}- beast or fowl. The larger birds often drew shots from his rifle and added to his trophies. On one occasion he was annoyed by a flock of geese and fur- nishes the followiug account of his attack on them : " They were clustered on a high sandbar in the middle of the river, which here ran in a very wide bed between two low banks. The only way to get at them was to crawl along the river-bed which was partly dry, using the patches of rushes and the sand 52 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. hillocks and drift-wood to shield myself from their view. As it was already late and the snn was just sinking, I hastily retreated a few paces, dropped on the bank, and began to creep along on my hands and knees through the sand and gravel. Such work is always tiresome, and is especially so when done against time. I kept in line with a great log washed up on the shore, which was some seventy-five yards from the geese. A SHOT THAT WENT TO THE MARK " On reaching it and looking over, I was annoyed to find that in the fading light I could not distinguish the birds clearly enough to shoot, as the dark river bank was behind them. I crawled ahead quickly. Peeping over the edge I could now see the geese, gathered into a clump with their necks held straight out, sharply outlined against the horizon ; the sand flats stretching out on either side, while the sky above was barred with gray and faint crimson. I fired into the thickest of the bunch, and as the rest flew off, with discordant clamor, ran forward and picked up my victim, a fat young wild goose (or Canada goose), the body badly torn by the bullet." The President also relates another experience : " I had been out after antelopes, starting before there was any light in the heavens, and pushing straight out towards the rolling prairie. After two or three hours, when the sun was well up, I neared where a creek ran in a broad, shallow valle}'. I had seen no game, and before coining up to the crest of the divide, beyond which lay the creek bottom, I dismounted and crawled up to it, so as to see if any animal had come down to drink. " Field glasses are almost always carried while hunting on the plains, as the distances at which one can see game are so enormous. On looking over the crest with the glasses the valley of the creek for about a mile was stretched before me. At my feet the low hills came closer together than in other places, and shelved abruptly down to the bed of the valley, where there was a small grove of box-alders and cotton-woods. The beavers had, in times gone by, built a large dam at this place across the creek, MR, ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 53 which must have produced a great back-flow and made a regular little lake in the times of freshets. " But the dam was now broken, and the beavers, or most of them, gone, and in the place of the lake was a long, green meadow. Glancing towards this my eye was at once caught by a row of white objects stretched straight across it, and another look showed me that they were snow geese. They were feeding, and were moving abreast of one another slowly down the length of the meadow towards the end nearest me, where the patch of small trees and brushwood lay. A goose is not as big game as an antelope ; still I had never shot a snow goose, and we needed fresh meat, so I slipped back over the crest and ran down to the bed of the creek, round a turn of the hill, where the geese were out of sight. GETTING A GOOD POSITION FOR A SHOT. "The creek was not an entirely dry one, but there was no depth of water in it except in certain deep holes ; elsewhere it was a muddy ditch with steep sides, difficult to cross on horseback because of the quicksands. I walked up to the trees without any special care, as they screened me from view, and looked cautiously out from behind them. The geese were acting just as our tame geese act in feeding on a common, moving along with their necks stretched out before them, nibbling and jerking at the grass as they tore it up by mouthfuls. "They were very watchful, and one or the other of them had its head straight in the air looking sharp^ round all the time. Geese will not come near any cover in which foes may be lurking if they can help it, and so I feared that they would turn before coming near enough to the brush to give me a good shot. I there- fore dropped into the bed of the creek, which wound tortuously along the side of the meadow, and crept on all fours along one of its banks until I came to where it made a loop out towards the middle of the bottom. " Here there was a tuft of tall grass, which served as a good cover, and I stood upright, dropping my hat, and looking through between the blades. The geese, still in a row, with several yards' 54 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. interval between each one and his neighbor, were only sixty or seventy yards off, still feeding towards me. They came along }uite slowl}', and the ones nearest, with habitual suspicion, edged i.way from the scattered tufts of grass and weeds which marked the brink of the creek. I tried to get two in line, but could not. "There was one gander much larger than any other bird in the lot, though not the closest to me; as he went by just opposite my hiding place, he stopped still, broadside to me, and I aimed just at the root of the neck — for he was near enough for any one firing a rifle from a rest to hit him about where he pleased. Away flew the others, and in a few minutes, I was riding along with the white gander dangliug behind my saddle." INTERVIEW WITH THE GREAT GRIZZLY OF MONTANA. One of the great feats of Mr. Roosevelt with his rifle was in nis last interview with Old Bphraim, the Great Grizzly of Mon- tana. The bear signs were found in the midst of pine trees, and the hunter thus tells the story : "The beast's footprints were perfectly plain in the dust, and ie had lumbered along up the path until near the middle of the hillside, where the ground broke away and there were hollows and boulders. Here there had been a windfall, and the dead trees lay among the liviug, piled across one another in all directions ; while etween and around them sprouted up a thick growth of young spruces and other evergreens. The trail turned off into the tangled thicket, within which it was almost certain we should find our quarry. "We could still follow the tracks, by the slight scrapes of the claws on the bark, or by the bent and broken twigs ; aud we advanced with noiseless caution, slowly climbing over the dead tree trunks and upturned stumps, and not letting a branch rustle or catch on our clothes. When in the middle of the thicket we crossed what was almost a breastwork of fallen logs, and Merrifield, w 7 ho was leading, passed by the upright stem of a great pine. As soon as he was by it, he sank suddenly on one kuee, turning half round, his face fairly aflame with excitement ; and as I strode past him, with MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 55 my rifle at the ready, there, not ten steps off, was the great bear, slowly rising from his bed among the great spruces. He had heard us, but apparently hardly knew exactly where or what we were, for he reared up on his haunches sideways to us. "Then he saw us and dropped down again on all fours, the shaggy hair on his neck and shoulders seemed to bristle as he turned toward us. As he sank down on his forefeet I had raised the rifle ; his head was bent slightly down, and when I saw the top of the white head fairly between his small, glittering, evil eyes, I pulled trigger. Half rising up, the huge beast fell over on his side in the death throes, the ball having gone into his brain, strik- ing fairly between the eyes, as if the distance had been measured by a carpenter's rule. The whole thing was over in twenty sec- onds from the time I caught sight of the game ; indeed, it was over so quickly that the grizzly did not have time to show fight at all or come a step toward us. HUGE DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT. "It was the first I had ever seen, and I felt not a little proud as I stood over the great brindled bulk which lay stretched out at length in the cool shade of the evergreens. He was a mon- strous fellow, much larger than any I have seen since, whether alive or brought in dead by the hunters. As near as we could estimate (for of course we had nothing with which to weigh more than very small portions) he must have weighed about twelve hundred pounds." Mr. Roosevelt thus describes his ranch-building: "The story- high house of hewn logs is clean and neat, with many rooms, so that one can be alone if one wishes to. The nights in summer are cool and pleasant, and there are plenty of bear-skins and buffalo robes, trophies of our own skill, with which to bid defiance to the bitter cold of winter. In summer time we are not much with- in doors, for we rise before dawn and work hard enough to be will- ing to go to bed soon after nightfall. "The long winter evenings are spent sitting round the hearthstone, while the pine logs roar and crackle, and the men 56 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. play checkers or chess, in the fire light. The rifles stand in the corners of the room or rest across the elk antlers which jut out from over the fireplace. From the deer horns ranged along the walls, and thrust into the beams and rafters, hang heavy over- coats of wolf-skin or coon-skin, and otter fur or beaver fur caps and gauntlets. Rough board shelves hold a number of books, without which some of the evenings would be long indeed. " In the still fall nights, if we lie awake we can listen to the clanging cries of the water-fowl, as their flocks speed southward; and in cold weather the coyotes occasionally come near enough for us to hear their uncanny wailing. The larger wolves, too, now and then join in, with a kind of deep, dismal howling; but this melancholy sound is more often heard when out camping than from the ranch-house. The charm of ranch life comes in its freedom, and the vigorous open-air existence it forces a man to lead." BENEFITS DERIVED FROM RANCH LIFE. Mr. Roosevelt smiles when asked about the money he made by his cattle ranches. It is certain he did not amass a fortune and place himself in such a position that he could retire and live on the income of a fortune accumulated on the Western plains. Yet it must not be forgotten that he did not go West merely for money. Fresh air, outdoor exercise and labor, tough muscles and athletic frame, are things that cannot be valued in dollars and cents. Ranch life is good for the man who is always going to be a ranchman ; it is no less good for the man who is going to be an author or statesman. Some grand brain work and some great oratorical feats have been performed by men with very muscular hands and ruddy faces. After Mr. Roosevelt became President, he showed his fond- ness for the life of a hunter, and on more than one occasion broke loose from his official duties at Washington and fled to the woods for game and recreation. A southwestern journal gives the fol- lowing account of one of his trips : ''President Roosevelt will be among the bears this afternoon at 4.30, when he reaches Smedes, Miss. A guide employed by MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. 57 Stuyvesant Fish, president of the Illinois Central Railway, will escort the President into the most likely fastnesses of the cane- brake, and the slaughter will begin if bruin appears. The Presi- dent hopes that the Mississippi bears will not be as shy as the Virginia turkeys. If they are, he will return to Washington empty handed. " Colonel Roosevelt arrived on his special train and was met by Stuyvesant Fish and Lieutenant John McElhenny, formerly of the Rough Riders, his fellow hunters. A great crowd greeted the President at the station, where a stop was made only long enough to attach Mr. Fish's private car. GENERAL HAMPTON'S OLD HUNTING GROUND. "The place selected for the hunt is some miles from the rail- road, and is in the region which was formerly the favorite hunting ground of General Wade Hampton, the famous leader of the Confederate Black Horse Cavalry. General Hampton at one time owned a plantation in this vicinity, and hunted black bear in the cane-brakes with horses and hounds. "Years ago the President and General Hampton planned a hunt in this region, but it was never made, and when Mr. Fish, who is president of the Illinois Central, proposed the present trip, the President readily assented. "To one who has hunted grizzlies in the Rockies, black bear are not very big game. But hunting bear with horse and hounds will be a new experience for him. If a bear shall not be secured it will not be the fault of Mr. Fish. He has arranged to have one of the best packs of hounds in the Mississippi delta at the camp. "The President has with him the hunting outfit used by him for many years in his hunting trips after big game in the neigh- borhood of his ranch on the Little Missouri, in Dakota, and in the mountains of Idaho, Montana and Colorado. It includes a fringed buckskin, which is worn by the old wilderness hunter, and his favorite Winchester 40-90. With this weapon he has killed many of his hunting trophies. It bears the interesting 58 MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY AND RANCHMAN. scars of one of his battles with a cougar, or mountain lion, in Colorado. In closing with a wounded cat, the President thrust the stock into his mouth. It shows the teeth marks of the enraged animal, and the place where a small piece was literally bitten away. "His cartridge belt has a hunting knife attached. Most of the bullets are soft-nosed, but a few of them are steel jacketed for penetrating power in case the President should get a chance for a long shot. While thus prepared for wilderness couditions, it is not probable that the President will don his buckskin suit unless he finds that genuine conditions prevail." The President spent several days in pursuit of bears, but the animals seemed to know that they were in danger, and were uncommonly shy. They even objected to being killed by a presi- dent, and Mr. Roosevelt returned to Washington without any bear skins. CHAPTER V MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE WEST. Hardships of Frontier Life — Hardy Cowboys — Amusements on the Ranch— The Spring and Fall Round-Up — Troubles with Wild Herds— Ranch Business on the Wane— Horace Greeley's Farm — Adventure With a Buffalo — Story of Roosevelt's Bear Hunt in Mississippi — How He Killed an Elk — Evening at the Ranch House — Lover of Books — Advantages of His Sojourn in Dakota— Study of the Indian Question at Short Range. THIS great country of ours affords every variety of climate, from the mild breezes of the sunny South to the freezing blasts of northern New England and the great lakes. Oceans of grain on the vast prairies billow away, when stirred by summer winds like the waves of a vast sea. A few months later and the prairies are swept by wintry storms that threaten destruction to man and beast. The rich valleys yield their splendid harvests, the verdure disappears and snows, driven by fierce gales, bury out of sight all signs of summer's thrift and beauty. And even during any one season the fickle climate may play pranks entirely unlooked for, and confront the settlers with troubles for which little or no provision has been made. All guesses and calculations may fail ; unexpected storms may deplete the herds, or some subtle disease may break out among the flocks. The ranchman knows what to expect. His life is au alterna- tion of sweating and shivering, but he becomes indifferent to changes of season and weather, and as he endures the heat of summer, so he braves the cold of winter. Sometimes a howling storm, with sleet and snow, sweeps over the plains ; again the air is still, not a breath stirs, but the intense cold, sending the thermometer many degrees below zero, pierces like a Damascus blade. The clear air and intense cold are not so much dreaded as the furious gale, although in either case the man on the plains has a 59 60 MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. serious Hardship to contend with, and is fortunate if he escapes the clutches of the biting frost. The cowboy is not supposed to take account of wind or weather. Drenched to the skin by an all-day rain, he flings him- self at night on his hard couch, complains of no insomnia, rises at four in the morning, goes about his business and makes light of his hardships. He is seldom the victim of dyspepsia. He would be willing to risk the headache that comes from high living and abominable diet if he could only get that kind of food. He grows hardy, is what you might call "tough," and his powers of endurance resemble those of the old-fashioned Indians, who lived in their native forests. Life on a ranch is not all labor and no play. To be sure, the hours are long, the work is often hard, the risks to life and limb in breaking wild horses to the bit are many, but the cowboy has his sports and pastimes. Any one who can play a fiddle, or even a jewsharp, or can sing a song, or, best of all, can dance a jig, is a favorite, and can afford an endless amount of amusement. LOVER OF HARMLESS AMUSEMENTS. Into all these harmless sports Mr. Roosevelt entered with the zest and enjoyment of a boy. If there was to be a dance in which all the elite from far and near were to appear in their most gen- teel apparel (or rather costumes) he was expected to open the proceedings and lead the merry-making. Festivities of this description were enjoyed by those who participated in them fully as much as the " four hundred" ever enjoyed any of their public functions. Nor let it be supposed that the average cowboy has no sense of gentility or propriety. True he can mount a horse with more grace than he can bow to a lady ; he can settle disputes without sendine his card to the man who has insulted him ; he can cut a more attractive figure on his fleet broncho than on the dancing floor ; he appears more at ease in his rough riding suit than in "best clothes," but there is an honest, generous, considerate side to his nature, and, as a rule, he is manly and respectful. His MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 61 language is not always the most select, and his expletives are original and are apt to be sufficiently forcible to express his mean- ing ; still he is not dumb to good treatment, and he will respond like a man to every manly appeal. As Mr. Roosevelt knew the character of the men he had to deal with and could adapt himself to all persons and circum. stances; he had little difficulty in the management of his ranch. Many things required to be done were both dangerous and difficult. In his book on " Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail" Mr. Roose- velt describes a u round-up." The spot where this particular round-up took place was on the level bottom of a bend in the river. The wagons were scat- tered among the cotton-wood trees along the side of the river, and the horses were grazing not far away. In one part of the great corral the men w r ere branding calves ; every ranch has its own brand or mark and this tells who is the owner. The middle of the bottom was filled with a great herd of cattle and noisy cow- boys galloping hither and yon on their fractious steeds. HOW OWNERS FIND THEIR STOCK. " As soon as, or even before, the last circle riders have come in and have snatched a few hasty mouthful s to serve as their mid- day meal, we begin to work the herd — or herds, if the one herd should be of too unwieldly size. The animals are held in a com- pact bunch, most of the riders forming a ring outside, while a couple from each ranch successively look the herds through and cut out those marked with their own brand. To do good work in cutting out from a herd, not only should the rider be a good horseman, but he should also have a skilful, thoroughly trained horse. " In cutting out a cow and a calf two men have to work together. As the animals of a brand are cut out they are received and held apart by some rider detailed for the purpose, who is said to be 'holding the cut.' All this time the men holding- the herd have their hands full, for some animal is continually trying to break out, when the nearest man flies at it at once and soon brings 62 MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. it back to its fellows. As soon as all the cows, calves, and what- ever else is being gathered have been cut out the rest are driven clear off the ground and turned loose, being headed in the direc- tion contrary to that in which we travel on the following day. Then the riders surround the next herd, the men holding cuts move them up nearer, and the work is begun anew. HOW BRANDING IS DONE. "As soon as the brands of cattle are worked and the animals that are to be driven along are put in the day herd, attention is turned to the cows and calves which are already gathered in dif- ferent bands, consisting each of all the cows of a certain brand and all the calves that are following them. If there is a corral ^ach band is in turn driven into it ; if there is none a ring of riders does duty in its place. A fire is built, the irons heated, and a dozen men dismount to, as it is called, 'wrestle' the calves. The best two ropers go in on their horses to catch the latter ; one man keeps tally, a couple put on the brands, and the others seize, throw and hold the little unfortunates. " If there are seventy or eighty calves in a corral the scene is one of the greatest confusion. The ropers spurring and checking the fierce little Texan horses drag the calves up so quickly that a dozen men can hardly hold them ; the men with the irons, black- ened with soot, run to and fro ; the calf-wrestlers, grimy with blood, dust and sweat, work like beavers ; while with the voice of a stentor the tally-man shouts out the number and sex of each calf. The dust rises in clouds, and the shouts, cheers, curses and laughter of the men unite with the lowing of the cows and the frantic bleating of the roped calves to make a perfect Babel. " Now and then an old cow turns vicious and puts every one out of the corral. Or a maverick bull — that is, au unbranded bull — a yearling or a two-year old, is caught, thrown and branded; when he is let up there is sure to be a fine scatter. Down goes "his head, and he bolts at the nearest man who makes out of the way at top speed amidst roars of laughter from all of his com- panions ; while the men holding down calves swear savagely as MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 63 they dodge charging mavericks, trampling horses, and tant lariats with frantic plunging little beasts at the farther ends." The round-up here described is a feature of ranch business that tries all the strength and prowess of the men who engage in it. An eastern farmer can go into his pastures and find the cattle so accustomed to the sight of him and so used to his voice, and perhaps his touch, that they do not shun him or make any effort to run away. He can call the cows at night and in a few minutes see them coming down the lane. In the barnyard they seem almost to be a part of the family ; they can be driven anywhere ; they do not often jump fences and get lost ; they can be depended upon for good intentions and are so domesticated that they give little trouble and require little care. EASTERN FARMERS AND THEIR HERDS. Such animals are well behaved compared with a great herd on the ranch. A ranch, from the very nature of the place, demoralizes the stock. The animals roam at their own free will; they go and come as they please; generally they go but do not come; if you want them you must chase them; they have very loose and way- ward habits, and you may have to travel many miles before you overtake them and make them understand that they are wanted for some special occasion. The old days of ranching are fast passing and new conditions are controlling the business. Yet the time is still distant when the vast plains of the West will cease to be the recruiting ground for the great droves of cattle needed by Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago for supplying the world with food. One would think that with such boundless pastures and such a world-wide demand the ranchman would easily become a millionaire, but with rare exceptions we never hear of the cattle king. We have had min- ing kings, lumber kings, merchant princes a ad railroad kings, but the multi-millionaire who made his fortune on the ranch is yet to be discovered. The causes of this have been touched upon frequently by Mr. Roosevelt. The wrong man is sometimes on the ranch, a man 64 MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. who has no experience and has not wit enough to gain any. He can never know what he has not the faculty of learning. Bad management will wreck any business; there are multitudes of men who cannot understand why their business is not a success; it would be if they themselves were a success. To incompetence must sometimes be added inefficiency, lazi- ness, lack of energy, and the idea that in some unexplained way business will take care of itself, will start at four o'clock in the morning and let the man who pretends to carry it on lie abed until eight. The ranchman who can never get an early start or show that he is wide awake, except when going on a hunting trip, is not likely to tell large stories of the amount of money to be made on a ranch. LOSSES THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED. But the most serious obstacle the ranchman has to contend with is the losses to his stock that come from causes over which he has no control. He cannot make it rain in summer when fiery drouth is burning up the plains. He cannot stay the storm in winter that buries the earth in snow from four to ten feet deep. He is at the mercy of the elements, and the blasts that sweep down from polar realms have no pity on him. What, with losses of stock that stray too far to be recovered or die from hunger and starvation, the prospects of large gains are not unmistakably sure. Horace Greeley wrote a book to tell what he knew about farming. It was a common remark that the reason why Mr. Greeley had a farm was that he had a newspaper. The "Tribune" kept the farm going. What the farm did not do for itself was done by the famous journal, which some one called the Bible of the country people. On this principle any man could have a ranch and raise cattle and horses, but Mr. Roosevelt was slow to maintain that there was boundless wealth to be gained in the Bad J,ands. It may be said in a general way that Mr. Roosevelt enjoyed His life as a ranchman, and thrived on its rough experiences. MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 65 When not fully occupied with the management of his business, he was ready for the adventures that always fall to the lot of the hunter. Reference has already been made to Ferris, his guide, who accompanied him usually on his trips in pursuit of game. When Roosevelt first went to Dakota, buffalo hunting had about ceased. This animal had had his day, and was only occasionally to be met with. Ferris thus describes one of their first excursions : " It meant hard work to get a buffalo at that time, and whether the thin young man could stand the trip was a question, but Roosevelt was on horseback and he rode better than I did, and could stand just as much knocking about as I could. " On the first night out, when we were twenty-five or thirty miles from a settlement, we went into camp on the open prairie, with our saddle blankets over us, our horses picketed and the picket ropes tied about the horns of our saddles, which we used for pillows. In the middle of the night there was a rush, our pillows were swept from under our heads and our horses went tearing off over the prairie, frightened by wolves. OVERTAKES A HUGE BUFFALO. " Roosevelt was up and off in a minute after the horses. " On the fourth or fifth day out, I think it was, our horses pricked up their ears and I told Roosevelt there was a buffalo close at hand. We dismounted and advanced to a big ' washout ' near, peered over its edge, and there stood a huge buffalo bull, calmly feeding and unaware of our presence. " ' Hit him where that patch of red shows on his side,' said I, 'and you've got him.' " Roosevelt was cool as a cucumber, took a careful aim and fired. Out came the buffalo from the 'washout,' with blood pour- ing from his mouth and nose. ' You've shot him,' I shouted, and so it proved, for the buffalo plunged a few steps and fell." One of the early and useful friends of Roosevelt in the Wild West among the Rough Riders, was Colonel Cody, the famous Buffalo Bill, and many a wild ride they had. One of the most fearless and tireless of riders, Roosevelt was never fond of break- 5— T.R. 66 MR. ROOSEVELT S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. ing the bucking bronchos, as seen in the shows of his friend on horseback. There were better ways of expending strength, and his plan of life was the useful investment of all his resources. He went into the cattle business, and started with five hun- dred steers, and his guide remarks: " He worked for a part of a season as a cowboy. He had his own ' string ' of horses, and they were as ugly and ill-tempered as the majority of cow horses. He was not a broncho-breaker, as he has been pictured to be, and he took no unnecessary chances in mounting or endeavoring to tame an especially ugly horse. But he did not shrink from riding his own horses when they cut up the customary capers of mustangs, and although he was sometimes thrown, and on one or two occa- sions pretty badly bruised and hurt, he stuck to his mounts until he had mastered them." ROOSEVELT IN PURSUIT OF BEARS. It will not be amiss in this connection to furnish the reader with an amusing account of one of Mr. Roosevelt's more recent hunting trips in pursuit of bears. The account emanated from Smedes, Miss., to which locality the President went to enjoy a few days in the woods. " Ho" Collier, the veteran negro swamp guide and bear hunter, related the full story of his four days' experience with President Roosevelt. " Ho" was busily engaged in getting the horses, dogs and hunting outfit aboard a car on the siding at Smedes, to be taken back to his home at Greenville. Holt Collier is one of the conspicuous figures in the Missis- sippi delta. His skill with his rifle and his constant attention to the 1 rail for the past forty years have made him perfectly familiar with the ins and outs of the woods and every foot of the delta soil from Vicksburg to Memphis. He was President Roosevelt's personal guide throughout the hunt. Here is his story— the first detailed story of the hunt yet told: " I know all those gent'men in de party has had a mighty fine time, and as for de President, I never seen a man in all my times of hunting in dese woods what 'joyed a hunt like he did. MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 67 He was jes' as happy as a schoolboy, and lie certainly is a dead- game sport. 11 We started out Thursday, and it took us 'bout till dark to get in camp and get settled good. So on Friday morning, 'fore we started out, Mr. Roosevelt said he was awful anxious to kill a b'ar. " So when he said dat, I told him dat I was determined for him to get dat chance, and if I had to run a b'ar down and tie him I would see dat he got a chance to get a shot. "Of course de party all scattered, and we begins to hunt, and somehow I felt like I was a-going to get a big one up, and sho' nuff, I wasn't wrong, 'cause dat b'ar we first started was de biggest he b'ar I ever see or heard tell of for a long time. " He was a hard one to run dowu, too. I am here to tell yo' and when I heerd dat rascal breaking through de cane and my dogs hot after him I knew I was a-going to get close after him. I was anxious for some one to ride around and get the President to follow in with us, as I kept on feeling dat he could get a big b'ar 'fore long. TRYING TO FIND THE PRESIDENT. " Whar was de President? Why, Lordy, chile, he was a snooking 'round on his own hook in de jungle. Dat man wouldn't be tied to nobody. I done make a terrible noise, so he'd come whar de b'ar war, but whar wuz he ? " When my dogs did run dat b'ar down he went down in a mud hole, and it was kinder thick and hard to get at, so I stood round and didn't shoot, case I wanted ' the Colonel' to hurry up and come in behind me so he could kill the first one. " I tried my best to get dat big b'ar to tree, but he wouldn't, so I thought he was jes' going to get the best of my pack, so I hit him with the butt of my gun and then throwed my lassoo 'bout his neck and made him fast to a wilier tree. "Then they done got de President, and den when he come up, I says, ' Shoot de b'ar, Colonel, he's tied!' " 'Scuse me, ' sez Colonel Roosevelt, laffan at de b'ar all tied up dar nice and snug, "Scuse me,' sez he, ' dat's too easy. ' fi8 MR. ROOSEVELT S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. " De President was sholy sort of contempuse wid de situation, and I feels more liken a mule dan a hunter. " De President said sumpin', I spect it war from de Bible, 'bout it ain't no use slayin' de helpless. Dere I wuz wif my b'ar done tied up, and I think mighty fast to get out of dat fix. " * Stick him, ' sez I to Massa Parker, and den I showed him how to do de trick. I tell you, my honey, dat big rascal didn't las' much longer after dat knife went into him. " I say, Colonel, you watch me close an' you sholy gits a b'ar. Den he lafs and sez, ' All right. Ho, I'll keep an eye onto you.' "We didn't do no huntin' on Sunday, 'ca'se all of us is 'ligious. It was awful quiet in de camp, as we wus all meditatin' on de foolishness of life and eatin.' I saw de President mos' every minute, and I do say dat he showed himself to be such a fine, good gentleman dat I was always admirin' of him. GRANDER THAN A WHITE HOUSE DINNER. 11 1 tell you we done had a grand dinner, such like de}' couldn't possibly have at de White House. How could dey git 'possum and b'ar, which we had wif sweet 'taters dat melt in de President's mouf and inak' him look so happy dat he had a good appetite ? Den we had turkey gobbler, and dis nigger too perlite to say dat he eat more dan de President. It done mak's me hungry ag'iu when I looks back on dat dinner. " De President says befoah dinner dat he wants to go on a little stroll in de woods. Den one of de gentlemen sez to de Presi- dent : ' Mistoo President, why doan you take you gun wid you ?' "De President he shakes his head an' walks away. He say : ' No; I ain't been alone since a long time gone, an' I'se goin' be alone for a little while now.' " I seed what he done. He goes off an' sits down by de crick, an' looks into de water an' at de woods. Spec' he was thinkin,' too, but I couldn't tell. Den he gits up an' comes in an' settles down to business a-eatin' of de 'possum an' de b'ar an' de taters an' de gobbler, an' looks like he was wholly happy. "De President cheer me up, an' de rest, too. He tells me, MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 69 just like it was nuffin', 'bout some mighty fine hunts he done had over in de Rockies, 'bout shootin' lions and moose. He say he had some mighty good times, 'but Ho! ' he say, ( I gwine tell dat he ain' never had no nicer time anywhere den right here in dese Misippy woods.' Pat's de very words de Colonel sez to me. " Den he talked to de gentlemen 'bout various things, but I ain't gwine tell you dat, 'case we was talkin' private. " De same hoodoo was on us de third day, but I done feel sure de President gits a shot at a b'ar. He sholy did nearly git one dat he chased all de way from 8 to 3 o'clock. " Den what you think dat scoun'rel b'ar do? He breaks away from de dogs and goes whoppin' acrost a ribber, and Ho knows he is done gone for good. Den I tole de gentlemen dere wan't no use goin' no furder. CAMP A DELIGHTFUL PLACE. " I spec,' sez de President, laffiin', ' dat we ain't goin' git no b'ar dis trip.' " De President he took de skull of the big b'ar dat Mister Parker stick, and he say dat he take dat skull home to keep. When we gets ready to leave de camp de President was de most jolly of all de gentlemen. Dey all say we hates to leave his camp and de President say it was a d-e-l-i-g-h-t-f-u-1 place, jes' like dat. " Every people 'round here jes' like dat Colonel Roosevelt first class. He talk wif all de folks at Smedes Station, and maiks 'em his good friends. " De ride from de camp to Smedes was de grandest dat I ever seen down hyar. Colonel Roosevelt dashed off in de lead, and I am hyar to tell you dat he set a hot pace for dem odder gentlemen. We made de whole trip 'round de woods in jes' forty minutes, as we stopped three minutes at Jackson's. "I wants to tell you dat I hated mightily to see de President go 'way, and so did all de odders down hyar. I kin only say dat he's the finest No'the'n gentleman I ever met." Ho said that he had lost only two of his hunting dogs, but 70 MR. ROOSEVELT S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. added mournfully that Old Remus, his champion dog, was "all swole up wid de dropsy," and probably would not live long. Collier is known from Memphis to New Orleans for his trustworthiness. He was born in Jefferson county, three miles from Fayette, and when he grew up, during the Civil War, he was a slave, owned by Howell Hines, a prominent man of the South in those times. Collier's grandfather, Harrison Collier, went to the battle of New Orleans with General Jackson and Thomas Hines. Holt was only thirteen years of age when he killed his first bear, while he and his master were out on a hunt in the same region where the President went for game. CAPTURE OF A BIG ELK. Mr. Roosevelt narrates the killing of an elk near his ranch, "probably the last of his race that will ever be found in our neigh- borhood. It was just before the fall round-up. An old hunter, who was under some obligation to me, told me that he had shot a cow elk and had seen the tracks of one or two others not more than twenty- five miles off, in a place where the cattle rarely wan- dered. Such a chance was not to be neglected ; and, on the first free day, one or my Elk-horn foremen, Will Dow by name, and myself, took our hunting horses and started off, accompanied by the ranch wagon, in the direction of the probable haunts of the doomed deer. " Towards nightfall we struck a deep spring pool, near by the remains of an old Indian encampment. It was at the head of a great basin, several miles across, in which we believed the game to lie. The wagon was halted and we pitched camp ; there was plenty of dead wood, and soon the venison steaks were broiling over the coals raked from beneath the crackling cotton-wood logs, while in the narrow valley the ponies grazed almost within the circle of the flickering fire-light. It was in the cool and pleasant month of September; and long after going to bed we lay awake under the blankets watching the stars that on clear nights always shine with such intense brightness over the lonely Western plains. MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 71 " We were up and off by the gray in the morning. It was a beautiful hunting day ; the sundogs hung in the red dawn ; the wind hardly stirred over the crisp grass ; and though the sky was cloudless yet the weather had that queer, smoky, hazy look that it is most apt to take on during the time of the Indian summer. From a high spur of the table-land we looked out far and wide over a great stretch of broken country, the brown of whose hills and valleys was varied everywhere by patches of dull red and vivid yellow, tokens that the trees were already putting on the dress with which they greet the mortal ripening of the year. THE GAME SIGHTED AT LAST. "The deep and narrow but smooth ravines running up towards the edges of the plateaus were heavily wooded, the bright green tree-tops rising to a height they rarely reach in the barren plains-country ; and the rocky sides of the sheer gorges were clad with a thick growth of dwarfed cedars, while here and there the trailing Virginia creepers burned crimson among their som- bre masses. " We hunted stealthily up-wind, across the line of the heavily timbered coulisse. We soon saw traces of our quarry ; old tracks at first, and then the fresh footprints of a single elk — a bull, judging by the size — which had come down to drink at a miry alkali pool, its feet slipping so as to leave the marks of the false hoofs in the soft soil. We hunted with painstaking and noiseless care for many hours ; at last as I led old Manitou up to look over the edge of a narrow ravine, there was a crash and movement in the timber below me, and immediately afterwards I caught a glimpse of a great bull elk trotting up through the young trees as he gallantly breasted the steep hill-side opposite. " When clear of the woods, and directly across the valley from me, he stopped and turned half round, throwing his head in the air to gaze for a moment at the intruder. My bullet struck too far back, but, nevertheless, made a deadly wound, and the elk went over the crest of the hill at a wild, plunging gallop. We followed the bloody trail for a quarter of a mile, and found him dead in a 72 MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. thicket. Though of large size, he yet had but small antlers, with few points." There is an old Latin saying that "they do not change their characters who change their skies." To put it tersely, a man takes himself with him wherever he goes. When he crosses a river or a State line he does not leave behind him any of his personal traits. Mr. Roosevelt in the Bad Lands was in nowise different from what he had been in the Bast, the only modification being such as naturally grew out of new surroundings. His scholarly tendencies might have seemed grotesque on a ranch among cow- boys and hunters, but he could not leave one Roosevelt in New York and develop another and different Roosevelt in the West. KEEPS CLOSE COMPANY WITH BOOKS. Having been a man of books he could not obliterate his per- sonality and suddenly become a man of cattle and horses. The books must come in somewhere. To him there was nothing incompatible between hunting bears and antelope and hunting gems in the English classics. Books were his companions ; while he communed with steep buttes, wild canyons and boundless prairies, he kept company with great minds and made friends of their brilliant thoughts. There was no daily mail ; the letter carrier might not arrive oftner than once a week, but his coming was an advent, for he was sure to bring letters from prominent men and the latest and best issues of the publishers. "Rough board shelves," says Mr. Roosevelt, in his charming "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman," "hold a number of books without which some of the evenings would be long indeed. No ranchman who loves sport " — and nearly every one of them does — "can afford to be without Van Dyke's 'Still Hunter,' Dodge's 'Plains of the Great West,' or Caton's 'Deer and Antelope of America' ; and Cones's 'Birds of the Northwest' will be valued if he cares at all for natural history. As for Irving, Hawthorne, Cooper, Lowell and the other standbys, I suppose no man, either East or West, would willingly be long without them. And for lighter reading there are dreamy Ik Marvel, Burroughs' breezy MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 73 pages, and the quaint, pathetic character sketches of the Southern writers, Cable, Craddock, Macon, Joel Chandler Harris, and sweet Sherwood Bonner. And when one is in the Bad Lands, he feels as if they somehow look just exactly as Poe's tales and poems sound." Probably no other ranchman in all the Northwest had a stock of belongings similar to Roosevelt's. College bred men are not often found in the Bad Lands ; they prefer to exhibit their culture in communities nearer the great centres of civilization and refine- ment. No one would be likely to obtain a university education to enable him to raise cattle and tame wild mustangs. Roosevelt, the educated cowboy, required the fellowship of books. RECREATION AFTER THE DAY'S LABORS. Imagine him, after a hard day's work of riding, hunting or rounding up his herds, seated in his rude yet picturesque apart- ment at night, eagerly perusing some historical work or volume of poems, magazine of current literature, or treatise on the animals of our hemisphere. Silence that is unbroken favors his studious frame of mind, and with evident relish he turns the pages until the fatigues of the day and the lateness of the hour furnish suggestions of sleep and the rest that comes as a blessed compen- sation to honest toil. It is not difficult to sum up the advantages derived by Mr. Roosevelt from his sojourn in Dakota. He became imbued with the Western spirit. It is the spirit that knows nothing about red tape. It goes ahead and does things. There is a freedom about the great West that is the forerunner of achievement. Men do not grow old discussing how things should be done. Before you are aware of what is going on the thing is accomplished. Somewhat of that go-ahead, impetuous spirit manifested by Mr. Roosevelt appears to have been imbibed from his life on the ranch. And this disposition is one secret of his wonderful popu- larity in the Western States. He is a man after their own heart, a man the people can understand and with whom they are in per- fect sympathy. He never imagined when he went West that he 74 MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. was taking a step which would qualify him so effectually for the office he now occupies, one that cannot in any sense be limited to any one section of the country. A President should be so consti- tuted that he can be in close touch with all parts of the Union. It is but natural that Mr. Roosevelt's most devoted followers and friends should be found among the breezy spirits of the great West. When he called for a regiment of Rough Riders at the outbreak of our war with Spain, it was easy enough to enlist the men ; Roosevelt was to be the lieutenant colonel. It is further to be noted that his western life gave him much information on the Indian problem, and furnished him materials for thoroughly investigating this question and reaching an intelli- gent conclusion. EQUAL RIGHTS AND JUSTICE TO ALL. The white men had as good a claim to land as the Indians, for it was government land, and by the Homestead Law any set- tler could secure 160 acres and along with it a valid title. There was no good reason why an Indian should lay claim to a whole county, compared with the size of which the white man's farm was nothing more than an Irishman's garden patch. In his usual vigorous way Mr. Roosevelt says : "The Indians should be treated in just the same way that we treat the white settlers. Give each his claim to a quarter-section. If, as gen- erally happens, he should decline this, then let him share the fate of the thousands of white hunters who have lived on the game that the settlement of the country has exterminated, and let him, like these whites who will not work, perish from the face of the earth which he encumbers. " The doctrine seems merciless, and so it is. But it is just and rational, for all that. It does not do to be too merciful to the few at the cost of justice to the many. The cattlemen at least Keep herds and build houses on the land. Yet I would not for a moment debar settlers from the right of entry to the cattle country though their coming in means the destruction of us and our industry." CHAPTER VI A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. Roosevelt's Naval History — Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy — Excitement in the Navy Department — Predicted That There Would Be War With Spain — Vigor- ous Preparations for the Conflict — Gun Practice Required — Call for Large Appropriations — Virtually at the Head of the Department — A Remarkable Speech. Choice of Dewey for Commander of Pacific Squadron Spain's Infamous Rule in Cuba — Blowing up of the "Maine" — Orders Sent to Dewey — Roosevelt's Resigna- tion to Recruit the Rough Riders. MR. ROOSEVELT had already written and published his "Naval History of the War of 1812." W r hen first announced it was supposed this history would be nothing more than a rehash of histories already written on the American Navy, or such a work as would merely satisfy the ambition for authorship of a young man not long out of college. No one imagined that it would contribute very much to the knowledge already in the possession of the public. The style might be new, the way of putting things might have some little merit, but it was thought the subject matter would not com- mend the work to critics or scholars. It would be thrown, like a thousand other works, into the world of books and left to its fate. But this naval history soon gave evidence that it was capable of taking care of itself. It was an exhaustive work ; it had all the marks of profound research and careful preparation; its style was picturesque, vigorous and attractive ; its accuracy was con- firmed by references of undoubted authority ; it was plain that it was destined to take high rank as a standard history on the brilliant achievements of our navy. It soon found its way into the Navy Department at Washington, and its undoubted merit was fully recognized. 75 76 A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. Mr. Roosevelt showed himself to be a thorough master of his subject; he was making a valuable contribution to our historical literature, and at the same time was establishing his reputation as an expert in all naval matters. It was but natural, therefore, that when President McKiriley, in 1897, wanted an Assistant Secretary of the Navy to act in con- junction with Secretary John D. Long, Mr. Roosevelt should receive the appointment. He was eminently fitted for the place. His whole political career had marked him as an unique man. His record was without a stain. He enjoyed the absolute confidence of the great majority of his countrymen — all, in fact, except the New York politicians, whose nefarious schemes and practices he had fought with so much courage and success. He went to Washington carrying with him the same purposes and high ideals that had distinguished him in his whole previous career. CONSTERNATION IN THE DEPARTMENT. When it became known that he was to be the Assistant Secre- tary of the Navy the subordinates in the department were filled with apprehensions that amounted almost to alarm. They expected his advent would be somewhat like that of a bull in a china shop. They had heard of his firm dealing with the New York police ; they knew much of his prominent characteristics and resolute methods, and wondered if he were not an Elijah who had come to trouble Israel. " Many were the conjectures," writes Judge Advocate General Samuel C. Lemly of the Navy, "as to what course the new appointee would pursue in the Navy Department, for his reputa- tion as a reformer was both great and widespread, and, in truth, none of us was ready to admit the need for his own reformation. Moreover, Mr. Roosevelt had never served in a subordinate capac- ity. How, then, would he drop into such a position ? Could he follow and assist as well as lead and command ? I recall distinctly that, thanks to the vigilance of our librarian, copies of the various books which the new appointee had written suddenly appeared in the Navy Department Library, and there was such a demand for A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. 77 these books that I had to wait until my senior officers had read before I could even have so much as a look at them. " Although necessarily new to naval methods and administra- tion, Mr. Roosevelt had long been a student of naval matters, historical and otherwise. I for one soon found that he possessed — having a most retentive memory — a very remarkable knowl- edge of the technique of the new navy, and I was in consequence constantly surprised at his off-hand but invariably correct state- ment of the batteries, horsepower, speed, thickness of armor, and characteristics of our own and foreign naval vessels recently built, as well as those under construction." CAPACITY FOR WORK AND MASTERY. It was soon found that the new Secretary had neither horns nor hoofs. He was just an ordinary man, with a capacity for work and for mastery of details that singled him out as one who stood in a class by himself. His rule had always been to work hard when he worked, and play hard when he played. It was soon evident that he was not in the Navy Department for recrea- tion. Under his magic touch every nerve in the place grew tense. The department was so well organized that he had little to do except to keep the machinery in motion and impart to it a new impulse. He did not have a very exalted opinion of the American navy as compared with the other navies the world, although we had some good battleships. As to the rest, we had a lot of vener- able tubs that were good enough in time of peace, but would be naval absurdities in time of war. The excuse was that we were not a warlike nation, never made any great account of our land and naval forces, and had no idea we would be involved in war with any foreign power. But now there were clouds on the horizon ; trouble was brewing with Spain ; we might need some- thing besides respectable tubs on the ocean. It would be a poor time to create a navy after a declaration of war. The Assistant Secretary, while on a visit of inspection to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, addressed a class of naval cadets on 78 A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. Washington's forgotten maxim : "To be prepared for war is the most effectual means to promote peace." He argued in this address, not that we were preparing for war, but that preparation for war was the surest guaranty for peace. He believed that arbitration was an excellent thing, but that ultimately to have this country at peace with foreign nations was to place reliance upon a first-class fleet of first-class battleships, rather than upon any arbitration treaty man could devise. IGNOBLE PEACE WORSE THAN WAR. " We but keep to the traditions of Washington," said Mr. Roosevelt, " to the traditions of all great Americans who struggled for the real greatness of America, when we strive to build up those fighting qualities for the lack of which in a nation, as in an indi- vidual, no refinement, no culture, no wealth, no material prosperity, can atone. While we are sincere and earnest in our advocacy of peace, we must not forget that an ignoble peace is worse than any war. We should engrave in our legislative halls those splendid lines of Lowell : ' ' ' Come, Peace ! not like a mourner bowed For honor lost and dear ones wasted, But proud, to meet a people proud, With eyes that tell of triumph tasted !' " All the great masterful races have been fighting races. Cowardice in a race, as in an individual, is the unpardonable sin. The timid man cannot fight, or the selfish, short-sighted, or foolish man who will not take the steps that will enable him to fight, stand on almost the same plane." A year before our war with Spain broke out Mr. Roosevelt made the following significant statements : '' The enemies we may have to face will come from over the sea ; they may come from Europe, or they may come from Asia. Events move fast in the West ; but this generation has been forced to see that they move even faster in the oldest East. Our interests are as great in the Pacific as in the Atlantic, in the Hawaiian Islands as in the West Indies. Merely for the protec- A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. 79 tion of our own shores, we need a great navy; and what is more, we need it to protect our interests in the islands from which it is possible to command our shores and to protect our commerce on the high seas." Mr. Roosevelt studied the needs of our navy in the possible event of war. Practice — thorough practice behind the guns — he declared to be iudispensable. Men should learn how to shoot, and only actual practice could teach them this. He began to buy guns and ammunition, and all that was needed to fully equip our warships. Repairs on old vessels went on while work was being done on the new. He laid in large supplies of coal at every naval supply station. He ordered every ship's crew recruited to its full strength. " We shall be compelled to fight Spain within a year," he said to a friend months before the cruiser " Maine " was blown up in Havana harbor. "In ordinary routine matters," he said, "if a man does ordinarily well I am satisfied, but if he doesn't do the work of importance in the navy with the snap and vigor I believe is necessary, I'll pinch him till he squeals." SAW THE STORM OF WAR APPROACHING. This is evidence that he had a presentiment of coming trouble and believed the time was at hand for rapid work and thorough preparation. There could be no shirking now - , no easy-going, slip- shod way of administering the naval affairs of the nation. He was not a mere figurehead himself, and he -wanted no figureheads around him. For the battleships he wanted the best crews that could be obtained, and these must be thoroughly drilled up to the point of the greatest efficiency. "It is useless," he said, "to spend millions of dollars in building perfect fighting machines unless we make the personnel which is to handle these machines equally perfect. We have an excellent navy now, but we never can afford to relax our efforts to make it better still. Next time we may have to face some enemy far more formidable than Spain. In my j udgment, the personnel 80 A MASTERLY SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. bill will markedly increase the efficiency of our already efficient officers." A story is related that shows what Mr. Roosevelt considered to be the real needs of the navy. Shortly after his appointment he asked for an appropriation of $800,000 for the purchase of ammu- nition. It was granted, and a few months later he asked for another appropriation of $500,000 for the same purpose. When asked what had become of the first appropriation, he replied : "Every cent of it has been spent for powder and shot, and every bit of powder and shot has been fired." When he was asked what he would do with the additional $500,000, he replied: "Use every dollar of that, too, within the next thirty days in practice shooting." PLANS FOR INCREASING THE NAVY. It is but fair to say that in all Mr. Roosevelt planned, all the measures adopted to increase the efficiency of our navy, and in all the changes he adopted to better the service, he was ably seconded by the majority of our naval officers. They, more than others, saw the necessity for doing the work he had so resolutely undertaken, and being loyal, brave and competent, they took pride in the adoption of the most energetic means for accomplishing the desired result. And, below the officers, every man could be depended upon to make for himself a record. There was not one who was not prepared to suffer any privation, encounter any danger, plunge into the thick of battle, if battle should come, and add glory to the history of our navy, whose achievements in the past have been the pride of the nation. Such was the spirit that animated officers and subordinates. How grandly it was exhibited in the naval battles and victories that put a sudden termination to our war with Spain is known to all men. There was no need of preparation so far as the gallant heroes themselves were concerned. They were ready. They stood at attention, waiting to receive commands. If there was a single coward among them he has never been discovered. The3 r were animated by the heroic spirit displayed by Paul Jones in the Revolution ; and Perry on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. COLONEL. ROOSEVELT MAKING HIS REMARKABLE SPEECH. The Colonel expressed himself with remarkable frankness while speaking' at the Guild Hall, after having received the honorary freedom of the City of London. He dealt with the position in Egypt, saying, amongst other things : "If you feel that you have not the right ^inVg^t^tti^aon^Qlto^^^ and to keep order there, then I means get out of Egypt." all H 5.5 ° ° * c £ °=o H ♦*S"S K C <1) 8 o £ E £7 C 0> - CD "O J "•3 +J y «2 » •C CO > 6 ■M CD CO u o CD CO o 2 h £ so >. r "O CO „ O ° CD 8 03 -C fe J2 5 o fa 03 CD C _ fa j 3 -a s c § £ « £ J o "3 -2 o Q § -a •- ^ O it JiO m J J3 I-l ■a .2 a) . fa 3 to ** cd |H o a <_, CO ^ O ^ o c 2 3 M fa c o O o d +-> p. -a fa O • C D a ^•35 = .— ^ ca 02 ^ J2 o Q 5 o^2 fa u ^t) 3 fa «s«o — CD 03 S ^ -C « o C C ™ ~ 0) h 03 ti 4-> M BOITTE OF MR. .ROOSEVELT'S AFRICAK TRIP Distances Miles Naples to Aden - . . . 2510 Aden to Mombasa .... 1598 Mombasa to Port Florence 584 Port Florence to Entebbe 590 and around the lake Entebbe to Gondokoro gondokoro to khartum - Khartum to Wadi Halfa wadt kalfa to assuan - Assuan to Cairo - - - 450 900 560 214 583 ■ 1 ■ 4. THE FAMOUS ROOSEVELT EXPEDITION VIEWS SHOWING PART OF THE OUTFIT TAKEN BY COL. ROOSEVELT ON HIS TRIP THROUGH THE WILDS OF AFRICA - * A a fight under." " Only us few men who were with him," said Burkholder, "know how considerate he was of us at all times. There was one case in particular that illustrates this better than I can recall. It happened after the fight at La Quasina. The men were tired with the hard march and the fighting, and hunger was gnawing at every stomach. Besides, we had our first men killed there, and, taking it all in all, we were in an ugly humor. The usual shouting, cracking of jokes, and snatches of song were missing, and everybody appeared to be in the dumps. SOLDIERS ENCOURAGED BY BEEF STEW. "Well, things hadn't improved a bit — in fact, were getting worse along toward meal time — when the colonel began to move about among the men, speaking encouragingly to eac.i group. I guess he saw something was up, and no doubt he made up his mind then and there to improve at least the humor of the men. There's an old saying that a man can best be reached through his stomach, and I guess he believes in that maxim. Shorty afterward we saw the colonel, his cook, and two of the troopers of Company I strike out along the narrow road toward the town, and we wondered what was up. "It was probably an hour or so after this, and during a little resting spell in our work of clearing and making things a little camp-like, that the savory and almost forgotten odor of beef stew began to sweep through the clearing. Men who were working stopped short and began to sniff, and those who had stopped work for a breathing spell forgot to breath for a second. Soon they joined in the sniffing, and I'll wager every one of us was sniffing as hard as he knew how. Oh, but didn't that smell fine ! We THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. 113 weren't sure that it was for us, but we had a smell of it anyway. Quickly drooping spirits revived, and as the fumes of the boiling stew became stronger the humor of the men improved. We all jumped to our work with a will, and picks, shovels and axes were plied in race-horse fashion, while the men would stop now and then to raise their heads and draw a long breath and exclaim : 'Wow ! but that smells good.' " We were finally summoned to feed, and then you can im- againe our surprise. There was a big boiler, and beside it a crowd of messtent men dishing out real beef stew ! We could hardly believe our eyes, and I had to taste mine first to make sure it wasn't a dream. You should have seen the expressions on the faces of the men as they gulped down that stew, and we all laughed when one New York man yelled out : 'And it's got real onions in it, too ! ' THE COST OF THAT DINNER TO ROOSEVELT. " After we had loaded up we began to wonder where it all came from, and then the two Troop I men told hew the colonel had purchased the potatoes and onions while his own cook secured the meat from Siboney. "You probably won't believe it, but the bushel of potatoes cost Colonel Roosevelt almost $60, and he had to pay thirty odd good American dollars to get the onions ; but then he knew what his men wanted, and it was always his men first with him. There was a rush to his tent when we learned this, and if 3^ou ever heard the cheering I'm sure you wouldn't wonder why the Rough Riders all love their colonel. " I see," said Burkholder, " that in his address to the men at Camp Wikoff the colonel told how he had to hurry at the San Juan Hill fight to save himself from being run over by the men. That's just like him to say that ; but he probably forgets that more than half of the men never ran so fast before and never will again, as they had to run to keep up with him. If Colonel Roosevelt lived in Arizona we would give him any office he wanted without any election nonsense." 8— T.B. T14 THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. Writing of this battle, a newspaper correspondent said : u Everybody has perfect faith in the American regular, and knows what he can and what he will ever do. General Young did, then, what the nation knew he would do, and his colored troopers fought bravely and well. But the interest of the fight would centre in the gallant conduct of Roosevelt's Rough Riders — or Wood's Weary Walkers, as they were dubbed at Tampa after their horses were taken from under them. Never was there a more representative body of men on American soil ; never was there a body of such varied elements ; and yet it was so easily welded into an effective fighting machine that a foreigner would not know that they were not as near brothers in blood, character, occupation, mutual faith and long companionship as any volun- teer regiment that ever took the field. BIG GAME HUNTER AND COWBOY. " The dominant element was the big game hunter and cow boy, Colonel Roosevelt, and every field officer and captain had at one time or another owned a ranch. The majority came from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Indian Territor}^, though every State in the Union was represented. There were graduates of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, University of Virginia, of Pennsylvania, of Colorado, of Iowa and other Western and Southern colleges. There were members of the Knicker- bocker Club of New York, and the Somerset of Boston, and of crack horse organizations of Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey. There were revenue officers from Georgia and Tennessee, police from New York city, six or eight deputy marshals from Colorado, half a dozen Texan Rangers, and one Pawnee, several Cherokees and Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks. " There were men of all political faiths, all creeds — Catholics, Protestants and Jews. There was one strapping Australian and one of the Queen's mounted police, though ninety per cent, of all were native born Americans. Roosevelt's Rough Riders go as Roosevelt's in fact as well as in name. Colonel Roosevelt has made his word of peace good in war." THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. 115 The report of the engagement was addressed by Colonel Roosevelt to Brigadier-General Wood, and dated Camp Hamilton, near Santiago, July 20th. It was as follows : " Sir — In obedience to your directions I herewith report on the operations of my regiment from the ist to the 17th inst, inclusive. "As I have already made you two reports about the first day's operations, I shall pass over them rather briefly. STRATEGY IN THE ENGAGEMENT. " On the morning of the first day my regiment was formed at the head of the Second Brigade, by the El Paso sugar mill. When the batteries opened, the Spaniards replied to us with shrapnel, which killed and wounded several of the men of my regiment. We then marched towards the right, and my regi- ment crossed the ford before the balloon came down there and attracted the fire of the enemy, so at that point we lost no one. My orders had been to march forward until I joined General Lawton's right wing, but after going about three-quarters of a mile I was halted and told to remain in reserve near the creek by a deep lane. " The bullets dropped thick among us for the next hour while we lay there, and many of my men were killed or wounded. Among the former was Captain O'Neill, whose loss was a heavy blow to the regiment, for he was a singularly gallant and effi- cient officer. Acting Lieutenant Haskell was also shot at this time. He showed the utmost courage and had been of great use during the fighting and marching. It seems to me some action should be taken about him. "You then sent me word to move forward in support of the regular cavalry, and I advanced the regiment in column of com- panies, each company deployed as skirmishers. We moved through several skirmish lines of the regiment ahead of us, as it seemed to me our only chance was in rushing the entrenchments in front instead of firing at them from a distance. " Accordingly we charged the blockhouse and entrench- 116 THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. ments on the hill to our right against a heavy fire. It was taken in good style, the men of my regiment thus being the first to capture any fortified position and to break through the Spanish lines. The guidons of G and E troop were first at this point, but some of the men of A and B troop, who were with me personally, got in ahead of them. At the last wire fence up this hill I was obliged to abandon my horse, and after that we went on foot. " After capturing this hill we first of all directed a heavy fire upon the San Juan hill to our left, which was at the time being assailed by the regular infantry and cavalry, supported by Cap- tain Parker's Gatling guns. By the time San Juan was taken a large force had assembled on the hill we had previously captured, consisting not only of my own regiment, but of the Ninth and portions of other cavalry regiments. CHARGE UNDER A HEAVY FIRE. " We then charged forward under a very heavy fire across the valley against the Spanish entrenchments on the hill in the rear of San Juan hill. This we also took, capturing several pris- oners. " We then formed in whatever order we could and moved forward, driving the Spanish before us to the crest of the hills in front, which were immediately opposite the city of Santiago itself. Here I received orders to halt and hold the line on the hill's crest. I had at the time fragments of the Sixth Cavalry Regi- ment and an occasional infantryman under me — three or four hundred men all told. As I was the highest there I took com- mand of all them, and so continued till next morning. " The Spaniards attempted a counter attack that afternoon, but were easily driven back, and then until after dark we re- mained under a heavy fire from their rifles and great guns, lying flat on our faces on a gentle slope just behind the crest. " Captain Parker's Gatling battery was run up to the right of my regiment and did excellent and gallant service. In order to charge the men had, of course, been obliged to throw away their packs, and we had nothing to sleep in and nothing to eat. THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. 117 We were lucky enough, however, to find in the last block house captured the Spanish dinners, still cooking, which we ate with relish. They consisted chiefly of rice and peas, with a big pot containing a stew of fresh meat, probably for the officers. " We also distributed the captured Spanish blankets as far as they would go among our men, and gathered a good deal of Mauser ammunition for use in the Colt rapid-fire guns, which were being brought up. That night we dug entrenchments across the front. "At three o'clock in the morning the Spaniards made another attack upon us, which was easily repelled, and at four they opened the day with a heavy rifle and shrapnel fire. All day long we remained under this, replying whenever we got the chance. In the evening, at about eight o'clock, the Spaniards fired three guns and then opened a very heavy rifle fire, their skirmishers coming well forward. SPANISH FIRE PROMPTLY SILENCED. " I got all my men down into the trenches, as did the other command near me, and we opened a heavy return fire. The Spanish advance was at once stopped, and after an hour their fire died away. This night we completed most of our trenches and began to build bomb proofs. The protection afforded our men was good, and the next morning I had but one man wounded from the rifle and shell fire until twelve o'clock, when the truce came. "I do not mention the officers and men who particularly dis- tinguished themselves, as I have nothing to add in this respect tc what was contained in my former letter. "There were numerous Red Cross flags flying in the various parts of the city, two of them so arranged that they directly covered batteries in our front, and for some time were the cause of our not firing at them. "The Spanish guerrillas were very active, especially in our rear, where they seemed by preference to attack the wounded men who were being carried on litters, the doctors and medical attend- ants with Red Cross flags on their arms, and the burial parties. 118 THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. "I organized a detail of sharpshooters and sent them out after the guerrillas, of whom they killed thirteen. Two of the men thus killed were shot several hours after the truce had been in operation, because, in spite of this fact, they kept firing upon our men as they went to draw water. They were stationed in the trees, as the guerrillas were generally, and, owing to the density of the foliage, and to the use of smokeless powder rifles, it was an exceed- ingly difficult matter to locate them. "For the next seven days, until the ioth, we lay in our line while the truce continued. "We had continually to work at additional bomb proofs and at the trenches, and as we had no proper supply of food and utterly inadequate medical facilities, the men suffered a good deal. The officers chipped together, purchased beans, tomatoes and sugar for the men, so that they might have some relief from the bacon and hardtack. With a great deal of difficulty we got them coffee. TENDER CARE OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED. "As for the sick and wounded, they suffered so in the hos- pitals, when sent to the rear, for lack of food and attention, that we found it best to keep them at the front and give them such care as our own doctors could. "As I mentioned in my previous letter, thirteen of our wounded men continued to fight through the battle in spite of their injuries. In spite of their wounds those sent to the rear, many both sick and wounded, came up to rejoin us as soon as their condition allowed them to walk. " On the ioth the truce was at an end and the bombardment reopened, as far as our lines were concerned; it was, on the Spanish part, very feeble. We suffered no losses, and speedily got the fire from their trenches in our front completely under control. "On the nth we moved three-quarters of a mile to the right? the truce again being on. "Nothing happened there, except we continued to watch and do our best to get the men, especially the sick, properly fed. Hav- ing no transportation, and being able to get hardly any through THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. 119 the regular channels, we used anything we could find — captured Spanish cavalry horses, abandoned mules, some of which had been injured, but which our men took and cured; diminutive, skinny ponies purchased from the Cubans, etc. " By these means and by the exertions of the officers, we were able from time to time to get supplies of beans, sugar, tomatoes and evei. oatmeal, while from the Red Cross people we got our invaluable load of rice, cornmeal, etc. REDUCED TO GREAT STRAITS. "All of this was of the utmost consequence, not only for the sick, but for those nominally well, as the lack of proper food was telling terribly on the men. It was utterly impossible to get them clothes and shoes. Those they had were, in many cases literally dropping to pieces. "On the 17th the city surrendered. On the 18th we shifted camp to here, the best camp we have had ; but the march hither under the noonday sun told very heavily on our men, weakened by underfeeding and overwork, and the next morning 123 cases were reported to the doctor, and I now have but half of the 600 men, with which I landed four weeks ago, fit for duty, and these are not fit to do anything like the work they could do then. "As we had but ©ne wagon, the change necessitated leaving much of my stuff behind, with a night of discomfort, with scanty shelter and scanty food for the most of the officers and many of the nier. Only the possession of the improvised pack train alluded to above saved us from being worse. " Yesterday I sent in a detail of six officers and men to see if they could not purchase or make arrangements for a supply of proper food and proper clothing for the men, even if we had to pay it out of our own pockets. Our suffering has been due primarily to lack of transportation and of proper food or sufficient clothing and of medical supplies. " We should now have wagon sheets for tentage. "Very respectfully, "Theodore Roosevelt." 120 THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. An officer's report is always intended to be a statement of facts. It, therefore, lacks the glow and picturesque features that the correspondent or the historian would give to his description of a hard-fought battle. The foregoing report tells, in plain language, the heroic exploits of the Rough Riders, and is an unvarnished testimony to their valor. The simple narration of facts is sufficient evidence of the valor displayed by the brave cavalrymen whom Colonel Roosevelt commanded. He makes no claim to superior courage and fighting qualities, but it is only just to say he was the central figure, the grand leader who inspired his men to noble deeds and assured their victory. Many were the tributes in verse paid to the Rough Riders and their commander, some of which lacked literary merit, but were forcible. We take the liberty of appending a couple in this connection : THE BALLAD OF " TEDDY'S TERRORS." AS RELATED BY ROUND-UP RUBE OF RATTLESNAKE GULCH. There wus a lovely regiment whose men wus strong and stout, Fer some, they had diplomas, and fer some wus warrants out, And Wood, he was their colonel bold, an' Teddy was his mate, And they called 'em '* Teddy's Lamb- kins," fer their gentleness wus great. Now a good ole man named Shafter says to Teddy and to Wood : — "There's a joint called Santiago where we ain't well understood, — So, take yer lamb-like regiment, and if you are polite, I think yer gentle little ways'll set the matter right. " So when Teddy's boys got movin' and the sun was on the fry, And the atmosphere was coaxin' them to lay right down and die, Some gents from Santiago who wus mad 'cause they wus there, Lay down behind some bushes to put bullets through their hair. Now, Teddy's happy Sunday School wus movin' on its way A-seekin' in its peaceful style some Dagos fer to slay ; And the gents from Santiago, with aversion in their heart, Wus hidin' at the cross-roads fer to blow 'em all apart There's a Spanish comic paperthat has give us sundry digs — A-callin' of us cowards an' dishonest Yankee pigs ; THE HERO OF THE BATTLEFIELD. 121 And I guess these folks had read it, and had thought 'twould be immense Jest to paralize them lambkins they wus runnin' up agains'. So when our boys had pretty near arrived where they wus at, And the time it was propitious fer to start that there combat, They let 'er fly a-thinkin' they would make a dreadful tear, An' then rubber-necked to see if any Yankees wus still there. Now you can well imagine wot a dread- ful start they had To see 'em still a' standin' there and lookin' bold and bad, Fer when this gentle regiment had heard the bullets fly, They had a vi-lent hankerin' to make them Spaniards die. So Teddy, he came runnin' with his glasses on his nose, And when the Spanish saw his teeth you may believe they froze ; And Wood was there 'long with 'im, with his cheese-knife in his hand, While at their heels came yellin' all that peaceful, gentle band. They fought them bloody Spaniards at their own familiar game, And the gents from Santiago didn't like it quite the same — Fer you plug yer next door neighbor with a rifle ball or two An' he don't feel so robustous as when he's a-pluggin' you. So when the shells wushoppin', while the breech-blocks clicked and smoked, An' the powder wouldn't blow away until a feller choked, That regiment of Yankee pigs wus gunnin' through the bush, An' raisin' merry hell with that there Santiago push. Then Teddy seen 'em runnin', and he gives a monstrous bawl, And grabbed a red-hot rifle where a guy had let it fall, And fixin' of his spectacles more firmly on his face, He started to assassinate them all around the place. So through the scrubby underbrush from bay'n't plant to tree, Where the thorns would rip a feller's pants, a shockin' sight to see, He led his boys a-dancin' on,a-shoutin' left and right, And not missin' many Spanish knobs that shoved 'emselves in sight. And when them Santiago gents wus finished to their cost, Then Teddy's boys, they took a look and found that they wus lost, And as their crewel enemies was freed from earthly pain, They all sat down to wait fer friends to lead 'em back again. That's the tale of Teddy's terrors, and the valiant deed they done, But all tales, they should have morals, so o' course this tale has one. CHAPTER IX ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. In the Fight at San Juan — Colonel Roosevelt's Wonderful Charge — Praises the Gallantry of His Troopers- Story of Trooper Rowland — Credit Due the Regulars — Account of the Battles Before the Committee of Investigation — Privations of the Soldiers — A Born Fighter — Story of Trooper Johnson — More Casualties Among Rough Riders than Regulars— General Wheeler on Spanish Defenses. ALL accounts of the battle of La Guasimas (so called from a nut- bearing tree of this name), and the subsequent fight of San Juan, contain abundant evidence that the leader of the Rough Riders was a host in himself and did more than any other commander to win the victory, as may be seen from the incidents attending the engagements, and from the testimony of the troopers who took an active part in the struggle. Said an officer of high rank : " I cannot speak too highly of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. He is every inch a fighter, and led a charge of dismounted cavalry against men in pits at San Juan successfully. It was a wonderful charge, and showed Roosevelt's grit. I was not there, but I have been told of it repeatedly by those who saw the colonel on the Hill." Two reports made by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt to his superior officer in front of Santiago in July were given out by the War Department in Washington, December 22, 1898. Both re- ports describe the operations of the Rough Riders in the battle of San Juan, the second telling a much fuller story. In his first report, dated July 4th, he mentions by name many of the troopers who distinguished themselves by their bravery. This part of the report, which was made by Roosevelt, as lieuten- 122 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 123 ant-colonel in charge of the regiment, to Colonel Wood, temporar- ily in charge of the brigade, was as follows : " We went into the fight abont four hundred and ninety strong. Eighty-six were killed or wounded and there are h?lf a dozen missing. The great heat prostrated nearly forty men, some of them among the best in the regiment. Besides Captain O'Neill and Lieutenant Haskell, who were killed, Lieutenants Leahy, Devereaux and Case were wounded. All behaved wi*"h great gallantry. As for Captain O'Neill, his loss is one of the severest that could have befallen the regiment. He was a man of cool head, great executive ability and literally daunt- less courage. " To attempt to give a list of the men who showed signal valor would necessitate sending in an almost complete roster of the regiment. Many of the cases which I mention stand merely as examples of the rest, not as exceptions. CONDUCT OF GALLANT OFFICERS. ''Captain Jenkins acted as major and showed such conspicu- ous gallantry and efficiency that I earnestly hope he may be promoted to major as soon as a vacancy occurs. Captains Lewel- len, Muller and Luna led their troops throughout the charges, handling them admirably. At the end of the battle Lieutenants Kane, Greenwood and Goodrich were in charge of their troops im- mediately under my eye, and I wish particularly to commend their conduct throughout. " But the most conspicuous gallantry was shown by Trooper Rowland. He was wounded in the side in our first fight, but kept in the firing line. He was sent to the hospital the next day^ but left it and marched out to us, overtaking us, and fought all through this battle with such indifference to danger that I was forced again and again to restrain and threaten him for running needless risks. " Great gallantry was also shown by four troopers whom I cannot identify, and by Trooper Winslow Clark, of Troop G. It was after we had taken the first hill. I had called out to rush the 124 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. second, and having by that time lost my horse, climbed a wire fence and started toward it. "After going a couple of hundred yards under a heavy fire, I found that no one else had come. As I discovered later, it was simply because in the confusion, with men shooting and being shot, they had not noticed me start. I told the five men to wait a moment, as it might be misunderstood if we all ran back, while I ran back and started the regiment, and as soon as I did so the regiment came with a rush. " But meanwhile the five men coolly lay down in the open, returning the fire from the trenches. It is to be wondered at that only Clark was seriously wounded, and he called out, as we passed again, to lay his canteen where he could reach it, but to continue the charge and leave him where he was. All the wounded had to be left until after the fight, for we could spare no men from the firing line. Very respectfully, " Theodore Roosevelt.'' WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN IT IF DEFEATED. Trooper Rowland, who received honorable mention by Colo- nel Roosevelt for his gallantry, hailed from New Mexico. His frontier life had made him brave and fearless. It would seem that this fight with the Spaniards was to him little more than a pastime. Without much exaggeration it may be said that if he had been defeated he would not have known it. Such soldierly qualities were just the oues to be admired by his leader, and it is not strange that Roosevelt makes special mention of him, as he did of many others. If there was any post more dangerous than another, Rowland was the man who felt humiliated if it was not assigned to him. He was sent by Colonel Roosevelt on a dangerous errand^ and on his return the colonel noticed that he was wounded. " Where are you hurt, Rowland ? " he asked. "Aw — they caved in a couple of ribs for me, I guess." Colonel Roosevelt ordered him to go to the rear and make himself as comfortable as he could in the hospital.. Rowland, for ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 125 the first time in his service, grumbled, and was inclined to argue the case. He did not want to leave. But when the order was repeated he' disappeared, and was not seen for half an hour But in the course of the advance Colonel Roosevelt saw him again, and exclaimed. " I thought you were told to go to the hospital." " Aw — I couldn't find the hospital," replied the man, a state- ment which his colonel doubted. And he remained on the firing- line to the end of the conflict. His conduct was typical of the heroism and fortitude of the whole American army." The following lines, written by one of the troopers, express the feeling of the Rough Riders toward their leader : SONG OF ROOSEVELT'S RIDERS. We thucl — thud — thud down the dusky pike, We jingle across the plain, We cut and thrust, and we lunge and strike, We throttle the sons of Spain ! Our chief has never a tremor shown, He's grit cinched up in a belt, Oh, they must be for their courage known Who ride with Roosevelt. We gallop along the gloomy vale, We bustle a-down the lane, We leap the stream and the toppling rail— We burst on the men of Spain ! It's rattle and clash, the sabers flash, The Spaniard host doth melt, It's bluff and grit, and it's all things vast To ride with Roosevelt ! Speaking of the battle, Colonel Roosevelt said : " The men were deployed on both sides of the road in such thick jungle that only here and there could they see ahead. Through the jungle ran wire fences, and when the troops got to the ridge they encountered precipitous bluff's. They were led most gallantly, as American regular officers always lead their men ; and the soldiers followed their leaders with the splendid courage always 126 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPATrt. shown by the American regular soldier. There was not a single straggler among them, and so cool were they and so perfect their fine discipline, that in the entire engagement the expenditure of ammunition was not over ten rounds per man. "Major Bell, who commanded the squadron, had his leg broken by a shot as he was leading his men. Captain Wain- wright succeeded to the command of the squadron. Captain Knox was shot in the abdomen. He continued for some time giv- ing orders to his troops, and refused to allow a man from the fir- ing-line to assist him to the rear. Lieutenant Byron was himself shot, but continued to lead his men until the wound and the heat overcame him, and he fell in a faint. The Spaniards kept up a very heavy firing, but as the regulars climbed the ridges the Spaniards broke and fled." PRAISES FOR THE REGULARS. The value of this statement consists in showing the estimate Colonel Roosevelt placed upon the regulars. He was connected with the volunteers, yet was ever ready to bestow just praise, anxious only that it should be conferred where it was due. He had no selfish desire to belittle the achievements of the regular United States troops. He knew these could be depended upon in every emergency. They were splendidly drilled ; they were com- manded by brave and competent ofiicers. He had no desire to rob them of their glory. To magnify the heroism of the volunteers and thus disparage the valor of the regulars would have shown a jealous, narrow, selfish spirit, of which he was quite incapable. His own troops acted gallantly, but they were not the only heroes. If he had led a regiment of the regular army he would have been 'willing Logive the volunteers credit for every deed of bravery. Equal and exact justice to all has been the aim of Roosevelt through all his public career. Herein lies one secret of his extra- ordinary hold upon the popular heart. He is not a self-seeker ; he is not a trickster. He is a thoroughly honest, generous, just and frank man, and the people know it. And for the reason that ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 127 he is such a man, broad-minded and ready to give even an enemy his due, his place in popular esteem is assured. His fame and popularity can be accounted for as much from what he is as from what he has done. Important details of Colonel Rcosevelt's part in our war with Spain were presented by him before the committee of investigation appointed to take testimony concerning the manner in which the military and naval operations had been carried on. Colonel Roose- velt was examined November 22, 1898. His statements were frank, right to the point, free from all evasion, and given with evident endeavor to be j ust to all parties concerned. He was examined by General Wilson. GO AHEAD TOWARD THE GUNS. Speaking of La Guasimas, he said : " It was a brisk skirmish, and, it being my first experience, and with smokeless powder in use, it took me a little time to make out exactly what was up, and I couldn't see the Spaniards for a long time. They were using smokeless powder ; but, fortunately, I knew one rule, that ' if you are in doubt go ahead and be sure you go toward the guns ! ' We finally discovered the Spaniards through Mr. Richard Harding Davis, who was with me on the line. He pointed across the ravine to an elevation, where he thought were some Spaniards, as he could see their hats ; and I got my glasses on them and saw they were Spanish hats, and got my men volley firing on them and they were driven out and ran back where there were other Spaniards, and pretty soon we had them all going back." Orders were received on the 30th of June for the brigade to move forward to Santiago. The next morning the battle was fought which had been impending for several days. When our artillery opened fire the Spaniards poured shrapnel into our ranks that killed or wounded a number of American troops and Cubans. Roosevelt was placed in command of the brigade with orders to lead it. His official report says : "My regiment went first, the Second Brigade following the First Brigade along the road to join on Gen- 128 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. eral Lawton's left. That was the order we received. General Lawton was attacking El Caney. We marched out behind the First Brigade until we came to the San Juan River, which we forded, and then turned to the right. I got my regiment across just as the captive balloon was coming along down to the ford. There was a good deal of firing going on, and I knew when that balloon got down there would be hot work at the ford, so I hurried my men along as quickly as I could, and my regiment marched at the head of the Second Brigade to the right alongside San Juan River, with the First Cavalry Brigade to our left, between us and the block houses and intrenchments on the hills, and the firing got heavier and heavier, and we finally received word to halt and await orders. WELCOME ORDER TO ADVANCE. Si There was a kind of sunken lane going up from the river where we halted, and I made the men all lie down and get under cover as much as they could, and we lay there for, I should judge, certainly an hour. Finally we got the welcome orders to advance. I received instructions to move forward and support the regular cavalry in the assault on the hills in front, and we moved forward, and we then took Kettle Hill, as we called it. I never heard the term San Juan Hill until two or three days later. After we went up Kettle Hill, Colonel Hamilton and Colonel Carroll were both shot, and that left me in command on the hill until General Sumner got there. I got my men together and got them volley firing across at the San Juan block house on the hill which the infantry of Kent and Hawkins were attacking. " We kept up firing for some time, and I recollect we heard Parker's Gatlings begin shooting on the left and our men cheered them, and we kept up our fire until the infantry got so near the top of the hill that I was afraid of hitting them, and in another minute we saw the infantry swarm over the intrenchments and the Spaniards run out ; and then we charged from Kettle Hill across at the next line of hills, which was in the rear, where there were Spanish trenches and another block house. General Sumner was ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 129 on Kettle Hill before this ; lie had been riding along the lines of the cavalry seeing that they went forward. He had command of the cavalry division at that time. "Then we took the next line of intrenchments. The Spaniards were still firing at us, and we formed and went to the left, and got on the crest of the chain of hills overlooking Santiago. By that time I was the highest officer in command on the extreme front and I had six regiments under me. Major Wessels had been wounded, and Captains Morton and Boughton came up and re- ported to me, and Captains Stevens and McNamee of the Ninth reported to me. I received orders, then, from Captain Howze, of General Sumner's staff, not to advance but to hold that hill at all hazards. Captain Howze was always at the front when he could be. We held the hill until nightfall, when we received orders to intrench . FED ON THE ENEMAS FOOD. " We had captured in the block house the Spanish officers' mess — and an extremely good officers' mess it was, better than anything we had had ; a big kettle of beef, a kettle of rice, and peas, and a big demijohn of rum, and a lot of rice flour loaves, so I fed those out to my men ; and we also got a lot of Spanish in- trenching tools, and we threw up some very aboriginal intrench- ments. So that night we had a mild feast on the Spaniards' food. "That is the night of the ist. We intrenched there. As I have seen talk about a retreat being considered from that hill, il is only justice to say that the officers on the extreme front of that line, at least in my part of the line, never dreamed of the Spaniards driving us ; they were all perfectly horrified at the idea of retreating. Captains Morton and Boughton came over to me in the afternoon to say that someone had spoken of retreating, and to beg of me to protest. I had not heard of it, and did not believe it was true. I knew that we could hold that line against anything that could come up in the front." Colonel Roosevelt spoke of "the enormous superiority of the smokeless powder over the black powder," adding that it could 9— T.R. 130 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. hardly be realized by those not on the ground. " I saw, for instance, the guns on our left open fire, and in a half-minute after the first shot there would be a thick black cloud hanging, and apparently every Spanish gun and every Spanish rifle within a radius of a mile of us would be turned on that point, and the gun would be driven out ; so that our men — I mean the dismounted cavalry — would say, ' there go the artillery ; they will be driven out.' And they were. They were placed back in the rear on the following day, but they were driven off the firing line where the infantry were. GETTING GUNS IN POSITION. " On the other hand, the Gatlings, which were managed by Cap- tain Parker, were fought on the extreme front of the skirmish line ; he fought his Gatlings right up on the extreme front, just as far as anybody could go. He did magnificently. He was on the right of our regiment. We had our two Colts, and he came and helped us put our two Colts in position. We didn't think we had put our works out quite far enough, and we zigzagged an approach and made a kind of bastion some 200 yards out on the hill, so that we could fire right into the Spanish works. He helped us dig the approach and helped us get our Colt automatic guns fixed just right. He not only fought his own guns, but he rendered us every assistance. "If he had not had smokeless powder we would not have allowed him in the trenches unless he could have stayed there in spite of us. I would say that some of the Seventy-First New York came up in the trenches right by some of the cavalry of the First Brigade, and the cavalrymen ordered them out, saying that they would not have them in their trenches ; they would rather fight without support than with the black powder, insuring their being the one point at which the enemy were firing." Notwithstanding all the privations to which the troopers were subjected they made no complaint ; all hardships were accepted as belonging to the fortunes of war. In one of his first speeches to his men Colonel Roosevelt said : ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 131 "You've got to perform without flinching whatever duty is assigned you, regardless of the difficulty or danger attending it. No matter what comes, you must not squeal." These words of Roosevelt became almost a creed with his men. To do anything without flinching or squealing was their aim, and to hear the colonel say "Good!" was reward enough. One of his troopers who was disabled and brought home answered a reporter who asked if the colonel was a good fighter: "A fighter? You'd give a lifetime to see that man leading a charge or to hear him yell. Talk about courage and grit, and all that — he's got it. Why I used to keep my eye on him whenever I could, and I've seen him dash into a hail of bullets, cheering and yelling all the time, as if possessed. He doesn't know what fear is and seems to bear a charmed life. All the Rough Riders adore him." WOULD FOLLOW HIM TO HADES. Colonel Roosevelt was hit by a fragment of shell on San Juan Hill. A trooper who was on the ground, said: "Teddy was with four or five other officers j ust below the brow of a hill upon which one of our batteries was placed, when a Spanish shell, well aimed, flew over the crest and exploded j ust above the heads of the group. Two of the officers were painfully wounded, but Teddy, with his usual good luck, escaped with a cut on the back of his right hand. It was trivial, but it bled. I shall never forget the delight on Teddy's face when he saw his own blood leak out. Whipping out his handkerchief after a moment he bound it around his hand. A little later when he was near our line he held up his bandaged hand and said gaily, 'See here, boys ; I've got it, too.' "I never saw anybody so anxious to be in the thick of the trouble as Teddy. The first day the Rough Riders were held in reserve he chafed terribly. He kept saying, 'I wish they'd let us start.' We all idolized Teddy. He wears a flannel shirt most of the time, and refuses to fare any better than his men. Wiry, he wouldn't have a shelter-tent when they were distributed. There isn't one of our fellows who wouldn't follow Teddy to Hades if he ordered us to." 132 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. General Wheeler said of the colonel on his return from Cuba: " Roosevelt is a born fighter, and his men were absolutely de- voted to him. While we were together on board the transport I had an opportunity of observing Roosevelt more closely than was possible in the hustle and excitement of the camp. What impres- sed me most about him was his absolute integrity." Here is what Sergeant Judson, Co. E, First Illinois Volun- teers, wrote under date of Santiago, July 30th: " The Rough Riders and our regiment have for a week camped together. They are a fine body of men, and Colonel Roosevelt is a fine fellow. I have talked to him personally three times. He is one of the boys. In the campaign against Santiago he was digging trenches with a pick, like his men. He sleeps in a miserable tent and chews hardtack like the rest, When we first came our food consisted of one piece of hardtack for each meal, and some water. " This lasted two days, and along came Roosevelt on his horse. I was on my way to cut some grass to sleep on. He stopped me and said, 'I know you boys are starved for food, but I am going to do what I can for you. So far I have managed to get some coffee and a number of cases of hardtack, which will start you. We are going to fight together, and I want to see you all in good trim.' If it wasn't for him I am sure we would have been without supplies much longer." Thus it will be seen that hunger was often added to the hardships experienced by our brave troops before Santiago. It would occasionally happen that, owing to the difficulty of trans- porting supplies, the men could obtain only scanty rations. A humorous allusion to this, and to the ravenous appetite caused thereby, is found in the following doggerel, entitled A ROUGH RIDER AT HOME. My pa's a great Rough Rider, He was one of Teddy's men, And he fought before El Caney In the trenches and the fen. He came home sore and wounded, ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 133 And I wish you'd see him eat; He's got an appetite, I guess, Is pretty hard to beat. It's eat and eat and eat And it's sleep and sleep and sleep, For ma won't let us make no noise, And so we creep and creep. O, we bade him welcome home, And we're glad he wasn't killed — But, gee ! he's got an appetite That never will be filled. He says he caught the fever, And he had the ague, too; And he kind o' got the homesicks And the waitin' made him blue. But when he reached the station And we saw him from the gate We were the happiest family You could find in all the State. A great deal of interest attaches to Roosevelt's famous charge up San Juan hill, when his brigade performed deeds of valor that would have done credit to Napoleon's Old Guard. Here is the account of it given in the press despatches : LEADING HIS GALLANT SOLDIERS. " Roosevelt was in the lead, waving his sword. Out into the open and up the hill, where death seemed certain, in the face of the continuous crackle of the Mausers, came the Rough Riders with the Tenth Cavalry alongside. Not a man flinched, all con- tinuing to fire as they ran. Roosevelt was a hundred feet ahead of his troops, yelling like a Sioux, while his own men and the colored cavalry cheered him as they charged up the hill. There was no stopping as men's neighbors fell, but on they went, faster and faster. Suddenly Roosevelt's horse stopped, pawed the air for a moment, and fell in a heap. Before the horse was down Roose- velt disengaged himself from the saddle and landing on his feet, again yelled to his men, and, sword in hand, charged on foot." 134 ROOSEVELT S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. The valor of that day has been commemorated in the follow- ing spirited lines: # BEFORE SANTIAGO. Who cries that the days of daring are those that are faded far,* That nevei a light burns planet-bright to be hailed as the hero's star? Let the deeds of the dead be laureled, the brave of the elder years, But a song, we say for the men of to-day who have proved themselves theii peers ! High in the vault of the tropic sky is the garish eye of the sun, And down with its crown of guns a-frown looks the hill-top to be won ; There is the trench where the Spaniard lurks, his hold and his hiding place, And he who would cross the space between must meet death face to face. The olack mouths belch and thunder, and the shrapnel shrills and flies ; Where are the fain and the fearless, the lads with the dauntless eyes ? Will the moment find them wanting ! Nay, but with valor stirred ! Like the leashed hound on the coursing-ground they wait but the warning word. "Charge ! " and the line moves forward, moves with a shout and a swing, While sharpc far than the cactus-thorn is the spiteful bullet's sting. Now they are out in the open, and now they are breasting the slope, While into the eyes of death they gaze as into the eyes of hope. Never they wait nor waver, but on they climb and on, With " Up with the flag of the stripes and stars, and down with the flag of the Don !" What should they bear through the shot-rent air but rout to the ranks of Spain, For the blood that throbs in their hearts is the blood of the boys of Anthony Wayne ! See, they have taken the trenches ! Where are f he foemen ? Gone ! And now " Old Glory " waves in the breeze from the heights of San Juan ! And so, while the dead are laureled, the brave of the elder years, A song, we say, for the men of to-day who have proved themselves their peers ! Clinton Scollard. ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 135 An incident may be here related which vividly shows the esteem, amounting almost to adoration, in which Colonel Roose- velt was held by regulars as well as volunteers. He received the admiration always accorded a man who is every inch a soldier. Among the United States regulars whose term of enlistment expired during the Santiago campaign, and who quit the service upon returning to this country, was a man of the Ninth Infantry, known to the members of the regiment as Johnson of Maryland. He was a tall, lanky Southerner, and the pride of the Ninth be- cause of his marksmanship, which was so true that Johnson was head and shoulders over all the others in handling a Krag- Jorgensen. STORY OF PRIVATE JOHNSON. He appeared to be the most contented man in Uncle Sam's service, and often spoke of re-enlisting until an event occurred just after the first day's fighting at San Juan which caused him to change his mind, and he vowed never to handle a gun again. He would never speak of it to his comrades, but they all knew why he quit ; and although they argued and tried to persuade him to remain, Johnson only shook his head and said, " No, boys, I can't stay with you any longer. I'd like to, but don't ask me again. I can't do it. I must get out." One of the members of Johnson's company tells the story of what caused the Ninth to lose its crack shot. " We had been engaged in the hottest kind of work for some hours, and after taking the first line of Spanish trenches we were fixing them up for our own use. The Spaniards had been driven back, but their sharpshooters were still at it, picking off our men here and there. The Mauser bullets were whizzing around us pretty lively, and I noticed that Johnson was getting more and more impatient every minute, and acting as if he was just aching to get at those Spanish sharpshooters, and finally he turned to me, and, in his drawling tone, said: 'Say, it's tough we can't get a chance at them.' u He soon go* his chance, however, for just as dusk began 136 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. our captain ordered a dozen of us to advance a short distance ahead and well beyond the trenches our forces had captured. When we arrived on the spot we were halted on the edge of a dense wood. Just ahead of us was an open space of clear ground, and on the other side of that a low, thick brush which extended as far as I could see. "Just before night came on we received our final orders, which were to pay particular attention to the brush just ahead of us on the other side of the clearing, and to shoot at the first head we saw. We had settled down to our tiresome occupation of watching and waiting, but always prepared for anything, and Johnson and I were talking in low tones of the day's fighting we had just passed through when we heard the sound of a dry twig breaking. We were alert in an instant, and all the men in our line were looking straight ahead with pieces half raised, ready for use. As I looked at Johnson I could see him smile, apparently with the hope of a chance to shoot. The sound repeated itself, this time a little nearer, but still quite indistinct. MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FATAL MISTAKE. "An instant later we again heard it, and it sounded directly ahead of Johnson and me, and was, beyond a doubt, a cautious tread, but too heavy for a man. While we waited in almost breathless silence for something to happen we again heard the cautious tread, now quite plain. It was the tread of a horse and was just ahead of us. Suddenly, as the head became plainer, a dark object appeared just above the top of the brush. Dozens of guns were raised, but Johnson whispered: 'I've got him.' " He crawled a few paces forward and we saw him raise his gun, his fingers nervously working" on the trigger. At that in- stant the brush parted and a horse and rider stepped out. We saw Johnson stretch out his piece and we expected to see a flash, but just then the rider turned in his saddle, and by the dim light from the dull red glow that still tinged the sky we saw a pair of eyeglasses flash. We all knew at once who it was, but not one of us spoke. We were probably too horrified, and before I could say ROOSEVELT S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 137 a word Johnson turned to me, and with a look on his face I shal? never forget, exclaimed, in a hoarse voice : " ' My God, Ben; it's Roosevelt! And I nearly plucked him I' "With this he threw his gun from him and just sat there and stared at the place in the brush where Colonel Roosevelt and his horse had entered. The latter, when he heard the voices of our men, came straight up to us, and appeared surprised to find us so far beyond the trench. When he heard of the orders about shooting at the first head we saw, he smiled and said : ' ' That is the first I've heard of the orders. They were prob- ably issued while I was away doing a little reconnoitering on my own hook.' " HEAVY LOSSES OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. Mention has already been made of the gallant conduct of the regulars in the engagements before Santiago, yet it is but truth to say that the Rough Riders were in the thick of every fight, and the official reports show that they lost more officers than any of the regulars, and sustained casualties greater in number and more severe than fell to the lot of any other regiment. They lost more in killed, had more disabled by wounds and had fewer missing. All authorities agree that owing to the nature of the ground, the extreme heat and other circumstances our troops had very hard fighting. This is evident from what General Wheeler says in his book on "The Santiago Campaign." "As we rode for the first time into Santiago," he says, "we were struck by the excellent manner in which the Spanish lines were fortified, and more especially by the formidable defenses with which they had barricaded the roads. The one in question, on which we were traveling, was barricaded in no less than four places, said defenses consisting of an enormous mass of barbed iron wire, stretched across the entire width of the road. They were not merely single lines of wire, but pieces running perpendicularly, diagonally, horizontally, and in every other direction, resembling nothing so much as a huge thick spider web with an enormous mass in the center. 138 ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. " Behind this some ten or fifteen feet were barrels of an extraordinary size, filled with sand, stones and concrete, on the tops of which sand bags were placed in such fashion as to leave small holes through which the Spaniards could sight their guns. It would, indeed, have been a hard task for American troops, were they ever so brave and courageous, to have taken by storm a city which was protected by such defenses as these. Nothing short of artillery could have swept such obstructions out of the way, and even then they would have been more or less effective because of the narrowness of the road and the high banks on each side, which would have prevented getting the obstructions out of the way. " Kven the streets were intrenched in similar fashion, the people taking refuge in the upper stories of their houses. Had it come to a hand-to-hand fight, as at one time was feared, the American troops would have suffered a fearful loss, being neces- sarily placed at such a disadvantage. It was fortunate, therefore, that the surrender came when it did ; for otherwise many a brave boy who has returned to resume his avocations of peace, or to do his duty as a soldier in his native land, would have found his last resting-place on Cuban soil." TWO DAYS IN A MUDDY DITCH. An appreciative biographer of Roosevelt relates the following: " A young lieutenant tells an incident of a night in the trenches which illustrates the power which Roosevelt had over his men and how he managed to hold it. It was the night of the Spanish sortie on the captured trenches. The Rough Riders had lain for forty- eight hours in the muddy ditch, sweltering by day, shivering by night. At the hour of early morning the Spaniards appeared in a dense, dark line at the top of the hill. The men in the trenches stirred uneasily. Tired and discouraged, chilled to the bone, they were ready to bolt at a signal or a movement from anyone. But suddenly they saw Colonel Roosevelt walking calmly along the top of the intrenchment, with a faded blue handkerchief flapping from his hat. " He seemed to be oblivious of the rain of Mauser bullets ROOSEVELT'S BRILLIANT RECORD IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 139 which were falling about him, and was apparently as unconscious of danger as if he were strolling in the woods on a summer's day. But the effect of his coolness on the men was remarkable. A cheer went up, and every one was calling to the colonel to come down out of danger. The restlessness was over, and the drooping spirits of the men gave place to grim determination to prove as heroic as their leader. A cowboy lieutenant said : ' That was the bravest thing I ever saw in my life.' " The lack of food proved a trial to the Rough Riders after the surrender of Santiago. In his official report to the War Depart- ment, Colonel Roosevelt said : ONLY HALF FIT FOR DUTY. "On the 17th the city surrendered. On the 18th we shifted camp, but the march under the noonday sun told very heavily on our men, weakened by underfeeding and overwork, and the next morning one hundred and twenty-three cases were reported to the doctor, and I now have but half of the six hundred men with which I landed four weeks ago fit for duty, and these are not fit to do anything like the work they could do then. As we had but one wagon, the change necessitated leaving much of my stuff behind, with a night of discomfort, with scanty shelter, and scanty food for most of the officers and many of the men. Only the possession of the impoverished pack train saved us from being worse. " Yesterday I sent in a detail of six officers and men to see if they could not purchase or make arrangements for a supply of proper food and proper clothing for the men, even if we had to pay for it out of our own pockets. Our suffering had been due prim- arily to lack of transportation and of proper food or sufficient clothing and of medical supplies. We should now have wagon sheets for tentage. " Very respectfully, 11 Theodore Roosevelt." CHAPTER X MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. Popular Demand Compels Roosevelt's Nomination — Party Leaders Fall into Line — Senator Depew's Nominating Speech in the Convention — Roosevelt Makes Speeches Throughout the State — Elected by a Handsome Plur- ality—His Inaugural Address — Legislation Enacted by His Recommendation — A Popular hero. MR. ROOSEVELT'S achievements in the war were such as to greatly increase the respect felt for him, not only in his native State, but in every part of our country. His name became a househcld word; his valor and courage in battle created uni- versal comment ; his considerate care and kindness shown towards the brave men exposed to pestilence in Cuba, and his prompt, en- ergetic way of doing whatever needed to be done, all united to render him a sort of popular idol. Moreover, he had distinguished himself in every public office he had held. His freedom from even the suspicion of corruption, his lofty aims and endeavors, his thorough honesty and the pos- session of those noble qualities which separate the true statesman from the mere politician, appealed strongly to his fellow citizens, and made them feel that he was a man who could not be spared, and should not be allowed to retire to private life. Even before the surrender of Santiago in July there were unmistakable evidences that Roosevelt was his party's choice for Governor. This sentiment was soon made plain by the conversa- tion of men ou the street, by interviews in the press with promi- nent party leaders, and by the loud acclaim with which his name was greeted on every public occasion where it was mentioned. The sentiment in favor of his nomination gathered force day by day. Buttons decorated with his portrait found a ready market, with a host of voters to wear them, including especially young men. 140 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 141 Governor Frank S. Black had been elected two years previously by an immense plurality. If precedent and success counted for anything he should receive the nomination the second time. The masses of the people, however, were becoming restless. Much was said about " boss rule," and the disposition to revolt against the "machine" created alarm among the party leaders. Many of the "machine" supporters opposed the nomination of Roosevelt. He was not sufficiently pliable. He could not be trusted to do anything out of the line of what was his strict duty. Was he not independent, set in his views and resolute in maintaining them ? Did he not have a mind of his own, and respectfully decline to borrow the mind of anybody else ? Had he not shown a most lamentable disrespect for machine politicians when he was a member of the Legislature, Civil Service Commis- sioner, and president of the Police Board of New York ? Such a man as that for Governor ? Why, the thing was preposterous. WANTED BY THE RANK AND FILE. .But the personal characteristics and the public record that caused some of the party leaders to oppose his nomination, were among the chief reasons why the rank and file of his party wished to elevate him to the highest office in the State. In the nominating convention there was but one other candidate besides himself. Governor Black was not unconscious of Mr. Roosevelt's popularity, but he determined to secure the nomination if possible. His friends supported him faithfully, yet all their efforts failed to stay the tide that had been running for weeks in Roosevelt's favor. Judge J. R. Cady, of Hudson, nominated Governor Black, but failed to awaken any enthusiasm for his candidate. The speech of Senator Depew, placing Mr. Roosevelt in nomination, was so appreciative and graceful, and withal so just a tribute to the man, that we present it here entire : " Gentlemen : Not since 1863 has the Republican party met in convention when the conditions of the country were so interest- ing or so critical. Then the emancipation of President Lincoln, 142 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. giving freedom and citizenship to fonr millions of slaves, brought about a revolution in the internal policy of our government which seemed to multitudes of patriotic men full of the gravest dangers to the republic, The effect of the situation was the sudden and violent sundering of the ties which bound the past to the present and the future. New problems were precipitated upon our states- men to solve, which were not to be found in the text-books of the schools, nor in the manuals of traditions of Congress. The one courageous, constructive party which our politics has known for half a century, solved those problems so successfully that the regenerated and disenthralled republic has grown and pros- pered under this new birth of liberty beyond all precedent and every prediction. " Now as then, the unexpected has happened. The wildest dream ever born of the imagination of the most optimistic believer in our destiny could not foresee when McKinley was elected two years ago the on-rushing torrent of events of the past three months. We are either to be submerged by this break in the dikes erected by Washington about our government, or we are to find by the wise utilization of the conditions forced upon us* how to be safer and stronger within our old boundaries, and to add in- calculably to American enterprise and opportunity by becoming masters of the sea, and entering with the surplus of our manufac- tures the markets of the world. NEW EVENTS AND PROBLEMS. " We cannot retreat or hide. We must 'ride the waves and direct the storm.' A war has been fought and won, and vast possessions new and far away, have been acquired. In the short space of one hundred and thirteen days politicians and parties have been forced to meet new questions and to take sides upon startling issues. The face of the world has been changed. The maps of yesterday are obsolete. Columbus, looking for the Orient and its fabled treasures, sailed four hundred years ago into tb» landlocked harbor of Santiago, and to-day his spirit sees his bones resting under the flag of a new and great country which MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 143 has found the way and conquered the outposts, and is knocking at the door of the farthest Hast. " The times require constructive statesmen. As in 1776 and 1865, we need architects and builders. A protective tariff, sound money — the gold standard, the retirement of the government from the banking business, and State issues are just as important as ever. Until three months ago to succeed we would have had to satisfy the voters of the soundness and wisdom of our position on these questions. The cardinal principles of the Republican policy will be the platform of this canvass and of future ones. " But at this juncture the people have temporarily put every- thing else aside and are applying their whole thought to the war with Spain and its consequences. We believe that they think and will vote that our war with Spain was just and righteous. We cannot yet say that American constituencies have settled convictions on territorial expansion and the government of distant islands and alien races. We can say that Republican opinion glories in our victories and follows the flag. ROOSEVELT FOR GOVERNOR. " The resistless logic of events overcomes all other consider- ations and impels me to present the name of, as it will persuade you to nominate as our candidate for Governor of the State of New York, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. If he were" only the hero of a brilliant charge on the battlefield, and there was nothing else which fitted him for this high place, I would not put him in nomi- nation. "But Colonel Roosevelt has shown conspicuous ability in the public service for ten years. He was a soldier three months. It is not time which tells with an executive mind and restless energy like Roosevelt's, but opportunity. Give him the chance and he leads to victory. He has held two positions which generally ruin the holder of them with politicians and the unthinking. One was Civil Service Commissioner and the other Police Commissioner for New York City. So long as the public did not understand him there was plenty of lurid language and gnashing of teeth. 144 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. "The people are always just in the end. Let them know everything that can be said about a man and see all the search- light of publicity will reveal and their verdict is the truth. When the smoke had cleared away from the batteries of abuse they saw the untouched and unharmed figure of a public-spirited, broad- minded, and courageous officer, who understood official responsi- bility to mean the performance without fear or favor of the work he had promised to do and obedience to the laws he had sworn to support. The missiles from those batteries flew past him as in- nocously as did the bullets from the Spanish Mausers on the hill of San Juan. "When he became Assistant Secretary of the Navy he was in a sphere more congenial to his genius and abilities. He is a better soldier than he is a policeman. Life on the plains had broadened his vision and invigorated his youth. Successful ex. cursions into the literature of the ranch, and the hunting for big game had opened up for him the present resources and boundless possibilities of the United States. RESOLVES TO FORM A REGIMENT. " He was fortunately under the most accomplished, able, generous, and indulgent chief in Secretary Long. A small man would have been jealous of this dynamitic bundle of brains, nerves, energy, and initiative, but our distinguished Secretarj^ gave full scope to his brilliant assistant. The country owes much to him for the efficiency and splendid condition of our Navy. "The wife of a cabinet officer told me that when Assistant Secretary Roosevelt announced that he had determined to resign and raise a regiment for the war, some of the ladies in the admin- istration circle thought it their duty to remonstrate with him. They said : 'Mr. Roosevelt, you have six children, the 3 T oungest a few months old. While the country is full of young men who have no such responsibilities and are eager to enlist, you have no right to leave the burden upon your wife of the care, support, and bringing up of that family.' Roosevelt's answer was a Roosevelt answer : 'I have done as much as any one to bring on this war, MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 145 because I believed it must come, and the sooner the better, and now that war is declared I have no right to ask others to do the fighting and stay at home myself.' "The regiment of rough riders was an original American suggestion, to demonstrate that patriotism and indomitable courage are common to all conditions of American life. The same great qualities are found under the slouch hat of the cowboy, and the elegant imported tile of New York's gilded youth. Their man- ner sms are the veneers of the West and the Bast ; their manhood is the same. "In that hot, and pest-cursed climate of Cuba officers had op- portunities for protection from miasma and fever which were not possible for the men. But the Rough Riders endured no hard- ships nor dangers which were not shared by their colonel. He helped them dig the ditches ; he stood beside them in the deadly dampness of the trenches. No floored tent for him if his comrades must sleep on the ground and under the sky. CHARGED IN ADVANCE OF HIS MEN. "In that world-famed charge of the Rough Riders through the hail of shot and up the hill of San Juan, their colonel was a hundred feet in advance. The bullets whistling by him are rap- idly thinning the ranks of these desperate fighters. The colonel trips and falls and the line wavers, but in a moment he is up again, waving his sword, climbing and shouting. He bears a charmed life. He clips the barbed wire fence and plunges through, yelling 'Come on, boys ; come on, and we will lick hell out of them.' The moral force of that daring cowed and awed the Spaniards, and they fled from their fortified heights and Santiago was ours. "Colonel Roosevelt is the typical citizen-soldier. The sani- tary condition of our army in Cuba might not have been known for weeks through the regular channels of inspection and report to the various departments. Here the citizen in the colonel overcame the official routine reticence of the soldier. His graphic letter to the government and the round robin he initiated brought suddenly and sharply to our attention the frightful dangers of dis- 10— T.B. 146 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. ease and death, and resulted in our boys being brought immedi- ately home. He may have been subject to court martial for vio- lating the articles of war, but the humane impulses of the people gave him gratitude and applause. "It is seldom in political conflicts, when new and unexpected issues have to be met and decided, that a candidate can be found who personifies the popular and progressive side of those issues. Representative men move the masses to enthusiasm and are more easily understood than measures. Lincoln, with his immortal declaration, made at a time when to make it insured his defeat by Douglas for the United States Senate, that 'a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free,' embodied the anti- slavery doctrine. HERO OF THE HOUR. "Grant, with Appomattox and the parole of honor to the Con- federate Army behind him, stood for the perpetuity of union and liberty. McKinley, by his long and able advocacy of its princi- ples, is the leading spirit for the protection of American industries. For this year, for this crisis, for the voters of the Empire State, for the young men of the country and the upward, onward, and outward trend of the United States, the candidate of candidates is the hero of Santiago, the idol of the Rough Riders — Colonel Theodore Roosevelt." Enthusiastic cheering followed Senator Depew's eloquent speech. It was plain that Roosevelt was the hero of the hour. Other speeches in behalf of both candidates were made, and when the result of the balloting was announced, Judge Cady rose and said : " On behalf of Governor Frank S. Black and on behalf of every delegate who voted for him in this convention, I say they will stand by the nomination of Colonel Roosevelt as he stood by the country. We will not be in the reserve forces, but we will be at the front and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of you and push Colonel Roosevelt into the executive chair by a tremendous majority. More than that we will take the executive MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 147" chair for Colonel Roosevelt as he took as a Rough Rider the heights of San Juan." The vote of the convention was 753 for Roosevelt and 218 for Black. The nomination of the hero of Santiago was made unanimous amidst cheers that shook the building where the dele- gates were assembled. It was believed that never before in the State of New York had a political convention done a better piece of work. If the friends of Governor Black felt some disappointment over the outcome of the convention they wisely concealed it, and yielded their personal preferences to the will of the majority. Republicans in the State of New York and throughout the country gave hearty response to the nomination. Mr. Roosevelt was invulnerable against all attacks on the ground of political dishonesty or incapacity. Young as he was he had shown great ability as a public official, and it was believed he was more than equal to the situation. When told that people thought he would make a good Governor, his modest reply was, " I will try." A MAN WITH A LEVEL HEAD. This answer was characteristic of the man. The repeated honors thrust upon him have never turned his head. Having no element of self-conceit in his composition, and being in no sense a victim of pride, he busies himself, not with his own successes, but with the duties and responsibilities of his office. The nomina- tion for Governor came in the natural order of events. He had worked up to it by his own efforts for better government, and it did not take him by surprise. If he had been defeated in the con- vention he would not have berated his party, but would have proved his loyalty by ardently supporting the nominee. No loud hurrah characterized the beginning of the campaign that followed his nomination. It was almost taken for granted that he would be elected, and that no special effort to this end was needed. A very respectable candidate was put in the field by the opposing party, one comparatively unknown, and therefore one against whom little could be said. Mr. Roosevelt was not dis- posed to take any chances, and at once prepared to wage an active 148 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. campaign. Although the Democratic nominee, Augustus Van Wyck, was not likely to draw to himself the independent vote, it was thought that he would receive the vote of his party, and this would make him a formidable antagonist. ROOSEVELT ON THE STUMP. Mr. Roosevelt prepared to stump the State. The people waited for his coining. He was the man they wished to see and hear. Mr. Odell, chairman of the Republican State Committee, and afterward Governor, rather objected to Mr. Roosevelt's plan of making a tour through the State, yielding only when it was found that no other speaker could satisfy the demand of the peo- ple to meet the leader of the Rough Riders face to face. When it was known that he was to appear at any town there was an im- mense outpouring of the people to greet him. He passed rapidly from place to place, addressed the crowds from the rear platform of his car, and made in all about three hundred speeches. They were sharp, incisive, right to the point, and admirably adapted to the average intelligence of those who heard him. In a speech at Utica he made these significant statements : " My opponents ask you to vote only as New Yorkers. I ask you to vote as New Yorkers ; I ask you to remember every State issue ; I ask you to keep in mind carefully every matter concern- ing the welfare of New York. "But I ask you also to remember that you are not only New Yorkers, but Americans, that you have interests not only in the State but in the Union — which is greater than any State — that your welfare is bound up with the welfare of the nation, and that the honor of each man of you is sensitive to the honor of the flag. "I ask you to remember that you cannot, if you would, help letting your ballots this fall have their effect throughout the Union. You cannot vote a half ballot. You cannot put a caveat on your ballot that will only be heard of in the State of New York. "As New York goes on November 8th, so the friends of honest finance, the believers in national honor throughout thr Union will be elated or cast down." MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 149 The election in November gave Mr. Roosevelt a plurality of 18,079. A very considerable part of the vote he received was a personal tribute to his sterling qualities as a man, a public official and a patriot who was ready to place his country above every other consideration. On the 31st of December, 1898, he took the oath of office at the capitol in Albany, and on Monday, January 2d, was inaug- urated as the 36th Governor of New York, thus taking his place in a line of distinguished men that runs back to 1777, at which time the State constitution was adopted. The inauguration cere- mony was held in the Assembly Chamber at 11 o'clock. Mr. Black, the retiring Governor, made a felicitous address of welcome to the new executive. The first message of Governor Roosevelt was sent to the Legislature on January 4th. It bore all the evidences of his thoughtful mind and scholarly attainments. GOVERNOR'S FIRST MESSAGE. He touched upon the Civil Service as follows : " The methods of appointment to the civil service of the State are now in utter confusion, no less than three great systems being in effect — one in the City of New York, one in other cities, and one in the State at large. I recommend that a law be passed introducing one uniform practice for the entire State, and providing, as required by the Constitution, for the enforcement of civil service regulations in the State and its subdivisions." On the labor question he declared : " The development in extent and variety of industries has necessitated legislation in the interest of labor. This legislation is not necessarily against the interests of capital ; on the contrary, if wisely devised it is for the benefit of both laborers and employers. We have very wisely passed many laws for the benefit of labor, in themselves good, and for the time being, sufficient; but experience has shown that the full benefit of these laws is not obtained through the lack of proper means of enforcing them and the failure to make any one department responsible for their enforcement." 150 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. The Governor also had something to say concerning the late war : " We are not merely New Yorkers. We are Americans ; and the interests of all Americans, whether from the North, the South, the East or the great West, are equally dear to the men of the Em- pire State. As we grow into a mighty nation, which, whether it will or not, must inevitably play a great part for good or for evil in the affairs of the world at large, the people of New York wish it under- stood that they look at all questions of American foreign policy from the most thoroughly national standpoint." It soon became evident that a man of unusual vigor was in the Governor's chair. He had no idea of being a mere figure-head, or a tool of men who had " axes to grind." He saw abundant oc- casion for many changes and reforms in the State laws, and for the enactment of special legislation to correct old abuses. He went about the work in his own energetic way, and even those who did not altogether approve the measures he proposed could not doubt but his one aim was to promote the public welfare and render the best service to all interests affected by State legislation. IMPROVING CONDITION OF THE POOR. He gave all the aid possible to the Tenement Commission that had for its object the closing of sweat-shops and improving the condition of the poor. There were grievous evils from which the people in tenement house districts were suffering, and persistent efforts were made to abolish these and better the social, sanitary and moral condition of the localities in large cities which were most crowded with population. Mr. Roosevelt was again confronted with the old chronic prob- lem of the police force of New York. Laws had been enacted apparently for the purpose of defeating themselves. Whether from stupidity or chicanery the enactments were such that it was almost impossible to effect any change for the better in the administration of the police force. Responsibility could be placed upon no one, and at this vital part of city government there was almost com- plete paralysis. Senator Piatt seconded the Governor's efforts to mend matters by advocating the measures proposed, but through MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 151 the apathy and neglect of Republican Senators the proposed en- actments failed to carry. Governor Roosevelt succeeded in reforming the administra- tion of the canals, by making the Canal Commission non-partisan. He also applied the merit system to county offices, thereby greatly improving the civil service. But the Governor soon showed that he was gunning for bigger game. The great wealthy corporations of New York, holding val- uable franchises, had long taken advantage of some legal techni- cality and escaped paying taxes. Mr. Roosevelt claimed that the State was defrauded, that these corporations were legitimate sub- jects for taxation, and that to exempt them and compel the people to pay the large share of taxation that properly belonged to these institutions was nothing less than public robbery. It soon became evident that he had the hottest kind of a fight on hand. Fierce opposition was aroused, both within his own party and without, and the most active and powerful agencies combined to compass his defeat. CORPORATIONS BROUGHT TO TERMS. A cry went up like that which greeted Paul at Ephesus, " Great is Diana of the Bphesians," and men ran to and fro declar- ing that their craft was in danger. The corporations had been so long undisturbed that they resented any demands made upon them as almost an infringement of their vested rights. But Governor Roosevelt called an extra session of the Legislature and secured the passage of a bill, which, if it was not as drastic and compre- hensive as he wished, established the principle of street franchise legislation. By reason of this notable victory the State was many million dollars richer, and the burdens of taxation that had been borne by the poor and people in moderate circumstances were rendered so much the lighter. The struggle thus ended was one of the fiercest ever fought to a conclusion. Although the object sought was a fair and just equalization of taxes between the rich and poor, every possible scheme, every influence that could be commanded, and every 152 MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. appeal that could be made to sordid and selfish motives, were employed to block legislation and defeat justice. This one act on the Governor's part was hailed by the people of the State with the greatest satisfaction and added to a popularity that was already great. It was during his term of office that Admiral Dewey returned from Manila to receive a welcome such as has seldom been accorded to any hero. New York was crowded with visitors from near and far who had come to witness the celebration of our naval victory in the Philippines and do honor to the famous commander who had won it. Both the Army and Navy were splendidly represented in the procession. Gay uniforms, fluttering plumes and flags, strains of thrilling music and the appearance of the nation's most renowned defenders, all conspired to form a specta- cle that would live forever in the memory of those who witnessed it. There was every demonstration of patriotic delight — tumul- tuous shouts and cheers, fluttering handkerchiefs, waving hats, loud huzzas from hundreds of thousands of excited spectators. GREAT POPULAR DEMONSTRATION. After the brilliant uniforms and shining equipments had passed there came a man in plain citizen's dress, mounted on a steady and not remarkably showy horse, his form erect and his kindly face sending back a greeting to the roar of plaudits that accompanied him at every step. From one end of the line \> the other there was an enthusiastic and continuous demonstra- tion that cannot be portrayed. All this loud acclaim, this magnificent welcome, told better than words can of the hearty admiration of the people for the hero of Santiago, the fearless reformer, the wise and brilliant statesman, the Governor of our greatest commonwealth, not more distinguished on account of his high office than for his sturdy virtues, his lofty ideals and noble manhood. It is said that people are always looking for a hero, someone whom they can idolize and worship. No weak man ever has been, or ever can be, thus enthroned in the hearts of the populace. A MR. ROOSEVELT ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 153 man, to be a hero, must have qualities that lift him above his fellows. He must especially be endowed with courage, that fear- less spirit which faces without flinching every danger, whether in battle or public life. He must be born to command; he must be distinguished by achievements which eclipse the dull glory of other men. Roosevelt has climbed to his high position by doing well and by faithfully performing his duty in every line of activity. This is the kind of man the republic is never slow to honor. CHAPTER XI ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. National Republican Convention of 1900 — Enthusiasm for Roosevelt — Refuses Nomination for Vice-President — Compelled to Yield to Emphatic Demand of the Dele- gates — Great Furor over His Nomination— Thrilling Extracts from His Speeches— Notified of His Nomina- tion—His Remarkable Tour in the Campaign— Elected by Enormous Plurality. WITH the usual accompaniments of excitement, bustle and enthusiasm the Republican National Convention as- sembled in Philadelphia, June 19, 1900. From all parts of the country, and even from Hawaii came delegates, and many others^ who, although not entitled to seats in the convention, counted themselves among the faithful, and were eager to be present on an occasion of such great moment. Public men, entitled to be ranked as veterans, and others of more recent celebrity, as well as many would-be statesmen who had not yet blossomed into fame, poured into the railway stations, thronged the streets and hotels, looked with veneration upon the sacred relics and memorials of the historic spot where our nation was born, and formed a part of the surging, shouting throng that crowded the immense building where the convention was held. This building was said to accommodate 15,000 persons; a more accurate estimate would be 18,000. At a point farthest from the platform, or even much nearer, the voices of the most stentorian speakers could scarcely be heard, and to a large part of the as- sembled thousands the proceedings of the convention were almost a ludicrous pantomine. The opinion was freely expressed that, as it was really inconvenient to have a convention hall that would take in the entire American people, a building of smaller diinen- 154 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 155 sions and less ambitious in the matter of size, would have been more sensible and better suited to an orderly, dignified assemblage. Long before the convention was called to order two certainties were plainly apparent. One was that President McKinley would be re-nominated by acclamation; the other was that the nomina- tion for Vice-President might be given to any one of six or eight candidates, each of whom had his friends and supporters. There was the usual number of favorite sons, all of whom were willing, at a sacrifice, to come to the country's rescue and accept the office next to the highest in the gift of the people. And so there was wire-pulling, electioneering, formations of cliques and combina- tions, and hurrying to and fro to convince delegates from the various other States and obtain pledges. It was not surmised at the time that all these plans, so nicely laid, would be blown away like chaff before the wind by the magic of one name that possessed an irresistible power. LARGER THAN HIS STATE. When Mr. Roosevelt arrived on the ground his presence had more meaning than that of any other man. He was Governor of New York, but was larger than his State. No territorial limits could bound and circumscribe the man. Neither Senator Wolcott with his fervid oratory, nor Depew with his brilliant wit and rounded periods, nor Lodge with his intellectual acuteness, noi Thurston or Fairbanks with their superb rhetoric, nor Secretary Long with his grand record, nor sturdy old Mark Hanna with his practical sense, counted for so much as the Rough Rider who stormed the hill of San Juan. An expression of popular senti- ment in favor of Roosevelt from all parts of the country, espe- cially the Middle West and West, came rushing in like the waves of the sea. There were those who would have been willing to place his name first on the ticket, but he was too loyal to his chief to tole- rate such a proceeding. Besides, he had some projects which, as Governor of New York, he wished to carry into effect, and he honestly felt that he could serve his party in no other way so well 156 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. as to seek a re-election as Governor, and continue the good work he had begun in the Empire State. He stubbornly refused at first to listen to the proposition to place his name on the national ticket, and was a good deal annoyed at the persistent clamor of those delegates who would not take no for an answer. The party leaders were not ignorant of his phenomenal pop- ularity. It was evident on the surface of political affairs and be- low the surface. They could not hide or ignore it. It knocked at their very doors; it thrust itself upon them at every turn. They wanted a running mate for McKinley who would not be a drag upon him, a man who would add strength to the ticket. The two shrewdest politicians in the United States, Senators Piatt and Quay, favored his nomination after they had carefully looked over the situation. He was too independent and headstrong to nod his subservience to any political "boss," and it was thought the Vice- Presidency would be a comfortable, easy berth for him where he would be harmless. HUNTING FOR A CANDIDATE. There were day conferences, evening conferences; and mid- night conferences to canvass the merits of the available candidates, but there was no escaping the fact that the Roosevelt sentiment was in the very air, and with all his firmness he had no power to resist it. Speaking of the nomination of some Vice-Presidential candi- dates previous to 1896, he said: " It will be noticed that most of these evils aiisefrom the fact that the Vice-President, under ordin- ary circumstances, possesses so little real power. He presides over the Senate, and he has in Washington a position of marked social importance; but his political weight as Vice- President is almost ml. There is always a chance that he may become Presi- dent. As this is only a chance it seems quite impossible to per- suade politicians to give it the proper weight. This certainly does not seem right. The Vice-President should, so far as possible, represent the same views and principles that have secured the nomination and election of the President; and he should be a man ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 157 trusted and able in the event of any accident to His chief, to take up the work of the latter just where it was left." When these words were spoken Mr. Roosevelt did not dream that he would ever be one who, by holding the office of Vice-Presi- dent, would have a chance to become President, and this view of the Vice-Presidency he held consistently at the very time when he was nominated at Philadelphia. That he thrust himself out of consideration and accepted the nomination against his own wishes and better judgment, is ample proof of his deference to the will of the people. It was not a question with him as to what he wished, but what the public wanted. He was a patriot when he drew his sword and led his brave regiment at Santiago; he was no less a patriot when he consented to accept an office that he did not want. BEGINS WITH A BRILLIANT PARADE. The convention began its sessions, June 19th, in Philadelphia. On the evening of the 18th there was a brilliant parade of 25,000 Republicans, comprising the Allied Clubs of Philadelphia, and various Republican organizations from near and distant cities, that had arrived to attend the convention. The route of the parade was made brilliant by colored lights, waving flags and bands playing patriotic music. On Tuesday, the 19th, Conven- tion Hall took on an animated appearance about 11 o'clock, when the seats surrounding the enclosure reserved for the delegates began to fill up. The delegates began arriving early, those from the Western and Southern States being the first to put in an appearance. A notable feature in the gathering of the delegates was the very orderly way in which the majority found their seats. Governor Roosevelt, Senator Depew, and National Chairman Hanna walked down the central aisle just at the noon hour, and were by far the leading characters of the gathering celebrities. Cheer after cheer rolled out over the great hall for Roosevelt, who found his chair close by Senator Piatt. Mr. Depew stood aside to allow Hanna to pass, and then took his place with the New Yorkers, sitting down with Roosevelt and Senator Brackitt of Saratoga. 158 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. Everybody in the hall rose en masse to greet the Rough Rider. The arrival of Governor Roosevelt was the occasion of the first lively scene in the hall. Instantly the Governor was recognized and a cheer went up which continued until the Rough Rider reached his seat. People stood on chairs and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the man who was believed to be the choice of the convention for Vice-President. The interest of the convention and that of the public centred in the proceedings of the third day. The preliminaries, includ- ing organization, adopting the platform and listening to lauda- tions of the party and its splendid achievements, occupied the first two days, and it only remained to make the nominations. On the morning of the third day, long before 10 o'clock, the hour set for the reassembling of the convention, the hall was surrounded by an immense army of people, who besieged all the doors and entrances, clamoring for admission. When the doors were opened they surged like a flood submerging the vast hall. STAGE A BIG BOUQUET. The stage had been freshened with green things, and at each corner, like a touch of flaming color, red peonies shot into the air. The band in the north gallery was at work early with inspiring music. It was much warmer than on preceding days. The sun blazed down through the space in the roof and the heat gave promise of being oppressive. But the ladies were attired in their thinnest muslins, everybody was provided with a fan, and there was no complaint. One old fellow in the gallery, with charming disregard of the proprieties, divested himself of coat and vest, hung them over the rail, and took his seat. Three minutes before 10 o'clock the Kansas delegation, headed by Colonel Barton, with bright silk sunflowers pinned to their lapels, aroused the first enthusiasm as they marched down the main aisle bearing a white banner inscribed in big black letters with the words " Kansas is for Roosevelt." As the dele- gates debouched into the pit the utmost good nature was mani- fested. The contest was over. It was to be a love feast, a jubilee* ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 150 and not a contest, which the day was to witness. Governor Roosevelt entered at exactly 10 o'clock. He made a rush for his seat, but he did not escape the keen eye of the thousands, and they set up a cheer at sight of him. One of the questions, as already stated, that agitated the convention from the start was, who should be the candidate for Vice-President. There was a strong, unanimous feeling in favor of Governor Roosevelt, of New York, but he repeatedly expressed his wish to have some other man selected, as he wished to be the nominee for Governor of the Empire State, and believed that in this capacity he could best serve the interests of the party at large. MANY CONFLICTING REPORTS. It was reported that the Administration at Washington had preferences for certain men. This again was contradicted, and there were so many conflicting reports that on the evening of the second day of the convention Senator Hanna, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, issued the following statement : " The Administration has had no candidate for Vice-President. It has not been for or against any candidate. It has deemed that the convention should select the candidate, and that has been my position throughout. It has been a free field for all. In these circumstances several eminent Republicans have been proposed ; all of them distinguished men, with many friends. I will now say that on behalf of all of those candidates, and I except none, I have within the last twelve hours been asked to give my advice. After consulting with as many delegates as possible in the time within my disposal, I have concluded to accept the responsibility involved in this request. In the present situation, with the strong and earnest sentiment of the delegates from all parts of the country for Governor Roosevelt, and since President McKinley is to be nominated without a dissenting voice, it is my judgment that Governor Roosevelt should be nominated for Vice- President with the same unanimity." 160 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. This announcement of Senator Hanna was made after a long consultation with many leaders of the party. He called the newspaper men into one of the rooms where the consultation had taken place and read from manuscript. The effect of this state- ment was to cause instant and unanimous agreement among the delegates for Roosevelt. Senator Foraker's nomination of President McKinley for a second term was a prelude to a thunderous storm of acclamations, which continued for upward of ten minutes, and it was fully fifteen minutes before the applause had so far subsided as to per- mit Governor Roosevelt to take the platform and second the nomination. Every noise that the human voice is capable of producing entered into the uproar — cheers, shrill and guttural and deep ; delirious ejaculations, born of excitement and nervousness, and that could never be made under ordinary pressure. MAGNIFICENT OVATION. When the only Vice-Presidential candidate, erect and burly of form and spectacled, rose briskly from his seat, it was the signal for more applause, which culminated in a magnificent ovation as, straight as an arrow, with head thrown back and shoulders squared as if on dress parade, the hero of San Juan faced the delegates and spectators to reinforce the arguments made by Foraker why William McKinley should be renominated. Having finally secured the attention of the Convention after many deprecating waves of his right hand, New York's chief executive proceeded to demonstrate that the Republican party had made no mistake in uniting upon him for second place on the ticket. The Rough Rider's seconding speech was. a masterful exhibition of mental, grammatical and physical virility. Roosevelt struck out straight from the shoulder, landing many blows calculated to jar the Democratic party. He went to the very core of the great ques- tions of the day with a directness that delighted his hearers. He closed his virile, masterly speech, seconding the nomina- tion of McKinley, as follows : "We stand on the threshold of a new century, a century big ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 161 with the fate of the great nations of the earth. It rests with us now to decide whether, in the opening years of that century, we shall march forward to fresh triumphs, or whether, at the outset, we shall deliberately cripple ourselves for the contest. Is America a weakling, to shrink from the world work that must be done by the world powers ? No. The young giant of the West stands on a continent that clasps the crest of an ocean in either hand. Our nation, glorious in youth and strength, looks into the future with fearless and eager eyes, aud rejoices as a strong man to run a race. We do not stand in craven mood, asking to be spared the task, cringing as we gaze on the contest. No. We challenge the proud privilege of doing the work that Providence allots us, and we face the coming years high of heart and resolute of faith that to our people is given the right to win such honor and renown as has never yet been granted to the peoples of mankind." ROOSEVELT PUT IN NOMINATION. The furor over the nomination of McKinley having subsided, the next in order was the nomination of Roosevelt for Vice-Presi- dent. Senator Depew, of New York, had been selected for this purpose. The favor with which he was regarded by the immense assemblage was shown in the loud calls that brought him to the platform. He was in his happiest mood. His speech, brim- ming over with eloquent passages, spicy sayings and pow- erful appeals, was like an explosion of fireworks, and kept the multitude in constant excitement and hilarity, which was evi- denced by loud and repeated cheers and acclamations. The enthusiasm for the hero of Santiago was at fever heat and no at- tempt was made to suppress it. The speech closed as follows : " We have the best ticket ever presented. (Applause.) We have at the head of it a Western man with Eastern notions, and we have at the other end an East- ern man with Western character. (Loud applause.) The statesman and the cowboy. The accomplished man of affairs and the heroic fighter. The man who has proved great as President, and the fighter who has proved great as Governor. (Applause.) We leave 11— T.B. 162 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. this old town simply to keep on shouting and working to make it unanimous for McKinley and Roosevelt." When the roll of States was called, it is needless to say every delegate voted for Roosevelt with one exception, and that was himself. A demonstration of the wildest and most enthusiastic character, and lasting half an hour, followed the announcement that Roosevelt was the nominee for Vice-President. Palms were waved, the standards of the various delegations were hurried to the platform, the band attempted to make itself heard amid the loud acclaim, processions of excited, cheering delegates marched up and down the aisles, the building rang with shouts and the popular New York Governor was congratulated by as many as could get within reach of him. OFFICIALLY NOTIFIED OF NOMINATION. Governor Roosevelt was officially notified of his nomination for the Vice-Presidency at his country home, Sagamore, near Oys- ter Bay. Shortly after 12 o'clock Senator Wolcott called the com- mittee to the porch. There in the cool shade of the awnings and vines he read the formal notification in his clear and resonant voice. When Senator Wolcott concluded Governor Roosevelt stepped a pace forward and replied. His voice was clear and firm, and as he proceeded there were numerous interruptions of ap- plause. He said : " Mr. Chairman : — I accept the honor conferred upon me with the keenest and deepest appreciatiou of what it means, and above all of the responsibility that goes with it. Everything that it is in my power to do will be done to secure the re-election of Presi- dent McKinley, to whom it has been given in this crisis of the national history to stand for and embody the principles which lie closest to the heart of every American worthy of the name. " This is very much more than a mere party contest. We stand at the parting of the ways, and the people have now to de- cide whether they shall go forward along the path of prosperity and high honor abroad, or whether they will turn their backs upon what has been done during the past three years ; whether they ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 163 will plunge this country into an abyss of misery and disaster, 01 what is worse than even misery and disaster — shame. " I feel that we have a right to appeal not merely to Re- publicans, but to all good citizens, no matter what may have beeu their party affiliations in the past, and to ask them on the strength of the record that President McKinley has made during the past three years, and on the strength of the threat implied in what was done at Kansas City a few days ago, to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, perpetuating the conditions under which we have reached a degree of prosperity never before attained in the nation's history and under which, abroad, we have put the American flag on a level where it never before in the history of the country has been placed. A FIGHT FOR THE HONOR OF THE FLAG. " For these reasons I feel we have a right to look forward with confident expectation to what the verdict of the people will be next November, and to ask all men to whom the well being of the country and the honor of the national name are dear, to stand with us as we fight for prosperity at home and the honor of the flag abroad." A round of applause broke out as the Governor concluded but he checked it instantly by saying : " Gentlemen, one moment, please. Here, Ned," he cried to Senator Wolcott, "this is not to the national committee, but I want to say this to my friends. Friends of my own State who are here, just let me say how I appreciate seeing so many of you here to-day. I want to say I am more than honored and pleased at having been made a candidate for Vice-President on the national ticket, but you cannot imagine how badly I feel at leaving the men with whom I have endeavored and worked for civic decency and righteousness and honesty in New York." Mr. Roosevelt entered, heart and soul, into the campaign that followed his nomination. He was the one "spell-binder" whc was in demand. The whole country wished to see and hear him. With a special train he traversed many States, faced millions of 164 ROOSEVELT NOMINATED FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. people, delivered speeches in wigwams and public halls, and from the rear end of his car addressed the multitudes who gathered wherever it was known he was to make a stop. He proved him- self to be a most effective campaign orator, as he had done before, and his personal efforts largely aided in securing the overwhelm- ing plurality by which he and McKinley were elected. His manner on the stump was hearty and cordial. His talks were plain, forcible, evidently sincere, and infused with good old- fashioned commonsense. He spoke because he had something worth saying. He did not come before people as a ranter, or a politician. Lofty views of American citizenship and the duties of every American toward his country, pervaded all his public utterances. His trip through the States, was like a triumphal progress, and the same enthusiasm that aroused the National Convention at the name of "Teddy" greeted him everywhere. CHAPTER XII SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. Secures the People's Confidence — Doubts Soon Dispelled — Sworn in as President— First Official Acts— Requests the Members of the Cabinet to Retain Office— Pathetic Scenes at Buffalo — New President to Continue the Policy of His Predecessor — An Estimate of His Character and Ability — Encounters at the Outset Grave Political Problems — Views Concerning Cuba and the Philippines. "PHE appalling tragedy that ended the life of President McKinley, I at the very summit of his fame and usefulness, summoned Mr. Roosevelt to the Presidency of the United States. It was a dark day for our country when the fatal shot was fired that struck down a President who was universally admired and beloved, and who, it was fondly thought, had not an enemy on earth. Instantly the nation turned to his successor with a feeling both of relief and apprehension. The vast responsibility and the call for the wisest statesmanship suddenly thrust upon him, and the fact that he was now to guide the destinies of the republic, caused grave fears in the minds of thoughtful people, and an anxiety which, under the circumstances, was but natural and in- evitable. At the same time, his public record was such as to go far toward creating the utmost confidence in his ability to cope with the sudden and extraordinary crisis. No one doubted the purity of his intentions, the honesty of his convictions, or his conscientious purpose to make good the loss sustained by the country, and to carry forward the policies advocated by his prede- cessor. Although some vague doubts were expressed, and men ques- tioned one another as to whether Mr. Roosevelt would prove equal to the emergency, there were no signs of panic in the world of 165 166 SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. finance, or slowing up of the wheels "of industry. With a self- confidence which has often been ridiculed as Yankee boasting, it was believed the country could take care of itself, and its new chief executive would superbly meet every demand. Public opin- ion was soon enlisted in his support, the timid ones were reassured, and the overwhelming sorrow and sense of bereavement that fol- lowed the assassination of one President gradually gave way to a feeling of thankfulness that another so competent and trustworthy was now at the head of our national affairs. HOPES SUDDENLY BLASTED. The mournful event that placed Mr. Roosevelt in the White House was as unexpected by him as it was by the nation at large. The crack of the assassin's pistol rang through the whole world with startling effect. No one was prepared for the thrilling tragedy. As is well known, hopes were entertained for President McKinley's recovery. For a whole week his condition was re- ported by the attending physicians as perfectly satisfactory, and there was every indication that his wound would not prove fatal. The bulletins expressed a hope that amounted almost to a certainty, and stated only a short time before his death, that all danger was past. The bullet had not been extracted, but the illustrious patient's symptoms and general condition gave every promise of complete recovery. Then came the sudden change for the worse. The ghastly reaper who strikes down rulers and peasants alike, with unpitying celerity made sure of his victim. Hope went out in darkness and delusive promises were mercilessly broken. The civilized world felt the shock. It was a time for awe and silence. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President of the United States at 3.36 o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday, Sep- tember 14th. Standing in a low-ceiled, narrow room in the quaint old mansion occupied by Ansley Wilcox, in the fashionable part of Delaware Avenue, the aristocratic thoroughfare of Buffalo, Mr. Roosevelt swore to administer the laws of the Government oJ which he is now the head. He stood erect, holding his right SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. 167 hand high above his head. His massive shoulders were thrown well back, as, with his head inclined a little forward, he repeated the form of the oath of office in clear, distinct tones, that fell impressively upon the ears of the forty-three persons grouped about the room, His face was a study in earnestness and determination, as he uttered the words which made him President of the United States. His face was much paler than it was wont to be, and his eyes, though bright and steady, gleamed mistily through his big-bowed gold spectacles. His attire was sombre and modest. A well-fit- ting worsted frock coat draped his athletic figure almost to the knees. His trousers were dark gray, with pinstripes. A thin skein of golden chain looped from the two lower pockets of his waistcoat. While he was waiting for the ceremony he toyed with this chain with his right hand. PICTURESQUE LITTLE ROOM. The place selected for the ceremony of taking the oath was the library of Mr. Wilcox's house, a rather small rooni, but pic- turesque, the heavy oak trimmings and the massive bookcases giving it somewhat the appearance of a legal den. A pretty bay window with stained glass and heavy hangings formed a back- ground, and against this the President took his position. Judge Hazel stood near the President in the bay window, and the latter showed his extreme nervousness by plucking at the lapel of his long frock coat and nervously tapping the hardwood floor with his heel. He stepped over once to Secretary Root, and for about five minutes they conversed earnestly. The question at issue was whether the President should first sign an oath of office and then swear in or whether he should swear in first and sign the document in the case after. At precisely 3.32 o'clock Secretary Root ceased his conversa- tion with the President, and, stepping back, while an absolute hush fell upon everyone in the room, said in an almost inaudible voice: " Mr. Vice-President, I " Then his voice broke, and for fully two minutes the tears came down his face and his ljps qiriv 168 SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. ered, so that he could not continue his utterances. There were sympathetic tears from those about him, and two great drops ran down either cheek of the successor of William McKinley. Mr. Root's chin was on his breast. Suddenly throwing back his head, as if with an effort, he continued in broken voice : " I have been requested, on behalf of the Cabinet of the late President, at least those who are present in Buffalo, all except two, to request that for reasons of weight affecting the affairs of government, you should proceed to take the constitutional oath of office of President of the United States." Judge Hazel had stepped to the rear of the President, and Mr. Roosevelt, coming closer to Secretar}?- Root, said, in a voice that at first wavered, but finally came deep and strong, while, as if to control his nervousness, he held firmly to the lapel of his coat with his right hand : M'KINLEY'S POLICIES TO BE CONTINUED. " I shall take the oath at once in accordance with your request, and in this hour of deep and terrible national bereavement I wish to state that it shall be my aim to continue absolutely unbroken the policy of President McKinley for the peace and prosperity and honor of our beloved country." The President stepped farther into the bay window, and Judge Hazel, taking up the constitutional oath of office, which had been prepared on parchment, asked the President to raise his right hand and repeat it after him. There was a hush like death in the room as the Judge read a few words at a time, and the President, in a strong voice and without a tremor, and with his raised hand as steady as if carved from marble, repeated it after him. "And thus I swear," he ended it. The hand dropped by his side, the chin for an instant rested on the breast, and the silence remained unbroken for a couple of minutes, as though the new President of the United States was offering silent prayer for help and guidance. Judge Hazel broke the silence, saying: " Mr. President, please attach your signature." And the President, turning to a SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. 169 small table near-by, wrote "Theodore Roosevelt" at the bottom of the document in a firm hand. "I should like to see the members of the Cabinet a few moments after the others retire," said the President, and this was the signal for the score of the people, who had been favored by- witnessing the ceremony, to retire. As they turned to go the President said : U I will shake hands with you people, gladly," and, with something of his old smile returning, he first shook hands with the members of the Cabinet present, then Senator Depew and finally with a few guests and newspaper men. MEMBERS OF CABINET REMAIN. At a meeting of the Cabinet in the afternoon, President Roosevelt requested that the members retain their positions, at least for the present, and they promised that they would do so. He also received assurances that Secretaries Hay and Gage, who were absent, would remain for the time being. The first official act of President Roosevelt was the issuing of the following proc- lamation, the appropriateness and felicitous expression of which could not be improved. "By the President of the United States of America, a procla- mation : "A terrible bereavement has befallen our people. The Pres- ident of the United States has been struck down ; a crime com- mitted not only against the Chief Magistrate, but against every law-abiding and liberty-loving citizen. " President McKinley crowned a life of largest love for his fellowmen, of most earnest endeavor for their welfare, by a death of Christian fortitude ; and both the way in which he lived his life and the way in which, in the supreme hour of trial, he met his death, will remain forever a precious heritage of our people. " It is meet that we, as a nation, express our abiding love and reverence for his life, our deep sorrow for his untimely death. " Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do appoint Thursday next, September !70 SUDDENLY CALLED TO BE PRESIDENT. 19, the day in which the body of the dead President will be laid in its last earthly resting place, as a day of mourning and prayer throughout the United States. I earnestly recommend all the people to assemble in their respective places of divine worship, there to bow down in submission to the will of Almighty God, and to pay out of full hearts their homage of love and reverence to the great and good President, whose death has smitten the nation with bitter grief. " In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. " Done at the city of Washington, the 14th day of September, A. D., one thousand nine hundred and one, and of the Independ- ence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-sixth. "(Seal.) THEODORE ROOSEVELT. " By the President, "JOHN HAY, Secretary of State." CHAPTER XIII PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. Beginning of His Life as Chief Executive — Grave Public Ques" tions — Policy of McKinley — Assault Made on Reciproc- ity — Opposition to Treaties — Panama Canal — Pacific Cable — His Excellent Appointments — Factions in Illinois — Attitude on Trusts — Northern Securities Case — Pen- sion Order. WHEN Theodore Roosevelt was yet Vice President and had no thought that he would succeed to the Presidency of the nation through the death of William McKinley, he said: — " I am going to be a candidate for President. I shall do the very best I can to obtain that nomination. But if I do not get it I shall accept the result cheerfully, and although it will be a great disappoint- ment to me should I fail to be the candidate of my party, I shall not sulk nor let it embitter my life." Mr. Roosevelt made this statement at the house of Mr. Ans- ley Wilcox at Buffalo, in September, 1901, when he was packing up, preparing to leave for the Adirondacks. President McKinley had been shot a few days before and on that day the physicians had given the opinion that he would recover. The whole country breathed a sigh of relief and no one felt more joyful than Mr. Roosevelt. The man was supremely happy that the Presidency was not going to come to him through the assassin's bullet "To become President in this way," he had said, "means nothing to me. Aside from the horror of having President McKin- ley die, there is an additional horror in becoming his successor in that way. The thing that appeals to me is to be elected Presi- dent. That is the way I want the honor to come, if I am ever to receive it." Mr. Roosevelt went to the Adirondacks. When there* Mr. 171 172 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. McKinley took a sudden change for the worse and died while the Vice President was on his way back to Buffalo to take the oath and assume the responsibilities of the office of President. This is to be an account of the administration of Mr. Roose- velt from the middle of September, 1901, to the present time, with some idea of how his different administrative acts have affected his relations with the country and the politicians and the bearing these will have upon his chances of election on November 8. The stewardship of President Roosevelt began with that im- pressive scene in the Wilcox parlor at Buffalo when he raised his hand and said, " I will do all in my power to carry out absolutely unbroken the policy of William McKinley." GREAT QUESTIONS TO BE SETTLED. Mr. Roosevelt began his administration with a session of Congress only a little more than two months distant. Several large questions were pressing on the country. Mr, McKinley had already begun to handle them. One of these was the Pan-Ameri- can Canal, Another was reciprocity with Cuba. Still another was the laying of the Pacific cable. Yet another was the extension of the American merchant marine, and finally, one considered by Mr. McKinley of the greatest importance, was a change in our tariff system, especially as it affected the extension of our foreign com- merce so that duties might be lowered and reciprocal trade rela- tions established. All these things were touched upon by Mr. McKinley in his speech at Buffalo, It will be instructive to every American to occasionally read that speech. McKinley dwelt at great length on the subject of reciprocity. It is evident that he intended this speech as a sort of first step in reaching a goal which even to him did not appear at that time very definite. He foresaw the drooping of American exports. He fore- saw the shrinking of customs revenues from foreign imports. He seemed to discern very quickly that the Dingley schedules could not become permanent and that there must be elasticity in our schedules and that the high tariff must be lowered. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 173 But he was not very clear as to the method he would follow. He was very certain that the day of exclusiveness was past. He made that statement without any qualification. But he also still adhered to the thought that we must have protection for those things that we produce in competition with other countries, and at the same time declared that there might safely be on some articles of production a reduction in customs duties. The very obstacle which President Roosevelt encountered in carrying out the policy of William McKinley came from the high protective tariff men — from the " stand patters," who would let well enough alone. ASSAULT ON RECIPROCITY. The assault was first made on reciprocity. A number of these treaties were pending in the Senate. Mr. McKinley and John Hay had appointed John A. Kasson a commissioner to negotiate these treaties. They were with France, with Argentina, with a number of the British colonies, in all seven or eight of them. The Senate refused to ratify the treaties. Mr, McKinley, and Mr. Hay had both despaired of getting them through the Senate, and Mr. Kasson had refused to accept any salary from the United States because his work could not be ratified in the Senate. The protectionists swooped down on the new President in a desperate effort to bury the treaties, which were conceded to be already dead. Mr. Roosevelt, the very first work of his adminis- tration, declared that he was going to do everything he could to have the treaties ratified, but he even at that early day was be- ginning to see the hopelessness of the task of standing up against the solid phalanx of the Senate, In the end the reciprocity trea- ties were dropped, with the exception of that which gave Cuba a reduction in duties on her products in return for a similar reduc- tion on American products. The first great contest the President had crystallized around the Cuban treaty. There was no question that the United States was in honor bound to ratify this treaty. President McKinley was committed to it. So were Secretary of War Root, Secretary of 174 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. State Hay, Senators Lodge, Piatt (of Connecticut), Aldrich, Allison, Spooner, and in fact, all the so called leaders of the Senate. The President's fight for Cuba lasted through the entire session of 1901-02, necessitating the calling of an extra session in November, 1903, and was not finally won until the regular session had begun the following December. The President never swerved in his efforts to obtain an isthmian canal. The platform on which McKinley and Roosevelt were elected declared for the construction of a canal via the Isth- mus of Panama, and did not indorse the Nicaragua route. Mr. Roosevelt before he had been in office many months was convinced that either route was feasible. He made a speech at a private dinner in which he said that he would sooner have a canal by either route than no canal at all. CANAL MUST BE CONSTRUCTED. The selection of the Panama route was made by Congress, but the bill which provided for it contained an alternative prop- osition that if certain conditions could not be complied with the government should build the canal via Nicaragua. The whole question of the choice of routes seemed to depend upon the ratification of Colombia by a treaty. The Colombians refused to ratify that treaty, although they were repeatedly warned that if they did not do so serious consequences were likely to ensue. President Roosevelt was determined that no South American Republic should stand in the way of manifest destiny, and he was equally determined that the canal should be begun during his administration, and if possible before the Re- publican National Convention met. Then came the revolution in Panama. It was " capitalized" by persons who had an interest in disposing of the franchises and property of the new Panama Canal Company to the United States for $40,000,000, and a new government was proclaimed on it. There is no doubt, however, that every person on the isthmus favored the movement. It has been charged that President Roosevelt connived at this PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 175 revolution. It is certain that this government had given the government of Colombia ample warning that something might occur. It is also true that Senator Cullom, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, after an interview with the President at Oyster Bay last year, said : — " If we do not get a canal treaty with Colombia we may be able to make one with Panama." Be that as it may, Panama declared her independence. She was recognized as an independent republic by the United States in about three days. Then the treaty empowering the United States to keep open the isthmus pathway was invoked. United States men-of-war prevented the landing of Colombian troops and by a show of force prevented Colombia from reconquering the re- volting province. THE PRESIDENT JUSTIFIED. The justification of the President by his spokesmen for this action is the frank assertion that Colombia had never acted in faith with us, was endeavoring to use the methods of an interna- tional brigand, and that the United States was acting clearly in the interests of the whole world in seizing this opportunity to obtain the canal. In the matter of a Pacific cable, President Roosevelt's admin- istration carried out the policy of President McKinley, and San Francisco is now connected by an ail-American line with the Philippines, and is soon to be connected with China and Japan. But in the plan of McKinley to obtain subsidy for a merchant- marine, no headway whatever has been made. The principal ad- vocate of that measure, Senator Hanna, is dead. A commission has been appointed to make exhaustive inquiry, and the subject will undoubtedly come up in the next Congress, because a ship subsidy is indorsed by the Republican national platform. So much for the principal points in the policy of President McKinley, as enumerated in his last speech. It becomes neces- sary to consider the actions of the President aside from those mat- ters which bear directly on McKinley's policy. |76 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. In many respects Mr. Roosevelt has mapped out a policy of his own. He entered the White House as a leading exponent in the United States of high principles in politics. It was to be assumed that President Roosevelt, in making appointments, would endeavor to obtain the very highest type and only consider moral rectitude and mental capacity. It was to be assumed that he would also hold himself strictly within the law. The first serious problem which confronted the President was the appointment of Federal officers in New York. The terms of Collector Bi dwell and Wilbur F. Wakeman were about to expire. Mr. Bidwell was warmly supported by Senator Piatt for reappoint- ment. Mr. Wakeman's dismissal from the service was desired by Senator Piatt. Against Mr. Bidwell charges had been filed. Mr. Wakeman had also been charged with being a mischief maker and with enforcing the law too strictly. EXTENSIVE FRATTDS EXPOSED. But he had rendered a peculiar Rooseveltian service in expos- ing the most extensive frauds in the customs known for genera- tions against the united opposition of the Treasury Department, including Mr. Bidwell. The President decided that Wakeman should be sacrificed as well as Bidwell, and the change was made. The President appointed James S.Clarkson, who was regarded as a spoilsman when he was Assistant Postmaster General under President Harrison, to the position of Surveyor of the Port. He made Mr, Clarkson his confidential adviser as to the use of pat- ronage in the South for the purpose of breaking down opposition to him there and obtaining Southern delegates. When the exposures of abuse in the Post Office Department intimated that not only was Postmaster Van Cott incompetent, but that Richard Van Cott, the Postmaster's son, had frequently as- sumed the functions of Postmaster, and had been very close to George W. Beavers, the President 3-ielded to Senator Piatt and kept Van Cott in office. He merely required the resignation of Richard Van Cott. When a great fight arose in the city of Chicago between the £* 2 MRS. ROOSEVELT AND QUENTIN, WHEN A BABY. THE IDEAL AMERICAN MOTHER. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. When Police Commissioner. Photo I. F. S. THEODORE ROOSEVELT WHEN A HARVARD COLLEGE STUDENT. COLONEL ROOSEVELT AT THE AGE OF THIRTY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT DISCUSSING THE COAL STRIKE WITH THE OPERATORS AND MINERS' REPRESENTATIVES AT WASHINGTON COLONEL ROuSEVELT IN A WRIGHT AEROPLANE AT ST. LOUIb. Archibald Hoxsey, who carried the Colonel twice around the Park, a distance of Ar% miles, is seen talking to Mr. Roosevelt, who was most enthusiastic .over his experience, declaring he never felt a bit of fear. This picture shows the Colonel as he took his seat. Before starting he took off his hat and put on a cap. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 177 faction headed by Senators Hopkins and Culloin and Representa- tive Lorimer and that headed by Charles S. Deneen the President permitted the Federal patronage to be used to strengthen the ma- chine. A year before in a similar fight he had ordered "hands off ; " now he changed. This patronage was used directly to crush Mr. Deneen, who was an independent Republican and who had made a great record as State's Attorney for Cook county. The widely known " Doc " Jamison, was appointed Collector of the Port of Chicago at the request of the " Federal crowd." It roused great public indignation in Chicago, and the result was that a revolt was started against Jamison in his own ward which defeated him as a candidate for Alderman, defeated him as a dele- gate to the State Convention and left him absolutely without any local following. STANDARD OF OFFICIALS RAISED. Independents and reformers freely admit that generally the efforts of the President have tended to raise the standard of men in office. But scattered all over the country here and there are cases like those of Jamison in Chicago and Van Cott in New York. The President's attitude on trusts was the subject of wide discussion during the campaign. This is a subject to which Mr. Roosevelt early gave attention. As Governor of New York he shocked Senator Piatt, B. B. Odell, Jr., and the late Charles W. Hackett by insisting on writ- ing a message in which he brought to the very forefront the dis- cussion of the overcapitalization of corporations and the amalga- mation of other corporations for the purpose of cheapening pro- duction and raising prices. He followed this up as a candidate for Vice President in his letter of acceptance and in a speech de- livered at Minneapolis after he was elected Vice President. When he succeeded to the Presidency he began to devote his attention to this subject. If this was a part of the polic}^ of Wil- liam McKinley, William McKinley had never disclosed it. The 12— T.R, 178 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. question of the regulation of trusts, however, had figured con- spicuously in the platform of 1900. President Roosevelt in his first message made strong recom- mendations in favor of the adoption of a scheme to compel corpor- ations doing an interstate commerce business to make public statements of their internal affairs, so that the public when invest- ing could be advised as to how much stock was water, how much the fixed charges were and whether dividends would ever be paid. He was also in favor of a law which would require their regulation by Congress in addition to that imposed by the Sherman Anti- Trust law. At that time the general opinion of lawyers was that the Sherman Anti-Trust law was unconstitutional. Mr. Roosevelt went so far as to say that if the Sherman law was unconstitutional we ought to have an amendment to the constitution. STANDING "PAT" ON THE TRUSTS. The President's advisers in Congress were unanimous almost in favor of doing nothing about the .rusts. They wanted to "stand pat" on the trusts as well as on the tariff. The President kept at it. The longer the President insisted the stronger the opposition became. Finally an opportunity for action came which was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Sherman Anti-Trust law, and have a great bearing on the trust policy in Congress. Attorney-General Knox began injunction proceedings against the Beef Trust. The injunction was sustained, and the Beef Trust was, theoretically at least " put out of business." Then the President ordered Air. Knox to take up the cudgels against the Northern Securities Company. Judge Thayer and subsequently the Judges of the Court of Appeals took an advanced view of the Sherman i\nti-Trust law, and wrote a new page in legal history. With these decisions passed any necessity for any further amendment of the Sherman Anti-Trust law. Then came a compromise of the President with the trusts. This compromise consisted in a definite abandonment of the essential principles of the President's publicity programme. He PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 179 consented to have that feature of his great propaganda covered in a paragraph inserted in the bill creating the new Department of Commerce and Labor, which erected a Bureau of Corporations that would have power to examine into all questions relating to cor- porations in this country. The only purpose of this new bureau was to collect data for the information of the President, which could be made public or not at the option of the President, and which should be used by him in making recommendations to Congress for future legisla- tion. Another part of the trust programme was a bill to expedite suits such as the Northern Securities merger, so an early decision could be obtained in the Supreme Court. « INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW. Still another phase of it was an amendment to the Interstate Commerce law, by which railroad officials were relieved of all criminal prosecution for giving rebates and permitting secret rates to favored shippers. Undoubtedly the President's position on the trust question has aroused deep resentment for him on the part of many great capitalists of the country, so the things he has done must have hurt their feelings. The great banks of the country have become very much interested in the exploitation of industrial corporations. Indeed, it might be said that the organizers of these great trusts dominate the money market. These banks have their ramifications all over the country, and it was expected that in the campaign every small banker from the Atlantic to the Pacific would be either indifferent toward the election of President Roosevelt or openly hostile. President Roosevelt shocked a great many thoughtful persons when he authorized the Secretary of the Interior to issue the famous pension order. It is charged that the President in doing this usurped the power of Congress and took the position that he was law and government of himself. The President was very anxious to please the Grand Army veterans. They have been a constant source of danger to the 180 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. Republican party, because their entire incentive to organization is a large pension for every man who fought for his country during the Civil War. The Grand Army had insisted on the dismissal from service of H. Clay Evans, of Tennessee, who has the record of being one of the best Commissioners of Pensions that ever served under a Republican administration. President Roosevelt finally consented to accept Mr. Evans' • i& < Mem m$\ fit ~\ } jt» S9 tea rl 1 jl JL.I- 1] n ' MM TlBg £T^^ k5i» ■ >* •'" KS . tJP^jm £ '""fl : tan fv 19 'i ♦ .'- ' : . ....- PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND HIS SON THEODORE, Jr. resignation, but he gave him the position of Consul General at London, where his income was several times what it was in Washington, The Grand Arm}'- went to Washington to demand a service pension. A bill was drawn which would give every survivor of the Civil War who had reached the age of sixty-two years, whether he was wholly or partially disabled or not disabled at all, a service PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 181 pension. This would have cost the Government twenty or thirty million dollars a year. Some estimates have placed it as high as fifty million dollars a year. The leaders in Congress created a situation which made them declare that they could not pass the service pension bill. Someone in Washington conceived the idea of a service pension by executive order. It was recalled that President Cleveland had issued an order which gave a service pension to all the surviving veterans of the Mexican War. The assumption was that the law gave the commissioners of pensions authority to assume that when a veteran had reached the age of sixty-two years he was partially disabled. The executive order recognized age as disability, and the Mexican War veterans got pensions without examination. President Roosevelt's service pension order followed the lines of President Cleveland's. There was no question in any of the explanations as to whether it was right or wrong to thus take money out of the public treasury while a bill was pending in Congress. The whole consideration seemed to be that if Cleve- land had done it Roosevelt could do it. And if Roosevelt didn't do it Congress could be forced to pass a bill which would cost the treasury a much larger sum. This incident was used during the campaign to strengthen the Democratic armament that Roosevelt is an "impulsive, dangerous man," and the " living embodiment of one man power." But his friends triumphantly ask what he has done to give him this reputation, and claim that he has acted all along in such a wise and conservative way that the country takes no stock in the " impulse " outcry. Taking President Roosevelt's administration from first to last, it is claimed by his party that he ranks with the greatest Presidents our country has ever had. CHAPTER XIV ROOSEVELT TRIUMPHANTLY ELECTED. The Roosevelt Administration — Conspicuous Acts — Not- able Achievements — A Quiet Campaign — The Minds of Voters Made Up — Roosevelt Elected by an Over- whelming Majority — Great Tidal Wave — Splendid Tribute to the Man Himself — Visit to St. Louis. TN his masterly speech at the National Republican Convention * in Chicago, Hon. Elihu Root summed up in a few words the achievements of Mr. Roosevelt's administration of three years and a half, following the assassination of President McKinley. Words of glowing eulogy were spoken in that Convention, but these were tame and empty compared with the conspicuous deeds by which Mr. Roosevelt's administration was distinguished. There was unanimous agreement with Mr. Root's statement of what had been accomplished under the vigorous leadership of the President, and there was no disposition to belittle the acts upon which the government based its claim for the continued confidence of the people. Mr. Root declared : " The present administration has reduced taxation, reduced the public debt, reduced the annual interest charge, made effective progress in the regulation of trusts, fostered business, promoted agriculture, built up the navy, reorganized the army, resurrected the military system, inaugurated a new policy for the preservation and reclamation of public lands, given civil government to the Philippines, established the Republic of Cuba, bound it to us by ties of gratitude, of commercial interest and of common defence, swung open the closed gateway of the Isthmus, strengthened the Monroe Doctrine, ended the Alaska boundary dispute, protected the integrity of China, opened wider its doors of 182 ROOSEVELT TRIUMPHANTLY ELECTED. 181 trade, advanced the principle of arbitration and promoted peact among the nations. " We challenge judgment upon this record of effective per- formance in legislation, in execution and in administration." The great Republican party felt that this was a truthful esti. mate of what had been accomplishe4, and justly claimed the ap. proval of all classes of our citizens. This approval was evident from the very beginning of the campaign. There was little need of discussion. Like granite pillars in the affairs of the nation stood the acts by which the government at Washington was to be judged. The country had been well informed as to the current of Federal legislation. EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE VOTERS. There was, therefore, little to do in the campaign except fot the party leaders to hold their voters in line and fire them with sufficient enthusiasm to bring them to the polls on election day. However, the usual campaign methods were resorted to and vigor- ous attempts were made to influence voters. In the newspaper press and on the public platform, the issues of the contest were thoroughly discussed. More and more it became evident that, without any help, the voters had made up their minds, and only awaited the day when they would give formal expression to their views at the ballot box. This was so manifest, that ex-Governor Black said, in placing Mr. Roosevelt in nomination : " We are here to inaugurate a cam- paign which seems already to be nearly closed. So wisely have the people sowed and watched and tended there seems little now to do but to measure up the grain. They are ranging themselves not for battle, but for harvest. In one column reaching from the Maine woods to the Puget Sound are those people and those States which have stood so long together, that when great emergencies arise the nation turns instinctively to them. In this column, vast and solid, is a majority so overwhelming that the scattered squads in opposition can hardly raise another army." This statement was no exaggeration, which was proved by thf 184 ROOSEVELT TRIUMPHANTLY ELECTED. election of the Republican candidates by overwhelming majorities. The next morning after the election a prominent journal com- mented as follows : " It is a stupendous and overwhelming victory. There has been nothing like its extraordinary and magnificent proportions since the Grant whirlwind over Greeley in 1872, and the popular majorities are far greater even than then. President Roosevelt carries every Northern State. He gains everywhere over even 1900 and 1896. " On this great tidal wave all the lesser objects are floated in. Congress is only second in importance, and it will show the largest Republican majority for many years. The Republican Governor in New York, bitterly fought, is triumphantly successful. In many States smaller doubts are turned into certainties. It is one vast oceanic sweep. MAGNIFICENT TRIBUTE TO ROOSEVELT. " The result is a splendid national tribute to President Roose- velt. It shows the unequaled place he holds in the affection, the admiration and the faith of the American people. It is in large measure his triumph. The principles, policies, aims and methods were those of his party and as broad as the nation ; but he has impressed his puissant individuality on them as only the rare towering figures of our history have done. He is stronger than party and greater than organization. The arrows of venom hurtled about him and fell harmless at his feet. " His characteristics, exaggerated and distorted, were made the target ; he was treated as the chief issue ; he was called impul- sive and unsafe and imperialistic ; ^ut his brilliant and fascinating personality, his vigor, his purity, his honesty, his courage swept down all puny opposition and carried everything before him. This unmatched triumph makes him the most powerful figure of recent history. It arms him with Olympian strength, but it im- poses corresponding responsibility. He has risen to every occasion and every duty. He has the sure token of the past as the talisman of the future. ROOSEVELT TRIUMPHANTLY ELECTED. 185 " But it is far more than a personal victory in its national assurance. The glory of this American judgment is its American aspiration. It means that our great Republic will march on. It maintains our protective policy with its industrial prosperity. It fixes the gold standard with its business and financial security. It continues our brilliant and successful foreign policy, with its world-wide influence, its peaceful potentiality and its commercial opportunities. " It stamps out the narrow and pusillanimous spirit which would dishonor us with American perfidy and desertion in the Philippines. It leaves America in the hands of the big Americans instead of turning it over to the little Americans. From this exultant day we can take new heart of hope. " The President chooses the moment of his greatest triumph to announce that he will not be a candidate for another term. NOT A CANDIDATE AGAIN. " He is eligible even under the accepted unwritten law. He is only filling an unexpired term. This is his first election as President. It would not have been strange if he had aspired to a second. He might have remained silent. He chooses to speak and settle the question." President Roosevelt made his first public appearance after the election at St. Louis, where he went to attend the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The officials of the Fair gave him an urgent invitation to visit the Exposition, and, in company with members of his family and several friends, he arrived in St. Louis on November 26th. All along his route from Washington crowds of people awaited the arrival of his train and received him with loud cheers. In St. Louis vast multitudes greeted him with every demon- stration of respect, admiration and affection. His progress from one building to another was a continuous ovation, and his visit, so far as notables were in evidence, was the great feature of the Fair. Presents of all sorts and descriptions were thrust upon him and these could be measured only by the wagon load. 186 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. In the presence of a vast concourse of people, including re- presentatives from every State in the Union, Theodore Roosevelt, on the fourth of March, 1905, took the oath of office and was inaugurated President of the United States, and Charles Warren Fairbanks took the oath of office as Vice-President. Washington was crowded to overflowing with strangers, drawn to the Capital to view the inaugural ceremonies. Through the lines formed by cheering, waving thousands, between the men and women who shouted themselves hoarse out of pure delight, the President drove the whole length of Pennsylvania Avenue, and, turning to the left, entered the Capitol grounds, where, on the east front, was the stand from which he was to deliver his inaugural address, and surrounding it on all sides were the people wedged in so tightly that the place was black, and only the tops of their heads could be seen. Within the Senate chamber Vice-President Fairbanks took the oath of office and gave a brief address. The new Senators were summoned forward in groups of four to take the oath of office. MR. ROOSEVELT TAKES THE OATH. At one o'clock, on the open platform outside, Chief Justice Fuller administered the oath of office to Mr. Roosevelt as follows : " I do faithfully swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and to the best of my ability pro- tect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States." As the Chief Justice repeated these words, Mr. Roosevelt stood with uplifted hand. " I do," was his response, uttered in loud, clear tones. Then he reverently bowed his head and kissed the Bible. The inaugural address proved to be one of the shortest on record. Mr. Roosevelt delivered it, as he delivers all his public speeches, with great earnestness of manner. In the course of his address Mr. Roosevelt said : " My Fellow Citizens : No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with gratitude to the Giver ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION- 187 of Good, who has blessed us with the conditions which have enabled us to achieve so large a measure of well being and of happiness. To us as a people it has been granted to lay the foundations of our national life in a new continent. We are the heirs of the ages, and yet we have had to pay few of the penalties which in old countries are exacted by the dead hand of a bygone civilization. We have not been obliged to fight for our existence against any alien race ; and yet our life has called for the vigor and effort without which the manlier and hardier virtues wither away. Under such conditions it would be our own fault if we failed ; and the success which we have had in the past, the success which we confi- dently believe the future will bring, should cause in us no feeling of vainglory, but rather a deep and abiding realization of all which life has offered us ; a full acknowledgment of the responsibility which is ours ; and a fixed determination to show that under a free government a mighty people can thrive best, alike as regards the things of the body and things of the soul. NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES. " Much has been given to us and much will rightfully be ex- pected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves ; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such re- sponsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our atti- tude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words but in our deeds that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. "But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak, but by the strong. While ever careful to refrain from wronging others, we must be no less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace ; but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid. No weak nation that acts manfully and justly should ever have 188 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. cause to fear us, and no strong power should ever be able to single us out as a subject for insolent aggression. " Our relations with the other powers of the world are im- portant ; but still more important are our relations among our- selves. Such growth in wealth, in population and in power as this nation has seen during the century and a quarter of its national life is inevitably accompanied by a like growth in the problems which are ever before every nation that rises to greatness. Power inevitably means both responsibility and danger. Our forefathers faced certain perils which we have outgrown. We now face other perils the very existence of which it was impossible that they could foresee. GREAT PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED. " Modern life is both complex and intense, and the tremen- dous changes wrought by the extraordinary industrial development of the last half century are felt in every fibre of our social and political being. Never before have men tried so vast and formid- able an experiment as that of administering the affairs of a con- tinent under the forms of a democratic republic. The conditions which have told for our marvelous material well being, which have developed to a very high degree our energy, self-reliance and indi- vidual initiative, have also brought the care and anxiety insepar- able from the accumulation of great wealth in industrial centers. Upon the success of our experiment much depends ; not only as regards our own welfare, but as regards the welfare of mankind. " If we fail, the cause of free self-government throughout the world will rock to its foundations ; and, therefore, our responsibility is heavy — to our selves, to the world as it is to-day and to the generations yet unborn. There is no good reason why we should fear the future, but there is every reason why we should face it seriously, neither hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems before us nor fearing to approach these problems with the unbend- ing, unflinching purpose to solve them right. " Yet, after all, though the problems are new, though the tasks set before us differ from the tasks set before our fathers, the spirit in w"hich these tasks must be undertaken and these problems faced, ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 189 if our duty is to be well done, remains essentially unchanged. We know that self-government is difficult. We know that no people needs such high traits of character as that people which seeks to govern its affairs aright through the freely expressed will of the freemen who compose it. " But we have faith that we shall not prove false to the me- mories of the men of the mighty past. They did their work ; they left us the splendid heritage we now enjoy. We in our turn have an assured confidence that we shall be able to leave this heritage unwasted and enlarged to our children and our children's children. To do so we must show, not merely in great crises, but in the every day affairs of life, the qualities of practical intelligence, of courage, of hardihood and endurance, and above all the power of devotion to a lofty ideal, which made great the men who founded this republic in the days of Washington, which made great the men who pre- served this republic in the days of Abraham Lincoln." THE NEW CABINET. Following the inaugural ceremonies was an immense parade, reviewed by the President. Thirty-five thousand men were in line. There were many picturesque features in the parade, including military cadets from West Point and naval cadets from Annapolis ; detachments of the regular army, with officers of the army and navy ; cowboys from the far West ; Indians clad in native costume ; and an immense crowd of civilians from all parts of the country. In the evening occurred the usual inaugural ball, which was attended by the beauty and fashion of the Capital, and was a successful termination of the day's ceremonies. The President and members of his family were present. Mr. Roosevelt's cabinet was constituted as follows : Secretary of State, John Hay ; Secretary of the Treasury, Leslie M. Shaw ; Secretary of War, William H. Taft ; Attorney-General, William H. Moody; Postmaster-General, George B. Cortelyou; Secretary of the Navy, Paul Morton ; Secretary of the Interior, Ethan A. Hitchcock; Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, and Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Victor B. Metcalf. 190 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. Secretary of State, John Hay, died on the first of July, and was succeeded by Hon. Blihu Root, of New York. By the death of Mr. Hay our country lost its greatest diplomat, whose high character, distinguished ability and devotion to the interests of peace in both hemispheres were universally admitted. His brilliant deeds had a powerful effect in changing the history of the world. ROOSEVELT THE WORLD'S GREAT PEACEMAKER. One of the greatest achievements of President Roosevelt's administration was securing peace between Russia and Japan, which ended the lamentable war between those countries. After the defeat of the Russian naval fleet in the Sea of Japan there was a universal expectation of an attempt to end the war and secure peace. President Roosevelt resolved to cast aside all round- about diplomacy and bring the belligerents together, in the hope of ending the strife. It was announced at Washington, June 9th, that he had succeeded in securing the acquiescence of Japan and Russia to the opening of peace negotiations. He addressed a cable message to both Governments and it was delivered to the Mikado at Tokio and the Czar at St. Petersburg. This note was not sent until it had been ascertained that both Governments were ready to entertain a proposition with a view to opening peace negotiations. The following despatch was sent by the President, through our representatives to the Japanese and Russian Governments : " The President feels that the time has come when, in the interest of all mankind he must endeavor, if possible, to bring to an end the terrible and lamentable conflict now being waged. ' With both Russia and Japan the United States has inherited ties of friendship and good will. It hopes for the prosperity and welfare of each, and it feels that the progress of the world is set back by the war between these two great nations. ' The President accordingly urges the Russian and Japanese Governments, not only for their own sakes, but in the interest of the whole civilized world, to open direct negotiations for peace with one another. The President suggests that these peace negotiations ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 191 be conducted directly and exclusively between the belligerents ; in other words, that there may be a meeting of Russian and Japanese plenipotentiaries or delegates without any intermediary, in order to see if it is not possible for ^.ese representatives of the two Powers to agree to terms of peace. " The President earnestly asks that the Russian (Japanese) Government do now agree to such a meeting, and is asking the Japanese (Russian) Government likewise to agree. 11 While the President does not feel that any intermediary should be called in in respect to the peace negotiations themselves, he is entirely willing to do what he properly can if the two Powers concerned feel that his services will be of aid in arranging the pre- liminaries as to the time and place of meeting. " But, if even these preliminaries can be arranged directly between the two Powers, or in any other way, the President will be glad, as his sole purpose is to bring about a meeting which the whole civilized world will pray may result in peace." CONSENT TO PEACE PROPOSITION SECURED. Fearlessly treading on delicate ground that might daunt the most finished diplomat, President Roosevelt moved step by step until he secured the consent of "Tokio and St. Petersburg to accept for consideration the proposition outlined in his identical note which offered to both an honorable basis for a peace treaty. It was evidently understood that as soon as this note was delivered at the Foreign Offices in Tokio and St. Petersburg its contents should be made public, for when a cablegram reached the State Department from Minister Griscom that the note had been presented by him to the Japanese Foreign Officers, copies of it were at once released a*- the White House. Both Russia and Japan, having accepted the proposition for peace negotiations, and having appointed envoys clothed with power to form a treaty, on August 5th, President Roosevelt, on behalf the United States and its people, extended formal greetings to the representatives of Russia and Japan, introduced the pleni- potentiaries to one another and entertained them at an elaborate 192 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. luncheon, at which Russians and Japanese fraternized with one another as comrades, rather than as enemies. The handsome war yacht Mayflower, one of the most beautiful vessels of the United States navy, on which the formal reception of the Russian and Japanese plenipotentiaries took place, swung easily at anchor just at the entrance of Oyster Bay from Long Island Sound. A quarter of a mile away was the despatch boat Dolphin, the favorite cruising vessel of several Presidents of the United States. Two miles out in the Sound the cruiser Galves- ton was anchored, in waiting to convoy the vessels bearing the envoys to the seat of the Washington peace conference at Ports- mouth, N. H. THE, PRESIDENT'S FAMOUS TOAST. At luncheon on board the Mayflower the President proposed the following toast : " Gentlemen — I propose a toast to which there will be no answer and to which I ask you to drink in silence, standing. I drink to the welfare and prosperity of the sovereigns and peoples of the two great nations whose representatives have met one another on this ship. It is my most earnest hope and prayer in the interest of not only these two great Powers, but of all mankind, that a just and lasting peace may speedily be concluded between them." After much discussion, and, on several occasions, a threatened rupture, which in each instance was tactfully averted by President Roosevelt, the plenipotentiaries arrived at a complete agreement, and signed a treaty of peace on September 5th, 1905. President Roosevelt, in the peace assured at Portsmouth, won a great personal triumph and achieved a service to humanity vouch- safed to no man in our day. Great as was Bismarck's work in securing peace at the Berlin Congress President Roosevelt's work on this occasion was greater still. He called the conference- Again and again he saved it from disaster. At the end he secured the concessions, first from the Czar and next from the Mikado, which made peace possible. Without President Roosevelt war would have been resumed. Single handed and alone he changed ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 193 the history of the world when neither nation at war asked for his good offices nor desired them. Such an achievement and such a work put a man in a class apart. He becomes in himself one of the world's greatest forces, to be reckoned with in all its wider affairs. No man's career and no man's future can be regarded in the same light or prove the same after such supreme success in the most difficult of tasks as after he has been thus triumphantly tested by the " arduous great- ness of things done." At home and abroad, in international affairs and in domestic politics, the " World Peacemaker " holds a new place and speaks with new power in all he says and does. No greater stroke in diplomacy has been achieved in our day. It makes M. Witte the one Russian who in disastrous struggle has saved the honor and treasure of his land in the council chamber when all had been lost by sea and by land. GREAT STROKE OF DIPLOMACY. Crowned heads of the world united with distinguished states- men of America and Europe in according the glory of peace between Russia and Japan to President Roosevelt. Telegrams of congratu- lation poured in upon the President in a great flood. They came from persons of high degree and of low, and from all quarters of the civilized world. Among the first messages received was one from the King of England, as follows : " To the President : Let me be one of the first to congratulate you on the successful issue of the peace con- ference to which you have so greatly contributed. " Edward, R. I." Soon afterward a notably cordial cablegram was received from Emperor William of Germany. It read : " President Theodore Roosevelt : Just received cable from America announcing agree- ment of peace conference on preliminaries of peace ; I'm overjoyed ; express most sincere congratulations at the great success due to your untiring efforts. The whole of mankind will unite in thank- ing you for the great boon you have given it. " William I. R." 13— T.E. 194 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. Ambassador Jusserand, of France, sent this cablegram: tl President Roosevelt : Heartiest, warmest congratulations. "Jessurand." Then came telegrams from diplomatic representatives of foreign governments in this country — from Sir Mortimer Durand, the British Ambassador ; from Mayor Des Planches, Ambassador of Italy, and from Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minis- ter. They follow : " Please submit to the President my most cordial congratulations upon success of his efforts to bring about peace. Durand." " The President : I beg to offer you hearty congratulations for the successful conclusion of peace, for which the whole world, especially the Orient, is ever indebted to you. " Chentung Liang Cheng." " I beg to offer you, Mr. President, on behalf of the Italian Government and of myself, as representative of my august sov- ereign, heartfelt congratulations for your great success in re-estab- lishing peace. Italy, who, since her constitution, has endeavored to be an element and factor of harmony among nations, will greatly admire and praise the work you brought on so advanta- geously for the benefit of humanity. " Mayor des Planches." Count Cassini, who was succeeded by Baron Rosen as Russian Ambassador to the United States, cabled as follows : " President Roosevelt : Profoundly happy at -the result of the negotiations which assures a peace honorable for both nations and in which you have taken so fruitful a part. Cassini." " Your Excellency has rendered to humanity an eminent ser- vice, for which I felicitate you heartily. The French Republic rejoices in the role that her sister America has played in this his- toric event. " EmilE Loubet.' ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 195 Emperor Nicholas of Russia recognized gratefully the great part which President Roosevelt played in the successful negotia- tions for peace in the following cablegram received by the President : " President Roosevelt : Accept my congratulations and earnest thanks for having brought the peace negotiations to a successful conclusion owing to your personal energetic efforts. My country will gratefully recognize the great part you have played in the Portsmouth peace conference. Nicholas." In response to a request for an opinion relative to President Roosevelt's part in the conclusion of peace between Japan and Russia, Cardinal Gibbons said : " President Roosevelt is a great man, the greatest in his time. He is first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen. He is the biggest man in this century, because he has been the means of bringing to an end a terrible war. I admire him for his great work, and the nation will bless him." In a letter to Baron Komura the President extended his con- gratulations upon the wisdom and magnanimity manifested by Japan in the negotiations. The letter follows : " My Dear Baron Komura : May I ask you to convey to his Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, my earnest congratulations upon the wisdom and mag- nanimity he and the Japanese people have displayed ? I am sure that all civilized mankind share this feeling with me. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt." That President Roosevelt, by influencing the Portsmouth peace conference to a successful conclusion, has made a place for himself as one of the great figures of history is patent. Japan, insistent and exacting, turned at the last moment to so magnani- mous a course as to have surprised and startled the world. But behind the belligerent nations, ceaselessly active, indom- itable in courage, fixed in determination to consummate peace if peace were possible, smashing precedent and toppling tradi- tion in pursuit of that endeavor, was Theodore Roosevelt, The American. America has known the man these many years. The world 108 ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. knows him now as the mightiest individual force among all the millions of humanity. Kings have laid their praises at his feet. Emperors have thanked and congratulated him for an unparalelled service to civilization. The Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church has thanked God for Theodore Roosevelt's courage. Emperor Nicholas, of Russia, and M. Witte, his plenipotentiary, have ascribed to him all the glory for the peace achievement. On Manchurian plains Rus- sian and Japanese soldiers rejoiced that Theodore Roosevelt dared and did. In Japan and in Russia, in unknown thousands of homes, prayers of thanksgiving for the man were breathed. President Roosevelt received from the Emperor of Japan the following message of thanks and appreciation for the part played by the President in the negotiations which resulted in a cessation of hostilities in the far East : " Mr. President : I have received with gratification your message of congratulations, conveyed through our plenipotentiaries, and thank you warmly for them. In your disinterested and unremit- ting efforts in the interests of peace and humanity I attach the high value which is their due, and assure you of my grateful appreciation of the distinguished part you have taken in the estab- lishment of peace based upon principles essential to the permanent welfare and tranquillity of the far East. " MUTSUHITO." Congressman William Alden Smith, of Michigan, was one of Emperor William's guests at dinner on September 2d. After dinner Emperor William referred to the peace conference at Ports- mouth, saying: u President Roosevelt alone deserves credit for bringing about peace. He was the only man in the world who could have done it. He did his part splendidly." Once in many years comes a man whose character and deeds distinguish him above all others. Coming generations will look back over our long list of Presidents and Roosevelt will be classed with Washington and Lincoln. These illustrious names will stand pre-eminent in the history of our country, for while many able men have occupied the Presidential chair, Washington, Lin- coln and Roosevelt tower far above all others. ROOSEVELT'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 197 President Roosevelt sent a special message to Congress on May 4, 1906, dealing with the Standard Oil Company and other matters. Accompanying the message was Commissioner Garfield's report of his investigation made in response to a resolution of the House adopted on February 5, 1905. The message called particu- lar attention to the way in which the law is evaded by treating as State Commerce what in reality is interstate commerce, the oil company taking advantage of secret rates in shipping its com- modity across a State, and complying with the requirements of the Federal lav/ only long enough to get its freight across a boundary. The message pointed out the futility of independent concerns attempting to compete with the trust under traffic conditions which so favor the monopoly, and urged Congress to lodge such additional power in the Interstate Commerce Commission as would permit of the correction of abuses. The message also said that the railroads should be permitted to unite for proper purposes — that is, the pro- tection of themselves and the public against the power of the trusts. THE PRESIDENT'S THRUST AT UNLAWFUL COMPETITION. The message concluded with mention of the free alcohol bill and of the oil and coal lands which the Government now controls. " The Standard Oil Company has, largely by unfair or unlawful methods, crushed out home competition. It is highly desirable that an element of competition should be introduced by the passage of some such law as has passed the House, putting alcohol used in the arts and manufactures upon the free list. Furthermore the time has come when no oil or coal lands held by the Government, either upon the public domain proper or in territory held by the Indian tribes, should be alienated. The fee to such lands should, be kept in the United States Government whether or not the profits arising from it are to be given to any Indian tribe, and the lands should be leased only on such terms and for such periods as will enable the Government to keep entire control thereof." Bill for Panama Lock Canal signed by President, June 29th ; also Railroad Rate bill and Naturalization bill. Congress adjourned June 30th, 1906. CHAPTER XV CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. Last Year of Roosevelt Regime — Takes Up Arms Against Trusts — A Titanic Struggle — Wins Democratic Ap- plause — Corporations Force a Panic — Public Backs the President — After Public Land Thieves — Justice to China — Warcloud in Pacific — Averting Strife with Japan. T T was the last two years of President Roosevelt's administration, * however, that witnessed the greatest activity in curbing the arrogance of the predatory wealth of the country. During the time he was filling out the unexpired term of Mr. McKinley he did not feel free, since he himself was not elected by the people, to do many things that he was sure the safety, security and future welfare of the Republic demanded should be done. The great war between Japan and Russia, threatening as it did the peace of the entire world, distracted attention from evils nearer home during the earlier part of what Mr. Roosevelt had termed his "own" administration. Now, however, that this great struggle had been so happily brought to an end by the efforts of Mr. Roosevelt himself, at last he was free to take up arms against the corrupt wealth, the preda- tory trusts, the rebating railroads of the country. The struggle was a Titanic one. On one side were arrayed all the "special interests" of Wall street, the railroad kings, the trust magnates, the insurance princes, and the subsidized press. On the other, grim and determined, was the administration, backed by the laws, the courts, and what is even more important, by the prac- tically undivided support of the country at large. Perhaps no President, least of all so fierce a partizan as Mr. Roosevelt, ever before was accorded the support of so great a percentage of his erstwhile political opponents. From every quarter 198 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. 199 of the nation came offers of assistance in his great battle against ill-gotten gain. The editorial columns of the Democratic papers that were free from Wall street influence were as enthusiastically in favor of the Roosevelt policies as were the organs of the most rabid Republicanism. It hardly would be fair to denounce all who railed against the administration's activities as corrupt, for many honestly were misled and deceived. Many firmly believed that the National Government's efforts to restrain corporations would check investments and hinder industry ; many felt sure that the restrictive and in some cases vio- lent legislation of some of the states, inspired by the Roosevelt agitation, would so drive capital to cover, that legitimate industry would halt; and others feared that the invidious emphasis that has been put on wealth during this long agitation would encourage a violent class feeling by the poor against the rich and would bring an era of dangerous economic and social experiments. ROOSEVELT WAS RIGHT. Nothing of this kind happened. The public refused to be frightened by the fears or by the threats of the great corporations, and the great corporations were not really hurt in their legitimate activity by the rising tide of popular anger. There could hardly be better proof either of the safe foundations of our prosperity or of the essential soundness of the people's judgment. And yet a panic came — as cruel, needless and artificial a panic as ever money kings forced upon a helpless people. It was done to discredit Mr. Roosevelt, but it served only to prove his contentions. It was forced and fostered by Wall street to cripple the administration. It crippled Wall street and made Mr. Roosevelt and his policies invincible before the people. Cleverly as the financial game was worked, the great mass of the people of the country clearly saw the wires being pulled and readily identified the wealthy malefactors who were precipitating panic, regardless of consequences, in order to discredit the man who really was working for the benefit of the nation. Some foolish local laws did damage as far as they went. But 200 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. the main tendency of the whole agitation of these two or three years was reassuring and constructive. Proof of this is easy to find. Consider, for instance, the pro- hibition of railroad passes. Every railroad in the country profited by it ; and they profited not only by the receipt of increased revenue from fares but even more by relief from a vicious system of special favors, which was a system of petty blackmail. Again, in every case where a rebate was stopped, not only has the railroad received more money for its service, but it has given the competitors of the rebate-receiver a greater security in their business. AWAKENING OF PUBLIC CONSCIENCE. A larger result than all these was the general awakening of the public conscience about the management of corporations. Not only have railroads and other public-service corporations become more careful in their conduct, but private corporations as well. If an examination had been made four or five years before of the con- dition and of the conduct of all the companies doing business in the United States, and if a similar examination could have been made towards the close of the Roosevelt regime, there is little doubt that a very great improvement would have been discovered. The rights of stockholders are more carefully considered. Not long ago the counsel of a private corporation in New York was preparing a tax statement, and the officers of the company said to him : "Prepare it exactly as if you knew that the company would be examined next week as the insurance companies were, or as if an inquiry were to be made by the Department of Commerce and Labor." The double standard of conduct — one standard for private affairs and another for corporate affairs — is less common than it was. Every act or tendency or awakening that makes for honesty and for fair dealing directly adds to the stability of values, to the security of investments, and to financial confidence. These forces are far stronger for stability than the rhetorical alarm in financial circles is for panic. Moreover, the checking, by any legitimate CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. 201 force, of the ambitions of great financial consolidators has itself added to prosperity and security. This state of affairs is due to one man — Theodore Roosevelt. Another bitter fight for the rights of the people was against the public land thieves who had despoiled the West of both arable land and timber reserves. There is, of course, a body of laws to govern the care and the use and the disposition of government lands in the western states. But many of them had been so systematically disregarded, evaded, and violated that in many communities they had become a dead letter. Public opinion had become adjusted to evading them. Import- ant enterprises were conducted in disregard of them, and large investments made. Many men ceased supposing that they would ever be rigidly enforced; and the "moral sentiment" of many com- munities approved their desuetude. MANY PROMINENT MEN INDICTED. Yet in the main these are wise laws, necessary for the proper use or for the preservation of forest and water supplies. When the Roosevelt Administration began to enforce them, many prominent men were indicted and some were convicted. But the sympathy of a large part of the public in the West, for a time at least, was with the violators and not with the enforcers of the law. At the Public Land Convention in Denver, the Colorado dele- gates wore badges denouncing "interference by Government bureaus under autocratic rules and regulations;" Senator Heyburn exhib- ited a map of Idaho showing the large areas of forest reserves and spoke as if the Government had forcibly and wantonly taken this land from people who had titles to it; and the drift of the addresses was against the enforcement of the law. The whole subject was in a chaotic state. Congress stopped some executive orders touching land administration while they were in process of execution. The Western sentiment — a strong- part of it at least — was opposed to the proper preservation of these 202 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. forests. The Administration was, of course, in favor of their preservation. The public opinion of the country (except so much of it as was more or less selfishly interested or had suffered hardship because of the recent enforcement of laws long disregarded) demanded that the policy of the Administration be carried out. The conflict continued in Congress, as it was all the while appearing in the courts, where land thieves were brought to trial. In the end, the general purpose of the existing laws and the policy of the President prevailed, and Mr. Roosevelt will receive the thanks of the next generation, which will be more earnest even than the opposition of the present. Besides the fight against the Standard Oil Company, the American Tobacco Company was another gigantic corporation which Mr. Roosevelt assailed as a trust. TACKLING THE TOBACCO TRUST. In the bill of complaint made by the Federal Government against the American Tobacco Company and its subsidiary corpora- tions, if other means of preventing restraint of trade should fail in court was asked to "appoint receivers to take possession of all the assets of the various companies, and, if necessary, to wind them up." The whole commercial world firmly held to the usual concep- tion of a receivership — as a method of dealing with a business that has failed. The proposal to use it as a punishment was a new con- ception to the lay mind ; and the proposal to use it as a punishment for "success' (financial success at least) seemed to a large part of the business community either fantastic or fanatical. Such a judgment was utterly erroneous ; but it was taken by the financial and political enemies and victims of the Administration as an occasion to decry the President and his policy of corporation regulation. Another such excuse was the extreme length to which some of the states had gone in enacting and in enforcing (for the time being) regulative statutes which the trusts and railroads hoped would not stand the test of the courts. "The whole movement has gone too far!" "You see the inevitable result!" Such remarks CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. OQ3 as these were more frequently heard than at any time since Mr. Roosevelt had become President. The opposition to the regulation of corporations hoped that a tide of public opinion was turning in their favor. But they hoped in vain. The service that President Roosevelt has done is clear to men who think beyond to-morrow and back of yesterday. Six or seven years before the great corporations almost openly controlled a very large part of our political life and they had come to think of them- selves as the proprietors of American financial, industrial, and political power. In this state of mind there was danger enough. But there was a still greater danger in the state of mind which lent itself to what, for the lack of a better name, may be called Hearstism. In restraining this Mr. Roosevelt's greatest exploit lay. A CONSTRUCTIVE FORCE. The work of the Administration in reasserting the power of law over the great corporations was, not a radical, but a conservative force. It kept an angry and radical and possibly destructive power from organizing itself. If some state legislatures and executives went beyond sound law and good sense, this was a small evil that was soon corrected. But, if a strong public sentiment — all the forces of the dissatisfied — had rallied, let us say, to the banner of some irresponsible fanatic, we should have had a contest that would have involved a degree of danger that might have put an end to prosperity and to many other things besides. Now that danger has passed and that it has passed is due to the forceful bravery of Mr. Roosevelt. The people have become accus- tomed to the hope and the expectation that corporations will be made to respect the law, that the Government will be conducted without surrender to them; and such revolutionary and radical proposals as would lead to distrust, insecurity, and even to confis- cation are no longer feared. And the problem has been clearly formulated once for all. The complete solution of it may require many experiments, many years, 204 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. many Presidential administrations. But Mr. Roosevelt proved that the predatory trusts can be brought to respect the law without over- turning our industrial structure and without checking prosperity. His successors cannot escape the same task. Whether, therefore, any particular experiment or proposal be fantastical or fanatical, and whether any state enact and enforce absurd laws, or whether Mr. Roosevelt's personal popularity be more or less — these are of little consequence. To-morrow they will all be forgotten or reversed. The thing that will remain for many a day and for other Presidents and Congresses will be this well-formu- lated task — to keep the great combinations of capital within the bounds of just laws without stopping the industrial machinery and the profitable activity of the country. JUSTICE FOR CHINA. President Roosevelt's successful efforts to stay the ravages of war between Russia and Japan did much to re-establish American prestige in the Far East, but, perhaps, no act went further, in this, than when, with a commendable spirit of fairness and generosity, the Administration revised the indemnity figures that represented the debt of China to the United States as a result of the Boxer troubles. Under the protocol, signed on September 7, 1901, China agreed to pay to the United States, in forty years, $24,440,000 and interest at the rate of 4 per cent. The Roosevelt Administration agreed to remit this debt on the payment of $11,055,000, of which $6,000,000 had already been paid. Of course, this administrative act, since it altered the terms of settlement established by a treaty agreement, had to be ratified by Congress before it went into effect. But since it was admitted by the Government that the revised figures covered all the actual cost to this country through the Boxer outbreak, Congress could not very well afford to refuse to ratify the amendment. A failure to do so would have amounted to a confession that this country desired money more than it desired a reputation for common honesty. The important and interesting phase of the matter is the fact that the revision threw more than a reasonable doubt upon all the CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. 205 awards made under that protocol. If the United States award was unjust, or, as Mr. Root gently called it "a maximum," what of the Russian award of $87,500,000, the German award of $60,- 000,000, the French award of $56,000,000? The plain truth is, that China was, one might say, sand-bagged by the Christian Powers in 1901, as weak nations have generally been. The United States alone recorded a refusal to keep the plunder, and it recorded it most largely, because the inherent honesty of Theodore Roosevelt would not let it do otherwise. DANGER OF WAR WITH JAPAN. It was not until the final year of Mr. Roosevelt's administra- ation, however, that the gravest danger loomed up — the possibility of a war with Japan. This condition arose from a variety of sources pregnant with danger. First, there arose on the Pacific coast a widespread, if not universal, demand that the Japanese be excluded from this country. Nor was it far different in Canada. The anti-Oriental riot at Vancouver, following the anti-Japanese demonstration in San Fran- cisco and the driving away of Hindu laborers at Bellingham, Wash., were the work chiefly of men of the labor unions; but in all these places the general public feeling w r as on the side of the white men. Violent methods were deplored by the best part of the popula- tion ; but there was nevertheless no doubt about a general and very serious objection to the coming of men of any of these races in any considerable number — this in spite of the demand on the Pacific coast for more labor. The objection to the Japanese, strangely enough, was stronger than the objection to the Chinese and the Hindus. There is the same feeling in all English-held lands — in Australia and New Zealand which exclude Mongolians, in Natal which prohibits the coming of more Hindus, in the Transvaal which is trying ultimately to exclude the Chinese permanently. Canada has a commercial agreement whereunder direct Jap- anese immigration is restricted annually to 500 persons, which, 206 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. however, had not until the recent trouble prevented the coming of many of them from Hawaii. All this is in spite of the general treaty between Great Britain and Japan. It is not strange, therefore, that this feeling of irritation was seized upon by the "yellow" press of both countries and blazoned before the world until war was seriously discussed not only in the papers of the two countries, but in all the capitals of the world. At this juncture President Roosevelt made his first move for the preservation of peace — a diplomatic move, as is characteristic of the man. Later he was forced to rely upon the veiled threat of the most powerful fleet ever gathered together in the world. But his first act in the drama was the sending of Secretary Taft to Japan as the "Ambassador of Peace." THE AMBASSADOR OF PEACE. Secretary Taft's happy and emphatic declaration, at an official dinner given in his honor in Tokio, that talk of war between Japan and the United States was "infamous," ought to have arrested the activity of the criminal press in discussing such a subject. Most of such discussion was "infamous." Absurd, if not criminal, also was the recurring newspaper talk about selling the Philippines, which Secretary Taft described on the same occasion as unworthy of con- sideration because, among other reasons, we had entered into moral obligations to the people of the islands which it would be ignomin- ious to shirk or to transfer. This latter suggestion in regard to the Philippines, indeed, doubtless had its part in stirring up trouble between the United States and the people of the Mikado. But out of the anarchy from which San Francisco suffered came one annoyance to the Japanese after another — too little, per- haps, to deserve notice under normal conditions. But the Japanese jingoes noticed even a reported prohibition of Japanese employment agencies by the San Francisco authorities; and one of their news- papers, an organ of the Opposition, published a sort of demand for an international inquiry. In the Hawaiian Islands, a meeting of CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. 207 Japanese "demanded" the admission of Japanese laborers to the United States — contrary to the terms of our treaty. These were trifling incidents. Neither the Government at Washington nor the Government at Tokio apparently paid heed to them; and there was no open strain on their good relations. But the people of Japan, or some of them, are sensitive ; and their trade organizations addressed a polite letter of protest to President Roose- velt and to American Boards of Trade. Japan protested that it had no thought of war, no wish for war, no financial ability to wage war ; nor did the Government of Japan show, so far as the public knew, any irritation. Yet the sensational press of both countries and even some of the sensational newspapers of Europe kept the subject of a possible breach between the United States and Japan under discussion ; and agitators in California and Opposition politicians in Japan continued to give occasion for news- items and discussion. KUROKI COMES HERE. But meanwhile official Japan was doing its best — openly at least — to avert trouble. As a return visit to Secretary Taft's, General Kuroki was sent to the United States as still another mes- senger of peace. General Kuroki was received in the United States everywhere with real admiration as well as with pardonable curiosity; and everywhere he went he called forth expressions of friendliness to himself and to his country. For instance, the formation of a Japan Society in New York, a club to preserve and to encourage the most friendly relations between the two countries, was a graceful indica- tion of cordiality. But the visit of this distinguished Japanese General and of the naval officers who made us a brief visit set going much diplomatic speculation about the part that Japan will play in world-politics. The friendly compacts between England and Japan and France and Japan; the probability of Japan's building up an influence in South America by immigration and by trade; the pressure of Jap- anese immigration eastward to the Philippines, the Hawaiian 2Q3 CURBING PREDATORY WEALTH. Islands, and the United States ; the part that Japan may play in the development of China — these and such subjects came up for renewed discussion and speculation throughout the whole Western world. In spite of the temporary cessation of talk about the danger of a breach of friendly relations between the United States and Japan because of the San Francisco school incident, expressions of remote apprehension still cropped out here and there. We were reminded that the inevitable race-feeling would assert itself if Japanese immi- gration were to become great; we were reminded that, as the Jap- anese discovered that they were taken seriously by the world as soon as they showed good warlike qualities, they might conclude that another war in due time — when they can afford to pay for it — would increase their prestige still more, and that the stronger the nation with whom they fight, the greater the glory would be. We were reminded, too, that their industrial development might be an annoyance to our trade interest. Finally the talk became so prevalent on both sides of the Atlantic as well as on both the Eastern and the Western shores of the Pacific, that diplomatic platitudes no longer would suffice. Then Mr. Roosevelt showed the courage that was in him. Boldly he ordered the mobilization of a great fleet of battle- ships for a cruise around the world. It was a daring stroke, but Japan read its significance aright. Before it had rounded the cape into the Pacific, fit, as Admiral Evans so aptly expressed it, "for either a frolic or a fight," Japan had officially invited it to visit its shores. The Roosevelt Big Stick had been waved not in vain. Danger of war was averted. CHAPTER XVI OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. Left New York on Steamer Hamburg on March 23, 1909 — Cheering Thousands Crowd Pier — Taft Sends Present — Roosevelt Has Narrow Escape in Azores — Visits Gibral- tar and Naples — Meets Italian King at Messina — Reaches Mombasa April 21. A A J AVING a parting farewell with his black slouch hat, his face * » beaming in the morning sun as he stood on the captain's bridge of the steamship Hamburg, former President Roosevelt sailed away from New York Harbor on March 23, 1909, for his long planned African "Safari." He left his native shores amid the cheers of thousands of persons who swarmed the Hamburg-American Line pier at Hoboken, the whistles of countless river craft and the thunderous reverberations of the ex-President salute of 13 guns from Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth. • The party was known as The Roosevelt-Smithsonian Institu- tion Expedition, for when Charles D. Wolcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and curator of the National Museum, heard that President Roosevelt was planning to go to Africa, he imme- diately sought permission to send representatives with the party for the purpose of adding to the collections of the National Museum. The co-operative plan, as agreed upon, provided for the send- ing of three representatives of the Smithsonian Institution — Major Edgar A. Mearns, United States Army, retired; Edmund Heller, and J. Alden Loring. Mr. Roosevelt was accompanied by his son Kermit, who, with his father, was to shoot the big game and take photographs. The expenses of the expedition were divided into five equal shares, of which Mr. Roosevelt paid two and the institution three. 14 — T.E. "09 210 OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. Besides the happy figure of the former President as the steam- ship slipped out of her dock stood a lad, seemingly dejected as he wistfully gazed at the cheering multitude on the pier below. It was Kermit Roosevelt, who accompanies his father as official photo- grapher of the expedition. Father and son, both clad in brilliant buff-hued army coats, remained on the bridge on the trip down the bay and acknowledged with sweeps of their hats the salutes of the vessels. True to his promise, Mr. Roosevelt made no statements regard- ing his hunt in Africa other than to say that he probably would be gone about a year and a quarter. Mr. Roosevelt eschewed politics to inquiring friends and contented himself with expressions of pleasure and appreciations of the kindly farewells. A MESSAGE FROM TAFT. One incident of the departure which touched Mr. Roosevelt probably more than any other was the presentation of a message and gift from President Taft by Captain Archibald Butt, who was chief military aide to Mr. Roosevelt and holds that position under President Taft. Captain Butt had a difficult time in reaching Mr. Roosevelt. It was imperative that he should do so, as he carried a message from the President which required a reply. Finally after Mr. Roosevelt had boarded the ship a second time Captain Butt reached him in his stateroom. Grasping his former aide by the hand with a "By George, it is good to see you again, Archie," Mr. Roosevelt drew the President's messenger aside to talk with him. Captain Butt then delivered President Taft's message and a small package containing a ruler of gold with pencil attached. It is a collapsible ruler 12 inches long- when drawn out of the end of the pencil. On it is inscribed : "To Theodore Roosevelt from William Howard Taft: Goodby and good luck. Best wishes for a safe return." When Mr. Roosevelt opened the package he exclaimed, "Well, now, isn't that just too fine! It certainly was thoughtful and kind of President Taft to send this to me and I appreciate it greatly." Turning to Captain Butt he whispered a message for him to OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. 211 carry to the White House and said he would reply by wireless telegraph to the letter Mr. Taft had sent to him. Captain Butt, learning that Mrs. Roosevelt had remained at Sagamore Hill, promised Mr. Roosevelt he would go out during the afternoon to pay his respects. One of the last acts of Mr. Roosevelt before sailing was to send a message to President Taft reading : "Parting thanks, love and sincerity." Friends and political and official associates almost without number came aboard the steamship to speed the departing hunter. Only those who were known to Douglas Robinson, brother-in-law of Mr. Roosevelt, were admitted to Mr. Roosevelt's suite. An eleventh hour decoration in Mr. Roosevelt's main state room was the hanging on the walls of portraits of the several members of the Roosevelt family and pictures of the White House and Sagamore Hill. THANKS PITTSBURG FRIENDS. The departure of the Hamburg was delayed until 1 1 :o6 o'clock by Captain Burmeister, so that Major General Wood and his staff might board the steamship from the Government tug Wyckoff and bid good-by to their former commander-in-chief. From the forward gangplank of the ship Mr. Roosevelt, addressing the Pittsburg delegation and representatives of various organizations that had come to New York to see him off, made his last speech. He said: "I want to thank the representatives from Pittsburg who have come all this distance to see me off. I am indeed grateful and am touched by their thoughtfulness and kindness in coming such a long way. I want to thank also all my fellow citizens who came to see me off. To you and all Americans I say God bless you." The Hamburg presented a pretty marine picture as she steamed down the river in the sunlight. Racing alongside of the Hamburg was a fleet of tugs tooting incessantly. The tugs carried scores of Mr. Roosevelt's friends. Mr. Roosevelt waved his hat in answer to the cheers of those on the tugs, for the high wind prevented any sound of human voice 212 OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. from carrying across the water. The Hamburg dipped her colors in answer to the salute of the forts and her siren answered the fre- quent whistles of the craft met and passed. When the Hamburg was last seen moving eastward in the haze that hung over the Atlantic, those on the tugs saw a figure high upon the bridge waving a last farewell. Mr. Roosevelt and Kermit received a continuous ovation from the time they landed at the East River terminal of the Long Island Railroad from Oyster Bay to the sailing. There was a burst of cheers as the ferryboat landed at Thirty-fourth street, and as the party whirled through the city streets pedestrians catching a fleet- ing glimpse of the ex-President, cheered, took off their hats and waved farewell. THROUGH WONDERFUL TUNNEL. Mr. Roosevelt took the keenest interest in his first trip through the Hudson tube in a special train and took a position in the front car so that he might inspect the underground bore. He shook the motorman's hand after the trip, saying, "I want to shake hands with the man behind the gun." Mr. Roosevelt started the first train through the tunnel a year ago by pressing a button in the White House. On the trip from Oyster Bay scores of men and women stopped and shook Air. Roosevelt's hand, wishing him farewell and a success- ful trip. At Long Island City there were only a few who recog- nized 'Mr. Roosevelt and his son. After a brisk walk they boarded the ferryboat Hempstead. Here they were surrounded by a crowd of Long Island commuters, who came forward and extended their farewells. As the Hempstead entered her slip the captain of the boat from the pilot house called for "Three cheers for Teddy Roosevelt." Instantly there was a burst of cheers which lasted several minutes. Mr. Roosevelt was met here by Douglas Robinson, his brother- in-law, and Lawrence Abbott. The party proceeded to the Hudson tunnel in an automobile. To the newspaper men Mr. Roosevelt said : OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. 213 "It's just a fine day to travel and ought to be fine at sea. I have received hundreds of telegrams wishing me a safe journey, but I will not give out the names of those who sent them. As I have said before, I have no statement to make, and it's strange you gentle- men of the press have not asked me this morning if I have a message for the American people. No, there is nothing to be said, and I really don't know why newspaper men should want to travel with me to Naples or Mombasa. Surely there is little likelihood of there being any incidents at sea. "You tell me that the photographer of Mr. Harmsworth's papers, who accompanied the Prince of Wales to India, is going to join us at Gibraltar. That will be fine, won't it, Kermit? He can help you. I cannot definitely say how long I shall be away, but it will be about 15 months. My lecture at Oxford will take place in the spring of 1910. I expect to have a good time, and I am sure the expedition will be a success." PUBLIC THANKS THROUGH PRESS. Later he received the newspaper men on the Hamburg, when he said: "Now, gentlemen, I am glad to see you. What can I tell you? Oh, yes; there is that picture (indicating a portrait of President Taft). It is very interesting, and very fine, don't you think so? "Oh, gentlemen, there is one thing that I desire very much to have you say for me. There is an immense mass of mail on board this steamship which has come to me and which I have not been able to open, and much of which I will not be able to open for some time. I have no stenographer with me. Since I left the White House I have received about 5000 to 6000 letters. Four-fifths of these I have not even seen. My thanks to the people who sent them is, however, none the less. Now, I wish that you would say for me that it will be only a waste of time for any one to write to me while I am in Africa. Again I will say that I deeply appreciate the courtesy of those who have written me, and take this occasion to give them my thanks." More than 1000 persons were crowded on the pier when Mr. 214 OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. Roosevelt arrived, and they cheered tumultously. The Hamburg's band was on the promenade deck playing the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the "Watch on the Rhine." Hundreds of flags were hoisted aloft and the ship put in full dress. The pier at which the Hamburg lay was decorated with bunting and flags and the gang- way to the first cabin was draped with American flags. TRIBUTE FROM ITALIANS. A notable feature of the reception was the tribute paid by the Italian-American Chamber of Commerce. This body presented a bronze tablet bearing on one side a portrait of Mr. Roosevelt and on the other the scene of the Sicilian earthquake and a representa- tion of the goddess of peace placing a wreath on Roosevelt's head. The tablet was inscribed: "To Theodore Roosevelt: To you and the United States a tribute of thanksgiving from Italo-Americans for generous help to their stricken brethren of Calabria and Sicily." Several delegations from Italian societies were present, bring- ing a band, a floral offering and a large banner, which was erected on the pier. It bore the inscription: "Italo-Americans, let us shout, 'Long live President Roosevelt and the United States.' A tribute of thanksgiving on behalf of our brethren of Sicily and Calabria. Let us solemnly condemn any crime staining Italy's name. Let us here pledge our loyalty to American institutions. Long live America." It was when Mr. Roosevelt appeared on the after-gangplank to accept the tablet that the crowds swept him off his feet. As he came down the gangplank the cheering redoubled, and a party of college boys from Stevens Institute, in Hoboken, let loose their yell. On the way across the pier the lines of police escorting Mr. Roose- velt were broken through and the ex-President was swept toward the tablet by the crush. The crowd closed in solidly behind him, and while the police were endeavoring to fight off the on-rush, Mr. Roosevelt asked the speakers to cut the presentation ceremony short. Mr. Roosevelt in reply said: "I appreciate this very much. I want to thank you all. I can- not tell you how r deeply touched I am." OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. 215 Mr. Roosevelt gave directions that the tablet be sent to Mrs. Roosevelt and turned back toward the ship. The police did their best to clear a way for him, but the crowd became demonstrative. Two policemen were knocked off their feet, but were not injured. As he neared the gangplank Mr. Roosevelt's hat flew off and the vacuum bottle which had been presented to him was knocked from his hand. He bowed his thanks when the articles were returned to him and smilingly called "I am all right." Everywhere he moved outside his apartments Mr. Roosevelt could not escape the leave takers. More than once he was nearly jostled off his feet, and on one occasion was saved by a policeman from a fall at the edge of a short flight of steps. HOME-FOLKS' GOOD-BYE. Former President Roosevelt's departure from his home town at 7 o'clock in the morning of the 23d was marked by an enthusiastic gathering of his fellow-citizens at the station to bid him Godspeed. Air. Roosevelt shook hands with those who pressed about him for a parting greeting, and there was a lusty cheer as the train moved out. Mr. Roosevelt was up with the sun and immediately all was astir at Sagamore Hill making ready for the three-mile drive to- the station. Kermit appeared alternately happy at the prospect of an exciting trip and not a little dejected at leaving home. Mr. Roosevelt bade good-bye to the family at the house and drove down to the station with Kermit and little Quentin, who sat on the front seat with Noah Seaman, the family driver. At the station Mr. Roosevelt kissed Quentin good-bye and there was a hint of tears in his eyes as he said farewell. He shook hands warmly with his driver and patted the neck of old Rustin, the family horse. "He is a bully good fellow," he said as he caressed the animal. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., did not go to Hoboken to see his father embark for Africa. He spent Sunday at Oyster Bay and returned to Thompsonville, Conn., the following morning and was at his duties in the carpet works when his father and brother sailed. •21G OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. Former President Roosevelt spent the better part of the after- noon, his first few hours at sea, in resting from the fatigue of his strenuous departure. The weather was clear and balmy, the sea smooth, and alto- gether the day was such a one as would tempt the sea-voyager to the deck and open air. But Colonel Roosevelt had risen early and had passed through a most tiring though pleasing experience, so he decided, after luncheon, to seek the seclusion of his stateroom. Kermit Roosevelt and the other members of the party spent the afternoon in the open, resting in deck chairs. Mr. Roosevelt and his party had luncheon and dinner at Captain Burmeister's table. At both meals the ex-President's expedition into Africa was the chief topic. The voyage was uneventful save that Mr. Roosevelt was in serious danger off Ponta Delgada, in the Azores. NARROW ESCAPE IN AZORES. A great wave swept him into the sea from a small boat, in which he was returning from a visit to that city. Mr. Roosevelt's patriotism placed him in danger. He had been visiting the American Consul at Ponta Delgada, and as the small boat neared the side of the liner on the return trip the band struck up "The Star Spangled Banner." The former President rose and bared his head in respect for the anthem. Two sailors held him, for the sea was running high and choppy. As the national hymn ended the boat was pitching beside the Hamburg, and Mr. Roosevelt made a flying leap for the rope ladder that dangled from the side of the vessel. Just then the big wave tossed the boat, threw him from his balance and he went into the sea. He is a sturdy swimmer, but might have had a hard time of it in the rough water if the succeed- ing wave hadn't tossed him up almost to the foot of the rope ladder. The seamen who were hanging to that grabbed his arms and held him until he got a grip on the lowest rung and clambered up. He went at once to his cabin and took off his wet clothing. His OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE, 217 fellow-passengers gave him a rousing cheer when he appeared again at dinner. Another incident, which Mr. Roosevelt enjoyed even less than his ducking, was an attack of seasickness which seized him. Throughout the day the sea ran high, and the liner pitched consider- ably. With the familiar pallor of mal-de-mar, he retired from deck during the afternoon and was not interested in the dinner call. He did not appear in the dining-room, nor was there any meal sent to his cabin. He recovered sufficiently at 9 o'clock, however, to attend the ball and dance. KERMIT STARTS A ROMANCE. Romance-loving passengers aboard the Hamburg watched with great interest the progress of warm friendship which had sprung up between Kermit Roosevelt, the former President's son, and Miss Ruth Draper, a member of an old Massachusetts family and a niece of the late Charles A. Dana, the editor. There was a ball Saturday night. Kermit danced several times with Miss Draper. Mr. Roosevelt's one dance was with that charm- ing young woman. Kermit was her partner in some gymkana games held on deck later, and saw that she won some of the prizes. He strolled with her many times, too. His father looked on smilingly. No more unassuming passengers than Colonel Roosevelt ever sailed the seas. So subdued of demeanor has he been, indeed, that it is difficult to identify him with his former torrential personality. Notwithstanding his insistence that he is now merely a private citizen, the Royal Italian Immigration Commissioner insisted on giving up his seat at the Captain's right; but, barring the usual number of amateur photographers and autograph hunters, with all whose requests Mr. Roosevelt complied, the passengers as a whole recognized his evident desire to be treated merely as a fellow- traveler. The popularity of this new role was attested by the ani- mated groups which gathered each evening on deck and in the draw- ing room — groups of which he was the centre. A brief stop was made at Gibraltar, where the Roosevelt party 218 OFF FOR THE AFRICAN JUNGLE. disembarked for a short tour of the fortifications, and another at Naples, where the former President, after a warm greeting from the Neapolitans, left the steamer Hamburg for the Admiral, which was to carry him to East Africa. The following day, April 6, the Admiral dropped anchor in the harbor of shattered Messina, where Mr. Roosevelt visited the Italian battleship Re Umberto as the guest of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy, who wished to personally thank the former President for the generous aid and sympathy extended by America to the survivors of the great earthquake of the previous winter. The King then acted as Mr. Roosevelt's pilot through the ruins of the once majestic city. Everywhere the American was met by as enthusiastic a greeting as the destitute survivors were capable. Their gratitude for his efforts toward the amelioration of their misery was unbounded, and it was with tears of joy in his eyes that the former President saw the evidences of good work that American dollars had done in that great emergency. The Admiral reached Port Said, the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez Canal, on the evening of April 9, passed Suez, the eastern terminus, the next night, and Aden, Arabia, on the 14th. The party sighted Mombasa, British East Africa, on the even- ing of April 21, eager for the hunt that awaited them. At last the former President's great ambition, to shoot big game, was on the eve of realization. CHAPTER XVII ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. Great Preparations at Mombasa — Britons Take Special Pre- cautions — The Trip to the Jungle — Steeps to Music oe Lions' Roars — At Ju Ja Ranch — On the Kapiti Plains — ■ The Hunt Begins. '"THE preparations for the reception at Mombasa of Theodore * Roosevelt had long been in a state of completion. Sir James Hayes Sadler, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the protector- ate, who had been transferred suddenly to the Windward Islands, was very much disappointed that he was not able to receive the former President of the United States. This duty devolved upon Frederick John Jackson, Lieutenant Governor of the protectorate. Mr. Jackson is a famous sportsman and the author of the book on big game in the Badminton Library series. There were amusing phases to the expectancy with which the arrival of Col. Roosevelt was awaited. Since the advent of the rains lions had been terrifying the natives within four miles of Kilindini. An elephant that evidently had strayed from a herd made its way into the bazaar at Masingi and played havoc. The natives at Masingi had been assured that they need have no further fear, as Col. Roosevelt is on his way to the protectorate to hunt. They were awaiting Col. Roosevelt's arrival contentedly. Packages addressed to Col. Roosevelt had been arriving out on every steamer from London. They came principally from British firms in the export business. A cablegram had been sent to Col. Roosevelt at Aden inviting him to be the guest of the citizens of Mombasa at dinner on St. George's Day, April 23. This at first was declined, but finally was accepted in the spirit in which it was tendered. R. J. Cunninghame, a widely known hunter and field naturalist, who was to manage the Roosevelt expedition, completed his prepara- 211) 220 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. tion with much secrecy. He had not been seen in or about Nairobi for a fortnight. The government even constructed a new road to facilitate the landing of the Roosevelt party at Kilindini, the landing place for Mombasa. The steamer Melbourne, of the Messageries Lines, went on a reef in the harbor just before Col. Roosevelt's arrival. It was feared for a time that she would block the entrance to the steamer Admiral, but the steamer Oxus came in later and succeeded in pull- ing her off without damage. The Colonial Office in London had issued instructions to the Governor of the protectorate to surround Col. Roosevelt on his hunting trips with every possible precaution for his safety, since the mullahs of the Somalis inhabiting the desert country north of the protectorate were reported to be showing further signs of unrest, and were massing on the northern boundary of Kenya province. TROUBLE WAS FEARED. This restlessness first became evident some six months before, and there had been apprehension of trouble in the dry season, when travel over the trails is easier. This northern district always has been a territory to watch closely. When the natives do go out for trouble they generally bear to the westward in the direction of the settled districts and the good hunting grounds. There was therefore some local anxiety, particularly as a majority of the protectorate groups were at Berbera, in British Somaliland. Sir H. Hesketh-Bell, Governor and commander-in-chief of Uganda, having left Uganda April 28 for England, Col. Roosevelt and his party were first received in Uganda by S. C. Tomkins, one of the provincial commissioners. It had been decided that Kermit Roosevelt was to take a num- ber of short separate hunting trips vith a Portuguese hunter. For the first fortnight of their stay the Roosevelt party were ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 221 the guests at Athi River of Sir Alfred Pease, a well-known hunter, who has a large estate at Kilina Theki. The second fortnight they were the guests of George McMillan at Ju Ja ranch. A local hunter had recently secured in the cannibal country an elephant whose tusks weighed 290 pounds. When Col. Roosevelt heard this he almost jumped for joy. "That promises good sport," he laughed. Meanwhile, all the town was on the qui vive. The manager of the railroad had come down from Nairobi. The superintendent of traffic also was there, and both officials went on the special train that took Col. Roosevelt and his party inland. Col. Roosevelt also was accompanied on this journey by the Gov- ernor of the protectorate. - Natives were coming into Mombasa from all parts, of the country to witness the disembarkation of the "Great White Chief." The rains were increasing, but there had been a decrease in the smallpox cases in the interior. FEAR PROVED UNFOUNDED. It was feared that the unusually heavy rains so late in the wet season would interfere greatly with the first part of Col. Roose- velt's stay in the protectorate. But this fear proved to be unfounded. The sky was clear and the climate, despite the equatorial sun, cool and invigorating. The actual route which Col. Roosevelt was to follow had not been definitely decided upon, but it was finally settled that several different trails should be taken from Nairobi as headquarters. Baron Tallian de Vizek, a famous Hungarian hunter, who had just passed through Mombasa returning home, reported that big- game prospects were good. His party went from Nairobi to the west and traveled across the Athi plains to the Athi River, thence to Mount Donyo Sabuk as far as the Upper Tana River. He reported common antelope and zebra plentiful, but when stalking elands and gnu at the foot of Mount Dwiniaro he was interfered with by rhinoceri. Again Col. Roosevelt laughed gleefully. Turning to Kermit 222 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. he chuckled: ''Guess we won't have our trip for nothing-, eh, Kermit !" Indeed, from the moment his eyes first landed on the jungle, the former President seemed the very personification of glee. A fortnight before when Baron de Vizek attempted to avoid rhinoceri on his right, he found another crowd on his left and seven in front. Being anxious to secure a bull eland holding the finest head he had seen, the Baron had no option but to push for- ward, a movement which two old rhino bulls resented. They charged viciously and gave the hunter no opportunity of evading them. The Baron expressed regret that he was obliged to sacrifice them, as he had already secured better heads. Apart from the rhinoceros nuisance he recommended this route, especially for elands, giraffes and hippopotami, which latter gave him great sport on the Tana. Lions were met on several occasions. GREAT GROUP OF LIONS FOUND. The report of a record group of lions on the Nandi Plateau and elephants in the Elburgon forest also was confirmed, greatly to the glee of the American. British East Africa and Uganda have entertained probably more "great" people within five years than any other portion of the British Empire. Royal reigning dukes, brothers and cousins of kings and emperors, British and Continental statesmen of high degree, all have received that unostentatious but genuine welcome which characterizes colonial peoples. The occasion of Ex-President Roosevelt's visit was unique in the fact that he was the first famous American statesman to set foot in East Africa. The people who are pioneers in what once was "Darkest Africa" are of a different stamp to the pioneers who made Canada and Australia what they are. The British East Africa colonist has been drawn chiefly from the hardier of Great Britain's aristocracy and from the educated middle classes. All are sportsmen in the best sense of the term ; all are men with whom the Ex-President imme- diately could be on friendly terms. There was no crowding on the ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 223 privacy of a visitor when once the shoot commenced, nor any unsportsmanlike attempt to spoil a sport by following close on the party's track. The route when finally mapped out for Col. Roosevelt was his route and his route alone; other big game sportsmen and inland traders respected that route as if it were a drive in a private park. Kilindini Harbor (the place of deep waters) was the port of debarkation, and Mombasa (the place of war) was the place of residence, where the distinguished visitor was able to do the "sight- seeing" of which he wrote to the Boston League of Mercy. He also visited Freretown (the place of freedom) where only a few years ago the decree of the late Sultan of Zanzibar was read, forbidding the continuance of slavery. He was able to stand on the spot where, even in the time of his own youth, wretched slaves, raided in the fiercest manner by the famous Arab chief, Tippu-Tip, were put up for auction as goods and chattels and eagerly pur- chased by the old Mombasa Arabs, many of whom are living in ease now on their ill-gotten gains. MASSIVE FORT OF OLDEN AGE. The massive fort begun by the Arab conquerors in the seventh century, and finished by the Portuguese in the days of Vasco Da Gama, also was visited. Every stone w r as laid by slaves under the whips of their masters, and for every stone a life was paid. Within the grim walls of this fort history has been written in blood. Nine times has the ownership of the famous edifice changed hands. First the Arab and then the white man, and then again the Arab, have fought hand to hand within its walls, until the time of the final massacre. This was when Yussuf, a baptized Arab, defeated the Portuguese governor, and put to death every white man, woman and child in the place. Col. Roosevelt's national pride was deeply stirred when he inspected the locomotives that were to carry him in comfort over the continent in two days, on a journey which took Stanley three months of the greatest discomfort and personal danger. These locomotives are the product of Philadelphia. 224 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. Col. Roosevelt found that British East Africa provides food for the anthropologist as well as the entomologist, zoologist and historian. Each great native tribe is bound up in its own civiliza- tion, its own customs, its own religions and its own physical and mental characteristics, and the march of Western civilization can be clearly and peculiarly denoted by the wearing apparel, or its absence, of the fashionable native women. At the coast the women adopt picturesque costumes of fancy patterned cotton prints and huge silver hand-worked anklets of many pounds weight. In the highlands around Nakuru the fashions change. The dressed skins of wild game displace cotton manufactures and roll upon roll of bright iron and copper wire, bound tightly around the upper and nether limbs, complete the costume. Then again in some districts wearing apparel is exceedingly scant. A GRAND RECEPTION. But before going into the detail of the hunt it may be well to detail the great reception awarded the distinguished visitor at Mombasa. The steamer Admiral, bearing Col. Roosevelt, entered Kilin- dini harbor, flying the American flag at her fore and main masts. She dipped the German ensign while passing the British cruiser Pandora, whose rails and masts were manned by cheering sailors. The Pandora saluted the Ex-President, who was on the bridge. The first word of the sighting of the Admiral brought the people of Mombasa in crowds to vantage points, where they might catch a glimpse of the distinguished visitor. The Admiral came slowly up to the harbor and it was dark when Col. Roosevelt, his son Kermit and the captain were brought ashore in the commandant's surfboat and carried to a place of shelter in chairs on natives' shoulders. There was a perfect deluge of rain, but in reply to the expres- sions of regret at this, Col. Roosevelt said he was glad to get ashore in any weather. He added that he was in splendid health and that the start to the hunting grounds could not come a minute too soon. ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 225 The Governor's aide boarded the Admiral and extended a wel- come to Col. Roosevelt, who received another cordial greeting on shore from the provincial commissioner, who conducted him to the government house. R. F. Cunninghame, the hunter and field naturalist, who had charge of the preparations for the expedition, also was on hand at the pier. Col. Roosevelt was pleased highly when he observed the mili- tary guard drawn up. He replied to the salute by doffing his hat and smiling broadly. The crowds pressing forward to see the noted American included Europeans, Indians and natives, and presented a picturesque appearance. While genuinely hearty in their welcome, the people were not demonstrative. CAPTAIN DINES ROOSEVELT. The week's voyage from Aden was interrupted only by a short stop at Mogadiscio, in Italian Somaliland. A feature of the trip was the captain's dinner to Col. Roosevelt. The saloon was deco- rated artistically and much enthusiasm was shown over the speeches, which were exchanged in good fellowship. In toasting the Ex-President the captain wished him Godspeed and a safe return to the United States. Col. Roosevelt replied, first in English and then in German and French. It had been the intention of the Ex-President to remain in Mombasa two days, but the floods had been heavy, and it was deemed advisable to change this plan. The special train, which was to carry Col. Roosevelt and his party to Sir Alfred Pease's ranch on the Athi River, left at 2 o'clock the next afternoon. The acting Governor of the protectorate, Frederick J. Jackson, entertained the Ex-President at dinner and later they proceeded to one of the clubs. The Roosevelt party were taken in carriages about the town the following morning, and, so far as possible, the Gov- ernor and his associates strove to meet the special instructions from King Edward to show every consideration to the distinguished traveler. F. C. Selous, the English hunter, was also a^guest at the 15— T.R. oof, ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. dinner. He accompanied Col. Roosevelt on his first shooting expe- dition at the Pease ranch. Col. Roosevelt and the members of his party left Mombasa on a special train at 2.30 o'clock on the afternoon of the 226. for Kapiti Plains Station, whence they were conveyed to the ranch of Sir Alfred Pease for their first shooting trip. The party was accom- panied by F. J. Jackson, acting Governor of the protectorate. Before leaving Col. Roosevelt telegraphed to King Edward, thanking him for the message of greeting read by Mr. Jackson at the dinner given in Col. Roosevelt's honor at the Mombasa Club the preceding night. A guard of honor composed of marines and blue jackets from the Pandora was at the railroad station when the Roosevelt party arrived, and was inspected by Col. Roosevelt. A number of officials and civilians also were present, and the station building was decorated with flags. LEFT THE BIG STICK AT HOME. Col. Roosevelt spent the morning at the Government House, where he was the guest the preceding night of Mr. Jackson. From Mombasa Col. Roosevelt dispatched a cablegram to the Emperor of Germany, saying: "I desire to express my appreciation of my treatment on board the German steamship Admiral, under Captain Doherr, and my admiration of the astounding energy and growth of the mercantile and colonial interests of Germany in East Africa." At the banquet Mr. Jackson said that the Ex-President had left the "Big Stick" at home, and after seven strenuous years as President of the United States had come out to Africa to make use of the rifle. In conclusion he promised the distinguished visitor an immense variety of game and good sport. When Col. Roosevelt arose to reply he was enthusiastically received with full Highland musical honors. He began with a tribute to the British people for their energy and genius in civiliz- ing the uncivilized places of the earth. He said he was surprised at what he bad heard of the progress of British East Africa, but ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 227 he warned his hearers that they could not expect to achieve in a short time what it had taken America twenty generations to accom- plish. He then emphasized the necessity of leaving local questions to be solved by the authorities on the spot, and commented on the fact that the people at home knew little of affairs abroad. In this connection he instanced the United States and the Philippine Islands. Continuing, Col. Roosevelt expressed his great pleasure at the welcome given him by the British cruiser Pandora, whose rails and masts were manned by cheering sailors when the Admiral came into the harbor. He said he believed in peace, but considered that strength meant peace, and he hoped that all the great nations would provide themselves with this means to the end. LULLED TO SLEEP BY LION ROARS. He was followed by Mr. Selous, who expressed the hope that Col. Roosevelt would in the future use the power of his position to bring about an entente between Great Britain and Germany. The following night Col. Roosevelt reached the hunting grounds and slept to the music of the roaring of lions in the nearby jungle. Needless to say, his joy was unbounded at spending his first night in Africa under canvas. A big camp had been established near the railroad station for the expedition, and lions were prowling about in the vicinity of the tents. The country was green, owing to the recent rains, and there was every prospect of good sport. The commoner varieties of game were very plentiful, and the huntsmen lost no time in getting started on their shooting trips. The special train bearing the Roosevelt party from Mombasa arrived at Kapiti Plains at half past one o'clock in the afternoon. Only the members of the party got off at Kapiti Plains. F. J. Jackson, the Acting Governor of the protectorate, and the other officials who came up from Mombasa continued on to Nairobi. The camp established for Roosevelt was most elaborate. The caravan had a total of 260 followers. There were thirteen tents for the Europeans and their horses and sixty tents for the porters. An American flag was flying over the tent occupied by Col. 20 p 228 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. Roosevelt. All the native porters of the expedition were lined up on the platform when the Roosevelt special pulled in, and as the Ex-President stepped down from the train they shouted a salute in his honor. In response Col. Roosevelt raised his hat. Col. Roosevelt was welcomed at the station by Sir Alfred Pease, who was his host on the Athi River. Col. Roosevelt was dressed in a khaki suit and a white helmet. The weather was bright and warm. Col. Roosevelt, F. J. Jackson, F. C. Selous and Major M earns rode on a broad seat attached to the cow catcher of the locomotive from Mombasa as far as Mackinnon road, a distance of about 50 miles. The visitors were delighted with this experience, and the Ex-President was deeply impressed with the marvelous scenery that unfolded itself to his view. SEE GAME FROM TRAIN. They had a magnificent view of snow-capped Kilimanjaro. Plenty of game was seen from the train, including about twenty giraffes, with their young, close to the line; wildebeestes, hart'e- beestes, waterbucks, zebras, duikers, guinea fowl, ostriches in great number, and one rhinoceros. The other passengers on the special train included Mr. Sandi- ford, local superintendent of the railroad line; Mr. Cruikshank, the traffic manager; W. J. Monson, secretary of the administration; J. H. Wilson, a member of the Legislative Council, and R. F. Cun- ninghame, the manager of the Roosevelt expedition. The party planned to have several days in camp before going on to Nairobi. At the conclusion of the visit with Sir Alfred Pease Col. Roosevelt was to go to the Ju Ja ranch and be the guest of George McMillan. After this he designed to shoot buffalo at Hugh Pleatley's kamid ranch, fifteen miles from Nairobi, on the Forthall road. Before leaving Mombasa Col. Roosevelt received an address of welcome from the American missionaries. He wished to visit at least three mission stations while in the protectorate. After a short hunting expedition at Kapiti Plains, Ex-Presi- ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 229 dent Roosevelt and his party broke camp and started for the ranch of Sir Alfred Pease, on the Athi River. Col. Roosevelt spent part of the previous afternoon sorting his kit, while Kermit and several of the men went to try their luck with the rifles. An old settler, who seemed to take a liking to Kermit, offered to show him a likely place for good sport. They succeeded in bringing down one buck. ROOSEVELT SHOOTS A THOMPSON'S GAZELLE. Col. Roosevelt's first hunt was favored by fine weather, and he enjoyed the experience immensely. He bagged two wildebeests and a Thompson's gazelle. In one respect Col. Roosevelt was somewhat disappointed, as he had been anxious to secure a Grant's gazelle, whose massive horns are much sought after for trophies. The hunt lasted several hours and all the members of the party were tired out when they returned to camp. Smallpox was prevalent at Nairobi, and several cases developed among the porters at Kapiti. These were quarantined and the strictest precautions were observed to prevent a spread of the dis- ease among those attached to the Roosevelt party. The danger of this, however, was considered slight. The police still maintained their measures for the protection of the American from annoyance. They would not permit any except those designated by Col. Roosevelt to go with the expedition. It had been definitely learned that none of Col. Roosevelt's baggage was missing and that nothing had been stolen as at first was feared. The wildebeests, of which Col. Roosevelt killed two, are gen- erally known as the gnu, the Hottentot name. This animal is of a sub-family of antelopes and resembles a "horned horse." The mane and tail are like a horse's. The legs are slender as those of the gazelle. These animals, when captured young, may be tamed, but if caught at a mature age, they behave like mad in captivity. When chased on horseback they often give the pursuer a lively time on account of their endurance and great speed. The young are playful and will circle around a caravan for hours showing a 230 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. marked curiosity in everything the traveler is doing. The flesh of the gnu is palatable and the horns are made into knife handles and other articles. The Thompson gazelle which Col. Roosevelt shot and the Grant's gazelle which he failed to get, are members of a large family. The gazelle is one of the most graceful animals known. Its eyes are large and liquid and the poets of the East always likened the eyes of their lady loves to them. The animal is often hunted with greyhounds and falcons. When hunted with dogs alone the gazelle easily outstrips the pursuit running swiftly and making tremendous leaps over obstacles ten feet high without apparent exertion. When a falcon is used the bird will rise high in the air and swoop down on its quarry, fixing its talons near the long, lyre-shaped horns and harass the animal till the hounds come up. LION -SLAYING RECORDS BROKEN. There are many species of the gazelle, ranging from three feet in height to five and six feet. The springbok is one. of the largest species and it is known to make vertical jumps in the air with its legs folded. Before Col. Roosevelt had been in Africa a week, he had broken all records for lion killing in the British protectorate. The caravan started early Thursday morning from the ranch of Sir Alfred Pease, on the Athi River, and proceeded slowly to the Man Hills. This range is open for wide areas, but in places is covered with dense growths where game is plentiful. The first night in camp was without especial incident, no attempt being made to go after lions, although their call was heard now and then during the course of the night, but at dawn the camp was astir and the drive speedily organized. The scene was beautiful beyond human power of description. Far off to the north, but because of its great altitude seeming but a few miles away, majestic Mount Kenya reared its snow-capped peak eighteen thousand feet into the heavens. Its gently sloping- sides, rising from the tropical jungles and topped by its crown of ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 231 eternal ice, seemed a world in itself, are clothed in successive, con- centric belts, with every kind of crop and climate known in the world, from the equator to the Arctic circle. Unawed by the magnificent spectacle, the native beaters set out in all directions under the instruction of the "head man," armed with all sorts of noise-making devices, which could not but arouse any game within earshot. Some of the beats proved blanks, but by nightfall no less than ten kinds of game had been bagged. Mr. Selous accompanied Col. Roosevelt. As a rule the beaters go into the jungle with considerable trepi- dation, but as Col. Roosevelt's reputation as a hunter had reached Africa long before he arrived in person, the beaters on this occasion were exceptionally enthusiastic. They seemed even eager to play a part in the first hunt of the distinguished American. Kermit during the greater part of the day did more effective work with his camera than he did with his gun, he and the other members of the party allowing Col. Roosevelt the much prized shots. FOUR LIONS IN ONE DAY. Four lions were trophies of Col. Roosevelt's camp in the Mau Hills that night, and the two hundred or more natives were joining with the American party in the celebration of the unusually good luck. Of the lions bagged Col. Roosevelt's gun brought three to earth, each on the first shot. Thus one of the former President's fondest ambitions had been realized, and he was proud, too, that the fourth of the jungle kings fell before the rifle of his son Kermit, who, however, took three shots to kill his quarry. Both father and son were jubilant. It was their first lion hunt, and so magnificent a kill was far beyond their expectations. Col. Roosevelt was living up to the reputation which he had gained of being a crack shot. All of the lions were of normal size, and after the natives had dragged them together in the grass they executed the usual dance around the trophies. The details of the hunt differed little from the usual procedure 232 ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. in the region. It may be interesting, therefore, to read what the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies of Great Britain, and whose visit to these jungles but a short time preceded Col. Roosevelt's has to say of lion hunting there. "Nothing causes the East African colonist more genuine con- cern than that his guest should not have been provided with a lion. The knowledge preys upon his mind until it becomes a veritable obsession. He feels some deep reproach is laid upon his own hos- pitality and the reputation of his adopted country. How to find and, having found, to kill a lion is the unvarying theme of conversa- tion; and every place and every journey is judged by a simple stand- ard — 'lions or no lions.' "At the Thika camp, then, several gentlemen, accomplished in this important sport, have come together with ponies, rifles, Somalis and all the other accessories. Some zebras and kongoni have been killed and left lying in likely looking places to attract the lions, and at 4 a. m v rain or shine, we are to go and look for them. WAYS OF LION HUNTERS. "The white resident hunter cuts a hardy figure. His clothes are few and far between; a sun hat, a brown flannel shirt with sleeves cut above the elbow and open to the chest, a pair of thin khaki knickerbockers cut short five inches — at least — above the knee, boots and a pair of putties comprise the whole attire. Nothing else is worn. The skin, exposed to sun, thorns and insects, becomes almost as dark as that of the natives, and so hardened that it is nothing to ride all day with bare knees on the saddle — a truly Spar- tan discipline from which at least the visitor may be excused. "This is the way in which they hunt lions. First find the lion, lured to a kill, driven from a reed bed or kicked up incontinently by the way. Once viewed, he must never be lost sight of for a moment. Mounted on ponies of more or less approved fidelity, three or four daring whites or Somalis gallop after him across rocks, holes, tus- socks, nullahs, through high grass, thorn scrub, undergrowth, turn- ing him, shepherding him, heading him this way and that, until he is brought to bay. ROOSEVELT THE LION SLAYER. 233 "For his part the lion is no seeker of quarrels; he is often described in accents of contempt. His object throughout is to save his skin. If, being unarmed, you meet six or seven lions unexpect- edly, all you need do — according to my information — is to speak to them sternly and they will slink away, while you throw a few stones at them to hurry them up. "But when pursued from place to place, chased hither and thither by the wheeling horsemen, the naturally mild disposition of the lion becomes embittered. First he begins to growl and roar at his enemies, in order to terrify them and make them leave him in peace. Then he darts little short charges at them. Finally, when every attempt at peaceful persuasion has failed, he pulls up abruptly and offers battle. "Once he has done this he will run no more. He means to fight, and to fight to the death. He means to charge home; and when a lion, maddened with the agony of a bullet wound, distressed by long and hard pursuit, or, most of all, a lioness in defense of her cubs, is definitely committed to the charge, death is the only possible conclusion. "Broken limbs, broken jaws, a body raked from end to end, lungs pierced through and through, entrails torn and protruding — none of these count. It must be death — instant and utter — for the lion, or down goes the man, mauled by septic claws and fetid teeth, crushed and crunched, and poisoned afterward to make doubly sure. "It is at the stage when the lion has been determinedly "bayed" that the real sportsman is usually introduced upon the scene. He has, -we may imagine, followed the riders as fast as the inequalities of the ground, his own want of training and the burden of a heavy rifle will allow him. He arrives at the spot where the lion is cornered in much the same manner as the matador enters the arena, the others standing aside deferentially, ready to aid or divert the lion. If his bullet kills he is, no doubt, justly proud. If it only wounds, the lion charges the nearest horseman. For forty yards the charge of a lion is swifter than the gallop of a racehorse. The riders, therefore, usually avoid waiting within that distance. 234 ANIMALS, REPTILES AND FISHES OF THE TROPICS. CHAPTER XVIII Col. Roosevelt a Remarkable Hunter — All Records Broken — Bags a Bull Rhinoceros — Shoots a Giraffe in the Neck \t 400 Yards — Col. Roosevelt Kills His First Elephant — Bags a Leopard and Captures the Leopard's Cubs Alive — Arrives at the Ju Ja Ranch — Col. Roosevelt Delighted. /^OL. ROOSEVELT'S hunting in Africa and his expedition ^-^ has been successful enough to satisfy the most exacting of men. Not only has he broken the record for the number of lions killed by one man, but he has secured giraffes, elephants, rhino- ceroses, buffalos, hippopotami and leopard as well, to say nothing of a number of less important game. His first ten days' hunting yielded twenty-seven head of big game of many different species. When not occupied in searching for specimens or writing he spends his time practicing shooting. When particularly delighted with the result of his day's hunting he spends the evening at the camp-fire, pointing out how Africa could be made a great country. Col. Roosevelt undoubtedly owes his life to his courage and unerring aim, which combination brought death to a huge bull rhinoceros near Machakos. Charged by a huge rhinoceros, Theodore Roosevelt, Ex-Presi- dent of the L T nited States, raised his rifle and waited. On came the maddened beast, crashing through the reeds, his ugly horned head bent low, the impact of his powerful feet making the earth tremble. He was forty paces distant, his squeal was heard above the snapping of the brush; he was thirty paces away and his blood- shot eyes glistened like rubies; twenty paces between the hunter and the bulky monster, whose hot breath raised the temperature even in that torrid climate: fourteen paces to go and no downs Then— 235 2.36 COLONEL RGOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. Theodore Roosevelt glanced casually along the barrel of his deadly rifle. Crack ! A single shot and the ferocious and dreadful rhinoceros of the jungle hesitated, rocked and pitched forward on his knees, dead. The bullet was fatal, but so fierce was the rush of the giant rhinoceros that it plunged almost to the feet of the Colonel. The rhinoceros, the first that the party had bagged, was encountered unexpectedly while making a short sortie from the camp near Machakos, some fifty miles south of Nairobi. The native beaters had made a wide detour movement, and a returning signal soon told the hunters to be on the alert. Within a few moments the stalked animal gave its own warning, and, with furious snorts, it broke through the underbush electrifying the Colonel, who expected to meet his sixth lion. CHARGED BY A BULL RHINOCEROS. The bull came into a clearing at a point about two hundred yards from Col. Roosevelt, and immediately charged upon the party. Realizing the danger that beset " Bwana Tumbo," others in the party were on the point of firing, but Col. Roosevelt held them in check while he stepped immediately in the path of the oncoming infuriated beast. With wonderful coolness, such as no American hunter ever exceeded, Col. Roosevelt took deliberate aim and fired. A second shot would have been impossible, but a second shot was not necessary, as the first had pierced the animal's brain. When the rhinoceros tumbled over Col. Roosevelt enjoyed the keenest moment of pleasure that he has had in Africa. The fact that he had saved his life did not seem to appeal to him half as much as the fact that he had added a rhinoceros to his collection and under conditions that any hunter in the world might well have envied. Col. Roosevelt was warmly congratulated for his coolness and skill, and when the natives returned and saw the huge beast dead they were more certain than ever that their title of Bwana Tumbo had not been misapplied. The rhinoceros made the forty-fifth animal that has been killed by Col. Roosevelt and his son Kermit. The kill represents fifteen COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. 237 varieties, an unsurpassed record for the time that the party has been in the field. The rhinoceros which was of unusual size, will undoubtedly make one of the most prized items in Col. Roosevelt's collection. The flesh of the rhinoceros is apt to be rather tough, but is of good flavor. The best portions are those which are cut from the upper part of the shoulder and from the ribs, where the fat and the lean parts are regularly striped to the depth of two inches. If a large portion of the meat is to be cooked at one time, the flesh is generaliy baked in the cavity of a forsaken ant-hill, which is covered into an extempore oven for the occasion ; but if a single hunter should need only to assuage his own hunger, he cuts a series of slices from the ribs, and dresses them at his fire. THE RHINOCEROS A QUICK BEAST IN TEMPER. All the species of rhinoceros are very quick in their temper, and liable to flash out into anger without any provocation whatever. During these fits of rage they are dangerous neighbors, and are apt to attack any moving object that may be within their reach. In one well-known instance, where a rhinoceros made a sudden dash upon a number of picketed horses, and killed many of them by the strokes of his horn, the animal had probably been irritated by some unknown cause, and wrecked his vengence on the nearest victims. The rhinoceros is always vicious, and, like the elephant, the buffalo, and many other animals, will conceal himself in some thicket, and thence dash out upon any moving object that may approach his retreat. Sometimes the rhinoceros will commence a series of most extraordinary antics, and seeming to have a spite against some particular bush, will rip it with his horn, trample it with his feet, roaring and grunting all the while, and will never cease until he has cut it into shreds and levelled it to the ground. He will also push the point of his horn into the earth, and career along, ploughing up the ground as if a furrow had been cut by some agricultural implement. In such case it seems that the animal is not laboring 238 COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. under a fit of rage, as might be supposed, but is merely exulting in his strength, and giving vent to the exuberence of health and violent physical exertion. The rhinoceros is a good aquatic, and will voluntarily swim for considerable distances. It is very fond of haunting the river-banks and wallowing in the mud, so as to case itself with a thick coat of that substance, in order to shield itself from the mosquitoes and other mordant insects which cluster about the tender places, and drive the animal, thick-skinned though it may be, half-mad with their constant and painful bites. The skin of the rhinoceros is of very great thickness and strength, bidding defiance to ordinary bullets, and forcing the hunter to provide himself with balls which have been hardened with tin or solder. The extreme strength of the skin is well known to the African natives, who manufacture it into shields and set a high value on these weapons of defense. A REMARKABLE SHOT. That Col. Roosevelt has a keen eye and is a remarkable shot will be shown by the fact that he shot a giraffe dead, with a bullet through the neck, at a distance of 400 yards. This feat he per- formed, incidental to bagging another giraffe. Wherefore the former President was proclaimed the most famous shot who ever hunted in East Africa, his feat being the more remarkable because the giraffe he shot at 400 yards was in full gallop when he pulled the trigger. "Bwana Tumbo" made this record while hunting with his son and five porters a few miles south of Machakos. The buffalo shot by former President Roosevelt was one of the typical and common South African species, which was equal in size to the Indian or Water Buffalo, the largest of which stand six feet high at the withers and has a spread of horns sometimes exceeding six feet. The South African type has a bluish-black hide, in old age almost completely hairless. Like the buffalo of the American plains The African species has upward-curving horns, but with a greater COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. 239 sweep. It lacks the shoulder hump which is characteristic of the American bison or buffalo. The African buffalo are justly regarded as exceedingly danger- ous by sportsmen. When wounded they will charge with extreme speed and ferocity. During the hunt Col. Roosevelt shot a leopard, capturing the leopard's cubs alive. This animal is one of the most graceful of the graceful tribe of cats, and, although far less in dimensions than the tiger, chal- lenges competition with that animal in the beautiful markings of its fur, and the easy elegance of its movements. It is possessed of an accomplishment which is not within the powers "of the lion or tiger, being able to climb trees with singular agility, and even to chase the tree-loving animals among their familiar haunts. A GRACEFUL ANIMAL. In Africa the leopard is well known and much dreaded, for it possesses a most crafty brain, as well as an agile body and sharp teeth and claws. It commits sad depredations on flocks and herds, and has sufficient foresight to lay up a little stock of provisions for a future day. When attacked it will generally endeavor to slink away, and to escape the observation of its pursuers; but if it is wounded, and finds no mode of eluding its foes it becomes furious, and charges at them with such determinate rage, that unless it falls a victim to a well-aimed shot, it may do fearful damage before it yields up its life. Col. Roosevelt and party started out early one morning along the wooded shores and swamps in search of hippopotami. They occasionally saw the uncouth head of a hippopotamus protrude from the water, and the Colonel decided to shoot one, hit- ting it behind the ear, which is a vulnerable spot, and it spun around in a huge circle like a great top, emitting horrifying sounds, until it died, and the body floated on the water. This enormous quadruped is a native of various parts of Africa, and is always found either in water or in its near vicinity. 240 COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. In absolute height it is not very remarkable, as its legs are extremely short, but the actual bulk of its body is very great indeed. The average height of a full-grown hippopotamus is about five feet. Its naked skin is dark brown, curiously marked with innumer- able lines like those on "crackle" china or old oil-paintings, and is also dappled with a number of sooty black spots, which cannot be seen except on a close inspection. A vast number of pores penetrate the skin, and exude a thick, oily liquid, which effectually seems to protect the animal from the injurious effects of the water in which it is so constantly immersed. The mouth is enormous and its size is greatly increased by the odd manner in which the jaw is set in the head. There are various modes of hunting the mischievous but val- uable animals, each of which is in vogue in its own peculiar region. DIFFICULT TO KILL THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. The white hunter of course employs his rifle and finds that the huge animal affords no easy mark, as unless it is hit in a mortal spot it dives below the surface and makes good its escape. Mortal spots, moreover, are not easy to find, or when found, to hit ; for the animal soon gets cunning after it has been alarmed, and remains deeply immersed in the water as long as it is able, and when it at last comes to the surface to breathe, it only just pushes its nostrils above the surface, takes in the required amount of air, and sinks back again to the river bed. News filtered into Nairobi from the Roosevelt camp of a thrill- ing adventure of Kermit Roosevelt. He was lost for a whole night in the wilds and wandered about until daylight when he stumbled on Kiu Station and soon got his bearings. Kermit had been hunting by himself considerably since the party went to Machakos, and was out in search of big game when he was surprised by sudden dark- ness, nightfall in this region coming without much preliminary twilight. Kermit who was on horseback, turned in what he thought was the direction of the camp, but lost his direction, and wandered west- ward toward the Ferman boundary. He soon found himself in the 16 r.i; 241 242 COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER barren waste toward that line which is both unwatered and unin- habited. After riding slowly for a time he realized that he had lost his bearings and instinctively turned backward. He rode very slowly for hours, taking the direction from his pocket compass and with the dawn located the Kiu Station. He was then 20 miles south of the Machakos camp and rode in just as an expedition was getting ready to go in search of him. ROOSEVELT FOLLOWED A LION INTO A THICKET. Theodore Roosevelt kills his first elephant. It was a frig "tusker," and the former President picked it out of a herd of about a dozen. A baby elephant about two months old was roped and taken alive, and it was sent as a gift from Col. Roosevelt to the New York Zoological Gardens. Col. Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and F. C. Selous had a narrow escape from the elephant which fell a prize. The men were out before daybreak for lions near Machakos, and there had been no report of elephants in the district. They wounded a lion returning to its lair, and the animal led them on a chase of several miles. Selous advised against following the lion into a thicket, but Roosevelt went in, taking the lead, and at times moving on hands and knees, with his rifle stuck out in front of him. Selous insisted on following close behind Col. Roosevelt, Kermit bringing up the rear. Col. Roosevelt reached a fringe of grass at an open spot, and instantly brought his rifle to his shoulder. Selous rose until he was almost standing upright, and saw that the former President was aiming at the leader in a herd of elephants. His whispered command came just in time to keep Col. Roose- velt from firing at a range of about 20 feet. Selous insisted upon a retreat, and warned Col. Roosevelt that to fire on the herd would be to invite death in a charge. Roosevelt reluctantly moved back along the trail, and followed Selous in a wide detour. The Englishman had marked down the herd. He kept safely to leeward, and finally directed Roosevelt and Kermit to climb a tree. All three men went into the branches, and COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER 243 were able to make out the backs of the elephants through the tower- ing reeds. Roosevelt's elephant gun, firing explosive shells, was in the camp. Selous advised him in aiming and he sent half a dozen bullets into the "tusker." The elephant charged the fire, and went down on its knees close to the tree. Then at a distance of about forty feet Roosevelt struck the heart, and it went over dead. The rest of the herd tore wildly through the thicket in retreat. Kermit trying several shots, but without effect. The baby elephant was captured an hour afterward by the natives in Roosevelt's caravan. MOST INVISIBLE OF FOREST CREATURES. The African elephant is spread over a very wide range of country, extending from Senegal and Abyssinia to the borders of the Cape Colony. Several conditions are required for its existence, such as water, dense forests, and the absence of human habitations. Although it is very abundant in the locality which it inhabits, it is not often seen by casual travelers, owing to its great vigilance and its wonderful power of moving through the tangled forests without noise and without causing any perceptible agitation of the foliage. In spite of its enormous dimensions, it is one of the most invis- ible of forest creatures, and a herd of elephants, of eight or nine feet in height, may stand within a few feet of a hunter without being detected by him, even though he is aware of their presence. At a certain season of the year these animals are seized with a ferocity which renders them intractable, and formidable. Camp was broken the following day and Col. Roosevelt and his party began their march of fifty miles northeast to the Ju Ja ranch of William McMillan, a nephew of former United States Senator McMillan, of Michigan. The Roosevelt party was the guests of Mr. McMillan, hunting daily in the vicinity of the ranch. Years ago Mr. McMillan went to British East Africa in search of big game and was so well pleased with the country that he acquired an immense reservation for his private use. He has also 244 COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. led exploring expeditions that accomplished work of considerable importance. Mr. and Mrs. McMillan have a wide reputation for generous hospitality. She has shared life in Africa with her husband and delights in the experience. The McMillan farm gets its name from the Ju and Ja rivers, between which it lies. It covers 20,000 acres of land, and is about thirty-five miles from Nairobi, one of the largest towns of the plateau which is included in the British East Africa. It is fenced in on three sides by wire netting, while on the fourth the river Athi forms a sufficient protection to its boundaries. Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit had good hunting luck on the ranch. Their bag included a waterbuck, an impalla and other varieties of antelope. All the skins were saved entire, and the expe- dition had now a total of sixty specimens representing twenty differ ent species. KERMIT KILLS A LEOPARD AT SIX PACES. Kermit Roosevelt, while on a trip, despatched a leopard at a distance of six paces. The animal already had mauled a beater and was charging Kermit when he fired the fatal shot. The impalla, or, as more commonly called, palla, is a species of South African antelope also known as a rodebok. It is the principal food for lions and leopards, and being of a suspicious nature, it is not only hard to shoot, but is likely to alarm other game by its shrill whistle when discovered. Only the male* impalla has horns. At the ranch the Roosevelt party had heard stories of a fierce black maned lion that had been prowling around the ranch for several weeks, and had killed a score or more of zebras. Col. Roose- velt was particularly anxious to get a shot at this lion, as it was of a species not included in the lions that he has already killed. The Colonel spent two days in a futile chase of a black maned lion in the Mau hill country, but it was no such animal as the party desired. The entire party was in high spirits and confident of a record breaking hunt later on. Roosevelt started early one morning on the most hazardous COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER 245 hunt of his trip. He and Kermit and their party left the ranch to bag another hippopotamus. On the way to the lair of the "hippo" Col. Roosevelt and Kermit shot two bull buffaloes and a python. One, the biggest of the two, was brought down by Col. Roosevelt alone, while the other was bagged by Col. Roosevelt and Kermit together. The python killed by Col. Roosevelt the preceding day was the largest taken in British East Africa in many years. The former President and F. C. Selous, his guide, stumbled across the python at- the edge of a swamp, where it was quietly making a meal of an antelope, horns and all. Roosevelt was more excited over the killing of the serpent, measuring twenty-three feet, than over his first lion, although there was slight danger to himself. The bullet that killed, however, was one back from the head, which cut a vertebra. Roo*?velt assisted Selous and a band of natives in skinning the python on the spot. THE ROOSEVELT PARTY AT NAIROBI. All the members of the Roosevelt party came into Nairobi at 4 o'clock in the afternoon from the Heatley ranch. They were in splendid health. In the last hunting Col. Roosevelt bagged another buffalo, and a bull wildebeest fell before the rifle of his son Kermit. The naturalists of the expedition had collected two pythons and four hundred odd birds and animals. They were especially delighted with some unexpected specimens. The Spanish- American War, in which Col. Theodore Roosevelt played a stellar role, was vividly recalled to him by the display of a flag captured by an American at the naval battle of Santiago. The owner had since settled in British East Africa, and had added his prized relic to the wealth of decorations that had been put out in honor of Col. Roosevelt's return. The reception to Col. Roosevelt in the evening was the heartiest ever if not the most elaborate that he had encountered since leaving New York. The whole town was decorated with flags and bunting, the display being many times more elaborate than that which greeted him upon his first coming to the town. During Col. Roosevelt's stay in Nairobi a number of affairs 246 COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. had been planned in his honor, but which was abandoned, owing to his expressed desire to spend the time as quietly as possible in order to do a little writing. The special train bearing Ex-President Roosevelt and party arrived at Kijabe in the afternoon. All the porters of the expedi- tion, who had preceded Col. Roosevelt to this point, were lined up on the station platform and cheered Col. Roosevelt when the train pulled in. The journey of forty-four miles occupied four days. ROOSEVELT RODE ON A LOCOMOTIVE COWCATCHER. Col. Roosevelt rode half the distance on the locomotive cow- catcher with Major Mearns. They perched themselves on the engine's front at Kikuyu and stayed there until the train reached Escarpment, a distance of twenty-two miles. A hyena that got on the track was nearly, run down. The scenery along the road delighted Col. Roosevelt, especially the Rift Valley. The country between Nairobi and Kijabe is for the most part thickly wooded and high. The highest point of the Kikuyu escarpment is 7,830 feet. From this point there is a magnificent view down 2,000 feet into the great Rift Valley. Elephants are plentiful in these forests, bur are fairly safe from the hunter, as the thickness of the growth renders pursuit very difficult. The American missionaries, whose field and work the Ex- President has come to look over, were at the station, too. They invited him to dinner, but the invitation was declined. The party slept in tents pitched near the railway. The follow- ing day Col. Roosevelt visited the mission at Kijabe, an American organization called the African Inland Mission. It is independent and self-controlling in the field, although represented by home coun- cils in Philadelphia and London. The headquarters are at Kijabe, where schools are conducted for missionaries' children and for the industrial training of natives. Col. Roosevelt spent some time shooting monkeys, particularly the colobus. Edmund Heller bagged three of the colobus species and a green-faced monkey, and Kermit Roosevelt killed two large COLONEL ROOSEVELT A REMARKABLE HUNTER. 247 specimens of the former. Major Mearns occupied his time in shoot- ing birds. While at the mission Ex-President Roosevelt made a thorough inspection of the institution, and afterward had luncheon with forty of the missionaries and their wives and settlers in the country. The Rev. Mr. Hurlburt, in a speech, welcomed the American. In replying, Col. Roosevelt said: "I have a peculiar feeling for the settlers working in this new country, as they remind me of my own people working in the western States, where they know ni difference between easterner, westerner, northerner, or southerner and pay no heed to creed or birthplace." Col. Roosevelt remained over night at the mission and started for the Sotik district the following day. CHAPTER XIX Roosevelt Hunts on Lake Naivasha — Adds a Buee Hippopota- mus to His Coeeection — Ammunition Used by Coeonel Rooseveet in Africa — Exciting Combat with Hippo- potamus. 9 COLONEL ROOSEVELT inaugurated a novelty in big game hunting when in pursuit of elephant and rhinoceros in Africa, armed with an American repeating rifle of far lighter bore than the weapons with which British sportsmen pursue the same animals. Although the rhino is considered about as dangerous game as can be found on the Dark Continent, due to his habit of blindly charging at top speed any object he deems hostile, the former President used a rifle of only .405 caliber in the chase. This rifle is better known by the American term of " forty " caliber, and it would have been considered little short of suicide fifteen years ago to attempt the hunting of such big game with such a caliber. Improvements in high pressure, smokeless powder and the development of the steel jacketed bullet have increased the efficiency of the arm many times since then, however. With the steel bullet he used the arm when encountering the African buffalo, which is said to be a far more dangerous customer than his American namesake used to be. This same gun with soft-pointed bullets was used on such game as lions. It has terrific " smashing " power, as it has tremendous velocity, and the bullet spreads or mushrooms on impact, thus tear- ing a hole through soft tissue and the lighter bones through which the hand could be thrust. To penetrate the tough hide of a rhino, however, the steel bullet is used. For lighter game, such as the African species of deer, and for long-range shooting the Colonel carried two .303 caliber repeaters, popularly known as " thirties." For feathered game he used two twelve-gauge repeating shot- 248 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS 249 guns and two twenty-two caliber automatic rifles for small game and for amusement around camp. His shotgun ammunition was specially loaded for him and was in brass shells. The wads had been carefully waterproofed, and instead of the shell being merely crimped over the wad at the end, it had been cut into small flanges and bent over. The wad was covered with wax. This was to pre- vent swelling in the moist climate, which might affect paper shells. Colonel Roosevelt accepted an invitation to camp on the grounds of the Attenborough brothers on Lake Naivasha. The elder of the brothers is Captain Frederick, a retired British naval officer. The younger is H. T. Attenborough, who for twenty years was a resi- dent of San Francisco. The two brothers, who are rich men, have built a splendid European estate and home in the African mountains where they live like feudal lords of old. Their manor house is in the low mountains which fringe the southern shores of Lake Nai- vasha, while their estate runs down to the shores of the lake. ROOSEVELT SHOOTS A HIPPOPOTAMUS. The Attenboroughs live in a veritable Arabian Nights atmos- phere. They have built a lake of their own, in which they have thirty of the finest specimen of hippopotami in Africa, and it is a rare sight to sit on the banks of this artificial sea and watch the great beasts at play. As Colonel Roosevelt was lacking a bull hippopotamus for his bag, the brothers insisted that he shoot one from their lake, the skin being added to the collection being shipped back to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. The hippopotamus is, as the import of its name, " river horse," implies, most aquatic in its habits. It generally prefers fresh water, but it is not at all averse to the sea, and will sometimes prefer salt water to fresh. It is an admirable swimmer and diver, and is able to remain below the surface for a considerable length of time. In common with the elephant, it possesses the power of sinking at will, which is the more extraordinary when the huge size of the animal is taken into consideration. Perhaps it may be enabled to contract itself by an exertion of the muscles whenever it desires to 250 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. sink, and to return to its former dimensions when it wishes to return to the surface. It mostly affects the stillest reaches of the river, as it is less exposed to the current, and not so liable to be swept down the stream while asleep. Tlie young hippopotamus is not able to bear submersion so long as its parent, and is therefore carefully brought to the surface at short intervals for the purpose of breathing. During the first few months of the little animal's life, it takes its stand on its mother's neck, and is borne by her above or through the water as experience may dictate or necessity require. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FIERCE FIGHTERS WHEN AROUSED. On shore the hippopotamus trots heavily, but with considerable rapidity, and when two of them meet on solid ground they frequently fight ferociously, rearing up on their hind feet, and biting one an- other with great fury, so that according to African travelers, it is rare to find a hippopotamus which has not some of its teeth broken, or the scars of wounds upon his body. When not irritated they appear to be quiet and inoffensive; but a very trifling irritation is sufficient to rouse their anger, when they attack the offender most furiously with their teeth. A hippopotamus which had been touched accidentally by a boat turned upon it and tore out several of the planks, so that it was with difficulty the crew got to shore. A hippopotamus has also been known to kill some cattle, which were tied up near his haunts, with- out the slightest provocation. Mr. Cuninghame, who was in Africa with Colonel Roosevelt, gives the following account of the habits of the hippopotamus: " This animal abounds in the Limpopo, dividing the empire with its amphibious neighbor, the crocodile. Throughout the night the un- wieldy monsters might be heard snorting and blowing during their acquatic gambols, and we not unf requently detected them in the act of sallying from their reed-grown coverts, to graze by the serene light of the moon; never, however, venturing to any distance from the river, the stronghold to which they betake themselves on the smallest alarm. EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 251 " Occasionally during the day, they were to be seen basking on the shore, amid ooze and mud ; but shots were most constantly to be had at their uncouth heads, when protruded from the water to draw breath ; and if killed, the body rose to the surface. Vulnerable only behind the ear, however, or the eye, which is placed in a prom- inence, so as to resemble the garret window of a Dutch house, they require the perfection of rifle practice, and after a few shots become exceedingly shy, exhibiting the snout only, and as instantly with- drawing it. " The hide is" upward of an inch and a half in thickness, and being scarcely flexible, may be dragged from the ribs like planks from the ship's side." ' The track of the hippopotamus may be distinguished from any other animal by a line of unbroken herbage which is left behind the marks of the feet of each side, as the width of the space between the right and left legs causes the animal to place its feet so consider- ably apart as to make a distinct double track. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS DISAPPEARING FAST. " It may be remarked that the hippopotamus, as well as the ele- phant and rhinoceros, is fast disappearing in all the countries where it exists, before the incessant and destructive war made upon it by firearms. It could resist, and for ages did resist, the rude and ineffective weapons of savages and barbarians, living and multiply- ing in spite of them ; but the species must soon yield to the destructive propensity and power of civilized men.'' " After seeing the animal plunging about in his bath, diving with ease, and traversing the bottom of the tank as if it were dry land, one can the better appreciate the difficulties attending a struggle which I recently witnessed : " There were four of them, three cows and an old bull. They stood in the middle of the river, and, although alarmed, did not appear aware of the extent of the impending danger. " I took the sea-cow next me, and with my first ball I gave her a mortal wound, knocking loose a great plate on the top of her skull. She at once commenced plunging round and round, and occasionally 252 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. remained still, sitting for a few moments on the same spot. On hearing the report of my rifle, two of the others took up stream, and the fourth dashed down the river. They rolled along like oxen, at a smart pace, as long as the water was shallow. " I was now in a state of great anxiety about my wounded sea- cow, for I feared she would get down into deep water, and be lost, like the last one. Her struggles were still bearing her down stream, and the water was becoming deeper. To settle the matter, 1 accordingly fired another shot from the bank, which, entering the roof of her skull, passed out through her eye. She then kept con- tinually splashing round and round in a circle in the middle of the river. " I had great fears of the crocodiles, and I did not know that the sea-cow might not attack me; my anxiety to secure her, how- ever, overcame all hesitation. So divesting myself of my leathers, and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed into the river, which at first took me up to my arm-pits, but in the middle was shallower. SPLASHED FURIOUSLY. " As I approached Behemoth, her eye looked very wicked at me, but she was stunned, and did not know what she was doing; so running in upon her, and seizing her short tail, I attempted to incline her course to land. It was extraordinary what enormous strength she still had in the water. I could not guide her in the least, and she continued to splash, and plunge, and blow, and make her circular course, carrying me along with her as if I was a fly on her tail. " Finding her tail gave me but a poor hold, as the only means of securing my prey, I took out my knife, and cutting two deep parallel incisions through the skin on her rump, and lifting this skin from the flesh, so that I could get in my two hands, I made use of this as a handle, and after some desperate hard work, sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, the sea-cow continuing her circular course all the time, and I holding on her rump like grim death, 'eventually I succeeded in bringing this gigantic and most powerful animal to the bank. EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 253 " Here a native quickly brought me a stout buffalo-rein from my horse's neck, which I passed through the opening in the thick skin, and moored Behemoth to a tree. I then took my rifle, and sent a shot through her head, and she was numbered with the dead." In explanation of one part of this description, the difficulty DRIVING CROCODILES INTO THE WATER. experienced by the hunter in holding by her tail will be easily understood by those who have examined the member in ques- tion. The tail of the hippopotamus is a flattened, naked affair, about two feet long, as thick as a man's wrist, and slightly fringed at the extremity with a few long bristles. If we imagine this tail flung about in the death-agony of a full-grown hippopotamus, it will 254 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. not be difficult to conceive the almost impossibility of holding on by the hands, especially in the water, which is the natural element of the brute. Another member of the Roosevelt party relates a thrilling experience that befell some of his companions on one of their hunt- ing trips. A hippopotamus happened to rise under their boat, and struck her back against its keel. Irritated by the unexpected resist- ance, she dashed at the boat with open jaws, seized the side between her teeth, and tore out seven planks. She then sank for a few sec- onds, but immediately resumed the attack, and if one of the party had not fired a musket in her face, would probably have worked still more harm. NARROW ESCAPE FROM DROWNING. As it was, too much mischief had been already done, for the loss of so much planking had caused the boat to fill rapidly, and it was only by severe exertion that the party succeeeded in getting the boat to shore before it sank. The boat was providentially not more than an oar's length from the bank when the attack took place ; but had it been in the centre of the river, few, if any of the occupants, would have escaped to tell the tale. The shock from beneath was so violent, that the steersman was thrown completely out of the boat into the water, but was seized and drawn in again before the hippopotamus could get at him. The extreme whiteness of the ivory obtained from the hippo- potamus' teeth renders it peculiarly valuable for the delicate scales of various philosophical instruments, and its natural curve adapts it admirably for the verniers of ship sextants. The weight of a large tooth is from five to eight pounds, and the value of the ivory is from four to five dollars a pound. With these apparently combined teeth the hippopotamus can cut the grass as neatly as if it were mown with a scythe, and is able to sever, as if with shears, a tolerably stout and thick stem. Possessed of an enormous appetite, having a stomach that is capable of containing five or six bushels of nutriment, and furnished with such powerful instruments, the hippopotamus is a terrible ,/::iHHi!ici;i:siii::": i :::r"T::ii;,: ; ":-:" . ■'■ ■;■ " ^vih 'i^iippiiiiiiiri pliiiiiiffnif ■MvKM 255 256 EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARM/., nuisance to the owners of cultivated lands that happen to be near the river in which the animal has taken up his abode. During the day it is comfortably asleep in its chosen hiding- place, but as soon as the shades of night deepen, the hippopotamus issues from its den, and treading its way into the cultivated lands, makes sad devastation among the growing crops. Were the mischief confined to the amount which is eaten by the voracious brute, it would be bad enough, but the worst of the matter is, that the hippopotamus damages more than it eats by the clumsy manner of its progress. The body is so large and heavy, and the legs are so short, that the animal is forced to make a double track as he walks, and in the grass-grown plain can be readily traced by the peculiar character of the track. HIPPOPOTAMANI DESTROY MORE THAN THEY EAT. It may therefore be easily imagined that when a number of these hungry, awkward, waddling, splay-footed beasts come blunder- ing among the standing crops, trampling and devouring indiscrim- inately, they will do no slight damage before they think fit to retire. The aggrieved cultivators endeavor to protect their grounds and at the same time to make the depredators pay for the damage which they have done, by digging a number of pitfalls across the hippopotamus paths, and furnishing each pit with a sharp stake in the centre. When an animal falls into such a trap, the rejoicings are great, for not only is the ivory of great commercial value, but the flesh is very good eating, and the hide is useful for the manufacture of whips and other instruments. The fat of the hippopotamus, called by the colonists " Zee-Koe speck " or sea-cow bacon, is held in very high estimation, as is the tongue and the jelly which is extracted from the feet. Tue hide is so thick that it must be dragged from the creature's body in slips, like so many planks, and is an inch and a half in thick- ness on the back, and three-quarters of an inch on the other portions of the body. Yet, in spite of its enormous thickness and its tough EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS 257 quality, it is quite pliable when seen on the living beast, and accom- modates itself easily to all his movements. There is also the " down- fall," a trap which consists of a log of wood, weighted heavily at one end, to which extremity is loosely fixed a spearhead, well treated with poison. This terrible log is suspended over some hippopotamus path, and is kept in its place by a slight cord which crosses the path and is connected with a catch or trigger. As soon as the animal presses the cord, the catch is liberated, and down comes the armed log, striking the poisoned spear deep into the poor beast's back, and speedily killing it by the poison, if not from the immediate effects of the wound. The most exciting manner of hunting the hippopotamus is by fairly chasing and harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. GETTING READY WITH THE HARPOON. The harpoon is a very ingenious instrument, being composed of two portions, a shaft measuring three or four inches in thickness and ten or twelve feet in length, and a barbed iron point, which fits loosely into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected with it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. This peculiar rope is employed to prevent the animal from severing it, which he would soon manage were it to be composed of a single strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line is fast- ened, and to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached. As this composite harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at? the animal, but is urged by the force of the harpooner's arm. The man- ner of employing it shall be told in the following words of one of the most skillful hunters of recent times : " As soon as the position of the hippopotamus is ascertained, one or more of the most skillful and intrepid of the hunters stand prepared with the harpoons; whilst the rest make ready to launch the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle and noise caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversation is carried on in a whisper, and every one is on the alert. "The snorting and plunging become every moment more distinct ; but a bend in the stream still hides the animals from view. 17— T.R. SCENES AMONGST THE SOMALIS FROM WHOM ROOSEVELT'S PORTERS WERE DRAWN, EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. 259 The angle being passed, several dark objects are seen floating list- lessly on the water, looking more like the crest of sunken rocks than living creatures. " Ever and anon, one or other of the shapeless masses is sub- merged, but soon again makes its appearance on the surface. On, on, glides the raft with its sable crew, who are now worked up to the highest state of excitement. " At last, the raft is in the midst of the herd, who appear quite unconscious of danger. Presently one of the animals is in immediate contact with the raft. Now is the critical moment. The foremost harpooner raises himself to his full height, to give the greater force to the blow, and the next instant the fatal iron descends with un- erring accuracy in the body of the hippopotamus. ALL EFFORTS TO ESCAPE ARE UNAVAILING. " The wounded animal plunges violently, and dives to the bot- tom; but all his efforts to escape are unavailing. The line or the shaft of the harpoon may break; but the cruel barb once inbedded in the flesh, the weapon (owing to the toughness and thickness of the beast's hide) cannot be withdrawn. " As soon as the hippopotamus is struck, one or more of the men launch a canoe from off the raft, and hasten to the shore with the harpoon-line, and take a round turn with it about a tree, or bunch of reeds, so that the animal may either be ' brought up ' at once, or, should there be too great a strain on the line, ' played ' (to liken small things to great) in the same manner as the salmon by the fisherman. But if time should not admit of the line being passed round a tree, or the like, both line and ' buoy ' are thrown into the water, and the animal goes wherever he chooses. " The rest of the canoes are now all launched from off the raft, and chase is given to the poor brute, who, so soon as he comes to the surface to breathe, is saluted with a shower of light javelins. Again he descends, his track deeply crimsoned with gore. Pres- ently — and perhaps at some little distance — he once more appears on the surface, when, as before, missiles of all kinds are hurled at his devoted head. S6Q EFFICIENT PREPARATION IN AMMUNITION AND ARMS. " When thus beset, the infuriated beast not unfrequently turns upon his assailants, and either with his formidable tusks, or with a blow from his enormous head, staves in or capsizes the canoes. At times, indeed, not satisfied with wreaking his vengeance on the craft, he will attack one or other of the natives, and with a single grasp of his horrid jaws either terribly mutilates the poor fellow, or, it may be, cuts his body fairly in two. " The chase often lasts a considerable time. So long as the line and the harpoon hold, the animal cannot escape, because the 4 buoy ' always marks his whereabouts. At length, from loss of blood or exhaustion, Behemoth succumbs to his pursuers and is then dragged ashore." The hippopotamus feeds entirely upon vegetable substances, cropping the herbage and bushes on the banks of the rivers, and occasionally visiting the cultivated grounds during the night. It passes most of its time in the water, where it swims and dives with great ease, and is said to walk at the bottom. When the head of the animal is below the water it rises frequently to blow it out from its nostrils, making it ascend in two jets. The government officials on the morning of July 9th closed the public road which runs from Nairobi to Fort Hall, the capital of Kenia, owing to the invasion of that district by man-eating lions. Several natives within a few days had been killed by these animals. The Fort Hall road, which was closed by the authorities, is about sixty miles long and situated to the east of the Uganda Rail- road. Former President Roosevelt at that time was on a shooting trip in the Sotik district, which is about fifty miles from Naivasha on the west side of the railroad. CHAPTER XX A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. Roosevelt Hunting in the Interest oe Science — Strange Beasts eor Smithsonian Institute — Back to Nairobi — Concludes a Ten Days Tour on the South Shore — Inter- ested in Church Work — Talks to Africanders— Laying Corner-stone oe New Mission at Kijabe — Roosevelt's Trophies arrive at Washington — Resumes Hunting — Brings Down a Big Bull Elephant — Saved erom Death by Charging Elephant. /^OLONEL ROOSEVELT is not only a sportsman but a ^- > naturalist, and when he determined on taking a hunting trip to Africa, he decided that this should not be merely for sport, but that it should be for the benefit of science. He was accordingly accompanied by three gentlemen who are good naturalists, good collectors, and good company as well, and these went with the express purpose of securing as many specimens as possible for the Smithsonian Institution. The expenses of these three were met by friends of the Institution, and the shooting of the monkeys that had caused so much ink to be shed in the columns of the daily papers was in accord with the programme thus laid down at the outset, and the animals were killed for specimens. The assertion that they were shot for sport is a pure invention of some newspaper writer. If it is proper to kill animals to be used as ornaments, it is certainly justifiable to kill them for museum specimens, and these very monkeys have been slaughtered almost to the verge of exter- mination in order to furnish collars and muffs for wearing apparel. Ex-President Roosevelt, accompanied by Major Mearns, came into Naivasha on Thursday, July 22, riding round the east side of the lake, while J. Alden Loring, the naturalist, came across in Captain Attenborough's launch. Profesor Edmund Heller re- 25-T.R. 261 262 A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. mained at the Attenborough farm to look after the hippopotamus trophies. Kermit Roosevelt had come into the township the day before, and the correspondent went out to meet Colonel Roosevelt at lunch at the Government experimental farm on the Morendat River, where he was entertained by an admiring friend. After the meal the party rode over the farm inspecting the flocks of sheep and the pedigreed stock. The results of crossing the Merino pure-bred rams with the native ewes was marvelous. The amount of wool on the cross-breds was most surprising, for the native ewes have none. Colonel Roosevelt was very much interested in the work. THE RETURN TO NAIVASHA. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit returned later to Naivasha and found that R. J. Cunninghame, general manager of the expedition, with all the porters and the baggage had only just arrived. The men were busy pitching the tents near the water's edge. Early next morning the correspondent went down to the camp and had breakfast with Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit and then started off in a small rowboat for pelicans. They had not gone far when the Colonel brought down a couple of Egyptian geese with a very pretty shot. The boat was then turned for the usual hunting grounds of the pelicans and brought, with the least possible noise, to within 150 feet of two fine speci- mens. Colonel Roosevelt took careful aim and killed a splendid bird with a single shot from his rifle. The specimen delighted the Colonel beyond measure. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit after- wards indulged in shooting gulls, which have long red beaks and legs and feathers of beautiful slate blue. In all they bagged five fine specimens and also secured a complete nest with three eggs. Meanwhile Major Mearns and J. Alden Loring had been busy and had secured some fine specimens of the bird inhabitants of the lake. The tiny town of Naivasha, which boasts a six-roomed hotel, a white store, four Indian stores, a postofnce, a railway station and perhaps twenty houses scattered in groups of four or five, with A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 263 long stretches of stone-studded velt between, was the nearest point of civilization to Colonel Roosevelt on his hunting expedition to the north of Mombasa. Naivasha used to be a great cattle center, because it was the headquarters of the Masai tribe, and when the British took posses- sion they profited by this circumstance to make Naivasha the chief point of a district. But now business has moved down to Nairobi and officialdom moved up to Nakura, on the lake of the same name, between Naivasha and Lake Victoria Nyanza, and Naivasha has left to it only its delightful climate, since its altitude of 6000 feet makes it tolerable even at midday, and at night a strong, cool breeze always springs up. Best of all is its beautiful lake, also called Naivasha, with the volcano Longanot to one side and around it broad plains leading to tall distant mountains hemming it in on every side like the rim of a gigantic basin. The lake is believed to be the crater of an old volcano, and scientists say that once it must have reached the distant mountains which shaped its bed, for many rocks now ten miles away from the waters of the lake are marked by the wear of mighty waters, LAKE NAIVASHA AN OLD VOLCANIC CRATER. Now it is very different, and while Lake Naivasha is eight miles across, no soundings have proved it to be more than thirty feet deep, although it is probable that at different points there are rifts in the bottom of the old crater forming its bed which give it considerable depth. The shores, principally on the Naivasha side, are skirted with papyrus swamp and water lilies, the water being so shallow and the vegetation so thick that even where the shore is more or less free from papyrus one must wade out to a rowboat which cannot quite come in, and then go in the rowboat to a sailboat if one intends to go sailing. Lake Naivasha boasts two or three little sailing boats, belong- ing to settlers along its banks, but its principal source of pride is a steam launch belonging to Commander Attenborough. Four miles from Naivasha is the great Masai village, where 2CA A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST 400 members of that famous warrior tribe live in forty little mud huts. The huts are built in a circle round a kraal into which the cattle are brought at night. There are entrances from without at every ten or twelve huts, the rest presenting to the outside world a solid wall of mud and tree branch. The huts are eight feet long by five or six feet in breadth, and some four or five feet in height, and in these ten men, women and children will sleep quite happily, piled one upon another. The Masai are very like American Indians, scorning all kinds of work and requiring their wives to do it all. You will see long processions of them, the men bearing spears and shields and the women struggling after with the burdens of wood or blankets or whatever may be needed on the trek. About the only thing which a Masai will deign to carry for a white man is his gun, and this is a source of joy for him. THE WOMEN ARE THE BURDEN -BEARERS. As for the women, they condemn themselves to burden-bearing all their lives. As soon as they are full grown steel and copper bands are placed around their legs from ankle to knee, and again around the arms from wrist to elbow and sometimes from elbow to shoulder also, forming solid coils of steel and copper, each section of which weighs seven or eight pounds. Their arms grow puffy and distorted over the edges, and their legs are so heavy that the women acquire in youth a shambling gait which they can never correct, although later in life they remove the leg ornaments and keep only those on the arms. When the woman reaches maturity she adds a huge spring-like collar of steel to her equipment, the diameter being a foot or more. Under this are other steel or copper collars, and in her ears are string after string of beads. Taken all in all, her steel and bead ornaments average a weight of some 50 or 60 pounds. This metal tubing almost suffices to clothe them, but they wear also a leather apron, stitched on with fiber, which they can never remove, and in which they live and sleep from youth to old age. A short time ago Lenana, the King of the Masai, came with A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 205 his court into Nairobi to lodge a complaint against the Kikuyus for stealing some of his sheep. A few years later he would have sailed in with his fierce but now worthless warriors and wiped the Kikuyus out. It's different these days. Now they let the British Govern- ment settle their difficulties for them. Lenana is a fine old savage, with something mongolian about his cast of features. His royal robe is a gorgeous red blanket, and his insignia are a marquise ring of fine hammered steel which covers his middle finger from base to tip, and an earring in his right ear which causes his lobe to drop down to the shoulder. Early on the morning of July 24 Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit proceeded by the ordinary passenger train to Nairobi, traveling in the traffic manager's carriage or on the cowcatcher. Mr. Cun- ninghame followed with the specimens bagged on the Sotik trip in a special train. Major Mearns and Mr. Eoring remained at Naivasha collecting birds. On arrival at Nairobi the Colonel was met by William N. McMillan and F. C. Selous, who was on his way home. The Colonel remained in animated conversation with Mr. Selous until his departure, and then drove to Mr. McMillan's house, where he remained as a guest during his stay in Nairobi. ANNOUNCEMENT OF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. The Smithsonian Institution on July 23 announced that through the Roosevelt expedition a collection of rare animals will be added to those now in the National Zoological Park near Washington. The announcement was in part as follows : " In a letter received at the institution from Lieutenant-Colonel Edgar A. Mearns, of the expedition, it is stated that the collection includes eleven large mammals and three large birds, all in fine con- dition and for the most part well broken to captivity, as follows: A male and female lion, two years old ; a male and two female lions, twelve months old; a female leopard, a pet of Airs. McMillan; two cheetahs; a warthog, two years old; one Thompson's and one Grant's gazelle, well grown; a large eagle of unusual species, a small vulture and a large buteo. Specimens of none of these, except the lions and leopard, are at present contained in the park." 266 A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. Having laid aside his gun for a few days, Colonel Roosevelt turned to church and philanthropic matters, with all the enthusiasm he had displayed in the hunting of African big game. The ex- President took a leading part in the installation work of the local Masonic lodge on August 2, and Masons from all over that part of Africa came to Narobi for the occasion. The day before Mr. Roosevelt attended the Scotch Church and was the recipient of an impromptu reception after the service. Later in the day he made the opening subscription for a projected Y. M. C. A. home for Nairobi. The Colonel's adaptability to any and every occasion that presents itself had greatly impressed the people of British East Africa. Before leaving Nairobi the Colonel and his son Kermit were the guests at a public banquet. Frederick J. Jackson, Governor of British East Africa, was chairman and 175 persons sat at table. SOUVENIRS OF HIS VISIT TO NAIROBI. Captain Sanderson, the Town Clerk, read an address of wel- come to the former President of the United States and afterward handed him the address inclosed in a section of elephant tusk mounted in silver and with a silver chain. The American residents of the protectorate presented Mr. Roosevelt with a tobacco box made of the hoof of a rhinoceros, silver mounted; the skull of a rhinoceros, also mounted in silver, and a buffalo head. Mr. Roosevelt, in reply to the toast proposed by Governor Jackson, said: " I wish to take this opportunity to thank the people of British East Africa for their generous and courteous hospitality. I have had a thorough good time. I am immensely interested in the coun- try and its possibilities as an abode for white men. Very large tracts are fit for a fine population and healthy and prosperous settle- ments, and it would be a calamity to neglect them. But the settlers must be of the right type. " I believe that one of the best feats performed by members of the white race in trie last ten years is the building of the Uganda Railroad. I am convinced that this country has a great agricultural A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 2(17 and industrial future, and it is the most attractive playground in the world. It most certainly presents excellent openings for capital- ists, and ample inducements should be offered them to come here. The home maker and actual settler, and not the speculator, should be encouraged in making this a white man's country. " Remember that righteousness and our real ultimate self- interest demand that the blacks be treated justly. I have no patience with sentimentalists, and I think that sentimentality does more harm to individuals than brutality. Therefore I believe in helping the missionary, of whatever creed, who is laboring sincerely and disinterestedly with practical good sense. " It is natural that I should have a peculiar feeling for the settlers. They remind me of the men in our West, with whom I worked and in whose aspirations I so deeply sympathize." COMPARES EAST AFRICA WITH AMERICAN WEST. In conclusion, Mr. Roosevelt drew a comparison of the condi- tions as he had found them in East Africa with those that con- fronted the pioneers of Western America. The Roosevelt party ended their season of inaction in Nairobi on August 4 and left for Naivasha, where preparations were made for resuming the hunt. A big crowd gathered at the station to bid the Colonel farewell, and he was forced to make a short speech just before the train pulled in. The ex-President and Kermit arrived at Kijabe in the after- noon, and without loss of time the former performed the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the new mission church and school for white children. In a brief address, Mr. Roosevelt said : " It is the duty of the leading race to help those who are back- ward to a higher plane of education, and the work of the mission- aries in this movement is most important. I am particularly pleased with w T hat you are doing by your schools for the children of the set- tlers in this country." After the corner-stone ceremony Mr. Roosevelt an * his son Kermit went by train to Naivasha, where they arrived later in the afternoon and at once went into camp. 268 A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. Theodore Roosevelt had received many letters from the United States containing" all kinds of requests, with which it was impossible for him to comply, and which it was equally impossible for him even to answer. He had no private secretary, and excepting* once or twice when a personal friend had enabled him to catch up with some of his mail by typewriting for him, he had been obliged to leave the great bulk of these letters unanswered. The petitions were of every conceivable nature, including requests for live wild animals for zoological gardens; for skins of dead animals; for large snakes; for birds' eggs; for teeth and claws of lions and tigers (the writers evidently not knowing that there are no tigers in Africa and that it would utterly spoil the value of any specimen, whether for scientific or other purposes, to mutilate it by taking out the claws and teeth) ; requests for plants, for picture post cards, which are naturally not to be found in the African wilderness, and for all kinds of other objects, including even pickled meat and dried meat of game. TROPHIES OF THE HUNTING EXPEDITION. Twenty casks and nine cases containing trophies of the Roose- velt hunting expedition in Africa arrived in Washington August 19. The shipment, which comprised Colonel Roosevelt's first month's collection, consisted of eighty-two specimens, as follows: Lions, 7; leopard, 1 ; cheetah, 1 ; spotted hyena, 1 ; Cape Hartebeest, 14; white bearded wildebeest, 5 ; Neumann steinbuck, 5 ; Kirk dik-dik, 1 ; common waterbuck, 3; Chanler reedbuck, 4; Grant gazelle, 9; Thomson gazelle, 5; eland, 1; Cape buffalo, 4; giraffe, 3; hippo- potamus, 1 ; wart hog, 6 ; Burchell zebra, 7 ; black rhinoceros, 2, and impalla, 2. The cheetah is similar to a leopard, the wildbeest is the African gnu and the hartebeest, steinbuck, dik-dik, impalla and eland are varieties of antelope. While no new species, so far as is now known, was included in this first Roosevelt shipment, the collection will supplement materially the specimens already in the National Museum. It is unusual to secure so large a variety of mammals in so short a time. A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 2CJ Together with this shipment of the Roosevelt collection were a large number of specimens of mice, moles and other small animals, and also of birds gathered by Lieutenant-Colonel Mearns and J. Alden Loring, of the expedition party. Colonel Roosevelt on August 21, while hunting in Kenya, one of the seven administrative provinces of the British East African protectorate, killed a bull elephant. The animal's skin was taken care of by Edmund Heller and E. J. Cunninghame. The tusks of the elephant weighed 80 pounds each. When shooting elephants it is often necessary to creep into the herd and shoot the selected bull at a range of fifteen to thirty yards. Mr. Roosevelt, accompanied by R. Cunninghame, followed this procedure and killed his elephant at the second shot. A DANGEROUS SITUATION. Suddenly, before Mr. Roosevelt could reload, another elephant bull charged him at close range from the herd. Both Mr. Cun- ninghame and Mr. Roosevelt got behind trees, and Mr. Cunning- hame fired and turned the bull from Mr. Roosevelt just in time to save the distinguished hunter's life. The Kenya Province is to the south of the River Gwaso Nyiro and to the east of the Naivasha Masai preserve. The headquarters of the province are at Fort Hall, the public road to which place was closed by the government officials because the district was invaded by man-eating lions. The country, specially to the north and east, has not been surveyed thoroughly, and is imperfectly known. The climate is mild and temperate. The population of the parts of Kenya Province already known is about 600,000, divided among the Kikuyu, the Masai and the Dorobos. The Masai are mostly warlike nomads, who long were the scourge of their neighbors. They live in districts under chiefs, and each chief must be a retired warrior. Lidj Jeassue, the Crown Prince of Abyssinia, invited Theodore Roosevelt to a great elephant hunt, promising to beat up a white elephant for him to kill and otherwise to arrange a splendid shooting programme. 270 A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. This news was brought into Berlin by Adolf Mayer, a kins- man of King Menelik of Abyssinia, who arrived there with a com- mission from the Abyssinian Government to purchase supplies. King Menelik sent an invitation to Mr. Roosevelt at Wash- ington to be his guest, but Mr. Roosevelt declined, explaining that as he had refused the invitations of several European sovereigns, he could not make an exception of King Menelik, however much he might desire to do so. It was then arranged that the Crown Prince should invite Mr. Roosevelt unofficially. Before Mayer left Abyssinia a mission had been sent to hand this invitation to Mr. Roosevelt wherever it could find him, and King Menelik was hopeful that the former President of the United States would accept the invitation in its present form. AN IMPRESSIVE INVITATION. The envoys of the King were empowered to point out to Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Mayer said, " that there is unrivalled elephant hunt- ing in Abyssinia. The Crown Prince will send out 5,000 horsemen to encircle an immense range of prairie and drive in the elephants. Hundreds and possibly thousands of elephants could be thus assem- bled, and there would probably be one or two white ones among this number. These beasts are not really white, but merely animals of great vigor who have lived to be gray haired." When it was suggested that the Crown Prince of Abyssinia was only fourteen years old, Mr. Mayer replied that Abyssinians develop young. Pie declared that the Prince was an expert and adventurous huntsman ; that he spoke English, French and German, and that he was quite capable personally of showing Mr. Roosevelt fine hunting. " Many stories have reached the court of King Menelik," Mr. Mayer said, in conclusion, " of Mr. Roosevelt's prowess as a horse- man, a hunter, a soldier and an administrator. The King is most keen to greet him, and he probably would go to the borders of his country with a great following to receive Mr. Roosevelt." Mr. Mayer is the son of a German engineer who married a sister of King Menelik. A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 271 Colonel Roosevelt while hunting north of Guaso Nyiro killed three more elephants, completing the group intended for the Smith- sonian Institution, at Washington. He also killed a bull elephant for the American Museum of Natural History, at New York. 272 A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. Other game bagged includes a rhinoceros with excellent horns, a buffalo, a giraffe, an eland, a zebra, an ostrich and an oryza. Some skins not hitherto collected have been obtained and preserved for the Washington Museum. Kermit Roosevelt also did some shooting, having killed cvvo elephants and an exceptionally large, fine rhinoceros. Sixty- four cases, and every one big and bound with iron bands and filled with all that remains of lions, giraffes, elephants, hippo- potami, monkeys and other beasts which would still be roaming the wilds of Africa but for the invasion thereof by former President Roosevelt, arrived in Brooklyn, New York, October 12. The sixty-four cases were unloaded from the Anchor Line's steamship Italia at the pier of the Union Stores. Every case was marked : " Smithsonian Institute National Museum, Care of Col- lector of Customs, Port of New York. From Smithsonian African Expedition, R. E. X." The Italia received the cases at Naples from a steamship that brought them from Zanzibar. ROOSEVELT PROUD OF HIS ELEPHANTS. Colonel Roosevelt and R. J. Cunninghame arrived at Niavasha on October 20 from an extended hunt, looking extraordinarily brown and feeling well. They were delighted with their expedi- tion and Colonel Roosevelt said that both he and Kermit were proud of having got their elephants, and especially proud that they had each got one when they were unaccompanied by such experienced hunters as Cunninghame and Tarlton. The skins of the elephants and the skulls and bones were brought in by porters. The huge skulls were carried by eight porters, with reliefs of eight more every now and then. The loads were suspended from long poles. The Roosevelt party proceeded to Nairobi. There the station was crowded with officials and settlers. Lord Delamere was among those to greet the ex-President, and they stood for a few minutes discussing his proposed visit to Lord Delamere's ranch at Njoro on his return from the Guaso Nguisho. A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 273 On October 25 the party left again for Londiani, from which place the start for the Guaso Nguisho was to be made. On this trip the party passed over the " Mau Summit," 8300 feet, the highest point on the railway. The following day Edmund Heller, Kermit Roosevelt and Leslie A. Tarlton started for Eldama Ravine, and were followed shortly afterward by Colonel Roosevelt. The jour- ney to their shooting place occupied one week, and they spent three weeks there. Former President Roosevelt, on October 27th, celebrated his fifty-first birthday with a hunt in the African wilds. He received the congratulations of his son, Kermit, and other members of his party in the morning, and responded with brief expressions of thanks. Colonel Roosevelt's health was excellent, his face being bronzed by the tropical sun and his powerful frame rugged and hard from toiling through the jungles and over mountainous passes. The hunting ground was in what was known as Eldama Ravine. A SHARP CONTRAST. Mark the contrast between Colonel Roosevelt's surroundings then and a year before ! At that time he was comfortably settled in the White House at Washington. He was at his desk early, and spent the day hard at work in his office receiving such members of his Cabinet as were in town at the regular semi-weekly meetings, and discussed with them matters relating to their departments. Congratulatory messages poured into the President's office at the White House all day. Many foreign rulers took advantage of the opportunity, to send messages of warm friendship and good will through their diplomatic representatives, who called in person to present them to the President. Many others of the White House callers were persons who came to extend their congratulations. He was in excellent health, and was looking forward to the close of his term in office, and his big hunting expedition in Africa with the eagerness of a boy. " I have had a splendid time in the White House," he told his friends. " I have no regrets. I have done some things. I have 18— T,B. 27 -i A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. lived, and am counting the (lays that must elapse before I go out of office. Then there are some months in Africa. I shall hunt big game, see a wonderland, live close to nature, and study natural history." J. Alden Loring and Major Edgar A. Mearns, both of the Roosevelt hunting party, returned to Nairobi on November 3, from their expedition to Mt. Kenya. The climbers ascended the mountain to an estimated height of 16,000 feet, reaching the highest point which it was possible to attain without the aid of Alpenstocks. This was within 700 feet of the summit. They collected specimens of more than 2,000 birds and mammals and made many photographs of the mountain. Mt. Kenya is an extinct volcano. It is 16,700 feet high and supports numerous glaciers. It was ascended for the first time by MacKinder in 1899. The timber line extends to the 10,300 feet level. It is called by the natives " Kimaja-Kegnia, the Mount of Whiteness." It is twelve degrees south of the equator. CHAPTER XXI A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. Roosevelt Takes Part in an Exciting Hunt — Sees Lion- Spearing — Celebrated with War Dance — Kermit has Great Luck — Elephant Hunters of the Congo Give the Colonel a Warm Greeting. ALONG stream of porters came winding across the veldt, looking for all the world like a string of ants. The Stars and Stripes was held aloft by a giant native, and the sound of horns made strange discords with the chanting of the weird and elusive safari song. Shortly, Colonel Roosevelt arrived on the back of his favorite horse, Tranquility. It was the end of his last trip in the British East African protectorate. This safari, which was the fourth to be made out of Nairobi, gave Colonel Roosevelt and his party an opportunity to witness an exciting hunt at A. E. Hoey's farm at Sirgoi, in the Guaso Nguisho country, and the spearing of a lion by Mandi warriors. Seventy of these spearsmen had been asked to take part in the drive, and they assented readily, for when a warrior spears a lion he becomes a leader of the fighting section of the tribe and may wear a head dress formed of the lion's mane, and walk at the head of the file of Mandi warriors when on the march. In these hunts they display extraordinary courage. The band of seventy almost naked men, with their long, sharp spears, and attended by the chosen spectators, the latter being mounted, proceeded down a long valley, where the grass was thick and thorn trees lined its edges. Very soon a lion was observed not more than four hundred yards in front. Immediately the warriors gave chase, and in less than two miles they had rounded up the king of the wilderness. The horsemen then approached and it was seen that the lion at bay was a fully grown, black-maned one. The spearmen began their task of surrounding 275 276 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. the quarry. Every man went to liis allotted position, an 1 the circle slowly closed in on the snarling beast, which swished his tail and kept up a continual roaring. The warriors drew to within some twenty yards of him, and the horsemen closed up to see the kill, yet remained at a sufficient distance not to interfere with the spearmen's movements. Three times the lion made a savage charge at the now stationary warriors, but stopped short each time, with mane bristling, roaring in impotent rage at his tormentors. Again the attacking party advanced to within ten yards of their victim. One last desperate effort, and he drove directly at the line, only to fall with ten spears quivering in his body. But in that brief moment he managed to drag down one of the natives, his claws sinking into the man's flesh. INCENSED AT THE KING'S DEATH. The death of the king seemed to awaken all the fire in the warriors' blood. They began a dance of triumph around the body, waving their blood-stained spears, some of which were bent by the force of the shock, holding their shields above their heads and shouting forth blood-curdling yells in the excess of their savage joy over the victory. In the meantime the injured man was being given medical attention, and he bore the pain of his wounds without a sign of concern. He who had first jabbed his spear through the lion joined in the dance at the start, but soon retired at a distance, where he seated himself, apparently indifferent to the antics of his fellows. He was now a leader of men and must, therefore, show no sign that he had done anything out of the ordina^. The luck of Kermit Roosevelt had been proverbial. While Colonel Roosevelt was hunting with Lord Delamere, Kermit went off with R. B. Cole and his Wanderobo warriors. The Wanderobos are adepts at killing bango, which are very rare and only to be found in the forests. In a short space of time the younger Roose- velt had secured a large and fine specimen of the female bango. This was p feat that any older hunter might justly be proud A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 277 of, fcr no white man has ever before stalked and shot a bango. There are only two cases on re> ord of a white man shooting bango with the aid of the natives an 1 their dogs. So pleased was one of the residents with the success of the youth that he presented Kermit with a fine specimen of the male bango, and so the Smith- sonian Institution will have a complete family group, the only one in the world. Commander H. Hutchinson, superintendent of marine, who went up with Colonel Roosevelt and his party to Rhino camp, said that the former President bore the hardships of the journey splen- didly, notwithstanding the fact that the engine broke down once or twice. When they arrived at Koba it was midnight, but they found all the white elephant hunters of the Congo assembled to greet them. Among the number was Chief Engineer Bennet, of the lake steamers, who in December had been captured by the natives, but had made his escape after enduring tortures for five days. ROOSEVELT WOULD NOT DISCUSS POLITICS. W. H. McMillan, who entertained Colonel Roosevelt on his ranch near Nairobi, and later, while on a visit to the United States,, said: " While at my ranch Colonel Roosevelt did not read an Ameri- can newspaper or magazine," said Mr. McMillan. " He continu- ally refused to discuss national or international politics, although many residents of the neighborhood questioned him on these sub- jects. ' I am here for pleasure,' was his answer to one and all. 4 When I return to the United States I will say what I think about the situation.' " Colonel Roosevelt is a fair shot, not an extraordinary marks- man," continued Mr. McMillan. " Kermit is a better shot than his father, as Colonel Roosevelt admits to every one except Kermit. He is afraid it would make the young man think too much of himself to tell him so. It does not, however, take any wonderful marks- manship to hit an elephant or a rhinoceros." Describing Roosevelt's adventures in Africa, having met the 278 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. ex-President on his hunting trip, E. M. Newman, of Chicago, the African explorer and lecturer, said in an interview : " I believe that the two expert guides, Tarleton and Cunning- hame, have done much to keep Mr. Roosevelt in safety. They have stood at his back when he was attacked by wounded wild beasts and when other perils threatened. " Most people think this has been only a hunting trip, but I be- lieve that is the smallest end of it. I have no doubt his exploit will be an inspiration to mankind. " I believe that nothing less than an attempt to grapple with the world's problem of civilization, with the continental experiment possible in Africa, was what was in his mind. NATIVES BELIEVE HIM TO BE A "GREAT KING." " Mr. Roosevelt is an astonishing hiker. He will go striding through the jungle for thirty miles a day and then, after writing in long hand until late in the night, he will sleep about six hours and repeat the performance the next day. The natives in his party worship him and believe him to be a ' great king.' Their name for him — Bwana Tumbo — is the greatest compliment they could pay him. The fact that white men, whom they encounter, pay him such deference only strengthens their belief that he is a great ruler. " Roosevelt is just now going into the districts of peril from the tsetse fly. I followed expert advice in wearing a net over my helmet all the time. The tsetse fly looks like the ordinary housefly. " After its bite there are no symptoms for about two months, when convulsions occur, the red corpuscles disappear from the blood, through which the microscopic germs run like electric eels. The victims fall asleep. It is called the sleeping sickness. It swept away 300,000 in Uganda in two years. ' The government has been driving the natives away from the water, brush and shade, where the fly lives ; otherwise it is believed that the tsetse fly would have annihilated them. Four years ago there were 20,000 on the Sese Islands; to-day less than 100 souls. The tsetse fly took all the rest." Mr. Roosevelt carried with him on his African trip one of the A LION-SPEARING SAFARI, 279 most complete medical and surgical outfits ever prepared for any explorer. It was so condensed that all medicines and surgical in- struments could be carried in a suitcase. There were 15,000 doses in the tabloids, nearly forty per cent. of them quinine. The other medicines were to ward off diseases piost prevalent in equatorial Africa, chemicals to make swamp water 1 pure and palatable, cures for snake bites, stimulants, opiates, knives, and bandages. These supplies were packed in unbreakable and airtight bottles of a vulcanite composition, and fitted into an aluminum case 15x10x8. Liquids find no place in the assortment nor in the outfit for developing photographs prepared for Kermit Roosevelt by the same firm and put in equally condensed form. FIRE THREATENED TO BURN THE CAMP. The party had an interesting experience that had not been counted on upon their second day at Rhino Camp. A grass fire, accidentally started, threatened to burn up the whole outfit, which was saved only by the energetic work of all hands, including Colonel Roosevelt, who led in clearing the grass immediately surrounding the camp. Before leaving Rhino Camp the hunters got three more white rhinos, a bull buffalo and other game. Kermit Roosevelt made some splendid photographs of a living rhinoceros. The American hunters and scientists in the Nile broke camp in Belgian Congo, February 3, and sailed on the waiting boats and steamers up Lake Albert, arriving at Nimule the following day. "Mr. Roosevelt was kind enough to raise his hat and shake hands with our great ladies, as he did when bidding Prince Joseph good- bye. The Baganda who witnessed this were simply mad with joy and the Mustawa Kissa (man of kindness) has won all our hearts." Thus wrote Mother Mary Paul, missionary sister in charge of the Franciscan mission at Nsambya, Uganda, in a letter to a friend in New York. " The day was perfect," she wrote, " and the whole hill was 280 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. decorated with flags and glorious palms. Up the hill came the four runners who had been sent to watch when the rickshaws turned toward Nsambya. They arrived breathlessly to say, 'They are coming.' A few more minutes waiting and the first rickshaw came into sight with Colonel Roosevelt and the provincial commissioner, Mr. Knowles. " Introductions and handshakes followed. Colonel Roosevelt replied, when I. said it was kind of him to come, 'Kind! Why, pitchforks would not have kept me away. In fact, I would have been afraid to go back to the United States if I hadn't come to see you." Colonel Roosevelt gave to the Smithsonian Institution speci- mens of the white rhinoceros family complete. He also gave two skins to the American Museum of Natural History at New York and a head to William T. Hornaday for his collection. Mr. Roose- velt did not retain any of the white rhino trophies which he secured. EXPEDITION OF GREAT SCIENTIFIC VALUE. The ten days march to Gondokoro from Nimule was begun on February 7, the distance, roughly speaking, is 108 miles. The path lies through an unpeopled district and the porters were well bur- dened with food supplies at the start. The Colonel and Kermit left the expedition's trail for a day's hunting of elephants and giant elands at Rojaf, on the Congo side of Bar-El- Jabal. The hunters invaded the territory upon the special and eagerly accepted invitation of the Belgian authorities. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit were accompanied in the Congo by E. B. Haddon, the British district commissioner, stationed at Mpumu, Uganda. The commissioner met the expedition at Kiriba camp, sixteen miles to the south of Gondokoro. A commodious brick house was placed at the disposal of Mr. Roosevelt. A special runner arriving in advance of the expedition brought the following: ''Colonel Roosevelt states that he has heartily en- joyed the entire trip through British East Africa, Uganda Protec- torate and the Lado Enclave. He is particularly pleased over his success in hunting white rhinoseri in the Belgian Congo. He A LION-SPEARING SAFARI 281 feels that the results of the expedition will be of real and great scientific value." The Colonel and the other hunters arrived at Gondokoro on February 17. They had passed through the most trying stage of their African journey. For ten days they had been practically isolated in a wilderness so forbidding to the white men that it has not been invaded by the telegraph companies. The country is rough and the heat intense, the only communication between its scattered villages being through native runners. The dangers of the march from Nimule are understood by those familiar with the dubious route, and to these the safe arrival at Gondokoro brings a feeling of relief. At Gondokoro there are a few shops belonging to Greeks and Indians and a few traders make their headquarters there. The steamboats owned by the Sudan Government call once a month for passengers and the mails for Khartoum. GONDOKORO AN IVORY AND SLAVE CENTRE. Gondokoro is a famous mission station and market place in the territory of the Bari tribe of Soudanese. It is on the White Nile about 200 miles north of Albert Nyanza. A British military post was established there in 1871. In former times Gondokoro was a great centre of the ivory and slave trade, and an ivory market is still maintained there. Pope Gregory XVI. established a mission there in 1846 and the pro-vicar Koblecher founded a station in 185 1. A succession of misfortunes, including the death of Koblecher in April, 1858, and a famine in 1859, led to the final abandonment of the station. The entrance into Gondokoro of the ex-President was rudely picturesque, and nothing that British and native hospitality could suggest was lacking in the welcome. The arrival of the expedition in the outskirts of the town was heralded with bugle blasts by Chief Keriba's bugle band, which led the van. Chief Keriba accompanied his musicians. The native party had met the expedition sixteen miles to the 282 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. south, and en route here did it all the honor that could be gotten out of their instruments of brass and Indian drums. Reaching the town the band struck up " America," which, hap- pening to be the British national air, suited the occasion exactly. Belgian marches were interspersed. Following the musicians a native porter carried a large American flag. Then came the cara- van proper, Colonel Roosevelt, Kermit, the other American hunters and scientists and the body of native porters who have had an im- portant, if humble, share in the work of exploration. Waiting on the Bar-El-Jabel was the launch of General Sir Reginald Wingate, of the Egyptian army, and from the vessel were flying the Stars and Stripes. Mr. Roosevelt boarded the launch at once upon reaching there, and after a brief rest began the reading of his mail. Many communications awaited him. HUNTING EXPEDITION NEARLY ENDED. Kermit Roosevelt and Mr. Loring distinguished themselves during the day. A native had fallen into the river near the steamer, occupied by Colonel Roosevelt, and was drowned. Kermit and Mr. Loring learned of the accident and in an effort to recover the body dived into the water, heedless of the dangers from the crocodiles and the swift current. They escaped harm. The Governor of Mongalla, the Belgian commandant at Lado and other officials called upon Colonel Roosevelt during the forenoon. Colonel Roosevelt, Kermit and Edmund Heller, the zoologist, left Gondokoro February 18, on a steamer for a final week of shoot- ing along the river banks. R.J.Cunninghame, the field naturalist; Major Edgar A. Mearns and J. Alden Loring did not accompany the Colonel but remained at Gondokoro to pack the specimens, dismiss the porters and others, who accompanied the Colonel as helpers, and wind up the details incident to the close of the expedition. With the exception of the river excursion the hunting was practically ended. February 26 was breaking up day for the Smithsonian African scientific expedition, all of the porters and half of the servants re- turning to Kampala and Nairobi. A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 283 Colonel Roosevelt, during his hunt along the Nile, killed two bulls and one cow of the rare giant Eland type. He was much elated at his success. The eland is the largest of all the antelopes. It reaches the size of a large horse and may weigh as much as noo pounds. The expression of the face is gentle and sheep-like; the body is thick and heavy, but the limbs are slender. Its disposition is in keeping with its looks. Easily domesticated, it is a valuable animal for Africa. The meat is said by many to be superior to beef, but has a peculiar venison-like flavor. THE ELAND ALWAYS RUN AGAINST THE WIND. The eland is the one antelope that is naturally fat ; and in good pastures it becomes so heavy that it is easily run down in the wild state by dogs or horses ; but it has been observed that the eland will always run against the wind whenever possible if pursued, and this gives it an advantage over the horse. Like the majority of ante- lopes, the eland seems to be independent of water, frequenting the most desert localities far from streams and rivers. The striped eland is a rare specimen and seldom seen. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit, together with the members of their shooting party, who returned to Gondokoro on the evening of Saturday, February 26, on the Belgian boat Boch, spent Sunday in resting up, their experiences during the past few days in search of giant elands having proved rather fatiguing. In the evening the party dined with the district commissioner, who remarked on Colonel Roosevelt's fine health. The others showed need of rest after an arduous year's trip. The Colonel confessed to his first malady since leaving New York — a slight attack of homesickness. The confession came after the receipt of a message from his wife and daughter, who had arrived at Naples, preparatory to going to Khartoum to meet him. When notified that a committee of Westerners would meet him in Khartoum in an effort to get him to return to the United States by way of the Pacific coast, the ex-President shook his head. " I want to get home as quickly as possible," he said. " When 284 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. I was in the jungle I didn't really allow myself to think of home or business. But now that the hunt is practically over I am getting anxious to see Sandy Hook. "My plans for visiting Berlin, Paris and London -have been made for months and I have no thought of changing them now." Mr. Roosevelt was really and truly delighted to receive the message from his wife. " It made me realize just how near ' home ' I was getting," he said, with a laugh. Regarding the hunt Mr. Roosevelt said : " I expected a bully time, but it has been several times more pleasureable than I anticipated. Twenty years from now it will be impossible to have such a hunt." FAREWELL TO THE DISTINGUISHED GUEST. Theodore Roosevelt, on February 28, started on his advance toward Khartoum. The party set off on the Dal, the Soudan government boat put at its disposal. Gondokoro was abroad early to bid farewell to its distinguished guest and his companions, and every man in the settlement, white, brown or black, turned out to cheer. The immediate destination was Mongalla, a river station, where an enthusiastic reception had been prepared. The start was auspicious. Escorted by officials and the black bugle corps, the Roosevelt party advanced to the little steamer, whose whistle tooted a valiant welcome. When the lines were cast off, a cheer went up that echoed for miles over the desert. The vessel was a comfortable river boat, fitted out with all the conveniences the white man has brought into the desert, and Colonel Roosevelt, shaven and clad no longer in khaki, but in tweeds, can Again be considered in civilization. The trip to Khartoum, where (here were many Americans awaiting Mr. Roosevelt, occupied about two weeks. Dr. Rodoric Prosch, a French medical missionary, who lunched with Colonel Roosevelt on February 28, suddenly died of African fever at noon the following day. This, those who followed the trail of the expedition say, was A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 2g 5 but another instance of " Roosevelt luck " which had attended the American hunters and scientists, and that they were to be congra- tulated upon their escape from the dreaded fever that had followed in the wake of the long hunt. At a camp joining that occupied by the Americans at Gondokoro an English sportsman was seriously ill following a trip to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and one of the places at which the Smith- sonian scientific expedition stopped. The district commissioner of Gondokoro, the British officials of which were most active in entertaining their American guests, had been stricken with the fever and was confined to his bed. Dr. Prosch had done missionary work in Africa for ten years. During this time his health had been gradually undermined by the debilitating climate. His collapse was attributed to a weakened condition that could not resist an attack that he might have survived a few years before. DR. PROSCH A MAN OF LIBERAL IDEAS. At the luncheon Dr. Prosch seemed in excellent spirits and had a lengthy talk with the ex-President about missionary work, prov- ing himself a man of liberal ideas. Dr. Prosch and Colonel Roose- velt expected to meet again in Paris. Later Dr. Prosch collapsed and died within five minutes. At sunset he was buried on the very spot where he died, bugles sound- ing taps over the newly-made grave. When Colonel Roosevelt and the others of his party left on the steamer Dal they were all in good health and little the worse for their rough experience. The Colonel considers that the killing of the giant elands in his excursion along the upper reaches of the Nile was a fitting ending to a marvelously successful trip. The results generally from the standpoint of the hunter and the scientist have exceeded all ex- pectations. Colonel Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, have killed some five hundred specimens of large mammals. The bag includes the follow- ing: Seventeen lions, eleven eiephants, ten buffaloes, ten black rhino- 286 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. ceroses, nine white rhinoceroses, nine hippopotami, nine giraffes, three leopards, seven chetahs, three giant elands, three sables, one sitatunga and two bangos. All these were killed in the interest of science and the specimens were disposed of accordingly, the greater number going to the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Roosevelt retained not more than six trophies for himself. From the point of importance the most highly-prized game may be rated as follows: First, giant elands, the first complete specimens of which family were taken from the country; second, the white rhinoceros ; third, the bangos, the first to be stalked and killed by a white man, and fourth, the sitatunga, a species of antelope. THE EXPEDITION VERY SUCCESSFUL. The naturalists secured a remarkable collection comprising manv thousands of birds and other mammals. The results in this line have been most gratifying and science will be enriched by several new species and an enormous series of the smaller mammals of Africa. The game taken and the collections made constitute a world's record for a similar period of hunting and scientific research in Africa and the American museums will receive the greatest col- lection of African fauna in existence. The work reflects the greatest credit upon all members of the party whose labors continued ceaselessly despite the disadvantages of the climate. All agree that too much praise cannot be accorded R. J. Cun- inghame, the Englishman, whose management of the expedition was as nearly perfect as could be conceived. Teddy's out of Jungle-land The beasts may now rejoice, The wanderoo and wombat May give their gladness voice, Cut the same old capers, Make the same old jungle noise, While he's a-marching to Khartoum. A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 287 Colonel Roosevelt arrived at Mongalla on March 2, and imme- diately after landing performed the ceremony of planting a tree to commemorate his visit. The preceding day the Colonel encountered a foretaste of the strenuous hospitality which characterized his progress through the Soudan and Europe. Leaving Gondokoro in the morning, he arrived at noon at Lado, an attractive station on the Encalave section of the Congo. At the landing stage the strapping Congolese soldiers under Commandant Rekke formed a guard of honor and escorted the Colonel from the landing stage, while hundreds of the inhabitants of the nearby villages followed in procession, anxious to see the khaki-shirted " King of Americani." Colonel Roosevelt was entertained at luncheon by tne com- mandant, the company numbering ten in all. THE COLONEL IN HAPPY MOOD. The Colonel was in his happiest mood, speaking French exclu- sively, and keeping the company laughing with his humorous tales of hunting in America and Africa. He had only a few hours respite before reaching Mongalla, where the reception was much more elaborate, as Colonel Owen, Governor of the Province, has been for years an admirer of Colonel Roosevelt's words and deeds. A huge American flag flew from a special flagstaff. It flut- tered between the red-crossed emblem of the Soudan and the Union Jack of Great Britain. The Soudanese troops formed a guard of honor for Colonel Roosevelt, whose military ardor is as strong as ever. He was parti- cularly struck by the general bearing of these soldiers. After dinner at the Governor's residence the guest of honor witnessed a native dance arranged for his entertainment. A thou- sand or more native warriors in wonderful ostrich headdresses and with their bodies decorated here and uncovered there after the African native mode and carrying terrifying broadhead spears. Surrounding the dancers were hundreds of carriers, and in a 298 A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. knot hundreds of beaters of tomtoms, who uttered their barbaric cries and made a nerve-wrecking din with their musical instruments of gourds and hide. The scene was illuminated with hundreds of torches. The natives exhausted their repertory of dances for the visitor and it was the finest display Colonel Roosevelt had seen in Africa. The party left in the morning for Lake No. BEYOND THE SEA. Beyond the sea the lion ceases roaring, On Africa's coral strand, A respite glad his health is now restoring, For Teddy leaves his land. Beyond the sea the jungle monkeys chatter And say that things look bright; The tiger, gnu, rhinoceros, don't scatter And refuge take in flight. Beyond the sea there's much contented grunting, The wild hyena laughs ; The elephant has trumpeted : " No hunting ! And no more photograps !" Beyond the sea the tom-toms are a-drumming, Farewell to Theodore ; All Africa with business is now humming, Dried up the trail of gore. He will not change for monkeys, lions, tigers, The empire of the West, Sweet Oyster Bay's cool plunge for torrid Niger's, The man who knows no rest. Walter Beverley Crane, in Life. Captain Fritz Duquesne, of German East Africa, lion hunter and Boer war fighter, at one time considered by ex-President Roosevelt to head his African expedition, expressed fear that Mr. Roosevelt and members of his party had not escaped infection from the sleeping sickness. " It is highly probable," said Captain Duquesne, " that every A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 289 member of the Roosevelt party now has the virus of the sleeping sickness in his veins. It may not develop until they reach Europe, or even America. The sleeping sickness sometimes is not mani- fested in the person for several months after the infection occurs. It is well-nigh incredible that the Roosevelt party, passing through so many of the sickness zones, has escaped infection." The Court of Common Council at London, on March 3, unani- mously adopted a resolution conferring the honorary freedom of the city on Theodore Roosevelt, in recognition of " the distinguished manner in which he filled the office of President of the United States, and for the eminent service which he rendered the cause of civiliza- tion, and the promotion of amicable relations between foreign nations." The mover of the resolution, and the member .who seconded the same, spoke in the most eulogistic terms of Mr. Roosevelt, de- claring that the city would honor itself in feting the distinguished American, " whose heart is big enough to hold the whole world in friendship." A reception committee was appointed, specially charged to see that nothing was lacking to make the event memorable and " worthy of Roosevelt and his outstanding position in the world." On March 4 one hundred and fifty prominent New Yorkers were named to comprise the committee to give Colonel Theodore Roosevelt a welcome from his hunting expedition in Africa. This, the first step in the official preparations for the memor- able greeting which it was planned to give the former President, was taken by Mayor Gaynor following a consultation with William Loeb, Jr., former secretary to President Roosevelt, and collector of the port of New York, who was given general charge of the wel- coming arangements by authorization of both President Taft and Colonel Roosevelt. Cornelius Vanderbilt headed the welcoming committee as chairman, the second name being that of Mr. Loeb. The other members comprised a representative selection from the ranks of the city's best-known men of afTairs and the professions. 19— T.R. CHAPTER XXII TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. The; Trip Down the Nile — The Expedition a Huge Success — Many Rare Specimens Obtained — A Perilous Three Days Trip — Kermit a Deadly Shot — Interested in Natives — On Board the Steamer Dal — Arrival at Khar- toum — Greeted by Officials — Cheered by Crowds. QOUND, common sense has been a distinguishing characteristic ^ of Colonel Roosevelt's public and private life. Neither friend nor enemy can deny it. He has preserved a perfectly " level head " despite all the agencies working to turn it. An overplus of flatter- ing attentions and invitations has been heaped upon him, and yet his mental equilibrium has not been upset. The Emperor of Germany and the President of France vied with each other in planning to receive him with royal honors on his return from Africa, but he steadily declined, though professing his deep appreciation of their proffered courtesies, to be treated otherwise than as a private citizen of the United States. It is this adherence to demo- cratic principles that has made him popular with the people, and there is no subject in which he becomes interested that the great American public does not also immediately become interested. Colonel Roosevelt left the United States in March, 1909, with the best wishes of millions of Americans that his expedition would prove successful from a scientific standpoint, and that he would have a safe return. This great expedition being a fact and the fondest hopes of the scientists who made up the party were more than realized. The guns of the expedition no longer are of use, as the hunt officially ended with the killing at Lado Ensclave of a leopard, cheetah, waterbuck and various kinds of antelopes. With the addi- tion of these animals the collection of fauna is regarded as complete as possible. 290 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 291 No killing was done wantonly. Time and again game was spared, the hunters becoming naturalists and studying the habits and characteristics of the animals. Thirteen thousand specimens, many extremely rare, were ob- tained. They make a remarkable collection, including: lions, white and black rhinoceroses, elephants, hippopotami, tiyc±*as o,nd digdig. The latter is an antelope smaller than a jack rabbit. The collection is regarded not only by the party, but by Africans, as remarkable. Its like does not exist. The work of collecting was attended with great hardships and much personal danger. ROOSEVELT ESCAPES ELEPHANT. In one instance, Colonel Roosevelt shot a bull elephant without noticing that another was near by. The latter dashed at him, touching the Colonel with its trunk as it passed. The hunter saved himself by a quick jump behind a tree. Nearly every day dangerous incidents were recorded, but, fortunately, not a single white man in the party was injured throughout the expedition. The Colonel and Kermit retained their health, thus disproving Professor Starr's gruesome suggestion made in Chicago that they probably would be ill. The other four whites were ill, and also some of the blacks, one of the latter dying. On the last hunt Colonel Roosevelt and his son were the only ones in the party who were in fit condition to shoot. Colonel Roosevelt was especially touched by the action of the men in saving the last bottle of water for his use. Every man speaks in the highest terms of the bravery of the others in the party. The blacks were particularly enthusiastic regarding the Colonel and Kermit. They have a keen affection for the former, because of the interest and care he had manifested for their welfare. Eleven blacks, garbed in the remnants of civilized costumes, one with the lobes of his ears cut in twain, surrounded Colonel Roosevelt, standing at attention, while he pointed them out to visitors. 2*3 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. Two gun-bearers, with teeth filed to a point, seemed on springs, ready to act whenever the master ordered. They are described as fearless, but like children, who frequently are naughty, and must be punished. At the same time they are faithful. Colonel Roose- velt entertains a real attachment for the blacks and regretted the separation when they returned to Mombosa. As an indication of the hardships suffered one of the members of the party tells of a trip Colonel Roosevelt undertook lasting three days, during which he struggled afoot through a thick jungle under the burning equatorial sun searching for game. He was afoot 14 hours the first day, 13 hours the second day, and 12 hours the third day. " Bwano Tumbo is a mighty hunter," said Cuninghame with a smile, " but if his laurels have been imperilled at all on this expedi- tion it has been by Kermit, who is one of the deadliest shots and nerviest men, young or old, I ever met." RECEPTION AT THE AMERICAN MISSION. Colonel Roosevelt and his party left Taufikia on the night of March 9, and arrived at Kodok at eight o'clock the following morn- ing At the American mission at Doleib Hill on the Sobat river the travelers were received with much enthusiasm. During the stop at Taufikia all of the officers of the garrison were invited to meet Colonel Roosevelt at tea. Doleib Hill is the northernmost missionary outpost of the United Presbyterian Church in Africa, and was visited by Dr. Charles P. Watson, secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church, several years before. The entire region, Dr. Watson said, was infested with poisonous snakes, which come out of the ground when the wet season sets in, and literally swarm over the hill or knoll upon which the mission buildings stand. Most of these snakes, he said, were poisonous, and the bite of a certain species produced almost instant death. The bites of another species were equally fatal, he added, but the victim usually suffered intensely for several hours before death brought the only known relief. Many of the exciting experiences which the mis- TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 293 sionaries stationed at that point had undergone as a result of tnese snakes, furnished an interesting chapter, he said, in the history of the enterprise. According to Dr. Watson, the Doleib Hill mission was founded in 1 90 1. It is in the heart of a wild and unsettled section of the country. Previous to the conquest of the Soudan by Lord Kitchener and the Egyptian forces, two years previous, the country that far North along the Nile was impenetrable for missionaries and other white men. The mission is in charge of seven Americans, including two industrial missionaries, one ordained missionary and a medical mis- sionary. The work at this station has moved chiefly along indus- trial lines, and extensive experiments have been made in discovering what trees, plants and vegetables can be successfully grown in that section of the country. THE NATIVES VERY PEACEABLE TO THE MISSION. The utter isolation of the American missionaries at this point is attested by the fact that the nearest station to it is Khartoum, more than five hundred miles away. Communications between the two places is limited to a small steamer which reaches Doleib Hill once every two or three weeks. The region is sparsely populated, there being only 500,000 in the entire Soudanese province. They have proved unexpectedly peaceable towards the missionaries, though it is almost impossible to persuade them to give up their savage customs. Colonel Roosevelt's visit to the mission was made at the invi- tation of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board previous to sailing for Africa, according to Dr. Watson. * " When we learned that Mr. Roosevelt intended to traverse the entire course of the Nile from Lake Victoria Nyanza to Alex- andria, on the Mediterranean," said Dr. Watson, " we asked him to visit our station along the route. He gave us no definite promise, but said he would visit as many as circumstances would permit." Speeding down the White Nile the government steamer Dal, with Colonel Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on March 12, was at a point little more than 200 miles south of Khartoum, the capital of 294 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. the Egyptian Soudan. " Full speed," was the order issued by the captain of the Dal at the Colonel's request. In tow of the steamer was a barge containing thousands of the specimens which Colonel Roosevelt came to Africa to bag. They constitute the largest collection of specimens ever taken out of Africa. In it were some extremely rare specimens ; the first whole skin of the great eland which was killed by Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit, after great hardships ; a white eared kob, a Gray's waterbok, a shoebill stork and a dik-dik, an antelope about the size of a jack- rabbit. Eleven Africans who accompanied the expedition were in charge of the barge and specimens. Colonel Roosevelt lauds the courage and faithfulness of the Africans. ROOSEVELT PROUD OF HIS SUCCESS. The barge looked like a crowded animal cemetery with the lid off. Colonel Roosevelt surveyed it triumphantly. He was very proud of his success and of Kermit's. He passed most of the time on the Dai's deck, from which, not infrequently, he saw in the Nile hippopotami as huge as those for which he journeyed so much further. Water fowl were abundant and a variety of small game constantly excite a stranger's interest. But Colonel Roosevelt was no longer Bwana Tumbo. His eager- ness to kill for the sake of science was ended. He found joy enough basking in the fine weather. The mer- cury sometimes flirts around ioo in the shade in the afternoons, but the cool nights and mornings give ample opportunity to recuperate. Truly remarkable was the health enjoyed by Colonel Roosevelt and his son, practically the only two members of the expedition, among the whites, at least, who escaped sickness. Slight attacks, such as most of the party experienced, were only natural, in view of the hardships endured, heat of the tropics, noisome places through which the expedition was compelled to pass at times, and deadly insects. The Sesse islands, through which the steamer threaded on the trip to Eutebbe, are a monument to the devastation wrought by the TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 29.', tsetse fly, for, once well populated, they are now devoid of human life through the sleeping sickness scourge. Colonel Roosevelt displayed the greatest concern in the care of the party and native attendants. His personal interest was shown, when one of the correspondents, who had been within touch of the expedition from the very beginning, was forced to drop behind on one of the long marches. He was finally brought up by porters, who carried him many miles in a hammock, and after that dragged him many more in a rickshaw. Colonel Roosevelt immediately insisted that Dr. Mearns take the case in hand, and when the doctor decided that an operation was necessary, the former President volunteered to assist. INTERESTED IN NATIVES. Nothing pleased the ex-President more than the native guards of honor which turned out at every conceivable place to greet his coming. At one of the stations in Uganda a native contingent, with two bands, one a fife and drum and the other composed of brasses, marched to a private house, where Colonel Roosevelt was a guest at lunch, and drew up for review. The manner in which the training of the natives is carried out interested Colonel Roosevelt greatly. He saw uneducated natives taking and sending messages by Morse code and semaphore, with flags, by lamp and heliograph. Although these signal men do not know what the message means, yet they never make a mistake in sending or receiving. Looking the picture of health, with physical fitness showing in every line, Theodore Roosevelt arrived at Khartoum on March 14 from the long trail, over which he had spent nearly a year in the pursuit of game. Thousands of persons had gathered to see him, and they descried from afar the familiar form and more familiar smile — made so even to those who had never before set eyes on the ex-Pre- sident by the countless pictures of him which had been published. Later in the day there was a joyous reunion of Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt and their children, Kermit and Miss Ethel, in the 296 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. north station of Khartoum, Mrs. Roosevelt and her daughter arriv- ing there about half-past 5 o'clock in the evening. A launch carrying the representatives of the governor general of Anglo-Egyptian Soudan, Major-General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, sirdar of the Egyptian army, met the steamer Dal up the river. On this small craft Colonel Roosevelt and the members of his party had voyaged for more than 1300 miles from Gondokoro in Uganda, where they embarked on February 28. It was a wearisome trip, for there was little to be seen, and the latter part of the voyage was exceedingly uninteresting, the river sometimes being a mile and a half wide, with mud flats on either side, where only crocodiles abounded, and toward the end Colonel Roosevelt displayed considerable anxiety to be ashore. OFFICIAL GREETING AT KHARTOUM. The White Nile was more placid than the preceding day, when a heavy northwest gale stirred up the water and threatened delay to the anxiously awaited steamer, and the sirdar's launch was able to proceed a long distance up the river, bearing the first official greeting to Khartoum's distinguished guest. The sirdar's staff officers were taken aboard, and when the steamer, with the American, British and Egyptian flags flying, arrived at Gordon's Tree, they were seen surrounding the former President on the bridge. Colonel Roosevelt was attired in khaki and wore a white helmet. For several hours the Dal tied up opposite Gordon's Tree, within sight of Khartoum, and during that time Colonel Roosevelt occupied himself in answering hundreds of cablegrams and letters, which had accumulated there. All observers remarked his fitness and energy, and among them were those who had noted in Colonel Roosevelt when he left New York a year before the effects of the strain of a long and strenuous term in office. From these effects he has now completely recovered, and, although apparently the hardships which he under- went in the wilds of Africa had not reduced his flesh to any'appre- TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 297 ciable degree, he looked, to use his own words, able to " hit the line hard." Although the ex-President had refused to grant an interview or give out a statement on public questions until he was in possession of the fullest information on all points, he realizes, he said, that he had before him a series of harder working days than jungle hunting. Shortly after 4 o'clock in the afternoon the steamer came up slowly to the palace dock, amid a continuous volley of cheers. Colonel Roosevelt was warmly greeted by Major-General Sir Rudolf Baron Slatin Pasha, inspector general, and Major P. R. Phipps, the sirdar's private secretary. He and other members of the party were conducted to the palace grounds, where the heads of the various governmental departments were introduced and tea was served. The sirdar's palace is situated in the center of six acres of beautiful gardens. It stands on the site of Gordon's palace, on the steps of which Gordon was slain. MEETS WIFE AND DAUGHTER. After tea the Colonel and his son crossed the river to the Khartoum north station, where Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Ethel arrived shortly afterward on an express. Arrangements had been made so that the meeting was in private, and the reunited family remained within the palace car for some time, coming forth laugh- ing and happy. They returned together to the sirdar's palace. Colonel Roosevelt spoke enthusiastically about his hunting trip, but he acknowledged that he was a trifle homesick and was not sorry to return to civilization. The party secured an enormous bag of game in the Sudd dis- trict, where, Mr. Roosevelt said, they had not been troubled at all by mosquitoes, which usually are an almost unbearable pest. The Colonel was much interested in the Uganda missions, and spoke in high terms of the Lado Enclave, which he visited. The steamer Dal, upon which the American members of the Smithsonian African expedition made the trip from Gondokoro, was delayed somewhat by the unusually turbulent waters of the 298 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. White Nile, but the party was able to keep within one hour of the schedule time for the arrival. A steam launch filled with newspaper correspondents who had been sent from all parts of the world accompanied the Dal in the last part of the trip. Upon the pier Colonel Roosevelt was pressed by an enormous and enthusiastic crowd, all anxious for the nearest possible view of the American, but his escort saved him from any possible dis- comfort. Khartoum endeavored to conceal her disappointment because Colonel Roosevelt did not come out of the wilds literally swinging his hat and whooping. The Soudan had pictured Roosevelt as a rampant Yankee filled with an irresistible enthusiasm, and it ex- pected that he would advance with a cowboy flourish. THE COLONEL'S SECOND DAY IN KHARTOUM. Colonel Roosevelt's second clay in Khartoum was given up largely to sight-seeing, and the most interesting place of all to the former President was the battlefield of Kerreri, which lies seven miles north of Omdurman. It was there that the advance of the Anglo-Egyptian army, under Sir Herbert Kitchener, was contested by the Khalifa and his troops, numbering about 40,000, and it was here that the bodies of 11,000 dead Dervishes were counted the following day. An escort of picturesquely-attired Soudanese cavalry was in waiting when the yacht came to her dock. Colonel Roosevelt inspected the squad, and then the party mounted camels prepara- tory to the seven-mile trip over dusty roads. The first halt was at the monument erected to the Twenty- first Lancers, who here received their baptism of fire. In this battle the Lancers made a desperate charge to save the day, but they fell into an ambush at one of the dry water courses seaming the plain, and many of them were speared by the Dervishes. Thence they proceeded to a hill overlooking the battlefield. Slatin Pasha, Inspector General, explained the position and attack, and graphically described the operations. Colonel Roosevelt TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 299 astonished the Inspector with his marvelous knowledge of the history of Omdurman and the military tactics employed by both the British and Khalifa's troops. The party then returned to the Elfin and proceeded to the palace, thoroughly delighted with the trip. Beginning with an early return trip on the following day to the Omdurman battlefield and visits to a half dozen of the inter- esting places in the city, the party returned to the palace in the afternoon and prepared to witness the gymknana races at the polo grounds. The trip to Omdurman was made by steamboat, and was under personal supervision of Colonel Hutchinson, who, with the officers and shieks that met the party at Omdurman, was dressed in picturesque robes. A brief ceremony marked the landing of the boat at the battlefield. VISITS OF ABSORBING INTEREST. Slatin Pasha, Inspector General, again played an important part in entertainment of the guests. After their return to Khar- toum he conducted them to the house where he was imprisoned in the war of twelve years before. The Khalifa's house was another interesting point visited, as was also the mahdi's tomb, which was rifled of the body of the mahdi and almost ruined after the British occupation. General Gordon's piano, with which the famous general whiled away his hours in the palace was one of the most interesting relics shown the party. The piano is dilapidated, but is guarded as one of the prized possessions of the city. While at Omdurman Colonel Roosevelt inspected the Twelfth Soudanese regiment, which gave a special drill in his honor. The soldiers were dressed in khaki uniforms with orange-tufted tarboo- shers, presenting a picture that brought high praise from the former rough rider. The Colonel was surprised at the military tactics displayed by the Egyptian soldiers, and remarked to Slatin Pasha that it spoke volumes for the efficacy of English military training. 300 TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. Slatin Pasha regaled the party for an hour that afternoon with vivid accounts of his thirteen years' captivity. He showed them the well that he dug with his own hands and the courtyard that he built in his prison home. The final day was made up of various functions, one of which was at the Egyptian Club, where he impressed the Egyptian offi- cers with the importance of not mixing politics with soldiering. The Colonel gathered the remaining members of his African expedition around him at a lunch in the palace, and there were many exchanges of friendship before farewells were said. The guests included Sir Alfred Pease, who was Colonel Roosevelt's first host in Africa ; Clayton Bey, of the Sirdar's staff, and Captain Meredith, of the steamer Dal, on which the party came from Gondokoro. A PAINFUL FAREWELL. The ex-President tried to make the affair as lively as possible, but he was considerably moved when it came to shaking hands with those whom he is not likely to see again for a long time. He expressed the greatest admiration for Captain Cunninghame's strenuous and unremitting labors, and those of the naturalists, by reason of which the expedition had been such a marked success. After an inspection of the missions, under the guidance of Bishop Gwynne, Colonel Roosevelt attended a reception at the Grand Hotel, where he again met the officials of Khartoum. Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Ethel were engaged most of the day in packing up preparatory to leaving for Cairo, and w r ere unable to attend the functions, which, however, were graced by the presence of many ladies. The band of the Twelfth Soudanese Infantry played a special programme of native music, which is peculiarly weird and inspir- ing, for the benefit of Colonel Roosevelt. Later a group of native women gave an exhibition of dances peculiar to the Soudanese. In a speech at the Egyptian Officers' Club Colonel Roosevelt advised the officers to drop politics while they were soldiers. He was a soldier himself, he said, and a politician, but he never let them intermix TRIUMPHANT CLOSE OF A THRILLING HUNT. 301 After three of the liveliest days Khartoum had seen outside of war times the people were loath to see the ex-President depart, and much of the last day was taken up by prominent persons who called to bid him good-by. Among the farewells were those to the members of the hunting expedition, who made the return trip to America by a different route from the Colonel. THE MOST POPULAR MAN IN THE WORLD. The title of a private citizen, which Colonel Roosevelt wears, is more of a talisman in Europe now than the crown of any king. Nothing could indicate this more clearly than the great prep- arations that were made in the capitals of the countries, that he visited, to receive him with great distinction. No crowned head was ever shown such great honors as were shown to the former President of the United States. This is true, too, despite the fact that Col. Roosevelt all along insisted that he be received in an unofficial capacity. Had he permitted the various countries to follow their own inclinations regarding the receptions to be accorded him, his tour through Europe would have been one of continuous triumph. Colonel Roosevelt is the most interesting personality in the world to-day, according to the European viewpoint, which same viewpoint also makes it likely he will be a figure to reckon with when he returns to America. The effect of the homage shown him by European countries is sure to be an enhancement of his popularity at home, and many in England, Germany, France and other countries of Europe will be surprised if the political exigencies of America do not again sweep him into the Presidential Chair. CHAPTER XXIII ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. Sees a Succession of Perfect Mirages — Visits the Great Assuan Dam — Lauds Mission Workers — Lionized in Cairo — Guest of the Khedive — Wanders Among Tombs of Kings — Views Sphinx by Mooneight — Visits Tempee of Buees — " Not a Lion did his Duty " — The Coeonee Attends Easter Service. WHILE rambling through the ruins of the land of the Nile, descending into the dark tombs of ancient kings, studying the hieroglyphs and communing with the celebrated Sphinx, an American citizen attracted the attention of the entire world. In ancient Egypt, potentates did him honor; at home, the newspapers printed daily stories of his activities. What was the meaning of it? What was there in a visit to Africa, or in an exploration of the tombs of the mummies, that aroused such intense interest? Why were the things which Theodore Roosevelt did in a fara- way land chronicled with a minuteness and detail? Everything that happened concerning the nation, or policies of government, seemed to be considered from this angle — What did Roosevelt think of it, and what would he have done about it ? Colonel Roosevelt was not the first ex-President of these United States who, surviving his term, visited foreign lands. He was not the first tp have indulged his literary fancies. Yet, there is something in him and in what he did that make him different from all the others. Shrewd observers of all sorts agree that Roosevelt is the most extraordinary personality in our population, and in some sense in the whole world. He is hated, he is loved, he is feared, he is criticised, he is analyzed, but in every case the conclusion is that he is a force to be dealt with, that he is a great man. 302 ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 303 Colonel Roosevelt and his family arrived at Wadi-Halfa from Khartoum on the evening of March 18, and boarded the steamer Ibis for Shellal, which lies some 150 miles down the Nile, at the head of the First Cataract, close to the great Assuan reserve dam and adjacent to Philae, where are the temples of Isis and other works of the ancient Egyptians. " The desert offers a striking contrast to the green of the wilderness where I've been," observed the Colonel, while making the long journey from Khartoum to Haifa. ' The mirages on both sides of the Sotik remind me of those I saw in the Sotik country in British East Africa. In one I saw a rhinoceros which I believed to be standing in a shallow lake, which proved to be a mirage." OLD EGYPT'S MAGNETIC ATTRACTIONS. In the meantime the lure of old Egypt holds Colonel Roosevelt and his family. They passed Sunday inspecting and wondering at the submerged ruins at Philae and the tombs and the great dam at Assuan, the largest in the world, planned to reservoir a thousand million cubic metres of water (234,000,000,000 gallons) to irrigate lower Egypt, under the pitiless sun. They returned weary but enthusiastic to sleep on the Nile steamboat before they start for Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes. The express for Luxor was crowded with tourists returning to Europe. A special car had been provided for the Roosevelt family, and they dined by themselves during the trip. The journey was a very dusty one, without special incident. The scenery along the route, however, afforded some diversion, giving, as it does, a practical illustration of the utility of the great Assuan Dam, which has enabled the natives to cover the countryside with wheat and other crops in the dry season. When the former President's party reached the station at Assuan he was greeted by the tourists from the Cataract Hotel and by a number of Egyptian officials. In answer to their cordial reception, he made a brief address in which he repeated practically the words spoken previously to the Egyptian officers. 304 ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. American Consul General Lewis Morris Iddings, stationed a' t Cairo, was the first to greet the Roosevelts on their arrival. He led them across the platform to a spot where a group of ladies and a party of Egyptian officials were waiting to be introduced. From the station the party were driven to the Winter Palace Hotel, which was well filled with visitors They were greeted by a great number of American citizens, many travelers having waited to see the former President. Colonel Roosevelt held a reception at the Hotel, and shook hands with more than a hundred visitors from the United States, and as each passed he made characteristic remarks, which served to recall old days in the White House. At the close of the reception the visitors gave three cheers and then broke forth with the slogan : "What's the matter with Roosevelt? He's all right!" This caused the Colonel to smile, and he said : " I wish I could give three cheers for every State from Cali- fornia to Massachusetts." COLONEL ROOSEVELT RECEIVES MANY ATTENTIONS. The attentions which were bestowed upon Colonel Roosevelt increased to an impressive degree as he approached the areas which contained a greater white population. They did not fall short of those conferred upon royalty itself Indeed, the Kaiser's son, Prince Eitel, who, with his wife, was traveling in Egypt, was completely eclipsed by the greater star, and did not receive one-tenth part of the homage which was be- stowed upon the former President of the United States. The Colonel left Assuan a few hours before the arrival of Prince Eitel and his wife. He telegraphed the Prince expressing his regret that his plans prevented their meeting there. Immediately after breakfast the next morning the Roosevelt party left the hotel and crossed the Nile to Felucca. Horses were provided. Kermit was dressed in riding clothes and Colonel Roose- velt wore khaki. Carriages were used by his wife and daughter, Mr. Iddings and Mr. Abbot. Mounting spirited Arabs and accom- BIRD'S-EYE-VIEW OF EGYPT, SHOWING THE PLACES WHERE 20— T.R. COLONEL ROOSEVELT VISITED. 305 306 ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. panied by Chief of Police Weigall, Colonel Roosevelt cantered down the tortuous narrow desert valley, followed closely by the carriages, to the tombs of the Kings, 3000 years old. The day was the hottest since Colonel Roosevelt reached civilization, the south- west wind resembling a sirocco. When the inspection of the tombs was completed, Weigall, wishing to test the famous endurance of the ex-President, suggested a tramp across the cliffs, which led through a perilous path where the heat is intensified by the reflection on the rocks, expecting that Mr. Roosevelt would object. The Colonel not only kept up, but led, making Mr. Weigall admit that he had underestimated the strength of the ex-President. On returning, four men of the party, including Mr. Roosevelt, engaged in a horse race for a mile over the desert in the hot sun, Colonel Roosevelt winning easily by the grace of his horse, as he laughingly said. Mr. Weigall and Kermit tied for second place. THE COLONEL'S KNOWLEDGE OF ANCIENT RULERS. " He astonished me by his knowledge of the relations of the rulers who lived several thousand years ago," observed Mr. Weigall. In connection with Hatesu VIII, Mr. Roosevelt recalled that she was the first woman ruler of civilized history, and from the amount of trouble she gave Tomes, one of her numerous husbands, the Colonel suggested that he must have been the first henpecked hus- band of whom any record exists. In their tour that day the party first entered Sethos, the first and most beautiful of the Biban El Moluk tombs. The caverns in the rocky hills reached back into long corridors lighted by fitful candles and occasionally by electricity, recalling the descent into mines. At the tomb of Jenophis the party was led through the dark- ness by a railing. Suddenly the light was turned on and they looked at a crypt containing a mummy-shaped coffin with the black- ened remains of the King, his arms folded, which reminded the party of the tomb of Napoleon. This is the most dramatic sight in connection with the antique monuments of Egypt. ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 307 On the way from Luxor to Karnok Colonel Roosevelt halted at the American Mission, where he delivered a brief address. Later in the day he visited the German Consulate, and there was shown a book bearing the signature of his father and Ralph Waldo Emerson, which were written in 1873. Colonel Roosevelt finished his sight-seeing by inspecting the Luxor Temple. The party left at 7 o'clock on the night of the 23, and reached Cairo the following morning. The Egyptian capital gave Colonel Theodore Roosevelt the most enthusiastic reception accorded to a foreigner in fifty years. This historic old city turned out en masse to greet the former President of the United States, and official Cairo vied with the re- mainder of the population in heaping honors upon the mighty hunter, whose exploits had been followed with the most intense interest. THE COLONEL RECEIVES A POPULAR OVATION. It was Roosevelt Day, and everybody was out to acclaim the famous American. The Khedive greeted him cordially, the crowds massed along the streets cheered his carriage and the Americans shouted themselves hoarse at Shepheard's Hotel. Prom early morning until far into the night the ovation lasted. Colonel Roose- velt's name was on every tongue, and his appearance at any point was the signal for a tremendous demonstration. The city made a holiday of the occasion. The Colonel was met by Lewis M. Iddings, the American consul general ; Mr. Strauss, the American ambassador to Turkey, and the leading government officials. He took lunch at the American agency, and was afterward received at Abdin palace by the Khedive, who warmly welcomed him, and listened intently and interestedly to the Colonel's account of his shooting expedition, the story of the country he had traversed and the various classes of natives he had met in the course of his journey. The Khedive sent a palace carriage to Shepheard's Hotel to convey the visitors to the palace. It was the first time this atten- 308 ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. tion had been accorded to a private citizen of any country. More- over, the Khedive returned Roosevelt's visit in royal fashion. The Khediviah also received Mrs. and Miss Roosevelt with unusual marks of distinction. She walked through two or three rooms to meet them, instead of waiting for them in the reception room. She had coffee served to them in gold cups, studded with diamonds. She talked with them in French for nearly an hour, asking many questions about the position of women. Later in the day the party drove to the Mena House for the purpose of viewing the impressive spectacle of the pyramids by moonlight. Extensive festivities had been arranged there in their honor, lasting well into the night. Up with the sun, after a restful night, Colonel Roosevelt and his party were early astir, preparing for a visit to the Necropolis of Sakkara, where are the wonderful tombs of various kings, of Thy and of the Apis bulls. RECEIVES SPECIAL RECOGNITION. Major F. K. Watson, pacha, aide de camp to the Khedive, was an early caller. He tendered to Colonel Roosevelt the use of the Khedive's special camel corps for the eight-mile ride across the desert to Sakkara. Such a tender always is a special mark of favor, and Colonel Roosevelt accepted it with much pleasure. The Colonel and Kermit each rode one of the animals over the dreary waste to the Necropolis, but Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Ethel chose a more comfortable sand cart. Arriving at the tombs of the bulls of Apis, the oldest of which dates back to 1500 B. C, the time of the reign of Amennophis III, the sightseers were met by an archeologist who had been instructed to act as their guide. With lighted candles, the Americans entered the dark caverns, and looked with interest upon the huge sarcophagi. From the tombs of Bulls the party proceeded to the temples and the tomb of Thy, a plebeian, who lived in the fifth dynasty, but who was so esteemed that he was permitted to marry a princess. " Not a lion did his duty." With this declaration, delivered in mock gravity, former President Roosevelt concluded his informal ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 309 remarks at a reception given the following morning to fellow-citi- zens from America. The joke -on those who openly wished that the lions would get him was not lost and caused a hearty laugh, in which the speaker joined. The reception was held in the beautiful gardens adjoining the Shepheard's Hotel, and as early as 8 o'clock a crowd was there. A temporary platform had been erected, decorated with American flags and palms. When Mr. Roosevelt appeared he received a noisy ovation. The cheers were followed by the singing of " My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The Colonel said that he would not make a speech, but wished to say that he was glad of the opportunity to meet fellow-country- men. He was glad, he said, to see America in the East. Then he assured them that the lions in Africa had not accomplished the mission jokingly imposed upon them. THE COLONEL EXTENDS A PERSONAL GREETING. A line was formed, and passing the platform every one of the crowd, in which women predominated, shook hands with Colonel Roosevelt and received a personal greeting. This over, another cheer was given and once more " My Country, 'Tis of Thee," was sung. Following the reception the Colonel went to his apartments and prepared for the visit to Al-Azhar University. In his visit to the mosque, Al-Azhar, which in 988 was turned into a university, Colonel Roosevelt was accompanied by Mrs. Roosevelt, Kermit, Miss Ethel and a few others. A number of American tourists seized the opportunity to inspect the mosque when the invited party was received. At the " gate of the barbers " the visitors were detained until commodious yellow-covered shoes could be tied over their boots, as the feet of infidels are not permitted to desecrate the Mohammedan floors. A thorough inspection of the mosque was made, the Colonel being especially interested in the ancient carvings, the Koreans which had been the personal property of past Khedives and other celebrities, and the wealth of curious objects in the museum. The Roosevelts and Ambassador and Mrs. Strauss were guests 310 ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. of the Khedive at luncheon at the palace. In the afternoon they visited the museum of Arab art. ■ Easter was observed by Colonel Roosevelt in much the same way as though he had been at home. In conventional silk hat and frock coat, he attended the Easter services at the English Church, which was crowded to the doors with worshipers. Probably the most interesting incident in connection with Colonel Roosevelt's visit occurred when, at his own suggestion, he held an informal conference with Egyptian newspaper men. The ex-President had been keenly interested in the attack by the native press on his speeches, they charging that he has inter- fered in Egyptian politics, and said that he would like to have a heart-to-heart talk with the editors. As a result the newspaper men visited him during the day, all of them displaying great eager- ness for the interview. Most of them wore European frock coats and tarbushes, but one tall, dignified Arab sheikh appeared in flow- ing robes and turban. THE COLONEL ADDRESSES THE ASSEMBLAGE. After the introductions the Colonel addressed the assemblage. Some of them could speak only Arabic, and hence an interpreter was necessary. The Colonel said something about it being the duty of journalists to promote religious toleration, whereupon the sheikh eagerly interjected in gutteral Arabic: "Moslems and Christians have lived peaceably side by side in Egypt for thirteen centuries. There is no reason why they cannot continue to do so." If he anticipated that this would lead to an argument, he was disappointed, for Colonel Roosevelt only rapped out with appre- ciative vigor : " That's fine ; that's fine," and went on with his homily on the power and responsibility of the press. Describing it as the most formidable weapon of modern life, he declared it ought only to be used for good purposes. To this the sheikh, among others, heartily assented. The interview ended without any controversy, and with mutual compli- ments and a general display of good feeling. Asked afterward what were their impressions of the meeting, it became clear that ROYAL HONORS FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 311 what struck the editors most was the freedom with which Colonel Roosevelt talked with them, and the pleasure he seemed to feel at meeting them. It was such an unexpected attitude on the part of the man who had been the head of a great nation that one of the newspaper men declared that his heart was so full of admiration and gratitude that he could hardly restrain his tears. Another, who is an ardent Nationalist, said : " Mr. Roosevelt didn't know what he was talking about, but he meant well." During a conversation between an educated Egyptian and a correspondent the Egyptian declared that Colonel Roosevelt learned more about the Assiut American Mission in two days than Lord Cromer had learned in twenty-five years. This is typical of the impressions the Egyptians have formed of Colonel Roosevelt's wonderful power in absorbing the details of all subjects. Later the Roosevelt family gave a small private luncheon and at night the Colonel attended a banquet given in his honor by the Sirdar, Sir Reginald Wingate. Colonel Roosevelt delivered an address before the students of the University of Egypt on March 28, and made an excellent impres- sion. He was cordially received, and at the end of his remarks there was much applause. The general opinion was that the speech will have a good effect upon the country generally. Earlier in the day Colonel Roosevelt received a deputation of prominent Syrians, who wished to acknowledge the kindly attitude toward their people of the former President during his administra- tion, and a committee of the Geographical Society which received Livingstone and Stanley, and wished to pay their respects in a similar manner to the American. The Syrians presented to Mr. Roosevelt an illuminated address on silk, written in both Arabic and English. The address was en- closed in a solid silver casket, inlaid with gold and bearing an in- scription in Arabic. On the outside of the cover, inlaid with gold, was formed an olive branch entwined with Turkish and American flags. CHAPTER XXIV TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. Roosevelt Sails for Naples — Gets Ovation — Visited by King Victor Emmanuel — " Long Live Roosevelt " — Visits Scene oe Honeymoon in Unique Equipage — Porto Maurizio in Gala Array — Admires Venice erom Gondola — Emperor Franz Joseph Pays Honor to the Colonel — Journey to Budapest — Meets Francis Kossuth — Greeted Like a Ruler in Paris. J M MEDIATELY on retiring from the Presidency Colonel Roose- * velt hurried to Africa, far away from the strenuous political life of the preceding years, living in the wild, indifferent to the world's thought and interest. Not a few were glad to have him thus go, for they thought he had gone beyond the horizon of poli- tical life and if he ever returned it would be without a place to receive him. But such a welcome has never been given any man. At the border of civilization the welcome began, and at every step it increased in volume and heartiness. Missions, civil organi- zations, rulers and public officials gave him cordial greeting. Courts were opened to him, and Kings made him their personal guest. No other man has undertaken such a journey ; no American has been so honored. General Grant was welcomed as he went around the world to a degree that made us wonder and excited our pride, but it was Grant, the great general as well as ex-President. He received the honors with becoming dignity, but he was a silent man, and no special and abiding impression was made on the world by him. Roosevelt carries with him his characteristic intense energy, and speaks with the independence and force which made him the most popular and personally the most potent President we have ever had. He seemed to throw prudence aside when he began his 312 TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. 313 speeches in Egypt. He knew there was a sullen discontent, stimu- lated by ambitious and disloyal men, but this was to him a call. It seemed as if Mr. Roosevelt was throwing brands into an open magazine, but he spoke fearlessly and with such positiveness that disloyalty was put to shame. His course was proved to be wise for him and for the public good ; he was a master and by the force of his personality brought rulers and the ruled into better relations. At every point the highest honors were extended to him, and in every case he proved himself the plain, straightforward man of high ideals and strong convictions. THE COLONEL SAILS FOR NAPLES. The Roosevelts left Alexandria and sailed for Naples in the afternoon of March 30, on board the steamer Prinz Heinrich. Never was the blue bay of Naples bathed in more glorious sun- shine than when the black smoke of the incoming steamer notified the crowd of the arrival of the distinguished visitor. Notwithstanding the early hour, the water front was lined with thousands who wished to -share in the welcome to Colonel Roosevelt upon his return to Italy from Africa. At his hotel Mr. Roosevelt found awaiting him a messenger from Mayor Nathan of Rome, bearing an invitation from the municipal authorities, who wished to give a dinner in his honor. The former President promptly accepted the invitation and fixed the date for the following Wednesday evening. Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt attended services at Christ Church in Naples the next morning, leaving for Rome at 2.30 in the after- noon. An immense crowd assembled at the station to see them off. The private car, which had been placed at their disposal by the Italian government, was filled with flowers. Although measures had been taken by the police to prevent a large gathering inside the railroad station at the time of the arrival of the Roosevelt party, many Americans and prominent Italians managed to find a way to circumvent these precautions, and the 314 TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. station was well filled when the ex-President appeared at the door of the ear. A detachment of carabineers and a large force of police made a pathway from the train to the royal waiting room, the king having ordered that the ex-President should receive the same honors as members of the royal families when they visit the Italian capital. The Colonel was received on his arrival at the Quirinal in the most cordial manner by King Victor Emmanuel. This occasion, the most important set event since Colonel Roosevelt's landing in Europe from his African hunt, afTorded opportunity for another exhibition of the admiration of the Italian public for the noted American visitor and the popular interest in his every movement. The distinguished guest was escorted to the door of the King's apartment, which when thrown open revealed His Majesty standing with arms outstretched and with a smile upon his face. COLONEL ROOSEVELT AND KING VICTOR. The monarch and former President shook hands heartily, the King inviting his guest to sit at his side. The door of the apart- ment was then closed and the two remained in private conversation for about three quarters of an hour. The Colonel, it is said, expressed the pleasure that he felt in again meeting King Victor Emmanuel, following the short inter- view which they had a year ago at Messina on board the battleship Re Umberto. The King responded that he had been waiting with great in- terest the return of the former President, as he had desired to hear from his own lips the report of his African adventures, which his Majesty had followed as closely as possible. Following the audience Colonel Roosevelt said that the King had been so gracious and flattering both to him personally and to his country that he felt that he should not make public anything concerning their conversation. The formalities of the reception over, Victor Emmanuel per- sonally conducted his guest to the hall of the palace, wriere the TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. 315 American inspected the hunting trophies of the King's father and grandfather. When the time came to say good-bye His Majesty invited the Colonel to drive with him the next morning. The sovereign ex- plained that, though they would dine together at court that night, he desired to see and talk with his guest further alone. From the Quirinal the returning traveler drove to the Pan- theon. Beyond the charm of its ancient memories, this spot is sacred as it contains the tombs of Raphael, King Victor Emmanuel II., the " father of his country," and King Humbert. King Victor Emmanuel called on Colonel Roosevelt at the latter's hotel the next morning, and, following a pleasant social chat, they motored to the barracks of the Cuirassiers, where they wit- nessed a series of manoeuvres. The ex-President said he had never seen a finer body of mounted men. THE COLONEL VISITS VICTOR EMMANUEL'S MONUMENT. From the barracks the King and his guest motored to the monu- ment, in course of construction, to Victor Emmanuel II. Leaving the car the two climbed to the top of the collossal structure upon which $10,000,000 has been expended thus far. In the afternoon, in company with Professor James B. Carter, director of the American School of Classical Studies at Rome, the ex-President spent considerable time exploring the Capitol Forum. Signor Ferra, sovereign grand commander of the Supreme Council, Ancient Scottish Rite, with a deputation, called at Roose- velt's apartments and conferred upon him a high Masonic title. The Colonel delivered a brief speech, in which he expressed grati- fication at the honor, and insisted upon the principles of brother- hood, liberty and tolerance, which, he said, form the basis of regular Free Masonry throughout the world. Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt left for Spezia late on the night of April 6 to follow the route taken upon their wedding trip. Among those who bade farewell at the station were Count Tozzoni, master of ceremonies in the royal household, who repre- 316 TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. sented the king; Mayor Nathan and other civic authorities. The distinguished American was warmly cheered, and there were many cries of " Long live Roosevelt." At 8.31 the next morning Colonel Roosevelt, clad in a Rough Rider overcoat of khaki, with the insignia of a colonel, alighted from a saloon car at the Spezia station, accompanied by his wife. The Mayor and sub-prefect who had been awaiting his coming, greeted him, and the Colonel accepted the Mayor's carriage in which to drive to the Hotel Croce di Malt, while a special, old- fashioned three-horse carriage, a replica of that used by the Roose- velts twenty-five years ago on their honeymoon, which had been made ready for their second honeymoon, conveyed their luggage. The old-fashioned vehicle, with mussel bells on the horses' harness, afforded a new sight for Spezia and attracted much attention, mak- ing it impossible for the Colonel to preserve his incognito. THE COLONEL RENEWS OLD ASSOCIATIONS. After breakfast in the public dining room of the hotel and a visit to the room occupied by Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt twenty- five years ago, Colonel Roosevelt shook hands with all the Ameri- cans present and accepted a bouquet for Mrs. Roosevelt. Then they drove away in a cloud of dust raised by their ancient equipage, while the postilion cracked his whip and the bells jangled merrily, awakening to unusual animation the sleepy town. People and press of Genoa had manifested the most intense interest in the movements of Colonel Roosevelt. His second honey- moon journey stirred their romantic natures, and when the news spread of his coming, a big crowd hurried to the modest Hotel Brittania, where he had engaged quarters, and with cheering and the waving of hats greeted the arival of the dust-covered carriage. Half an hour after the arrival of Colonel Roosevelt, the prefect and the Mayor of Genoa called on him and greeted him in the name of the municipality. The Colonel visited the Red and White palaces of Genoa, subse- quently going driving and visiting the famous Andrea Dona Church, whose solemn beauty deeply impressed him. TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. 317 The departure of the Roosevelts caused a great outpouring of the Genoese, including the municipal authorities, who cordially wished him bon voyage. At every station on the road to Porto Maurizio crowds stood in the pouring rain and saluted the Colonel. Porto Maurizio in gala dress welcomed the ex-President en- thusiastically. Mayor Carnetti, with a delegation, formally greeted him. Signora Carnetti and several other women greeted Mrs. and Miss Roosevelt. When Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt arrived, not only was every man, woman and child in the town massed about the station or lining the streets, but thousands from the neighboring communes had come in to add their enthusiasm to that of the townspeople, which already was difficult to hold in check. The din of the welcome was almost indescribable as the ex-President and his wife emerged from the station. After greeting Miss Carew, Mrs. Roosevelt's sister, the party started forward for the carriages. A band struck up " Hail Columbia," and the crowd cheered lustily. HE OPENS A BOULEVARD NAMED IN HIS HONOR. The following day the Colonel opened the new boulevard, which had been named for him, and accepted honorary citizenship of the city of Porto Maurizio, amid a repetition of the popular enthu- siasm which marked his arrival. While a band played " The Star-Spangled Banner " and most of the population of Porto Maurizio shouted " Long live Roose- velt!" the former President and his son left Porto Maurizio on April 13th for Venice. The Colonel and Kermit spent several hours in Venice the fol- lowing day, leaving about 2.30 o'clock in the afternoon for Vienna. 'They enjoyed trips in gondolas on the canals in the city and in- spected many of the notable structures and points of interest.' Vienna gave Col. Roosevelt a warm welcome. Wherever he went, a crowd gathered to see him, while there was constantly a crowd outside his hotel. 318 TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. As a special mark of his personal esteem the aged Emperor — ■ King Francis Joseph of Austria received Colonel Roosevelt in his private apartments at the imposing Hof burg Palace instead of in the regular audience chamber. The monarch, who was attired in an imperial uniform, was extremely gracious to the ex-President, and kept him in conversa- tion for thirty-five minutes. For Colonel Roosevelt the call on the Emperor was only the main feature of a very busy day, which began immediately after he reached his hotel early that morning with a breakfast with Henry White, former American ambassador to France. THE COLONEL OCCUPIES THE COURT CARRIAGE. The day included an official visit to Count von Aehrenthal, the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, which lasted an hour; a call of courtesy upon Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the throne, at Belvidere palace; a visit to the tombs of the Haps- burgs, where, under the guidance of a brown-cowled Capucine monk, with a lighted taper in his hand, he laid wreaths on the tombs of Empress Elizabeth and Crown Prince Rudolph ; a tour of in- spection of the Spanish riding school founded by Charles VII and the Imperial Hussar barracks; a reception by the Austrian jour- nalists and a gala dinner given in his honor at the Foreign Office at night by Count von Aehrenthal. Yet. after the long day, when Colonel Roosevelt returned to his hotel, he mounted the stairs two at a time. The Colonel used the imperial court carriage placed at his disposal by Emperor Francis Joseph until his official calls had ended. Then he discarded it for a speedier vehicle — the automobile. The Emperor's dinner at the Imperial Palace at Schoenbrunn constituted the concluding official function of the Colonel's visit to the Austrian capital. As the hour of the dinner was set for 6 o'clock, the Colonel and Kermit, in evening dress, left the hotel in a court carriage a half hour earlier. Arriving at the entrance of the palace, a court official met and escorted them up the broad flight oi stairs. TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. 319 As the ex-President and his son reached the threshold, the doors opposite were thrown open and the Emperor, wearing the uniform of a field marshal, advanced to meet the guest of the evening. After greetings, the Colonel presented Kermit, and in a few minutes the Emperor, with the ex-President on his left, led the way through several spacious apartments to what is called the " small gallery " — a white apartment where small court dinners usually are given. Thirty-five additional guests sat down to the table. With the exception of the Americans all the guests were in full court uniform. Colonel Roosevelt sat at the Emperor's right and Ambassador Kerens at his left. Throughout the dinner the band of the 32d Infantry played in a gallery, principally selections from Strauss. The table service was of silver and white and gold china, with the imperial eagle in gold on the borders. BANQUET FORMALITIES DISPENSED WITH. Still following the ceremonial of private dinners, as distin- guished from gala and state banquets, no formal toasts were given. The dinner occupied precisely one hour, and upon arising from the table the party returned to the Mirror Room, where what is known as the " Cercle " followed, during which the Emperor personally made the round of his guests. His leave-taking of the former President and his son was exceedingly cordial. From the palace Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit drove direct to the Imperial Opera, where they occupied the court box for a short time, during the second act of the " Barber of Seville." The house was crowded in anticipation of the Colonel's presence, and he was given a hearty reception. They drove from the opera to the American Embassy, where an informal reception to the American colony had been arranged, so that they might meet the ex-President. Mr. Roosevelt left for Budapest the following morning, a special car having been placed at his service. The train for Budapest arrived at 9 o'clock in the evening. 320 TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. Rain was falling, but, in response to the Mayor's appeal, the towns- folk turned out by the thousands. Within the station itself the crowd swarmed everywhere, and as the train came in the officials could hardly clear the track. Scores of men and boys climbed on to the roofs of the cars. A fervent welcome was extended by the Mayor, and Colonel Roosevelt, wearing a cavalry colonel's coat and a black felt hat, made an eloquent reply. The most notable event in the program was the visit to the House of Parliament. The legislative body, having been dissolved, was not in session, but the Interparliamentary Peace Congress was, and the two Premiers of the dual empire were there to receive the former President. THE COLONEL VISITS THE HOME OF KOSSUTH. From the parliamentary buildings, Colonel Roosevelt went to the home of Kossuth. The Hungarian patriot received the Ameri- can visitor cordially and the conversation turned almost immediately upon the progress which had been made by Hungary since 1848.. Kossuth showed his visitor pictures and busts of his illustrious father, as well as various mementoes which are preserved with re- verence by the family of the greatest of all Hungary's famous men. The Colonel and Kermit left Budapest on the night of April 19 for Paris. No reigning sovereign ever received a more enthusiastic wel- come to Paris than did Theodore Roosevelt. He reached Paris on April 21, and was greeted by the representatives of the President of the Republic and the Cabinet, American Ambassador Bacon, M. Jusserand, the French Ambassador at Washington, and a great concourse of people, which the cordon of troops surrounding the railway station had difficulty in holding in check. After luncheon at the American embassy, the Colonel called upon President Fallieres and Foreign Minister Pichon, who imme- diately afterward paid return visits to the embassy. Part of the afternoon was devoted to private engagements, and in the evening the ex-President was given an ovation at the TRIUMPHAL TOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. 321 Comedie Francaise, where he made his first real public utterance in Paris, occupying the presidential box, which had been placed at his disposal by M. Fallieres. When Colonel Roosevelt entered the theater between acts, the house literally rose to its feet, volleys of applause bursting from the boxes, pit and gallery. For a full minute the Colonel made no response, but as the demonstration continued he came forward and bowed his acknowledgments. At the end of each act, when Mounet-Sully, who played the title role, and the other performers responded, they advanced, as is cus- tomary when royalty is present, bowing profoundly in the direction of the ex-President before turning to the audience. This seemed only to give additional pleasure to the audience, which, in turn, each time gave a fresh round of applause for Mr. Roosevelt. The Colonel began his programme the next day with a visit lo the tomb of Napoleon in the Palais des Invalides. THE COLONEL DINED AT THE ELYSEE PALACE. President and Mine. Fallieres gave a gala dinner that night of 104 covers at the Elysee Palace in honor of the Colonel. The entire palace was brilliantly illuminated and the Republican Guard lined the stairways. In proposing Colonel Roosevelt's health President Fallieres said : " I cannot allow this dinner to terminate without seizing the occasion to offer a toast to Theodore Roosevelt — an illustrious man who is at the same time a great citizen, a great friend of France and a great friend of peace. I lift my glass also in honor of Mrs. Roosevelt, to whom goes out the homage of our respectful sympathy. I congratulate myself on being able to tell our guests how happy we are to receive and fete them." Colonel Roosevelt replied in French, saying he was profoundly touched by the words of President Fallieres. From noon until midnight on the third day of his arrival Colonel Roosevelt was the guest of intellectual Paris, participating as a member at a session of the French Academy, delivering a lecture on " Citizenship in a Republic," at the Sorbonne. 21— T.K. 322 TRIUMPHAL TOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. Colonel Roosevelt's reception at the French institute and that at the Sorbonne were equally impressive, but in a different way. At the former he was introduced merely as a member and he took a seat among his distinguished confreres, most of whom have grown old in the service of science. After listening to the words of M. Boutroux, the president of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, who spoke eloquently of American ideals and character, of which he said, Theodore Roose- velt was the best exponent, the former President of the United States replied in French, his utterances arousing his venerable colleagues to unwonted applause. At the Sorbonne no attempt was made to restrain the demon- strations. The facade bristled with American and French flags, and fully 25,000 persons packed the streets and acclaimed Colonel Roosevelt on his arrival. Within the building enthusiasm was un- bounded, the vast crowd in the amphitheatre interrupting again and again with storms of applause as the speaker defined the duties of individual citizenship in a republic, scorning the sluggards, synics and idle rich, and preaching the gospel of work, character and the strenuous life. HE DEFINES HIS ATTITUDE ON HUMAN RIGHTS. Several times he interjected observations in French, and after he had defined his attitude on the subject of human rights and pro- perty rights, he repeated this in French, saying that it constituted the crux of what he had to say, and he desired every one to under- stand him. The newspapers of all shades of opinoin rang with approval of the doctrines of civic morality expounded by the ex-President. The " Temps " declared that the impression produced was all the greater because Mr. Roosevelt did not present theories that he conceived, but experiences that he lived. It found many lessons therein for France, and concluded with an appeal to France to take " the advice of an honest mail whose deeds and life during thirty years qualify him to speak." TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY THROUGH EUROPE. .",23 The "Journal Debats" said : " Roosevelt's simple and energetic language is that of Hercules, armed not with a club, but a broom at the door of the Augean stable." " Liberte," under the caption of " A Magnificent Lesson," said : " We have few men in France with energy equal to Mr. Roosevelt's, but thousands upon thousands who think as he does." The " Paris Journal" said: " No nobler lesson of civic duty ever fell from human lips," Colonel Roosevelt passed a comparatively quiet Sunday in Paris. Accompanied by Ambassador Bacon in the morning, he attended service in the American church in the Rue de Berri. Mrs. Roose- velt, accompanied by Kermit and Miss Ethel, attended the American church in Avenue de l'Alma. THE COLONEL AND MRS. ROOSEVELT ATTEND* A LUNCHEON. The Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt lunched with Ambassador and Mme. Jusserand. In the afternoon there was an automobile trip to St. Germain, where Colonel Roosevelt visited the chateau of Henry IV. In the evening the Roosevelts dined with Ambassador and Mrs. Bacon at the American embassy. Colonel Roosevelt's popularity grew amazingly as his visit to Paris drew towards its close. His reception Monday night at the Opera, where a gala performance of " Samson and Delilah " had been arranged in his honor, was a remarkable and spontaneous tribute of a brilliant assembly to a man after the true Parisian's heart. The events of April were a source of genuine delight to the formei President, particularly the mimic warfare on the field of Vincennes. The booming of cannon, the rattling of mitralleuses, and the prancing of gallant steeds — particularly the one he him- self rode — appeared to fill his soul with delight. "There was one thing I absolutely had to see here," said the Colonel, "before I went to Germany, and that was the French army." Colonel Roosevelt's visit in Paris during which he was showered with honors, terminated the following day. CHAPTER XXV COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S SPEECH IN PARIS ON CITIZEN- SHIP IN A REPUBLIC. COLONEL ROOSEVELT on April 23 electrified France with one of the most forceful speeches he has ever spoken. What Mr. Roosevelt said was interrupted again and again with outbursts of applause. His speech was given over to defining the duties of individual citzenship in a republic. He scorned the sluggards, the cynics and the idle rich. He preached the gospel of work, of character and of the strenu- ous life. He defined his attitude on the subject of human rights and made clear his position in respect to the moneyed interests. He commended the qualities of courage, honesty, sincerity and common sense and said these qualities rather than genius were essential. He made clear his belief that republican institutions are still on trial, both in France and America. His address delivered in the Sorbonne, Paris, is as follows : " Strange and impressive associations rise in the mind of a man from the New World who speaks before this august body in this ancient institution of learning. Before his eyes pass the shadows of mighty kings and warlike nobles, of great masters of law and theology; through the shining dust of the dead centuries he sees crowded figures that tell of the power and learning and splendor of times gone by; and he sees also the innumerable host of humble students to whom clerkship meant emancipation, to whom it was well-nigh the only outlet from the dark thraldom of the Middle Ages. " This was the most famous university of mediaeval Europe at a time when no one dreamed that there was a New World to discover. Its services to the cause of human knowledge already stretched far back into the remote past at the time when my forefathers, three centuries ago, were among the sparse bands of traders, plowmen, woodchoppers and fisher folk who, in hard struggle with the iron unfriendliness of the Indian-haunted land, were laying the foundations of what has now become the giant republic of the West. " The pioneer days pass ; the stump-dotted clearings expand into vast stretches of fertile farm land ; the stockaded clusters of log cabins change into towns ; the hunters of game, the tillers of the soil, the men who wander all their lives long through the wilderness as the heralds and harbingers of an oncoming civilization, themselves vanish before the civilization for which they have prepared the way. 324 COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. 325 " The children of their successors and supplanters, and then their children and children's children, change and develop with extraordinary rapidity. The conditions accentuate vices and virtues, energy and ruthlessness, all the good qualities and all the defects of an intense individualism, self-reliant, self- centered, far more conscious of its rights than of its duties, and blind to its own shortcomings. " To the hard materialism of the frontier days succeeds the hard material- ism of an industrialism even more intense and absorbing than that of the older nations ; although these themselves have likewise already entered on the age of a complex and predominantly industrial civilization. " It is for us of the New World to sit at the feet of the Gamaliel of the Old ; then, if we have the right stuff in us, we can show that Paul in his turn can become a teacher as well as a scholar. " To-day I shall speak to you on the subject of individual citizenship, the one subject of vital importance to you, my hearers, and to me and my country- men, because you and we are citizens of great democratic republics. A democratic republic such as each of ours — an effort to realize in its full sense government by, of, and for the people — represents the most gigantic of all possible social experiments, the one fraught with greatest possibilities alike for good and for evil. " With you here and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life and next in those great occasional crises which call for the heroic virtues. GOOD CITIZENSHIP SUCCESS OF A REPUBLIC. " The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics* are to suc- ceed. The stream will not permanently rise higher thau the main source ; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high ; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher. "It is well if a large proportion of the leaders in any republic, in any democracy, are drawn from the classes represented in this audience to-day; but only provided that those classes possess the gifts of sympathy with plain people and of devotion to great ideals. You and those like you have received special advantages; you have all of you had the opportunity for mental train- ing; many of you have had leisure; most of you have had a chance for the enjoyment of life far greater than comes to the majority of your fellows. To you and your kind much has been given, and from you much should be ex- pected. " Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as the cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one. The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. " It is not the critic who counts ; not the man who points out how the Strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. " The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face k 326 COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. marred by dust and sweat anl blood ; who strives vafiantly ; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming ; but who does actually strive to do the deeds ; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions ; who spends himself in a worthy cause ; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. " Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop in a fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free people who govern themselves there is only a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action. If only the conditions of life were not what they actually are. " The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of the great and generous emotion, ol the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. GOOD CHARACTER A PRIMARY ESSENTIAL. " There is need of a sound body, and even more need of a sound mind. But above mind and above body stands character — the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man's force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor. " Self-restraint, self-mastery, common-sense, the power of accepting indi- vidual responsibility and yet of acting in conjunction with others, courage and resolution — these are the qualities which mark a masterful people. " I pay all homage to intellect, and to elaborate and specialized training of the intellect; and yet I know I shall have the assent of all of you present when I add that more important still are the commonplace, every-day qualities and virtues. " Such ordinary, every-day qualities include the will and the power to work, to fight at need, and to have plenty of healthy children. There are a few people in every country so born that they can lead lives of leisure. These fill a useful function if they make it evident that leisure does not mean idleness. But the average man must earn his own livelihood. He should be trained to do so, and should be trained to feel that he occupies a contemptible position if he does not do so ; that he is not an object of envy if he is idle, at whichever end of the social scale he stands, but an object of contempt, an object of derision. " In the next place, the good man should be both a strong and a brave man ; that is, he should be able to fight, he should be able to serve His country as a soldier if the need arises. There are well-meaning philosophers who declaim against the unrighteousness of war. They are right only if they lay all their emphasis upon the unrighteousness. War is a dreadful thing, and unjust war is a crime against humanity. But it is such a crime because it is unjust, not because it is war. COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. 327 " The choice must ever be in favor of righteousness, and this whethei the peace or whether the alternative be war. The question must not be merely, Is there to be peace or war? The question must be, Is the right to prevail? Are the great laws of righteousness once more to be fulfilled? And the answer from a strong and virile people must be ' Yes,' whatever the cost. "Finally, even more important than ab/lity to work, even more important than ability to fight at need, is it to remember that the chief of blessings for any nation is that it shall leave its seed to inherit the land. It was the crown of blessing in Biblical times; and it is the crown of blessings now. The greatest of all curses is the curse of sterlity, and the severest of all condemna- tions should be visited upon wilful sterility. " The first essential in any civilization is that the man and the woman shall be father and mother of healthy children, so that the race shall increase and not decrease. If this is not so, if through no fault of the society there is failure to increase, it is a great misfortune. If the failure is due to de- liberate and wilful fault, then it is not merely a misfortune, it is one of those crimes of ease and self-indulgence, of shrinking from pain and effort and risk, which in the long run Nature punishes more heavily than any other. UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION. " If we of the great republic, if we, the free people who claim to have emancipated ourselves from the thraldom of wrong and error, bring down on our heads the curse that comes upon the wilfully barren, then it will be an idle waste of breath to prattle of our achievements, to boast of all that we have done. " No refinement of life, no delicacy of taste, no material progress, no sordid heaping up of riches, no sensuous development of art and literature, can in any way compensate for the loss of the great fundamental virtues; and of these great fundamental virtues, the greatest is the race's power to per- petuate the race. " Nevertheless, while laying all stress on this point, while not merely acknowledging but insisting upon the fact that there must be a basis of material well-being for the individual as for the nation, let us with equal emphasis insist that this material well-being represents nothing but the foundation, and that the foundation, though indispensable, is worthless unless upon it is raised the superstructure of a higher life. " That is why I decline to recognize the mere multi-millionaire, the man of mere wealth, as an asset of value to any country; and especially as not an asset to my own country. If he has earned or uses his wealth in a way that makes him of real benefit, of real use — and such is often the case — why then he does become an asset of worth. " But it is the way in which it has been earned or used, and not the mere fact of wealth, that entitles him to the credit. There is need in business, as in most other forms of human activity, of the great guiding intelligence. Their places cannot be supplied by any number of lesser intelligences. But we must not transfer our admiration to the reward instead of to the deed rewarded. " It is a bad thing for a nation to raise and to admire a false standard of success ; and there can be no falser standard than that set by the deification of material well-being in and for itself. 328 COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. " But the man who, having far surpassed the limit of providing for the wants, both of body and mind, of himself and of those depending upon him, then piles up a great fortune, for the acquisition or retention of which he returns no corresponding benefit to the nation as a whole, should himeslf be made to feel that, so far from being a desirable, he is an unworthy, citizen of the community. " So it is with the orator. It is highly desirable that a leader of opinion in a democracy should be able to state his views clearly and convincingly. But all that the oratory can do of value to the community is to enable the man thus to explain himself; if it makes the orator to persuade his hearers to put false values on things, it merely makes him a power for mischief. " The phrase-maker, the phrase-monger, the ready talker, however great his power, whose speech does not make for courage, sobriety, and right under- standing, is simply a noxious element in the body politic, and it speaks ill for the public if he has influence over them. " Of course all that I say of the orator applies with even greater force to the orator's latter-day and more influential brother, the journalist. The power of the journalist is great, but he is entitled neither to respect nor admiration because of that power unless it is used aright. He can do, and he often does, great good. He can do, and he often does, infinite mischief. All journalists, all writers, for the very reason that they appreciate the vast possibilities of their profession, should bear testimony against those who deeply discredit it. JOURNALISTIC MISTAKES. " Offences against taste and morals, which are bad enough in a private citizen, are infinitely worse if made into instruments for debauching the com- munity through a newspaper. Mendacity, slander, sensationalism, inanity, vapid triviality, all are potent factors for the debauchery of the public mind and conscience. The excuse advanced for vicious writing, that the public demands it and that the demand must be supplied, can no more be admitted than if it were advanced by the purveyors of food who sell poisonous adultera- tions. " In short, the good citizen in a republic must realize that he ought to possess two sets of qualities, and that neither avails without the other. He must have those qualities which make for efficiency ; and he must also have those qualities which direct the efficiency into channels for the public good. " He is useless if he is inefficient. There is nothing to be done with that type of citizen of whom all that can be said is that he is harmless. Virtue which is dependent upon a sluggish circulation is not impressive. There is little place in active life for the timid good man. The man who is saved by weakness from robust wickedness is likewise rendered immune from the ro- buster virtues. " The good citizen in a republic must, first of all, be able to hold his own. He is no good citizen unless he has the ability which will make him work hard and which at need will make him fight hard. The good citizen is not a good citizen unless he is an efficient citizen. " The homely virtues of the household, the ordinary workaday virtues which make the woman a good housewife and housemother, which make the COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. 329 man a hard worker, a good husband and father, a good soldier at need, stand at the bottom of character. " Good citizenship is not good citizenship only in the home. There remain the duties of the individual in relation to the State, and these duties are none too easy under the conditions which exist where the effort is made to carry on free government in a complex, industrial civilization. Perhaps the most im- portant thing the ordinary citizen, and, above all, the leader of ordinary citizens, has to remember in political life is that he must not be a sheer doctrinaire. " Woe to the empty phrase-maker, to the empty Idealist, who, instead of making ready the ground for the man of action turns against him when he appears and hampers him as he does the work ! We should abhor the so-called ' practical ' men whose practicality assumes the shape of that peculiar baseness which finds its expression in disbelief in morality and decency, in disregard of high standards of living and conduct. " But only less desirable as a citizen is his nominal opponent and real ally, the man of fantastic vision who makes the impossible better forever the enemy of the possible good. " Individual initiative, so far from being discouraged, should be stimu- lated ; and yet we should remember that, as society develops and grows more complex, we continually find that things which once it was desirable to leave to individual initiative can, under the changed conditions, be performed with better results by common effort. " Much of the discussion about socialism and individualism is entirely pointless, because of failure to agree on terminology. I am a strong indivi- dualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction ; but it is mere common sense to recognize that the State, the community, the citizens acting together, can do a number of things better than if they were left to individual action. JUSTICE AND EQUALITY FOR ALL. " We ought to go with any man in the effort to bring about justice and the equality of opportunity, to turn the tool user more and more into the tool owner, to shift burdens so that they can be more equitably borne. The dead- ening effect on any race of the adoption of a logical and extreme socialistic system could not be overstated ; it would spell sheer destruction. " But we should not take part in acting a lie any more than in telling a lie. We should not say that men are equal where they are not equal, nor proceed upon the assumption that there is an equality where it does not exist; but we should strive to bring about a measurable equality, at least to the extent of preventing the inequality which is due to force or fraud. " There should, so far as possible, be equality of opportunity to render service; but just so long as there is inequality of service there should and must be inequality of reward. The reward must go to the man who does his work well. " Let us try to level up, but let us beware of the evil of leveling down. If a man stumbles, it is a good thing to help him to his feet. But if a man lies down, it is a waste of time to try to carry him. " There are plenty of men calling themselves Socialists with whom, up to a time point, it is quite possible to work. If the next step is one which both 330 COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PARIS SPEECH. we and they wish to take, why, of course, take it, without any regard to the fact that our views as to the tenth step may differ. But, on the other hand,, keep clearly in mind that, though it has been worth while to take the step, this does not in the least mean that it may not be highly disadvantageous to take the next. " The good citizen will demand liberty for himself, and he will see to it that others receive the liberty which he thus claims as his own. Probably the best test of true love of liberty in any country is the way in which minorities are treated in religion and opinion, but complete liberty for each man to lead his life as he desires, provided only that in so doing he does not wrong his neighbor. " There is no greater need to-day than the need to keep ever in mind the fact that the cleavage between right and wrong, between good citizenship and bad citizenship, runs at right angles to, and not parallel with, the lines of cleavage between class and class, between occupation and occupation. Ruin looks us in the face if we judge a man by his position instead of judging him by his conduct in that position. " Of one man in especial, beyond any one else, the citizens of a republic should beware, and that is of the man who appeals to them to support him on the ground that he is hostile to other citizens of the republic, that he will obtain for those who elect him, in one shape or another, profit at the expense of other citizens of the republic. " If a public man tries to get your vote by saying that he will do some- thing wrong in your interest, you can be absolutely certain that if ever it becomes worth his while he will do something wrong against your interest. " I believe that a man must be a good patriot before he can be, and as the only possible way of being, a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind; that the man who says that he does not care to be a citizen of any one country, because he is a citizen of the world, is in very fact usually an exceedingly undesirable citizen of whatever corner of the world he happens at the moment to be in. " I do not for one moment admit that political morality is different from private morality, that a promise made on the stump differs from a promise made in private life. I do not for one moment admit that a man should act deceitfully as a public servant in his dealings with other nations, any more than that he should act deceitfully in his dealings as a private citizen with other private citizens. I do not for one moment admit that a nation should treat other nations in a different spirit from that in which an honorable man would treat other men." CHAPTER XXVI DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. Roosevelt Feted by King of Belgium — Greeted as Kin by the Dutch — Guest at Queen's Palace — Visits Amsterdam and the Hague — Welcomed by Crown Prince Christian of Denmark — Warmly Received by the King and Queen of Norway. TN his transcontinental game, which increased in fervor and ex- * citement as he progressed, Colonel Roosevelt drew his third king, looking happier, if possible, than when Italy's ruler and Austria's Emperor were added to his score of popularity abroad. The ex-President met King Albert, of Belgium, on April 28, and they exchanged cordial greetings, later driving together from the Brussels exposition to Laaken Palace and spending an hour in the gardens. The Belgian people gave Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt and their children a warm welcome on their arrival in Brussels from Paris at noon. Not since the Coronation of King Albert had the city seen such crowds as those who turned out to welcome the distinguished American. After luncheon at the American em- bassy and a reception for the American colony, the Colonel visited the exposition, and his appearance there was marked by a double demonstration for himself and the king. The Salle des Fetes, where the ex-President spoke, was packed to the doors, and several thousand persons were unable to gain admission. While the Colonel waited in the reception room in the rear of the stage the young king arrived by the side entrance. The king strode forward and no introductions were necessary, as they had met in the United States when the king was a crown prince. After a warm handshake they talked for several minutes in low tones. He told Mr. Roosevelt how glad he was to welcome him to Belgium. 331 332 DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. King Albert then with a profound bow, retired and entered the hall, taking his place on a gilded, red cushioned chair immedi- ately below the front of the stage. The crowd applauded lustily as the king entered but the outburst was mild compared with the roar which greeted the colonel a moment later. A dinner was given in the evening by the king, but as the court was still in semi-mourning, the ladies wore black gowns. The ex-President sat beside the queen, while Mrs. Roosevelt occu- pied the chair next the king. The others present included the members of the royal family and high officials. The Roosevelts left early the next morning for Holland. The people of the Netherlands turned out and welcomed the Roosevelts as though they were home folks. It was as though the former President were traveling through his own country. At every station on the route from Roosendaal to Arnhem, cheering crowds were met and everybody wanted a speech. ENTHUSIASTIC SERIES OF DEMONSTATIONS. This enthusiastic series of demonstrations continued all the way to Amsterdam, where the Roosevelts arrived in the evening. Occasionally Colonel Roosevelt responded to the clamor for a speech, but in most instances he acknowledged the greetings only by appearing on the rear platform of his car and bowing, smiling and waving his hand. At Hertogenbosch he spoke briefly and greatly pleased his auditors by saying : " I am visiting the country from which my people came three centuries ago." When the Roosevelt party arrived at the frontier station of Poosendaal, they were met by a special train sent at the direct request of Queen Wilhelmina. A distinguished party of officials and military men formed the reception committee. A day of much travel had been mapped out for the former President. From the border the special train started for Het Loo, nearly eighty miles west of The Hague, where Queen Wilhelmina awaited the nation's guest at the famous castle. At Het Loo, Colonel Roosevelt was received in the main hall of the palace by the Queen and Prince Henry. Their welcome DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. 333 was so cordial as to seem entirely personal, formality being left in the background, to be supplied by the troops and retainers in and about the palace. Several hours were spent at the palace. Colonel Roosevelt was awakened the following morning by the singing of Holland's National Hymn by bands of cadets who marched through the square overlooking the apartments of the Roosevelt party. The singers were acclaiming the birthday of the Princess Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina. The royal baby was one year old tLat day and the capital made a holiday of the anni- versary. A reception by the Queen Mother was one of the chief features on Colonel Roosevelt's program for the day. Before the meeting with the Queen Mother the Roosevelt party visited the house in the woods where the first peace meeting was held. THE QUEEN MOTHER DISPLAYS MUCH INTEREST. The Queen mother displayed much interest in Colonel Roose- velt's Dutch ancestry. She spoke, too, of his address of the preceding day in which he quoted an old Dutch nursery rhyme. She mentioned the verses and displayed her interest in such mod- ern folklore by repeating to him other rhymes which she had crooned over the royal cradle as a young mother. Colonel Roosevelt remained half an hour in conversation with the queen mother, who then received Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Ethel and Kermit. The next day was given over to an inspection of the mag- nificent display of tulips, which were then in perfection, and of Dutch painting. The Colonel was presented with a silver model of the Half Moon at the National Tulip Show at Haarlem by M. Kregage, say- ing, "You may call it the Half Moon or the Mayflower, just as you like. " In a brief address, M. Krelage described the exhibition and the tulip industry, pointing out that Holland shipped to America 8,200,- 000 pounds of bulbs yearly. 334 DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. In replying, Colonel Roosevelt said : " Americans always are especially struck in Holland by the way in which you, one of the hardest working peoples of all people, contrive to add beauty and enjoyment to your lives. We in America have in the past had to work so hard that we have not always been able to pay as much attention as you to the things that tend to enjoyment, and, if one or the other must be sacrificed, we think that enjoyment should be sacrificed to work, but more and more we are growing to realize that beauty and enjoyment can be combined with work. Ameri- cans come here to see how you are able to combine them." After an inspection of the wonderful gardens, the party par- took of luncheon and paid a visit to the fine gallery of the town hall, groups of girls pelting them with flowers at the entrance. Colonel Roosevelt signed his name in the Golden Book. From Harlaam the automobiles carried them to Amsterdam. They were received by the Burgomasters at the Ryks Museum. Probably 5,000 persons were waiting in the public square, and set up a hearty cheer on the arrival of the American visitors. THE COLONEL AND FAMILY LEAVE FOR COPENHAGEN. After dining with Secretary Hibben in Amsterdam the Colo- nel and his family boarded the train, which left at 9 o'clock for Copenhagen. The Stars and Stripes floated above the royal palaces on May 2, for the first time in the history of Denmark, and former Presi- dent Roosevelt, in the absence of King Frederick in Southern France, was the guest of Crown Prince Christian. With the arrival of Mr. Roosevelt, breezy democracy struck the Danish court with a rush, upon the heels of circumstance. When he arrived he found Crown Prince Christian awaiting him at the station, with thousands standing in the streets nearby. The Prince drove with the Colonel to one of the palaces, which was placed at the disposal of the distinguished American and his party. The Prince was delighted at the informal nature of the meet- ing between himself and the Colonel. The Danish court is DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. 335 noted for its formality, but his missing baggage that had gone astray seemed to press heavily on Roosevelt's mind. No sooner had he been presented to the crown prince than he took the prince's arm and said : " I want to tell you about my baggage." The story was soon told, and it put things at once on a general good footing. Roosevelt seemed to have established two records at the royal palace. The first was his dining there formally in a gray flannel suit, and the second consists in the fact that he was the only private citizen who ever put up there as a guest. To this had been added a guard of honor at the palace. It was whispered that some of the older aristocrats were not too well pleased with all this. The prince presiding at dinner in the evening as the king's representative thanked Roosevelt for coming to that country, and proposed his health, which was heartily responded to by those around the table, who included the leading personages in the kingdom, in court, parliamentary and scholarly life. THE COLONEL THANKS THE PRINCE FOR HIS HOSPITALITY. The Colonel in reply said he had received a cordial message from the king, and thanked the prince for his hospitality. He theu proposed a toast to the king and the royal family of Den- mark. At a reception given by Maurice F. Egan, the American minister, at the legation, the former President met the diplomatic representatives, the cabinet ministers and many persons prominent in the various departments of public activity. By this time the missing baggage had been found, and Mr. Roosevelt was thus able to array himself in the conventional dress clothes. That night Miss Ethel Roosevelt slept in the bedroom that is reserved for the queen of England. With the crown prince, before dinner, the Colonel visited Prince Waldemar and Prince Hans, who is an uncle of the queen of England. " Perchance 'twill walk again. I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape and bid me hold my peace." 33(3 JJibllJNUUlMiUJJ MAKKb Vf MUINUK. According to Shakespeare these were the words of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, when he learned that his father's ghost was walking beneath the walls of Castle Kronberg at Elsinore. " I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape aud bid me hold my peace," repeated Theodore Roosevelt, retracing the royal slave's footsteps on the walls of the historic Castle of Elsinore. Of course, no one knows whether the Colonel had in mind any particular person, any critic, any opposing will when he reiterated Hamlet's determined words. Mr. Roosevelt was immensely interested at Elsinore. He listened intently to the relation of the local tradition that Shake- speare visited Elsinore with a party of players, and that the idea of his great tragedy, " Hamlet," came to him there. The Colonel was told, too, that Guildenstern, whom Shakespeare made a courtier at the Dauish court, actually lived at Elsinore, and, having met Shakespeare there, visited him later in England. THE COLONEL VASTLY PLEASED. Although vastly pleased with the entertainments, all of which were given in the name of King Frederick, although he was in South France, Mr. Roosevelt was plainly glad as he coiled up in a sleeping car bunk that night, en route for Christiania. His rest in a royal bed the preceding night was curtailed by the necessity of arising early. A crowd was attracted that morning by the unprecedented sight of a flag other than Denmark's, the Stars and Stripes, float- ing over the royal castle. The crowd cheered Mr. Roosevelt and his party as they departed in automobiles for the seventeenth century castle of Fredericksborg. After inspecting the castle, a perfect example of Dutch Ren- aissance architecture, the party visited the Alemhouse, which is established in an ancient Carmelite monastery, restored. Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt with gifts rejoiced the hearts of the old women living in the cells where dwelt in solitude the monks of old. But the Colonel most enjoyed walking the castle ramparts. At Elsi- DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. 337 nore the party boarded a steamer for a trip through the sound that separates Denmark from Sweden. Honors usually accorded only to royalty were paid to Colonel Roosevelt by the Danish and Swedish Governments which ordered their squadrons of warships to take positions at intervals along the Danish coast and to salute the ex-President as he passed on a passenger steamer from Helsingor to Copenhagen. The flags on the warships were dipped, officers and men stood at attention, and the ship bands played American airs as the Roosevelt party passed by. In an interview given just before his start for Christiania, Mr. Roosevelt said that the little nation of Denmark was able to teach several lessons from which greater Powers might well profit. The Danish system of small holdings and intensive farming, he said, was the only answer to the problem of how to make a densely populated country self-supporting. The system by which Den- mark cares for her aged and infirm is also, he said, a phase of gov- ernment that other nations should study. A SPLENDID VIEW OF THE COUNTRY. Before sailing the Roosevelt's had a splendid view of the country. Accompanied by several members of the Cabinet, American Ambassador Egan and other officials and friends, they motored to the castle of Fredericksborg and visited the National Museum. They then went on to Helsingoer, where they were luncheon guests of Vice- Admiral DeRichelieu on board the steamer Queen Maud. Following the luncheon Col. Roosevelt was presented infor- mally with two loving cups by the steamship company. The loving cups are of Copenhagen ware, one bearing the Danish arms and the other the American arms. A representative of the Royal Porcelain Works gave the former President four plaques upon which were pictured several of the beasts of Africa. Col. Roosevelt accepted the plaques graciously, and while examining the figure of an elephant looked up suddenly and said smilingly : " This is not an African elephant." 22— T.R. 338 DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. (l That is quite true," replied the manager. " These plates were made especially. We have no study of African elephants, and so used Asiatic." The incident caused a great deal of amuse- ment. The Roosevelts returned to Copenhagen about 3 o'clock and were cheered by large crowds. Going to the palace the Colonel devoted two hours to his correspondence. A visit to the National Museum was made the occasion of a friendly demonstration by the students from the Government school. The motor drive was then continued to Helsingoer. The Roosevelts were accompanied by a party which occupied six more automobiles and included Foreign Minister Schavenius and other s of the Cabinet, the burgomaster of Copenhagen and several other prominent personages. THE VICE-ADMIRAL TOASTS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. Vice-Admiral De Richelieu presided at luncheon ou the steamer and toasted Mr. Roosevelt. The ex-President in respond- ing said that the only thing lacking about the Danish-Americans in America was that there was not enough of them. Haakon VII, King of Norway, and Queen Maud were the first to greet the ex-President on his arrival in Christiania. Colonel Roosevelt presented Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Ethel and Kermit, and the party then proceeded to the palace. The streets of Christiana were bright with decorations, and almost every one was wearing an American flag. A Roosevelt march, Roosevelt photographs and compilations of Roosevelt's sayings were being sold in the shops and on the highways. In the evening the King and Queen gave a dinner at the palace in honor of their American guest?. More than 200 of the most eminent personages in Norway were present, including the Premier and Cabinet Ministers, the leaders of the various political parties, literary people, financiers and the representatives of the most distinguished Norwegian life. Four State chairs were placed at the principal table, and after all the others of the company were standing at their places, the King appeared with DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. 339 Mrs. Roosevelt on his arm, Colonel Roosevelt following with the Queen. When the dinner had advanced to the fourth course, the King arose, and all the guests stood. " It is with great pleasure," said the King, " that I welcome you, Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt here, in the name of the Queen and myself, and extend you our hospitality. I do not speak in my name alone, but am convinced that it is in the name of all Norwegians. The reception given you to-day will con- vince you of the truth of my words. As you know, we are all grateful that although your time is so limited you have been able to come to Norway. Many Norwegians live in America, and although American subjects, they are Norwegians at heart. I feel it such and therefore we feel particularly pleased to have this opportunity of offering our hospitality to some eminent American citizen. THE KING'S RE-ASSURING WORDS. " I express the hope that you will get the impression during your stay in Christiania that real feelings of true friendship and relationship between the United States and Norway exist here, and I hope that these feelings will continue for all time. I drink a toast to the United States and I drink a toast to the health of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt." The company remained standing while the ex-President re- ponded as follows : " It is a particular pleasure for me to be in Norway," he said, " and I have been deeply impressed with my generous reception. Norwegians have made such good citizens in the United States that I once remarked to a group of traveling Nor- wegians that I rather grudged it that they had left anybody in Nor- way. " As your Majesty has said, the Norwegians in America love the land of their birth and they love the country of their adoption. A man can love his wife all the better if he loves his mother a great deal." Colonel Roosevelt touched on Norse literature, and spoke of his pleasure when, as President, he was able to cable his good wishes 340 DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. to a new Norwegian King bearing the old name of Haakon. "And," he continued, "it is a fine thing for the country that Haakon and Olaf should be the names borne by the ruler of to-day and the ruler of to-morrow." He turned directly to the King and Queen, and said: " I hope that their Majesties, who seem to do all things well, will see to it that the small Olaf knows the Heimskringla thoroughly. I drink with my whole heart to the health of your Majesties." The King and Queen showed Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt the little Prince Olaf that afternoon, and the Colonel, who had been telling anecdotes about Seth Bullock, said: I wish Seth Bulloch was here to see your small Olaf ; he would be delighted with him." While the ex-President was in his room arranging his papers and dictating letters the King came in quite informally and asked, " Wouldn't you like to have a cup of tea ?" THE KING AND THE COLONEL TALK ON MANY SUBJECTS. " By George, I would," replied the Colonel. The King rang, and for more than an hour the two sat drinking tea and talking on a variety of subjects. The King asked many questions and pre- sented many of his opinions on matters relative to the United States. The Colonel told of some of his ranching experiences and of one effective speech he had made in a western mining camp against free silver, while Seth Bulloch sat on a platform behind him. He spoke for an hour, and not a man interrupted him. Every one in the house seemingly was deeply interested. At the conclusion of the speech he said to one of his ranching friends : " I think I held the audience pretty well." " Held the audience well," exclaimed his friend ; " Seth Bul- loch, with a six-shooter in each hip, watching the crowd, had given j the tip that he'd penetrate the first man who peeped." When Mr. Roosevelt arrived in the capital in the afternoon the platform of the station was covered with red carpet, and inside the building a temporary stand had been erected for the receiving party. This was occupied by the King and Queen, with a large suite, all of DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. 341 the members of the Cabinet members of Parliament, city and state officials, professors of the university and other distinguished mem- bers of society. As the train drew in and the Colonel stepped down his Majesty crossed the platform and, without waiting for an introduction, shook hands with the former President. He then presented Mr. Roosevelt to the Queen and Mr. Roosevelt presented Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Ethel and Kermit to their Majesties. Greetings exchanged, the Queen took the Colonel's arm and the King offered his arm to Mrs. Roosevelt, Followed by Miss Ethel and Kermit, they walked through the royal waiting room, which was half filled with flowers and flags, to the carriages which were in waiting. The party drove at once to the palace. After a brief stop at the palace the Roosevelts, still accom- panied by the King and Queen and a few members of the royal household, drove to the American Legation, where they had lunch- eon as the guests of American Minister Peirce. The luncheon was followed by a reception. THE ROOSEVELTS OCCUPY A SPECIAL TRAIN. From Kornsjo to the capital the Roosevelts occupied a special train sent for them by the Government. The train was in charge of Superintendent of State Railways Aas and his staff, who are respon- sible for the safe movements of the royal train. The conductor wore a broad leather belt bearing the arms of Norway. There was special significance in this, as the belt is designed to indicate that royalty is traveling. The car used by the Roosevelts was that formerly occupied by the Norwegian Cabinet in visiting the King of Sweden. The trip through the southeast corner of Norway was enlivened by frequent demonstrations. At every place along the route the school children had been given a partial holiday in order that they might see the distinguished American. The train stopped at a few stations and steamed slowly past others. In every instance child- ren crowded the station platform, and, waving their hats and hand- 342 DISTINGUISHED MARKS OF HONOR. kerchiefs, gave a variety of school yells. The Colonel never failed to acknowledge their salutations. When his breakfast was inter- rupted by a chorus from the outside he waved his napkin in the best of good humor. There was a large gathering at Moss, where a stop was made. Boys from the high school gave nine short cheers, which drew the Colonel to an open window of the car. " That sounds like an American college yell," he said. " I wish you and the grown-ups good luck." The boys cheered again as the train drew out of the station. The train continued to Christiania without further inci- dent of note. CHAPTER XXVII ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. Delivers Address before Nobel Prize Committee in Chris- tians — Compared to a Rushing Human Engine — Visits Stockholm — Welcomed by Royalty' — Pays Tribute to King Edward. FEARING no other nation and entertaining aggressive designs upon none, the American people as a whole doubtless approve the views expressed by Colonel Roosevelt in the Norway address in which he urges the establishment of a great permanent tribunal of arbitration, and the formation, among the leading civilized coun- tries, of an enduring league of peace. Aside from the personality of the speaker, however, their interest is largely theoretical and humanitarian. An overwhelming majority of the citizens of the United States will agree with him and with other prominent publicists in holding that the welfare of mankind would be immeasurably enhanced if the expansion of armaments could be checked in pursuance of a policy looking toward their eventual reduction to minor proportions. Yet while both this idea and the idea of settling all interna- tional disputes by hearings before a qualified and authoritative court are excellent in theory, no method has so far been advanced by which the closely packed nations of Europe can be induced to forget their racial, political and commercial rivalries ; and American public opinion is unquestionably in favor of maintaining an adequate de- fensive system for the L'nited States, remote as it is from Europe and Asia. Colonel Roosevelt, on May 5th, at Christiania, before a most distinguished audience, entered upon the most difficult field of European politics by delivering an address on "International Peace" before the Nobel Prize Committee. 343 344 ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. The Colonel did not mince words and in the conclusion of his carefully worked-out thesis, advocated an international agreement that would serve to check the growth of armaments, especially naval armaments, and the formation by those great Powers honestly bent on peace, of a League of Peace, " not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." On leaving the palace, which is situated on the crest of a hill which ends Christiania's principal thoroughfare, for the theater, the Colonel viewed a remarkable picture below him. The street for a quarter of a mile to the theater was packed with thousands who were restrained at the curbs by soldiers. At intervals of twenty yards were standard bearers supporting- silken banners ornamented with Norse symbols and there were also heraldic brass standards, thus contributing to the medieval Norman scene, which was perfect except for the modern garb of the men and women, all of whom displayed in some way the American colors. SPEAKS BEFORE THE NORWEGIAN STORTHING. King Haakon and Queen Maud were present as well as all the members of the Government, who occupied seats on the stage and as well as the entire Parliamentary body, among whom was Miss Rogstag, the first woman to be elected to the Norwegian Storthing. The overture by the orchestra at the opening of the session was specially composed by the royal bandmaster, Johann Halverson, who dedicated it to the Colonel. The theme embodied the Star Spangled Banner, Norse folk songs and melodies. What Colonel Roosevelt had to say before the King and Queen of Norway and other representative personages constituted the basis of the private conversations which he was having with the states- men of Europe as the occasion arose concerning the practical possi- bilities of collective action by the various Governments for the en- forcement of universal peace. The Colonel said that it must be borne in mind ever that the great end in view was righteousness; and he explained that peace, ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. 345 generally good in itself, was never the highest good unless it came as the handmaid of righteousness. It became a very evil thing when it served merely as a mask for cowardice and sloth or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy. It was the Nobel Prize Committee, the members of which are elected by the Norwegian Storthing, that in 1906 conferred upon the then President of the United States its medal and money award in recognition of his services in bringing to a conclusion the Russo- Japanese war. The occasion was the feature of Colonel Roosevelt's visit to Norway and one of the most notable of his European tour. ADDRESS RECEIVED CORDIALLY. The Colonel's discourse was made with something of the solemnity of a religious service in the largest auditorium of Chris- tiania, the National Theater, and in the presence of King Haakon, Queen Maud, members of the cabinet and of Parliament, and hund- reds of the most progressive and influential personalities of the kingdom. The address was received cordially and at its conclusion John Lund, vice-president of the Nobel Prize Committee, paid a tribute to the speaker and to the country from which he came. After re- ferring to Norway's interest in America and American affairs Mr. Lund said : " But it is not Norway alone, but the entire civilized world which has reason to be grateful to the United States. Millions upon millions from Europe, poor and often down-trodden, but cap- able, have found in the new world that happiness and prosperity which the old world was unable to afford them. " In many ways the United States has reached the goal for which Europe is still sighing. There all peoples, all races and all religions can unite peacefully in mutual industry under a common flag. Many ideals for which Europe has striven for more than a thousand years have been grasped by the youngest continent in the course of two or three hundred years." 346 ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. Mr. Lund praised many features of American life, citing its industry, agricultural development, school systems and dwelt upon the position of the American woman and the popular respect for the worker. Addressing the Colonel he said: " Your journey through the old world, Mr. Roosevelt, has been a triumphal procession. Everywhere fathers have taken pleasure and pride in bidding welcome to so worthy a representative of their sons yonder in the West." The speaker reviewed the Colonel's activities in behalf of peace, referring especially to his share in the conclusion of peace between Russia and Japan, and added : " I have no doubt that the future will still afford you opportuni- ties for adding to your splendid achievements. Long live Theodore Roosevelt." SUMMARY OF ROOSEVELT'S IDEAS OF PEACE. " We should form a League of Peace not only to keep the peace among ourselves, but to prevent, by force, if necessary, its being broken by others. " There should be an international agreement to check the growth of armaments. " Peace becomes an evil thing when it serves merely to mask cowardice and sloth or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy. " No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong. This principle applies to all nations. " Civilized nations should have effective arbitration treaties. " There is as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check the cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationship. " Peace is never the highest good unless it comes as the hand- maid of righteousness. " I ask other nations to do only what I should be glad to see my own nation do." ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE 347 On May 6 King Frederick's university conferred upon Colonel Roosevelt the degree of doctor of philosophy. It was the third time in a century that the degree had been given a foreigner. The exercises occurred in the amphitheater of the university. King Haakon entered with the Colonel at his right and faced a notable assemblage, including the premier and other members of the cabinet, the Nobel Prize Committee, the diplomatic corps, the faculty of the university and many persons distinguished in civil life. ROOSEVELT A RUSHING HUMAN ENGINE, SAYS THE DEAN. The dean of the faculty of history and philosophy made an address in which he said that Mr. Roosevelt had already left the earth and was residing on Olympus with Jupiter and Apollo, and that it was scarcely kind to drag him down among the mortals. He likened Colonel Roosevelt to a rushing human engine, diffi- cult to follow and making it difficult amid the clouds of smoke to discern precisely the manner of man he was. Some saw a winged angel and others a modern devil with claws. In sketching Colonel Roosevelt's career he found the " winning of the west " his most instructive work. He agreed with others that Theodore Roosevelt was a man who had learned to use the capacities and powers which, in most men, lie dormant, He had converted his capacities into energies. In reply, the Colonel said that it did not make much difference what capacities a man had. It was important rather what he did with them. The thing was to get the job done. The king laughed when the Colonel said : "If recognition comes for what you do,, good; if recognition does not come " — here the speaker paused — " it isn't quite so good." King Haakon and the Jolonel spent a part of the morning talking before an open fire in the palace, while the rain fell and a cold wind blew outside. The Colonel's first forenoon engagement was with a throat specialist, who sprayed the overtaxed organs that all but failed the former President the day before, and prescribed further treatment. 313 ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. The Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt spent the afternoon driving about the capital with the king and queen, who later accompanied them to the railway station, where they took a special train for Stockholm. The Roosevelts were cheered by a crowd at the station as they left. ColoneJ Roosevelt and his family arrived in Stockholm the following day, and were received at the railway station by Price Wilhelm, who drove with them to the palace, where they became the guests of the Prince and Princess in the absence of King Gustave V., who was in the South of France. United States Minister Graves, the staff of the American Legation, the Premier and other members of the Swedish Cabinet were also at the station to receive the American guests. An immense crowd surrounded the receiving party and cheered as the train drew in. A choir stationed on the platform sang, " My Country, 'Tis of Thee," and the Swedish na- tional anthem. ENTERTAINED BY THE CROWN PRINCE AND PRINCESS. Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt spent a comparatively quiet day in the company of the Crown Prince and Princess. The Prince and Princess accompanied them in the afternoon to the northern museum, the biological museum and the open-air museum, after which the party had luncheon at the palace. Colonel Roosevelt also was shown a horse- jumping military drill. Commenting on the death of King Edward, Colonel Roosevelt issued the following statement: "I am deeply grieved, and know that all Americans will be deeply grieved, at the death of his ma- jesty King Edward VII. We feel the most profound sympathy for the British people in their loss. We in America keenly appre- ciated King Edward's personal good will toward us, which he so frequently and so markedly showed. " We are well aware, also, of the devotion felt toward him by his subjects throughout the British empire, while all foreign nations had learned to see in the king a ruler whose great abilities, especially his tact, judgment and the unfailing kindness of his nature, rendered him peculiarly fit to work for international peace and justice. ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. 349 " Let me repeat that I am sure all American people feel at this time the deepest and most sincere sympathy for his family and the English nation." In addition to this, Colonel Roosevelt sent a per- sonal message to the widowed queen. In the course of the day, in speaking of the late King's tact, the Colonel gave an illustration of what he termed the finer sense of things which the King possessed. " Next to the ring John Hay gave me," said he, " I value the miniature of John Hampden King Edward sent me, after I became President. That was a present a sovereign could make with dignity and one a democratic President could accept. All historians and royalists agree that Hampden was a good man. The King must have known that Hampden was one of my four heroes — Timoleon, Hampden, Washington and Lin- coln. Such a selection as the miniature showed extreme tact. SILENT TOAST TO KING EDWARD'S MEMORY. " I have a personal feeling about the King's death. I know from having been President that he had an earnest desire to keep the relations between Great Britain and the United States on the closest and most friendly terms. King Edward's death removes one influence that tended strongly for peace and justice in international relations. His own people and other lands must feel that loss." At a citizens' brilliant banquet that night where were assembled the members of Sweden's parliament, the highest officials of Stock- holm and society representatives from all parts of the Kingdom Mr. Roosevelt proposed a silent toast to King Edward's memory, pre- faced by the following sympathetic remarks : " I came here at a time when a great friendly nation is bowed in grief over the loss of her sovereign. Britons mourn a wise, generous ruler whose sole thought was for the welfare of his people. All nations join in mourning the man whose voice was always raised for justice and peace among nations. So I propose our great sym- pathy and sorrow for the King who is dead and good wishes for him who takes the throne. I propose a silent toast to Britons in their hour of sorrow and trouble." 350 ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. In a laudatory speech at this dinner Premier Lindman said; " We are glad to welcome the foremost citizen of the great republic. to which Sweden has sent so many loyal citizens." After referring to the former President's efforts towards world peace and the conservation of natural resources, as well as his endea- vor morally to uplift his fellow countrymen, the Premier continued: " Your motto, Colonel Roosevelt, has been honesty, justice and good character in every citizen. You have sought to promote self- reliance and foster such a spirit in the nation that the stronger would help the weaker, when the weaker was in need and deserved it, and the manner in which you have worked to those ends has made your name respected and honored throughout the world." In his toast to the former President, Premier Lindman coupled Mrs. Roosevelt's name with the Colonel's, as a true wife who had contributed to her husband's success at every step. COLONEL ROOSEVELT OBLIGED TO REMAIN INDOORS* The weather at Stockholm on May 8, was rainy and blustry, and as the physician declared that exposure under such conditions would be bad for Mr. Roosevelt's bronchial tubes, which were slightly inflamed, he was obliged to remain indoors most of the time. The Colonel only left his apartments once. He took lunch with Charles H. Graves, the American Minister to Sweden, at the Lega- tion, and there met Sven Hedin, the explorer; Dr. Nordensksjold, the Antarctic explorer ; Admiral Palander Prof. Arrehenius, who is connected with the Nobel Institute, and other scientific and literary people. He intended to make a speech at the National Museum before the students and massed singing societies, but gave this up and instead bowed from the balcony of the legation to the students, and singers, who gathered in the street below and sang selections. The combined choruses rendered Swedish songs and the " Star- Spangled Banner," and at the conclusion of the singing Colonel Roosevelt expressed his thanks. The crowds on both sides of the water front facing the legation were estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000, the greatest crowd, Minister Graves said., he had ever ROOSEVELT FOR WORLD PEACE. 351 seen in Stockholm. The roofs of the houses and the shipping in the harbor were crowded and a mighty shout went up when the Colonel appeared. Later he received in the legation the Swedish members of the Interparliamentary Union. Senator Beckman, addressing Mr. Roosevelt, referred to his services to the cause of peace, and the former President replied very briefly. Prof. Gunnar Anderson presented to him the first copy, just from the press, of the Norwegian Geological Survey, which had been specially bound. Arrangements had been made for Mr. Roosevelt to go to the Riddarholmen, to place a wreath on King Oscar's tomb, but he sent Kermit in his place, the wreath being composed of palms and lilies and bearing no inscription. The Crown Prince spent some time in the Colonel's room in the forenoon and had tea with him in the afternoon, at which also the Crown Princess and other members of the royal family were present. After luncheon at the legation there was an exchange of stories, the Colonel being deeply interested in the experiences of Sven Hedin in Thibet. Colonel Roosevelt left for Berlin on a special train at 1 1 o'clock the next morning. He was feeling well and in a joking mood con- sidered himself altogether equal to the visit to Germany. A heavy downpour of rain drove from the streets the crowds that had assembled to witness the departure of the Roosevelts, but the railway station was occupied to its capacity. Among the num- ber who were on hand to say good-bye were Crown Prince Olaf, Premier Konow and others of the Swedish Cabinet, Mr. Graves, the American Minister, and Mr. Winslow, American Consul-General, with the legation and consular staffs, and many high officials of the government and city. As the train drew out of the station a cheer was given. Im- mediately after the Stars and Stripes which had floated from many buildings during Colonel Roosevelt's stay, were hauled down and the Swedish national colors were placed at half staff for King Edward. CHAPTER XXVIII COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. Emperor William Extends a Cordial Welcome at the: New Palace at Pottsdam — Run Parallel Courses — First Civilian Ever to Review Soldiers oe Imperial Germany Army — Sees Big Sham Battle — Acclaimed as " Rough Rider " — Lectures Before University of Berlin on the World Movement — Emperor Pays High Honor at Con- ferring of Degree — Doctor of Philosophy. T^HEODORE ROOSEVELT had the world for an audience. * His two speeches at Paris and Berlin received such universal attention and comment as no man in this day and generation has won before. These discourses are level to the comprehension and conviction of the vast mass. Platitudes they may hold, but plati- tudes well expressed, are the mental food of the multitude. At Berlin he precisely expressed the profound belief of men and women as to modern civilization. They see its advance. They know its perils. They desire a remedy. The " fighting edge " gives it to them, and expresses what most believe and desire to practice. Colonel Roosevelt's advice, assertion and attitude irritate many cultivated, educated, wide- horizoned men. They hate to be reminded that there are evils. They abhor the preaching of homely duty. Provision for a family, the daily virtues, personal self-sacrifice, protest against the ease, comfort and advantage which sap national strength, are not to the taste of those who win life's worldly prizes. But the multitude hear this gladly. They love it. They fol- low it. The two speeches Theodore Roosevelt has made have " immensely " — to quote his favorite word — increased his grip on the plain people. His doctrine is their doctrine. His preaching is their creed. 352 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 353 The " fighting edge " — a phrase likely to live — the mass be- lieves in as much as it cherishes the daily duties. The instinctive difference between modern civilization and old is that the old was not aware of its peril and the new civilization is awake to it. Rome felt secure until Alaric was at the gates. Modern civilization is astir with alarm. When Theodore Roosevelt urges and exhorts to the life of active readiness for conflict he would be but a voice poured on the free winds far, were it not that this doctrine is in all the air. Look at the prodigious pains and effort in the past thirty years to main- tain physical stamina. Playgrounds and gymnasiums, the sports which fill newspapers by the page, college athletics and personal exercise, attention to hygiene and struggles with disease, universal interest in physical records, games, drills, new appliances and ap- paratus, the world-wide attention to matches and competitive events, all bespeak the same anxious desire to keep up the " fighting edge." COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE APPROVED. Armies are being remodeled. Navies are rebuilt. The train- ing of soldiers and sailors is more severe than ever before. Lands like Australia are drilling every school boy. Compulsory military service, once condemned, is approved. The national army is lauded in England as a national school, and in this country there never was so much effort to maintain a high physical type. This is universal. It exists everywhere. When Colonel Roosevelt urges it he but sums the universal practice. The civilized world grows physically stronger every decade. The one need is that all this shall bring a moral ardor in the attack on wrong and misdoing. Grave danger exists in every civilization and every city that men will accept evil and condone wrong, let thieving continue and corrupt profits swell while the vast mass acquiesces. The tendency of the past and present in law and government is towards centralization. The homogeneousness of nations has been more firmly established, the law codes of different countries more closely assimilated, the methods of war and peace in all nations are 354 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY, following the same general development toward a common standard and the peoples of the world, although differing in language, blood and history, are drawing near to what the great poet called the " federation of the world." The career of ex-President Roosevelt is the pride of all ad- mirers of robust, courageous personality. Edward VII claimed allegiance and honor from all mankind who knew his worth and public service, irrespective of national limits. The leaders in litera- ture, art and science contribute to the heritage of the world, not of any nation. Linguists are seeking a common language for international use and a destructive earthquake involving loss of life and property, whether at Messina or San Francisco, awakens the sympathy and opens the purse of all civilization. The telegraph obliterates time and distance and nations are linked together as never before. A WORLD'S TRIBUNAL. This admitted tendency to unification in progress and senti- ment emphasizes the question why in the matter of international jurisprudence the nations cannot come to some understanding by which the dread perils of war may be relegated to the past with the horrors of the Inquisition and the barbarities of the Middle Ages. As States in our own nation have their Courts for the adjust- ment of disputes, when dissatisfaction arises with the decision of the State Courts or the case is beyond their jurisdiction, an appeal to the National Supreme Court effectually settles the question and the decision is binding on all the parties in interest; so might the nations, when differences arise, appeal their cases to a high inter- national tribunal, whose edict should be final. This Court composed of honorable and able representatives from every leading nation could properly solve the problems that arise between nations by carefully weighing the evidence and the equities of the cases and, backed by the united powers of the nations represented, enforce its just decrees. This is no fancy picture, being already presaged by The Hague COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 355 conference and able, wise and diplomatic statesmen could readily formulate such a plan on practical lines and in intent and purpose the poet's dream would be realized. " Till the war drum throbbed no longer and the battle flags were furled In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world, There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law." Greek met Greek when the Kaiser and Colonel Roosevelt clasped hands on the marble steps of Frederick the Great's historic New Palace at Potsdam. The meeting between the world's two chief exponents of the strenuous life was cordial and friendly in the extreme. Clad in a picturesque white uniform of the Garde du Corps, with a helmet surmounted by a shimmering silver eagle, the Kaiser looked every inch the War Lord immortalized by myriad photographs as he and the Colonel stood shaking hands vigorously and enthusiastically for almost a full minute. AN ENTHUSIASTIC GREETING BY THE EMPEROR. His Majesty generously exceeded conventional requirements by waiting for his guest's approach at the outdoor steps instead of re- maining within. As the result of scrupulously secret preparations, the complete details of the long waited for event perhaps will be never known, even the services of a master of ceremonies to make the presentation being dispensed with, so none can repeat the exact language of the greeting. Colonel Roosevelt, who arrived in Berlin on May 10, and spent the forenoon at the American Embassy, was escorted to Potsdam by General Alfred von Loewenfeld, the personal representative of the Emperor. The Colonel was accompanied by Airs. Roosevelt, Miss Roose- velt and Kermit; Mr. Hill and Mrs. Hill; Captain Samuel G. Shartle, the military attache, and Lt. Commander Reginald R. Belknap, the naval attache of the American Embassy. As their carriages drove into the courtyard Emperor Wiliam 356 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. appeared at the principal entrance of the new palace and descended to meet his guests. Preceded by the Lord Chamberlain, Count Zu Eulenberg, and Master of the Imperial Household, Baron Von Lyncker, the Em- peror, with Colonel Roosevelt at his right, entered the palace, and, passing through the large apartment popularly known as the shell room, showed his guests into the smaller salon beyond. Mrs. Roosevelt entered on the arm of General Von Loewenf eld, and in turn was followed by Ambassador and Mrs. Hill, Miss Roosevelt and Kermit, Captain Shartle and Lieutenant-Commander Belknap and Dr. Von Bethmann-Hollweg, the Imperial Chancellor, with Prince Solms-Bareuth. Within the salon the party was received by Empress Augusta Victoria, Crown Prince Frederick William, Crown Princess Cecilie, Princess Victoria Louise, Prince Joachim and Prince Oscar. ENTERTAINED BY THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. The luncheon that followed was attended by a large number, including many government officials and others prominent in public life. There were six tables. At one of these were seated the Emperor, with Mrs. Roosevelt at his left and the Crown Princess on his right; the Chancellor, General Von Plessin, Kermit Roosevelt, Count Zu Eulenberg, Mr. Hill, General Loomenfeld and Lieutenant-Commander Belknap. At another table the Empress was seated between Mr. Roose- velt and the Crown Prince. The young Princess Victoria was seated at the Colonel's left. Others at this table were Miss Roose- velt, Captain Shartle, Foreign Minister Von Schoen; Mrs. Hill, Prince Solms-Bareuth and the Countess Keller. When the luncheon was over the Kaiser took possession of the Colonel, and, piloting him into a corner, engaged him immediately in the most animated conversation. History probably will be de- prived of knowledge of what was talked about, but whatever it was both the Emperor and the Colonel resorted frequently to gestures with arms, fists and heads to drive home their meaning and empha- size their points. COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 357 Then the Emperor motored with the Roosevelt family to the Sans Souci Palace for a look at the royal residence, hallowed with memories of Frederick the Great. The Colonel recalled the claims of the Kaiser's great warrior ancestor to American interest, how Frederick forbade England's hired Hessian troops to cross Prus- sian soil and his profound admiration for Washington. Then, after a visit, which had lasted from one o'clock till five, the Roose- velts motored back to the American Embassy in Berlin in one of the imperial automobiles. Whether it was due to his elocutionary contest with the Kaiser or to the raw, rainy weather which prevailed in Berlin throughout the day, the Colonel reached the Embassy considerably hoarser than when he arrived in Berlin early in the forenoon. His throat was so sore he found it difficult to speak with any trace of freedom or good humor to Commander Peary, who was awaiting the ex-Presi- dent, the explorer having delayed his departure for Rome two days for the purpose of greeting the Colonel. ROOSEVELT AND KAISER RUN PARALLEL COURSES. On his return to the Embassy the Colonel submitted to an examination at the hands of Professor Fraenkel, one of Germany's most celebrated throat specialists. Doctor Fraenkel found him suffering from an acute case of laryngitis, an after effect of bron- chitis, of such a type as commonly attacks persons who have dwelt some time in the tropics. Theodore Roosevelt and the German Emperor are the same age — fifty-one — and both were born on the 27th of the month; Roosevelt in October, 1858, and the Emperor in the following Jan- uary. Both were married on the 27th of the month, the Colonel in October 1880, and the Emperor in the following February. As boys each is said to have had the same favorite author — James Fenimore Cooper. In their fondness for out-door sports the Colonel and the Kaiser display similarities. Both are fond of riding and hunting and they each play tennis cleverly, and, although Roosevelt has the 358 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. advantage of greater experience, the Kaiser would give him a good run at his favorite game. Both know the technical points of a warship from keel to mast- top, and both agree that the best. thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse. Both believe in the " simple life." Both are family men. The Kaiser is the father of seven children and the Colonel of six. For five hours on May n, the flower of the Kaiser's army, 12,00c cavalry, artillery and infantry, of the guard, waged mimic war for the edification of Colonel Roosevelt. The battle raged with realistic fury from nine in the morning until two in the afternoon, and while the countryside reverberated with the roar of artillery and the crackle of rifle fire the man of San Juan and the German War Lord surveyed the thrilling panorama on horseback from an eminence which commanded the entire position. THE COLONEL DELIGHTED WITH THE MANOEUVERS. The two men were scarcely ten feet apart at any time during the manoeuvers and they chatted as excitedly as boys. The Kaiser seemed proud to show the efficiency of the various branches of his army, his only disappointment being the failure of the balloon corps aboard the military dirigible Gross III to appear. The balloon ascended from its headquarters at Tegel, but a fierce gale forced the crew to abandon the flight to Doeberitz. It was a spectacle which kept the Rough Rider's blood tingling from start to finish. No single item in his long programme of African and European honors had made a stronger appeal to his imagination. The Colonel donned an American campaigning outfit for the occasion, khaki jacket and riding breeches, with tan leggings and boots and his familiar black slouch hat, " our national headgear," as he described it. One of the Emperor's automobiles called for him at the Embassy at seven o'clock. Professor Fraenkel had taken a look down the Colonel's throat before breakfast and found his laryngitis had receded sufficiently to permit him to take the field without danger. The weather, moreover, had turned gloriously COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 359 fine during the night, and the morning was like summer at Oyster Bay. The Colonel was accompanied to the battleground to Doeberitz, midway between Berlin and Potsdam, by his German aide de camp, Lieutenant Colonel Von Koerner; ex- Ambassador Henry White, the American Military Attache in Berlin, Captain Shartle, and Kermit. Diplomatic circles were amazed at the unyielding determina- tion of the Kaiser to furnish a great military spectacle for the Colonel. Diplomats absolved Colonel Roosevelt completely for any consequences which may ensue because he is on record as having given the Kaiser ample opportunity to cancel his Berlin visit. The party reached the field a little before eight o'clock and mounted chargers specially selected from the Kaiser's stables. HORSES FROM THE KAISER'S STABLES. The Emperor was already on hand, mounted and in the uni- form of a general of infantry, with a large band of crepe on the left arm of his overcoat. With him, also on horseback, were the Em- press, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, Princess Eitel Fred- erich, Princess Victoria Louise and the Kaiser's son, Prince Adel- bert. As soon as the Emperor's party had exchanged greetings with the Colonel the Kaiser and the ex-President rode off to Mill Hill, from which they were to watch the day's operations. The Kaiser's face glowed with pride as he watched his two sons, one a major of an infantry regiment, assigned to the attacking force, the other, Eitel Frederick, leading the cavalry in the defense, pitted against each other in a thrilling conflict held solely for the Colonel's delectation. By nine o'clock the battle was in full swing. Two hours later the engagement became general. The theoretical objective was the repulse of the hostile forces advancing on Potsdam from the east. The operations covered an area of nine square miles of territory, ideally suited for the most varied sort of tactics. At noonday the heavens were rumbling with the roar of long range artillery and the barks of the machine guns and musketry. 360 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. The Colonel was enthralled. His field glasses raked the horizon restlessly, and as the invading cavalry, with 3000 lances glinting brilliantly in the midday sun, drove home the final attack through the jaws of the defenders' artillery, the commander of the Rough Riders shouted his joy in staccato outbursts to his proud and smiling Imperial host. Other features of the manoeuvers that greatly interested the Colonel and which the Kaiser explained to him in detail were the work of the telegraph, telephone and other technical branches. The Kaiser's intimate knowledge of every phase of army work was a surprise to the Colonel, despite the Kaiser's reputation for being a close student of military questions. At two o'clock the " Cease fire " was sounded and then the troops of both armies joined in the march past the Emperor and the Colonel, the latter doffing his black sombrero in salute as each set of regimental colors filed by. "MEIN FREUND ROOSEVELT." When the march was over the Kaiser, surrounded by a glitter^ ing galaxy of several hundred staff officers, turned to the Colonel, removed his own helmet, and said, " Mein freund Roosevelt," so much in German, then in English, " I am happy to welcome you in the presence of my guards. We are glad you have seen a part of our army. You are the only private citizen who ever reviewed German troops." The Kaiser then addressed his officers, saying: " We have been honored to-day with the presence of the distinguished Colonel of the famous American Rough Riders. This bouquet of pleasantries brought the day's stirring events to a finish. The Kaiser and the Colonel said: "Auf wiedersehen f .o-morrow," and motored back respectively to Potsdam and Berlin. In accordance with his policy of refraining from comment on the entertainment provided him, Colonel Roosevelt would only opine on returning to the Embassy that it had been " a most interesting day." Asked how he had liked the specimen of German charger COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 36] which he had ridden, the Colonel said : "Oh, bully, by George ! Ai ! And what a corking five hours in the saddle, too." That night the Roosevelts dined with the Hills. The guests included in addition to the ladies and gentlemen of the Embassy, Chancellor Von Bethmann-Hollweg, Foreign Secretary and Bar- oness Von Schoen, Seth Low and wife, Henry White and wife, American Consul General Thackara, of Berlin, and the rector of Berlin University. President Taft, on May n, appointed Theodore Roosevelt spe- cial administrator of the United States to attend the funeral of King Edward. Colonel Roosevelt accepted the commission in a cable message to the President. " THE WORLD MOVEMENT." Colonel Roosevelt delivered a lecture on May 12, on " The World Movement," at the University of Berlin, and received from the University the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Emperor William honored the occasion with his presence. It was the first time that His Majesty had graced a conferment, and the courtesy was significant in view of the fact that the German court was in mourning for the monarch's uncle. The ceremony of conferring the degree was staged and con- ducted with impressive simplicity. There were no flags or emblems of royalty and the government. The walls of the Aula were bare except for the rows of busts of Germany's scholars and scientists. By a curious coincidence, Colonel Roosevelt spoke in the Aula, or hall, where the Kaiser, on October 19, 1906, rose dramatically, after an address by Professor John W. Burgess, of Columbia Uni- versity, and cried for three cheers for Theodore Roosevelt. The only touch of color was furnished by the Senators of the University with their robes of scarlet and blue and the five heads of the student corps, who wore blue jackets, white breeches, jack boots and parti-colored sashes. Four hundred guests of the University, who held cards of ad- mission, were seated when Emperor William, accompanying the Colonel, entered from a side door of the hall. As they appeared 362 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. the University choir chanted, " Heil Dir Im Siegerkranz " (Hail to the Conqueror's Wreath), the Prussian National Hymn, to the strains of " America." The Colonel occupied the seat at the reading desk and at his side stood the heads of the student corps with drawn swords. This -striking guard of honor remained standing and almost immovable during the entire lecture and ceremony. The Emperor took occasion to congratulate the Colonel upon his lecture and its delivery so courageously accomplished under distressing physical conditions. He talked with the former Presi- dent for six or eight minutes. The auditorium was filled to its capacity of 1,200 persons by the faculty of the University, students and guests. OUTLINED THE LIFE OF THE COLONEL. The rector, Frich Schmidt, opened the program by giving an outline of the life of the Colonel from the time that he was a delicate child until he became an African Nimrod. When he had finished this sketch he introduced the former President, who was received enthusiastically. The Colonel appeared in the pink of physical condition. His voice husky at first, gained steadily in clearness as he proceeded, and he was able to deliver his complete written thesis of 9,000 words. To this he added extemporaneously from time to time by way of emphasis and explanation. Colonel Roosevelt found his voice much improved when I12 rose that morning and said that he felt perfectly able to deliver his ad- dress. Until then there was doubt whether the Colonel would be able to keep his engagement, and when it became known that he ex- pected to do so there was much elation among the Univesity officials and others who had looked forward to the address with eagerness. Word that the Colonel would be heard was communicated swiftly throughout the city in the forenoon, and when at the hour appointed he reached the University the historic Aula was occupied by a distinguished company. ' To-day I am in Berlin University," began the speaker, COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 363 " Yesterday I was in the open air university of the German army and sat at the foot of the great master of that university." The Colonel said that the German Emperor had often been held up before him as a statesman who was doing things which he, the speaker, should do. " I remember," he added, " that my friend, Dr. Pritchard, then President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, told me of the Emperor's interest in and knowledge of technical education. ; ' While in Africa I used to think that there was something wrong with the mail if it did not bring me a letter from Benjamin Ide Wheeler telling me of his admiration for some feature of Ger- man life and of the Emperor's extraordinary qualities and kind- ness." Then he launched into his lecture on " The World Movement," sketching the ancient and mediaeval civilizations, pointing to the causes of their rise and fall, and drawing lessons to show how the civilization of to-day might endure. DID NOT BELIEVE CIVILIZATION WOULD FALL. He declared he did not believe this civilization would fall ; that it was in the power of the peoples of to-day to preserve their culture and achievements for all time. They had, he declared, the power to hew their fate, if they had only the wit and courage to do so. He dwelt upon the necessity of keeping keen the " fighting edge," and asserted that development must be broadly along all lines. Arms must not be forgotten for science and commercialism must not supplant entirely the " virile righting virtues." He showed how Greece and Rome had decayed because mercenaries had sup- planted the citizen soldiers of pioneer and glorious days. He pointed with emphasis to the exactly opposite tendency of modern days, illustrating with the American Revolution and the Civil War. Politics were purer, he declared, and were not used so much now as in the past for financial gain, although wealth still had great influence in public affairs. In another digression from his set 364 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. speech and following his remarks concerning military virtue, the former President said : " I saw some of your German troops march before the Com- mander-in-Chief yesterday. I cannot understand how any German could look upon those soldiers without a feeling of pride at the physical and intellectual character of those soldiers from the farm and shop, serving their time and then returning to their other work to be replaced by other and younger men. I can see only hope for the future with such men." The audience vigorously applauded Colonel Roosevelt's remarks concerning mothers and housewives. PRINCIPAL THEMES OF THE COLONEL'S ADDRESS. The Colonel in his address presented the following thoughts: " Personally, I do not believe that our civilization will fall. I think that, on the whole, we have grown better and not worse." " I think that, on the whole, the future holds more for us than ever the great past has held." " Assuredly the dreams of golden glory in the future will not come true unless, high of heart and strong of hand, by our own mighty deeds we make them come true." " We cannot afford to develop any one set of qualities, any one set of activities at the cost of seeing others, equally necessary atrophied." ' We, the men of to-day and of the future, need many qualities if we are to do our work well." " One of the prime dangers of civilization has always been its tendency to cause the loss of the virile fighting virtues, of the fight- ing edge." " When men get too comfortable and lead too luxurious lives there is always danger lest the softness eat like an acid into our manliness of fibre." " If the average man will not work, if he has not in him the will and the power to be a good husband and father; if the average woman is not a good housewife, a good mother, then the State will topple, will go down." COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 365 " The things of the spirit are even more important than the things of the body." " It would be a bad thing, indeed to accept Tolstoi as a guide in social and moral affairs, but it also would be a bad thing not to have Tolstoi." " We must remember that it is only by working along the lines laid down by the philanthropists — by the lovers of mankind — that we can be sure of lifting our civilization to a higher and more per- manent plane of well-being." " Unjust war is to be abhorred, but woe to the nation that does not make ready to hold its own in time of need against all who would harm it ; and woe thrice over to the nation in which the aver- age man loses the fighting edge, loses the power to serve as a soldier." " In the Grecian and Roman military history the change was steadily from a citizen army to an army of mercenaries. The exact reverse has been the case with us in modern times." RECEIVES DIPLOMA AS DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. " The single fact that the old civilization was based upon slavery shows the chasm that separates the two." " Forces for good and forces for evil are everywhere evident, each acting with a hunderd or a thousand fold the intensity with which it acted in former ages." " Frowning or hopeful, every man of leadership in any line of thought or effort must now look beyond the limits of his own country." Dr. Roethe, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, followed the Colonel, and closed a discourse in German by addressing the former President in Latin. The dean caused a laugh among the Senators when in his Latin effort he used a feminine ending for a masculine noun, and so furnished the only pleasantry of two hours and a half of oratory. As Dr. Roethe handed the new doctor his diploma the choir sang the German national hymn and the audince gave three cheers. The exercises ended with the singing of " The Star Spangled Ban- 366 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. ner " by the choir. The assemblage waited until the Emperor and Colonel Roosevelt had left the hall. The Colonel and Kermit were guests that night of Chancellor Von Bethmann-Helweg at a dinner at the Chancellor's palace. The others present included the American Ambassador, Mr. Hill; Count Zeppelin, Herr Delbueck, the Vice-Chancellor ; Admiral Von Tirpitz, Secretary of the Admiralty; Herr Dornburg, Minister of the Colonies; Baron Von Rheinbaben, Minister of Finance, and many others noted in official and commercial life. The Colonel displayed the greatest interest in Bismarck's work- ing and living apartments. A reception followed the dinner, many of the members o^ the Reichstag and Landtag being presented to the former President. VISITS HOME FOR WORN-OUT WORKERS. The Colonel in company with Burgomaster Kirchner motored the following morning to Buch, a suburb, where a colony of 1200 worn-out workers, men and women, are maintained in relative com- fort at the expense of the city of Berlin. The subject of public dependents was being pursued by the former President, who while in Denmark investigated a similar institution. The public charges at Buch are made up of the aged, the infirm and those temporarily incapacitated for work. They are not only supported reasonably, but in case of sickness receive thorough medical treatment. Returning to Berlin the Colonel was the guest at luncheon of Ambassador Hill at the American Embassy. The luncheon party was a large one. During the luncheon the Colonel proposed a toast " to the health of His Majesty the German Emperor and the future of the German people." At the reception which followed, the Colonel received a dele- gation from the Interparliamentary Union, who were introduced by Prince Von Carolath-Beuthen. Replying to an address presented him by the delegates, the former President said that the general demand for peace only excited the derision of practical men, but when peace was worked for by practical men such as the delegates, COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. 367 with definite aims and methods, the results were splendid in their fruits. Profesor Brant, President of the Shakespeare Society, pre- sented the Colonel with a parchment creating the recipient an honorary member of the society, which, the document stated, con- stituted " a close tie between Germany and the English-speaking world." Late in the afternoon the Colonel held a reception at the home of Lieutenant Commander Belknap, the American Naval Attache at Berlin, where he met many high officers of the German navy and military. At this reception one of the officers, acting on behalf of Emperor William, presented Colonel Roosevelt w T ith several photo- graphs, showing the American ex-President and Emperor William together at the Doeberitz manoeuvers. The photographs bore the autograph of the Emperor. DINED AT THE FRENCH EMBASSY. The Colonel and his family dined in the evening at the French Embassy, the guests of Jules Cambon. This dinner was private, and besides the Roosevelts w r as attended only by Ambassador and Mrs. Hill and the staffs of the French and American Embassies. Amid the quiet surroundings of the Roosevelt Library at the University of Berlin, the Colonel on the morning of May 14, again tackled the correspondence which had outrun him from the moment he emerged from the African jungles. He failed to catch up, but before the noon hour he had made great progress. Later, the former President received and had a chat with Professor C. G. Schilling and Paul Niedieck, two of Germany's best-known hunters of African big game. The Colonel had lunch- eon as the guest of Joseph C. Grew, second secretary of the Amer- ican Embassy. Other guests w r ere Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt, American Ambassador Hill, Mrs. Hill, Miss Hill, Henry White, former American Ambassador to France, and Mrs. White, and Professor and Frau Schilling. Professor Schilling, w T ith a stereopticon, showed some flash-light pictures of jungle animals and presented the Colonel with five of the collection. ;;G8 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN GERMANY. The Colonel concluded the afternoon with a visit to the zoolo- gical gardens. He began an inspection which lasted an hour and was interrupted by a cloudburst, the Colonel taking refuge in the ostriches' house The Colonel talked so knowingly and interestingly about the exhibits that the presence of attendants provided to ex- plain thing's was quite superfluous. During the day Emperor William sent to the Colonel a vase from the royal porcelain works. The vase is three feet in height, and bears upon one side a likeness of His Majesty. On the opposite side are two views of the imperial palace in Berlin, one from the bridge of the Elector, showing the equestrian statue of the great elector, and the other the palace terrace, with the statue of William 01 Grange. The following day at noon the Colonel and his party started for London. There was a large crowd at the steamboat landing to bid the Colonel goodbye. A correspondent of the London Times, writing to his journal of the strenuous days that the Colonel has inflicted upon the re- porters in their efforts to keep up with the Roosevelt procession, said : ' This is indeed a singular adventure upon which we are en- gaged. It is useless to pretend it is not royal progress, for what further marks of distinction could any sovereign receive than to travel in royal trains, dwell in king's houses, be welcomed by Kings, Queens and Princes, drive in state carriages amid flags and cheering crowds, and have miles of warships manned for him, and it was not only the ex-President who was honored as if he were a reigning monarch — Mrs. Roosevelt, with her charm and quiet dignity, was honored equally; her bright, unspoilt, attractive son and daughter were honored, too. The whole affair was quite unique." CHAPTER XXIX COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. As " Funeral Ambassador " is Welcomed by Lord Dundonald Received at the Marlborough House by King George V — Viewed the Lying-in-State oe King Edward — Protected by Red Coats after the Manner oe Royalty — Celebrated English University Confers High Honor — Doctor oe Laws — Receives the Freedom oe the City oe London. A^OLONEL ROOSEVELT'S amazing receptions in Europe ^-^ have made a breach in court etiquette the magnitude and importance of which few Americans can understand. No similar honors ever before paid by royalty to an ex-Presi- dent. Crowned heads visit Paris incognito to avoid raising any awkward issue as to the precise position of the ruler of the French Republic. It was years after France became a Republic before any European sovereign of the first rank visited Paris in state. An ex-President has in the past only been recognized as a very distinguished private citizen whom the sovereign of the country he visited met with a gracious and friendly welcome. To European eyes it seems very strange that crowned heads should have met Theodore Roosevelt at railroad stations and, still more, that he was asked to review troops in company with the Emperor of Germany. These are trifles to an American. They should be trifles every- where. But in Europe questions of etiquette and precedence are not trifles. They are realities. They control affairs. They affect the public imagination. They influence events. Members of the royal caste of Europe, numbering many hundreds of men and women, hold themselves apart from all the world. Never since Benjamin Franklin upheld the glory and dignity 24— T.R. 369 370 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN" ENGLAND. of the new-born republic have the power, majesty and achievements of the great American nation been more forcibly presented to the people of the Old World than they were by our greatest President, Theodore Roosevelt. As a publicity promoter the honored Colonel of the Rough Riders was in the vanguard. He made every hamlet in Europe ring with praises of this country and its people. Soon after his arrival in London he was received in Marl- borough House by King George and met Queen Mary. This was regarded as an exceptional compliment, and the two engaged in an extended conversation. The entrance to the city of the distinguished American was a quiet one and in marked contrast with his appearance at other capitals and with what would have been made of the occasion but for the death of the British King. THE COLONEL AT THE BIER OF KING EDWARD VII. Conducted privately to the throne room in Buckingham Palace, Theodore Roosevelt, who arrived in London, on May 16, was per- mitted to look upon the face of King Edward VII. The Colonel, unattended by any of his party stood for several moments beside the coffin and then, with head bowed, moved slowly away. In the course of the day the Roosevelts called upon the Duke and Duchess of Connaught at Clarence House. They also called upon the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Christian of Den- mark, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, the Princess Henry of Battenberg, and the Duchess of Fife, and at Buckingham Palace inscribed their names in the visiting books of Dowager Empress Marie of Russia, and Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, King Haakon and Queen Maud of Norway. They had just returned to Dorchester House when they re- ceived a return call from King Haakon, who greeted the special Ambassador and his wife as old friends. While luncheon was being served the Duke of Connaught and Prince Arthur of Connaught COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 371 called. Mrs. Roosevelt went to Buckingham Palace again in the afternoon and paid a visit to Queen Maud. Never before had London newspapers spoken in such praise of Roosevelt as they did the next day. There were column editorials devoted to character studies of him and without exception they were friendly in the extreme. Everywhere the utmost satisfaction was expressed that he was chosen to represent the United States at the king's funeral. Several newspapers said that in happier circumstances the former President's arrival would have been marked by a generous tribute of public enthusiasm, and that coming as the chief mourner of the United States the welcome, while less elaborate, is none the less sincere. THE COLONEL RECEIVES CAREFUL ATTENTION. Colonel Roosevelt was guarded by four stalwart scarlet-coated English soldiers for two days preceding and continued until after King Edward's funeral. In placing this guard over America's special envoy the Colonel was accorded the same distinction enjoyed by Kings and other royalties who were in London for the funeral. The same militant scene at Dorchester House was to be seen at Buckingham and at other places where royalty was quartered. The Colonel had a lengthy audience with King Haakon of Norway and he also met King George of Greece. With all the members of the American special embassy he wrote his name in the books of King Alfonso of Spain, Prince Henry of Prussia, Grand Duke Michael and other royalties. The Colonel was busy the following morning in his own room attending to his correspondence. He took luncheon at Dorchester House. The guests included Augustine Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Lewis Harcourt, the First Commissioner of Works. After the luncheon, the kings of Denmark and Greece called on the Colonel. Before they left, Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the Kaiser, called, and he was quickly followed by Lord Alver- stone, the Lord Chief Justice of England. 372 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. Later on, the Colonel, accompanied by his own staff and Mr. White, the special diplomatic delegate to the funeral of King Edward; Major T. Bentley Mott, the American military attache at the American embassy at Paris and the gentlemen assigned to his suite by King George, went to " inscribe." The kings of Portugal and Belgium, the Chinese and Japanese princes and a few other special representatives at the funeral were there at the same time. As the Colonel was leaving Buckingham Palace after " inscrib- ing," he encountered the Kaiser, who greeted him warmly. Taking the Colonel by the hand, he led him away to his own apartments, where he kept him in conversation for three quarters of an hour. At night the Colonel dined at Buckingham Palace, where King George gave the first dinner of his reign. It was a great banquet, with a numerous company of guests, comprising all the royal and other special representatives at the funeral. ANCIENT POMP AND CEREMONIAL. With pomp and ceremonial borrowed from the past ages ming- ling in picturesque contrast with modern mourning, the British Em- pire on May 20 surrendered up its royal dead. Edward VII, the thirty-sixth in the line of sovereigns of England since the conquest of the dauntless Normans, mourned by the world at large, lies in a crypt in St. George's chapel royal. The streets of London were lined with 30,000 picked troops, called to restrain the great crowds as well as to protect Kings, Princes and other royalties as well as distinguished representatives of foreign governments who followed the coffin of the dead King. The royal carriage in which the Colonel rode received even more attention than any of the kings who rode in the funeral pro- cession. The London public had the processional personnel at its fingers' ends, calling off accurately the exalted men who appeared. All the reigning monarchs, of course, were on horseback, but Colonel Roosevelt, in accordance with conventions, occupied a carriage, with the windows open, thus affording a brief glimpse which disclosed him talking animatedly with M. Pichon, the French COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 373 envoy, and Sanad Khan Montaz Es Sultaneh, who represented Persia, the trio comprising the total number of special envoys. At Windsor the Colonel joined the foot procession to the tomb, later participating in the royal luncheon at Windsor, where more than one hundred kings, queens, princes and princesses sat at ten tables. The Colonel sat at the table of King George. Everyone in attendance admitted that the Colonel was the dominating figure. The royalties who had not yet been presented crowded about him eager for an introduction. The former Presi- dent was literally besieged by royal questioners to learn his views of European politics, but he was on his guard and countered by ques- tions regarding the duties and burdens of kingship. MR ROOSEVELT INTERESTS A NOTABLE GATHERING. For more than an hour this crossfire of questions continued and finally developed into the distinctive feature of the luncheon. So interested did the notable assemblage, the greatest gathering of royalty ever seen at such a function, become in the Colonel that for a time the note of sorrow over the burial of King Edward was lost sight of. Roosevelt's personality swept everything else aside. That which impressed the Colonel most was the demeanor of the people, the solemn dignity of the ceremony. Mrs. Roosevelt spent an hour or more on May 25 in the com- pany of the Queen Mother Alexandra, at Buckingham Palace. The call was made on the invitation of Her Majesty, who, when she re- ceived the Colonel expressed the hope that she might see his wife. The conversation between the two had a wide range. The Queen Mother was especially interested in her visitor's description of the place occupied by women in the United States. Her Majesty also inquired about Mrs. Roosevelt's journey to the Soudan to meet her husband and listened with evident pleasure to the experiences related. The London Daily Telegraph, in a long editorial eulogy of the Colonel, describes him as the most powerful statesman in the English 374 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. speaking world. " His personality," it said, " is better known throughout the globe than any other, except the German Emperor and in some ways he is the stronger marked of the two and he could, if he pleased, become the Warwick of American politics." The Colonel came forth from the seclusion imposed upon him by England's mourning requirements in pink and scarlet, his gor- geous new LL. D. robes being a little more brilliant than the other accessories attending his initial public appearance in England to receive the Cambridge honors. MR. ROOSEVEL RECEIVES A "ROISTERING" WELCOME. As he trod for the first time the paths used in student days by John Harvard and other famous men he saw in the middle of the walk a Teddy bear, placed there with an extended welcoming paw by the roistering " undergrads." Later in the Senate House, where were assembled masters of colleges, dons and a few fortunate Americans who alone of the applying hundreds succeeded in pro- curing cards, he gamely survived the ragging by the undergraduates crowding the oaken galleries, from whence Teddy bears, suspended from strings, were made to pounce down on him as he sought to depart dignifiedly in the scholastic procession. Good naturedly he waived the privilege of capturing the biggest bear as it dangled purposely within reach, the custom being for newly-made doctors to take such a souvenir. So his neglect aroused renewed shrieks of laughter attending the traditional tomfoolery. The expression of prophecy that Englishmen would refuse to take Mr. Roosevelt overseriously apparently is contained in verses dedicated to him and published in Cambridge's organ, the " Gowns- man " : " The lion and the unicorn will scatter for their lives When the mighty big game hunter from America arrives: But his prowess in the jungle is as nothing to his fame In the copybooks cum Sunday chapel missionary game. Oh, we're ready for you Teddy. Our sins are all reviewed' We've put away our novels and our statues in the nude. We've read your precious homilies, and hope to hear some more. At the coming visitation of the moral Theodore. COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 375 "No, seriously, Teddy, we're proud to have you here; Your speeches may be out of date, your methods may be queer ; But you've done some pretty decent things without delay or fuss, And you're full of grit inside, and that's what appeals to us. So we're ready for you, Teddy, but take my good advice, Though sin is really naughty, we find it really nice, So, when you come to speak to us in Providence's name, Give the goby to the Sunday chapel missionary game." The ordeal perhaps was most trying as the Colonel stood alone facing the public orator, who in fluent Latin recited the ex-Presi- dent's achievements, the galleries alternately applauding with in- dorsement or mischievousness. He said: "Mr. Roosevelt is a friend of peace and a friend of the human race. MR. ROOSEVELT, THE MIGHTY HUNTER, EULOGIZED " He has waged war on the wild beasts of the forest, whether denizens of his own Rocky Mountains or of the land described by Horace as the nurse of lions. His courage has been witnessed by Africa, whence he has lately returned with spoils won in British dominions. His fame has since been attested by Europe, which has received him with royal honors during his splendid progress from Italy to Scandinavia. Colonel Roosevelt is a faithful friend of the British Empire and of all good men throughout the world." After a tour of inspection of the buildings and grounds the Colonel was a guest of Cambridge Union, a student club, where the enthusiastic reception so enthused him that he made a half -hour instead of a five-minute speech, as planned. He covered a wide range of topics, from football and lions to good citizenship and the strenuous life. He wished that Americans could learn from Cambridge how to make football less homicidal. Theodore Roosevelt startled the whole world when, in ancient Guild Hall, replying to a speech giving him the freedom of the city of London, he admonished England that its rule in Egypt was not what it should be, declaring with emphasis that " you have erred and it is for you to make good." Throughout his speech, which caused much surprise, the Colonel 376 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. gave England some bold advice as to her duty toward her most troublesome dependency in Africa. It was, he said, either right or not right for Great Britain to be in Egypt and establish order there. 'If it was not right she should get out. He declared that Great Britain has given Egypt the best govern- ment that the country has had in 2000 years, but in certain vital points it had erred. Timidity and sentimentailty, he said, might cause more harm than violence and injustice. " Sentimentality," he added, " is the most broken reed upon which righteousness can lean." Mr. Roosevelt denounced the Nationalist party of Egypt as neither desirous nor capable of guaranteeing primary justice. It was trying, he said, to bring murderous chaos upon the land. THE COLONEL EXPRESSES KINDLY FEELINGS. In the course of his speech the Colonel said : " I am especially appreciative of to-day's honor because it is a sign of the good-will tending to knit speakers of the English language. I prefer to talk to-day regarding matters of real concern to you rather than merely to express thanks and eulogy. " I have recently spent nearly a year under the British-African protectorates. Your men in Africa are doing a great work for the British Empire and for civilization. The nations which are con- quering the savage lands for civilization should work together. Mankind is benefited by the French occupation of Algiers and Tunis, just as mankind is benefited from England's work in India, which is similarly for the interests of civilization. " The work that England and Germany is doing in East Africa will succeed and the East African highlands can be made any white man's country. Every one has benefited since America took posses- sion of the Philippines. The East African settlers remind me of the frontiersmen that built up the western part of America. They are of the same sturdy, fearless type. " Regarding Egypt, I speak as an outsider, but this is to your advantage, as I speak without national prejudice, and also as a well- wisher to the British Empire. I speak not only as an American but COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 377 as a radical, a real and not a mock democrat, who feels that his first thought is bound to be for the welfare of the masses of mankind, and who wars against violence and injustice in accordance with the principles by which while President I acted toward the Philippines. " You treated the Pan-Egyptian movement and religious struggles fairly impartially. Instead of acknowledging this, a section of the natives took advantage of this treatment for the de- velopment of an anti-foreign movement. Premier Boutros Pascha, a competent official, an upholder of the British rule and a worker for his countrymen, was murdered because of these facts. The attitude of the Egyptian Nationalists regarding the murder of Boutros shows that they are not only not desirous, but are incapable of granting even primary justice. THE COLONEL'S PLAIN EXPRESSIONS. "If you feel that you ought not to be in Egypt and have no desire to keep order there, by all means get out. If you feel that it is your duty to civilization to stay, then show yourselves ready to meet the responsibility of your position. " You saved Egypt from ruin, yet if not governed from the outside Egypt will again sink into chaos. Some nation must govern Egypt. I hope you will decide that it is your duty to be that nation." The body of the magnificent Guildhall was filled by 12.15 o'clock, when the Lord Mayor, Sir John Knill, and Lady Knill en- tered and took seats in the center of the dais. Then the guests of honor who filled the dais were announced separately. They included many Americans. Sir Joseph Dimsdale, the chamberlain of London, then pre- sented a copy of the resolution in a gold casket to Colonel Roosevelt. After a tribute to the memory of King Edward the chamberlain paid a glowing eulogy to Colonel Roosevelt and concluded by present- ing him with the casket, at the same time offering him " the right hand of fellowship." Colonel Roosevelt, who had arisen, grasped the Chamberlain's hand and the Colonel, with notes in his hands, commenced his ad- 378 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. dress, first referring to the suddenness of King Edward's death, at whose funeral, he said, he had the high honor to represent the American people. The address occupied forty-eight minutes in its delivery. A few presentations of those present were then made to the Colonel, after which Lord Mayor Knill and the Colonel, preceded by the city swordbearer, the mace bearers and the reception com- mittee and followed by the company that had been seated on the dais, left the hall and drove to the Mansion House for luncheon. The Colonel, with Ambassador Reid on his left, rode in the Lord Mayor's semi-state carriage drawn by four horses. The Lord Mayor's famous fat coachman, in his cocked hat, plush breeches, silk stockings, plush coat and white wig, sat on the driver's box. A COMMENT FROM THE " MORNING POST." The London Morning Post, in commenting on Colonel Roose- velt's speech said : " The people of this country are grateful for the friendly appreciation expressed by Mr. Roosevelt in Guildhall of the way the British public servants administer the regions intrusted to their care in British East Africa, Uganda and Egyptian Soudan. " Colonel Roosevelt had also a criticism to convey and a sug- gestion to make that is a delicate task for a guest and an outside observer. He grappled with it in the only possible way. He ex- plained that he felt debarred from any expression that would be other than sincere. " Mr. Roosevelt thinks the British Government is too tender- hearted in its dealings with Egypt, and he thinks the so-called Na- tionalist agitation receives too much toleration, and that it should be kept down with a strong hand.' The London Times said : " It would show a sad lack of humor, but then a great many among us are deficient in that saving grace, to take in bad part criticism which is sincere. Well informed beyond all question and thoroughly friendly, Mr. Roosevelt has reminded us in a most kindly way of what we are at least in danger of forgetting COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 379 and no impatience of outside criticism ought to be allowed to divert us from considering the substantial truth of his words." Colonel Roosevelt was the only guest at a luncheon given in his honor the following day by the Irish Party at Carlton House. The original scheme was to entertain him in the House of Commons when the whole party could be present, but the adjournment of Parliament made this impossible. John Redmond occupied the toastmaster's chair. There were also present John Dillon, T. P. O'Connor, Joseph Develin and fourteen other members of the Irish party. The table was decor- ated with Irish flags and floral designs of Irish harps and Teddy bears. Each person, including the Colonel, wore a buttonhole bouquet of shramrock and violets. Mr. Redmond welcomed the Colonel as a life-long friend of the Irish people. In replying, the ex-President said there was another tie between them, the tie of blood, for he was partly of Irish descent. He also said in the Cuban campaign the Irish soldiers were among the best in his regiment and that in his Cabinet there had been several men of Irish descent. " THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE WORLD." This is the lifework, which the logic of events and the known course of international affairs are preparing for our great ex-Pre- sident. To this end, his trip abroad has been directed. To this end, Secretary Knox launched his proposal for a per- manent international tribunal now accepted by all the Powers. To further this, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at Washington, on June 2, favorably acted on a resolution proposing a special commission of five members to endeavor, by a mission abroad, to unite foreign nations in a common effort, first to limit navies, and, second, by international agreement to constitute "the combined navies of the world as an international force for the preservation of universal peace." Many Representatives in Congress would like Colonel Roose* 380 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. velt tG accept the presidency of the proposed Peace Commission. The real negotiations for international peace gravitate by certain and inevitable steps towards the selection of Theodore Roosevelt as the first " Chief Justice " of the world's first permanent international court. Such a court is now certain. This is settled. Details are un- decided. Even so important a matter as the precise number of Powers to be represented in the court has yet to be determined. A denial would be as yet easy as to any positive assertion, beyond the broad fact that such a court is now accepted by every Power whom Senator Knox asked to agree to a permanent international tribunal. PROVISION OF THE HAGUE CONFERENCE. The first Hague Conference provided for the machinery by which a list of arbitrators, two from each country, was provided, from which a Peace Court could be selected when needed. The second Hague Conference left this machinery unchanged, but added, the United States proposing and Germany adding its powerful in- fluence, a permanent admirality court, ready to act as a tribunal of last resort when war came. Secretary Knox proposed to seven Powers, England, France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Japan, a permanent arbitral court, each Power to name two members who will always be ready to hear cases and to be organized like other courts, with a docket, rules and a recognized procedure. The colossal fact which ever-reaches all the rest and brings the world nearer peace than at any time in the History of Man, is that the Powers whose common action now governs the world and renders the opposition of any lesser power ridiculous, have agreed on a permanent court along Secretary Knox's lines, details to be decided later. Germany was expected to refuse and Germany was almost the first power to accept " in principle." France accepted, but desired changes in the way in which ihe judges were selected so as to take care of the interests of the lesser powers. COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND 311 With Spain, France now has close treaty relations which render it necessary for French diplomacy to consider the Spanish dignity and punctilio. Italy followed Germany and France. England is friendly to the proposal, but waits on the action of its Eastern ally, Japan. Japan's acceptance is certain when the final decision comes, because no one Power can stay out when the United States, Germany, France and Italy are agreed and Russia has added her assent, with Austria-Hungary practically included in the accept- ance of Germany. The formal proposal that Colonel Roosevelt be named for this post is believed to come from Germany. It matters little which Power speaks. The logic of events names Roosevelt. Beyond any other man, the world over, he is in line for the place. He satisfies Germany, and neither England nor France can object. Both would welcome him. No European can be named as Chief Justice for this post, for jealousies are too acute. Neither Russia nor Japan can object to the man who made peace between them. MR. ROOSEVELT FOR PEACE AND ARBITRATION. Theodore Roosevelt is no lawyer. No one ever charged him with being that. He is a man after the Kaiser's own heart. While Roosevelt is for peace and arbitration, the monarchs and generals commanding, feel that they "can do business with him." He brought peace between Japan and Russia, with energy and decision, but without ruffling a hair of either. He would not let Japan ask for too much. He made Russia concede enough. Neither lost in dignity. At Panama, in Santo Domingo and in lesser international issues, Theodore Roosevelt satisfied Europe that he had no small scruples about getting things done, when great ends were in view for civilization and order. At the head of an international court he could view issues and disputed questions as a statesman called to grave responsibilities and not as do lawyer and judges, called solely to pass on the law between individuals. Every man in Washington who knows affairs, every diplomat, 382 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. every one called to international issues, sees in Theodore Roosevelt the one man who comes from a free, self-governing country and yet would be accepted by the Rulers of great countries. All Roosevelt's trip has been directed to this end. Read in the light of this proposition and this future post, how masterly are his speeches ! The peace-loving people have got to accept the great peacemaker. His speeches at Cairo and Guildhall on Egypt have stilled all fear among the colony-holding nations that the new international court might be used to raise issues as to subject nations. At Berlin, Germany, Roosevelt had a good word for compulsory military ser- vice and standing armies. At Paris he saw in France the world's intellectual leadership. The dread of the small lands he has stilled by his utterance on international peace and arbitration at Stock- holm. He invoked a great past at Rome and the industrial future at Brussels, with a few judicious words which showed he had no prejudices regarding the Congo. This would be a life position. It would carry a salary com- mensurate with its importance. What is of far more weight in dignity, in world-wide influence, in historic prestige and in genuine importance and actual power, nothing would equal it. Much on the court has yet to be settled. The smaller powers are certain to protest. Powers with great territorial possession like Holland and Belgium are certain to protest. All South America will be loud in objection. The United States wishes no disorder there. AN ENGLISH ESTIMATE OF ROOSEVELT. The British Weekly thus speaks of our ex-President, whose visit to Europe has touched the hearts of the people, both high and low, in such a remarkable degree : ' The attraction of Mr. Roosevelt is that he is America in the flesh. When he speaks the American nation speaks. Therefore we in Europe pay him heed, as we ought to, for the attitude of the American people concerns us all. Red-blooded, warm-hearted, reckless and wise, fierce and kind, a man of the world in the best COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 383 sense, with high ethical standards and sincere religious convictions, Mr. Roosevelt does honor to a country where he is beyond com- parison the most outstanding man, and of which, to all appearance, he might be, if he chose, President for life. Mr. Roosevelt is a true friend of peace, though very far removed from Quaker prin- ciples. There is something wholesome, breezy, and invigorating in his talk, whether one agrees with him or not. All that his critics can say is that he speaks platitudes, but platitudes need to be spoken till they are carried into practice." Colonel Roosevelt's addresses since his return from the wilds of Africa have been a great contribution to the moral forces of the present time. He has spoken under circumstances not given to any other man, and he said the best things in every place, who else than he could have spoken as he has done? On June 7th Colonel Roosevelt was the guest of the University of Oxford, where he delivered his Romanes lecture, and the Uni- versity conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of civil law. THE LECTURE AND CONFERMENT. The lecture and the conferment constituted the main feature of the day, but it did not complete the program, which was as crowded as any that the distinguished American had undertaken in his European travels. Oxford was glad to see our former President and made the fact known. First there was a reception given by the Mayor of the corporation at the town hall. The auditorium was filled to its limits, and when the guests appeared the audience joined in singing " For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." From the town hall the Colonel made hurried visits to the lead- ing colleges and to other places of historic interest. He was entertained at luncheon by the American Club, leaving soon afterwards for the Sheldonian Theater for his lecture and the ceremonies that aded a D. C. L. to the other honorary titles that have been bestowed upon him. The Colonel's subject was " Biological Analogies in History." 384 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. He said : " An American who, in response to such an invitation as 1 have received, speaks in this university of ancient renown cannot but feel with peculiar vividness the interest and charm of his sur- roundings, fraught as they are with a thousand associations. Your great universities, and all the memories that make them great, are living realities in the minds of thousands of men who have never seen them and who dwell across the seas in other lands. Moreover, these associations are no stronger in the men of English stock than in those who are not. " My people have been for eight generations in America ; but in one thing I am like the Americans of to-morrow rather than like the many of the Americans of to-day, for I have in my veins the blood of men who came from many different European races. The athnic make-up of our people is slowly changing, so that constantly the race tends to become more and more akin to that of those Americans who, like myself, are of the old stock but not mainly of English stock. MUTUAL RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING AND SYMPATHY. " Yet I think that, as time goes by, mutual respect, understand- ing, and sympathy among the English-speaking peoples grow greater and not less. Any of my ancestors, Hollander or Hugue- not, Scotchman or Irishman, who had come to Oxford in ' the spac- ious days of great Queen Elizabeth,' would have felt far more alien than I, their descendant, now feel. Common heirship in the things of the spirit makes a closer bond than common heirship in things of the body. " More than ever before in the world's history, we of to-day seek to penetrate the causes of the mysteries that surround not only mankind but all life, both in the present and the past. We search, we peer, we see things dimly ; here and there we get a ray of clear vision as we look before and after. " We study the tremendous procession of the ages, from the immemorial past when in ' cramp elf and saurian forms ' the creative forces ' swathed their too-much power,' down to the yesterday, a COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 38:1 few thousand years distant only, when the history of man became the overwhelming fact in the history of life on this planet; and, studying, we see strange analogies in the phenomena of life and death, of birth, growth, and change. " It is this study which has given science its present-day prom- inence. In the world of intellect, doubtless the most marked fea- tures in the history of the past century have been the extraordinary advances in scientific knowledge and investigation and in the posi- tion held by the men of science with reference to those engaged in other pursuits. " I am not now speaking of applied science — of the science, for instance, which, having revolutionized transportation on the earth and the water, is now on the brink of carrying it into the air ; of the science that finds its expression in such extraordinary achievements as the telephone and the telegraph; of the sciences which have so accelerated the velocity of movement in social and industrial condi- tions — for the changes in the mechanical appliances of ordinary life during the last three generations have been greater than in all the preceding generations since history dawned. SCIENCE CONTROLLED BY CONDITIONS. " I speak of the science which has no more direct bearing upon the affairs of our every-day life than literature or music, painting or sculpture, poetry or history. " Now I am willing that history shall be treated as a branch of science, but only on condition that it also remains a branch of literature; and, furthermore, I believe that as the field of science encroaches on the field of literature, there should be a corresponding encroachment of literature upon science; and I hold that one of the great needs, which can only be met by very able men whose culture is broad enough to include literature as well as science, is the need of books for scientific laymen. We need a literature of science which shall be readable. " So far from doing away with the school of great historians, the school of Polybius and Tacitus, Gibbon and Macaulay, we need 25— T. K. 386 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. merely that the future writers of history, without losing the qualities which have made those men great, shall also utilize the new facts and new methods which science has put at their disposal. " Rome fell by attack from without, only because the ills within her own borders had grown incurable. What is true of your coun- try, my hearers, is true of my own; while we should be vigilant against foes from without, yet we need never really fear them so long as we safe-guard ourselves against the enemies within our own households; and these enemies are our own passions and follies. Free peoples can escape being mastered by others only by being able to master themselves. INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS INVOLVED. "We, Americans, and you people of the British Isles, alike, need ever to keep in mind that, among the many qualities indispensable to the success of a great democracy, and second only to a high and stern sense of duty, of moral obligation, are self-knowledge and self- mastery. You, my hosts, and I may not agree in all our views ; some of you would think me a very radical democrat — as, for the matter of that, I am ; and my theory of imperialism would probably suit the anti-imperialists as little as it would suit a certain type of feeble imperialist. But there are some points on which we must all agree if e think soundly. " The precise form of government, democratic or otherwise, is the instrument, the tool, with which we work. It is important to have a good tool. But, even if it is the best possible, it is only a tool. No implement can ever take the place of the guiding intelligence that wields it. " There are questions that we of the great civilized nations are- ever tempted to ask of the future. Is our time of growth drawing to an end ? Are we as nations soon to come under the rule of that great law of death which is itself but part of the great law of life? None can tell. Forces that we can see and other forces that are hidden or that can but dimly be apprehended are at work all around us, both for good and for evil. COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 387 * After the French Revolution in 1830, Niebuhr hazarded the guess that all civilization was about to go down with a crash, that we were all about to share the fall of third and fourth century. Rome — a respectable but painfully overworked comparison. The fears once expressed by the followers of Malthus as to the future of the world have proved groundless as regards the civilized portion of the world; it is strange indeed to look back at Carlyle's prophecies of some seventy years ago, and then think of the teeming life of achievement, the life of conquest of every kind, and of noble effort crowned by success, which has been ours for the two generations since he complained to high Heaven that all the tales had been told and all the songs sung, and that all the deeds really worth doing had been done. A NATION'S REVITALIZATION. "A nation that seemingly dies may be born again; and even though in the physical sense it die utterly, it may yet hand down a history of heroic achievement, and for all time to come may pro- foundly influence the nations that arise in its place by the impress of what it has done. Best of all is it to do our part well, and at the same time to see our blood live young and vital in men and women fit to take up the task as we lay it down ; for so shall our seed inherit the earth. " While freely admitting all of our follies and weaknesses of to-day, it is yet mere perversity to refuse to realize the incredible advance that has been made in ethical standards. I do not believe that there is the slightest necessary connection between any awaken- ing of virile force and this advance in the moral standard, this growth of the sense of obligation to one's neighbor and of reluctance to do that neighbor wrong. " Every modern civilized nation has many and troublesome problems to solve within its own borders, problems that arise not merely from juxtaposition of poverty and riches, but especially from the self-consciousness of both poverty and riches. Each nation must deal with these matters in its own fashion, and yet the spirit in 388 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. which the problem is approached must ever be fundamentally the same. " It must be a spirit of broad humanity; of brotherly kindness; of acceptance of responsibility, one for each and each for all; and and at the same time a spirit as remote as the poles from every form of weakness and sentimentality. " As in war to pardon the coward is to do cruel wrong to the brave man whose life his cowardice jeopardizes, so in civil affairs it is revolting to every principle of justice to give to the lazy, the vicious, or even the feeble and dull-witted, a reward which is really the robbery of what braver, wiser, abler men have earned. SPECIAL PROBLEMS AND SPECIAL DUTIES OF OUR OWN. " But in addition to these problems the most intimate and im- portant of all which to a larger or less degree affect all the modern nations somewhat alike, we of the great nations that have expanded, that are now in complicated relations with one another and with alien races, have special problems and special duties of our own. " You belong to a nation which possesses the greatest empire upon which the sun has ever shone. I belong to a nation which is trying, on a scale hitherto unexampled, to work out the problems of government for, of, and by the people, while at the same time doing the international duty of a great Power. But there are cer- tain problems which both of us have to solve, and as to which our standards should be the same. " The Englishman, the man of the British Isles, in his various homes across the seas, and the American, both at home and abroad, are brought into contact with utterly alien peoples, some with a civilization more ancient than our own, others still in, or having recently arisen from, the barbarism which our people left behind years ago. " This is what our peoples have in the main done, and must con- tinue to do, in India, Egypt, and the Philippines alike. In the next place, as regards every race, everywhere, at home or abroad, we COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 389 cannot afford to deviate from the great rule of righteousness which bids us treat each man on his worth as a man. " This has nothing to do with social intermingling, with what is called social equality. It has to do merely with the question of doing to each man and each woman that elementary justice which will permit him or her to gain from life the reward which should always accompany thrift, sobriety, self-control, respect for the rights of others, and hard and intelligent work to a given end. " The foreign policy of a great and self-respecting country should be conducted on exactly the same plane of honor, of insistence upon one's own rights and of a respect for the rights of others, as when a brave and honorable man is dealing with his fellows. THE COLONEL'S PERSONAL HONOR. " Permit me to support this statement out of my own experi- ence. For nearly eight years I was the head of a great nation and charged especially with the conduct of its foreign policy; and during those years I took no action with reference to any other people on the face of the earth that I would not have felt justified in taking as an individual in dealing with other individuals. " I believe that we, of the great civilized nations of to-day, have a right to feel that long careers of achievement lie before our several countries. To each of us is vouchsafed the honorable privi- lege of doing his part, however small, in that work. " Let us strive heartily for success, even if by so doing we risk failure, spurning the poorer souls of small endeavor who know neither failure nor success. Let us hope that our own blood shall continue in the land, that our children and children's children to endless generations shall rise to take our places and play a mighty and dominant part in the world. But whether this be denied or granted by the years we shall not see, let at least the satisfaction be ours that we have carried onward the lighted torch in our own day and generation. " If we do this, then, as our eyes close, and we go out into the 390 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. darkness, and other hands grasp the torch, at least we can say that our part has been borne well and valiantly." There were more applications for admission to hear Colonel Roosevelt's lecture at Oxford than when Mr. Gladstone gave the first Romanes lecture and the theatre was fuller than when Prof. Huxley gave the second lecture or when Mr. Balfour gave the lecture in November, 1909. As Colonel Roosevelt stood before the chancellor, Lord Curzon, the latter addressed three Latin hexameters to him, which trans- lated were: " Behold, vice-chancellor, the promised wright Before whose coining comets turned to flight And all the startled mouths of sevenfold Nile took fright." Lord Curzon then addressed Colonel Roosevelt, his first word " strenuissime " being declaimed in an indescribably whimsical fashion, which brought a roar of laughter. The address was spoken in Latin. It may be translated : LORD CURZON'S ADDRESS. " Most strenuous of men, most distinguished of citizens to-day playing a part on the stage of the world, you who have twice admin- istered with purity the first magistracy of the great republic and may perhaps administer it a third time, peer of most august kings, queller of men, destroyer of monsters, wherever found, yet most human of mankind, deeming nothing indifferent to you, not even the blackest of the black, I by my authority and that of the whole University admit you to the degree of doctor of civil law, honoris causa." Colonel Roosevelt's last day in England was one of seclusion and rest. He was the guest of Sir Edward Grey at the latter's home in Hampshire and together the two tramped through New Forest, the ancient royal hunting grounds, rich in its fauna and flora, and of absorbing interest to entomologists. In characteristic fashion Colonel Roosevelt deprived Londoners of the opportunity of giving him a sendoff . Before the people were COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 391 aware of his intention he had left the city, and not a dozen persons knew the time or the manner of his departure. When the Colonel arrived at Southampton in the morning he immediately joined his family and then the entire party went to the steamship dock. There was a large crowd waiting, and he was greeted by the Mayor and the Sheriff of Southampton. To the Mayor the former President said : " I would like to express through you, Mr. Mayor, my thanks to the people of this country for the way in which I have been re- ceived and to say what pleasant memories I shall always retain of the last portion of my sojourn in England. " Of course, it was begun under the saddest of circumstances. When I came as the representative of my people to express their sympathy for your country in its hour of affliction I was glad to have the chance of being the American representative here at such a time ; and since then your people have received me with such cor- dial and courteous hospitality that I cannot sufficiently express my appreciation in words." After cordial farewells to Sir Edward Grey, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur H. Lee, formerly Military Attache of the British Embassy at Washington, and other friends who had come to say good-by, the Roosevelts embarked upon a tender and were carried out to the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. The vessel sailed soon after they had gone aboard. ROOSEVELT MADE " HIT " AS STOKER ON OCEAN LINER. Every one of the great number of people aboard the huge Kaiserin Auguste Victoria had a chance to see and hear Colonel Roosevelt. On June 15, he completed his round of the ship by a visit to the stokehold where he grasped the grimy hands of the stokers and chatted with them as though they were the crew of his own private yacht. The visit to the stokehold was one of the most interesting events of the trip, and the stokers did their best to show their 392 COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. appreciation of the honor. Those who were on the off shift tidied themselves up as much as possible, but Roosevelt seemed even more anxious to shake the hands of those who were actually engaged in feeding the huge furnaces. As one of these laid down his shovel, Roosevelt grabbed it up and showed that he knew something about the knack of stoking by " sifting " several shovels of coal over the glowing bed of coals. The stokers cheered the Colonel heartily when they saw that he was " one of them." The captain of the ship accompanied the colonel on his rounds through the stokehold. After his visit below he held an informal reception on deck for the first and second class passengers. This with his visit to the steerage on the preceding Sunday, cleaned up the colonel's reception list. All aboard ship claimed personal acquaintance with their distinguished fellow passenger. The Colonel's Guildhall speech led to a long discussion of Egyptian affairs in the House of Commons on June 13, the Con- servatives demanding to know what course the Ministers proposed to pursue, and some of the members denouncing what they termed Mr. Roosevelt's interference. Arthur J. Balfour, leader of the Opposition, expressed warm appreciation of Mr. Roosevelt's sympathetic and kindly treatment of the subject. There was nothing in the speech, he said, to which the most sensitive Briton could take exception. The situa. tion in Egypt, he declared, called for prompt action, and he hoped the government would take steps to give support to the British representatives there, without which they will be helpless. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, replying to the criticisms in behalf of the Government, announced that Mr. Roosevelt's speech had been communicated to him before it was delivered. He had seldom listened to a speech with greater pleasure. Its friendly intention, he said, was obvious, and, taken as a whole, it was the greatest compliment to the work of ona country ever paid by a citizen of another. COLONEL ROOSEVELT IN ENGLAND. 393 " The Daily Mail " printed a long summary of some of the im- pressions Colonel Roosevelt derived from his tour as recorded in several conversations with a well-known writer. The manner in which his Guildhall speech was received convinced Colonel Roose- velt that he was fully justified in delivering it. It also increased his respect for the nation, which was not too proud to listen to criticism as well as praise. He expressed warm admiration for the public men he met and of the attitude of the nation. So long as British public men keep their high ideals of public duty and so long as Britons breed a race of tall, straight, clean- limbed men and gentle, sweet-faced women, Colonel Roosevelt said he would not heed the rumors of creeping paralysis and would not believe that the British empire was anywhere near an end. The Colonel declared that all over Europe he found evidence that ethical standards were higher probably than ever was known before. Ideas which are religious in the highest sense are spread- ing. The rulers of every land were inspired by noble purposes and a strong sense of duty of which very few examples could be drawn from earlier times. Regarding Colonel Roosevelt's future the correspondent said: " The Colonel intends to work away quietly at his conservation policies. He has no intention to live in the public eye, and if it were left to himself to decide he would not think of a third Presidential term as even a possibility. The question is whether the people of the United States will not decide it for him. " He would be quite content to live his life quietly and happily in his home and with his friends. With a thousand interests to keep his mind active and his sympathies keen no man was ever less dependent upon the excitement and rewards of public life. He could do without them perfectly well." The correspondent, however, found it inconceivable that the world would not make further demands upon such a man. He con- cluded enthusiastically: "If America were so unappreciative of greatness as not to call on him further, let us have him back in Europe." CHAPTER XXX NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. Reception Unequalled in Country's History Accorded Re- turning Hero — Millions Cheer Him — Guns Roar — Whistles Shriek Grand Greetings on Land and Water — Pageants Mark His Triumphant Return. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, the most distinguished citizen of the United States, is once more at home. He was received at New York with the nearest approach we can arrange to the tri- umphs with which Rome honored its generals on returning from a conquest of the world. Theodore Roosevelt has stirred Africa and Asia and has conquered Europe and the American people could not with self-respect pay less honors to their most striking representa- tive and embodiment than he had received from foreigners. The people like him. They like him for his frankness, his colloquial language, his free and easy air, his lack of conventionality and ceremony and officialism. Perhaps they liked him best of all because the national traits are uncommonly well developed in him. He presents strikingly the national virtues. He is strong, breezy, good humored and quick in resentment, informal and can on occa- sions be chiding and reproving. Mr. Roosevelt's popularity is enormous and it is deserved. It is creditable to the American people that they like him, even if he has limitations, and some of them rather conspicuous. He was honored in Europe because he was an ex-President of the United States, but they liked him personally. LTndeniably he made a tre- mendous impression all the way from Cairo to Oxford. He added to our national prestige. Mr. Roosevelt is a man of great force and of uncommonly likable qualities. His countrymen are proud of him and they are immensely pleased that he made so much of a sensation in Europe. 39 i NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. :;93 The following appeared in the editorial column of the New York Times: " New York's welcome to the returning: ex- ['resident of the United States will fitly represent the feeling of the whole country for its most illustrious citizen. Whatever of political pur- pose may underlie the great civic demonstration, there is no doubt of the sincerity of the public's esteem and affection for Mr. Roose- velt, which it so vociferously demonstrated. His compatriots are not all of one mind as to his ability as a constructive statesman, and the value of his services to the Nation. But while his faults may be obvious, his merits are equally clear, and they are of a kind that appeals strongly to the sentiment of the American multitude. THE COLONEL UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO THE PRESS. " As for the publicity accorded the world over to every act and utterance of the ex-President, it is only fair to say that he has done much more for the newspaper press than the press has ever done for him. He is the most alert, interesting, and conspicuous private citizen in the world. He is accounted by many the greatest man of his era in this country, by some enthusiasts the greatest in its history, and he has won this superlative measure of esteem, not by any deliberate bid for public approval, not by craftily ministering to supposed popular prejudice, but by his broad humanity, his un- questionable patriotism, the wholesome cleanliness of his life, his mental as well as physical vigor, and his courage. Few can help sharing in the enthusiasm of his welcome. " Mr. Roosevelt has been absent nearly fifteen months. Much of this time was spent in the African wilds amid the rigors of primitive life which few of his fellow-citizens would care to en- counter. He has since been received with tremendous acclaim in nearly every European State, and, unlike most travelers, has been giving rather than receiving impressions. His utterances have been eagerly heard and widely reported. The small amount of hostile criticism, of equally small importance, inspired by his im- pulsive speaking has been lost in a great chorus of praise. " Academic and civic honors have been showered upon him, 39fl NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. and, although he has borne himself always as the plain American citizen, he has received the tribute generally paid in Europe only to royalty. No other citizen has ever caused such a furor abroad. Yet except for a few startling sentences in his speeches at Cairo and at the Guildhall in London, he has expressed only those ideas of human progress and the requirements of modern civilization he has often expressed before, and has been, in every aspect, the Roosevelt we have known so long. " Politics, as we have said, played but an insignificant part in his reception. The programme of the ceremony had been in pre- paration a long time, to be sure. But the enthusiasm displayed was not of the quality that can be artificially stimulated. We must take it as a spontaneous outpouring of popular feeling. COMMENT OF A WELL-KNOWN PHILADELPHIA EDITOR. The following article was written by a well-known Philadelphia editor: " It is no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the nation are turned toward New York. It is equally within the truth to say that the sturdy, vigorous American whose home-coming was marked by such an outburst of tumultuous enthusiasm has even a greater degree of popularity and influence among the masses of his own countrymen than when he left the soil of this Republic on the tour which has taken him over half the world. " Absence has not diminished his prestige, but increased it. Whether Roosevelt has been facing lions in Africa, meeting mon- archs in Europe, or admonishing distinguished audiences in the older centres of civilization, his acts and words have been keenly noted by a large majority of the nation over which he presided as Chief Magistrate. Distance has magnified his personality, emphasized the aggressive virility which is his foremost characteristic, and added to the interest with which he has been regarded. " This is an undeniable fact. It cannot be questioned by those who oppose his policies and condemn his methods as a public leader. It is accepted with jubilation by the enormously greater host of those who attach little importance to errors that he has committed, NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 397 but who look upon him as the champion of the rights of the common people, the determined foe of unjust privilege, and the militant exemplar of civic righteousness. It is a remarkable position which Roosevelt occupies and one that has great opportunities for useful service." The New York greeters poured into New York City by the thousands. New York never really knows when it is crowded. That is why the resident who strolls the streets casually doesn't know that the town is filling up like a balloon. Down in the Wall Street section were hundreds of a decidedly Western aspect sauntering through streets where the New Yorker always feels that it is necessary for him to walk at a third sped clip. They were seen also, thousands of them, in upper Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The clerks of the Fifth Avenue hotels had their troubles. All the clubs from out of town wanted outside room's in the Fifth Avenue hotels, and they wanted rooms on the lower floors. It was not their purpose to stand in line along the curb as the Colonel passes. It was their intention to greet him joyously from the windows, from which they waved flags and sent forth wild yells of greeting. THE ROUGH RIDERS' HEADQUARTERS. The Rough Riders, strangely enough, were quartered in the staid Buckingham, at Fiftieth Street and Fifth Avenue. The Buckingham is what one might term a hotel of the old school. The wild and breezy atmosphere that the Rough Riders bring with them appeared strangely out of place in this placid place of abode. Fifty former members of the Rough Riders swept into the hotel as if they were charging up San Juan Hill again. Twenty- five, including Colonel " Aleck " O. Brodie, of St. Paul, Minn., who succeeded Colonel Roosevelt as commander of the regiment, arrived in advance of the others, and there were some fifty or more who live in and near New York. They were all there, and such a round of handshaking the hotel clerks admit they never saw before. San Juan Hill was recaptured a dozen times between 6 and 1 1 o'clock. 398 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. Captain Arthur F. Cosby, in the dual capacity of a Rough Rider and secretary of the Roosevelt Reception Committee, was on hand with Colonel Brodie to welcome the newcomers, most of whom had arrived on the special car in which they traveled from St. Louis. They stopped over in Washington a few hours to meet President Taft. The newcomers had some rare experiences to tell when they had begun to unbosom themselves. But the talk lingered longest about Theodora, the new daughter of the regiment, less than forty- eight hours old, with a bank account of $41. This is how she came to be the daughter of the regiment : While the train was speeding east between St. Louis and Cin- cinnati a baby girl was born in the coach just ahead of that bringing the Rough Riders. Several of the wives of the Rough Riders heard the news, and " Bill " McGinty, described by Colonel Roosevelt as the best broncho-buster in the world; Louis Maverick, of San Antonio, Texas, whose father gave his name to unbranded cattle, and a lot of the others formed a committee to start the young woman in life with a bank account. AN ADOPTED BABY GIRL IS NAMED "THEODORA." When the wives of the Rough Riders conveyed the purse to the mother and told her the Rough Riders wanted to adopt the little pink stranger and name her Theodora in honor of the great ' Theodore," the mother sent back w T ord that she would be " de- lighted." Many of the Rough Riders wrung the hand of Warren Crockett until his knuckles cracked. Crockett is a deputy collector of internal revenue in Marietta, Ga., and for the eleven years since the war has been chasing moonshiners in the mountains of that State. He arrived in New York ten days in advance of the Colonel's arrival, and went to Yonkers to visit some friends, when he was taken ill. They put him in a hospital, and the doctor told him he was still suffering from the effects of the yellow fever he caught in Cuba, with a touch of appendicitis. NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 399 " But I am going to ride in that parade on Saturday," Crockett told the doctor. But the doctor said if he did it might kill him. " I lay there two or three days," Crockett said in telling about it, " and then when the doctor wasn't about and the nurses weren't over watchful I slipped on my clothes and here I am. And I am going to ride in that parade if it does kill me." Among those at the Buckingham was Captain Martin Crim- mins, U. S. A., son of John D. Crimmins, of New York. Captain Crimmins, who is an old Rough Rider, was on his way to Alaska, where he has been ordered by the Secretary of War on special duty. And then there was Guilford Chapin. " Look at that little cuss. He was the oldest man in the regi- ment. Look at the beard on him. We called him grandfather," said one Rough Rider. OLDEST MAN IN THE REGIMENT. " Yes," said Chapin, " that's my name, G-u-i-1-f-o-r-d Chapin," from Nutriosis, Arizona. Yes, sir, I reckon I was the oldest man in the regiment. I'm sixty-three now; that makes me fifty-one when I went in. But I didn't tell 'em that. I didn't go back to the Bible. I gave my military age, forty-two — just right to slip in." Among the Rough Riders from New Mexico were former Governor George Curry, of New Nexico, who was a captain in the regiment; Major W. H. H. Llewellyn, Lieutenant D. J. Leahy and Captain Fred Muller. Curry had led an active life since the war. He went out to the Philippines in the volunteer army, became Governor in turn of three provinces, and was chief of police in Manila for three years. He -was engaged in writing his reminiscences of the Philippines. Captain Muller brought along the flag which was presented by the ladies of New Mexico to the second squadron of the regiment. "New Mexico furnished more than 300 of the 1,200 Rough Riders," said Curry. " It's a pretty long way for our boys to travel to get to the reunion, but all the boys would have liked to get here." The morning mist hung low over the bay when the Kaiserin 400 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. Aoguste Victoria, the Hamburg American Liner that bore the former President loomed up at Sandy Hook. It was just 6.30 when the press tug J. K. Gilkinson sighted the incoming steamer, and a few minutes afterward a salute of twenty-one guns boomed forth from the gray battleship South Carolina. Five torpedo boat destroyers, the Flusser, Reid, Smith, Lamson and Preston were hovering around as a naval escort for the liner. Decked out from stem to stern with flags of every color and nation the Kaiserin dropped her anchor off Quarantine at 7.55. Another salute for Colonel Roosevelt had boomed from the muzzles of Fort Wadsworth, and he stood gazing till the last flicker of smoke had died away. WELCOMED BY THE RECEPTION COMMITTEE. Mr. Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, Kermit, Theodore, Jr., Mrs. Alice Longworth, and Miss Alexander, the fiancee of young Roose- velt, with half a dozen intimate friends were in earnest converse on the deck of the Manhattan with the returning big game hunter a few moments afterward. The committee boat Androscoggin with Cor- nelius Vanderbilt and a couple of hundred members of the Reception Committee named by Mayor Gaynor was speeding down the bay and at 8.45 a gangplank was swung from the Manhattan to the committee boat. From every point of the compass steamers were coming up to witness the debarkation of Colonel Roosevelt from the Manhattan. The air reverberated with the shrieks of steam whistles and cheers could be heard on every side. All eyes were on the silk-hatted, frock-coated figure of Mr. Roosevelt. As the gangplank was made fast he looked up and beamed at the row of committee members leaning over the Androscoggin's side. Suddenly he made a dash t ward Collector Loeb. " Hey, Billy, Billy," he cried, startling his former secretary with the suddenness of the call, " Don't forget my overcoat." A little laugh went round the boats as the faithful Loeb took charge of the coat, and then while another salute of twenty-one guns NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 401 split the ears from the South Carolina, Mr. Roosevelt made his way to the deck of the Androscoggin. A cheer that was taken up by- thousands of throats on the nearby vessels rang from end to end of the committee boat. Cornelius Vanderbilt, as chairman of the committee, met the home-coming hunter at the starboard gangway. Colonel Roosevelt extended his hand, but Mr. Vanderbilt held back for a moment. " As chairman of the committee appointed by Mayor Gaynor to receive you on your return," said Mr. Vanderbilt in a quiet tone, while every other voice on board was stilled, " I have the honor of presenting you with this badge on behalf of the committee." Mr. Vanderbilt opened a little black case and took out a gold medal similar to the badges worn by members of the committee This he pinned on the lapel of Mr. Roosevelt's coat, and then he shook the Colonel's hand. UNABLE TO EXPRESS HIS APPRECIATION. The ex-President bared his head and his sun-tanned cheeks glowed with pride. With the incisive manner that characterizes his speech, punctuated by snaps of his square jaws, he replied : " I'm sure I am glad to thank you and to see you. I appreciate all the committee has done. I cannot express myself with sufficient emphasis and appreciation." A volley of cheers marked the end of the little speech and Col. Roosevelt was hurried through the surging throng of reporters and committee men to the stern of the Androscoggin. There, stand- ing under an awning, he began a reception. Meantime in the still waters of the harbor there was a great churning of screws and paddles and the water parade began to form in line. The revenue steamers Calumet and Hudson led the pro- cession, and between them, a little astern, came the U. S. steamer Dolphin, Secretary Meyer's boat. The battleship South Carolina, a great wave rolling from her bow, steamed gray and forbidding behind the Dolphin, followed by the torpedo boat destroyers and two patrol boats. 2ft— T.R. 402 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. When so much of the line had been formed the Androscoggin slowly turned her nose toward the North River and set out in pur- suit. The revenue steamer Seneca, with another load of committee members and a battalion of newspaper men and photographers, steamed along behind in line with the Mohawk, another revenue steamer, and back of them came the Manhattan with the family and intimate friends of Mr. Roosevelt on board. That closed the official list of parading vessels, but in a line that stretched for miles back of the Manhattan was the Albany and a fleet of private yachts, tugboats and other vessels under command of Commodore F. B. Dalzell, on board the tug Dalzelline. As the Androscoggin steamed leisurely up the river the twelve divisions of following vessels made a magnificent tail to the procession, dressed up in multi-colored bunting. THE COLONEL HOLDS A RECEPTION. All interest was centred in the group at the stern of the Andro- scoggin. There, flanked by Cornelius Vanderbilt and Captain Cosby, the secretary of the committee, with Collector Loeb and Commodore R. A. C. Smith standing in front of him, Colonel Roose- velt was busy shaking hands and greeting those on board as they passed in line before him. Captain Cosby alone of the committee was not attired in the traditional frock coat. An old Rough Rider, he had donned the uniform of the corps for the occasion, and the Colonel slapped him on the back and shook him with both hands in sheer glee at the sight of the beloved khaki. An old friend of the Democratic side of the House to be wel- comed was James YV. Oliver, the Assemblyman known as " Paradise Jimmy." Oliver looked ill as he stepped up to clasp the Colonel's hand. He was met with a handclasp as gentle as a woman's, yet full of the characteristic Rooseveltian heartiness. " Ah, Jimmy," said Mr. Roosevelt, " it's really a pleasure to see you again and have you welcome me. How goes it with you? He and I, you know," was added, with a glance at the reporters, NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 403 " were together in the Legislature in the old days, and I can tell you we never allowed the Constitution to come between friends. Did we, Jimmy?" Another clasp of the hand and Oliver had given way to another committeeman. There passed before him fully two hundred men, Governors, soldiers, lawyers, secretaries, bankers — men of many walks in life. For each he had a little word as he gave the strenuous handclasp. For Governor Fort of New Jersey Mr. Roosevelt's welcome was particularly hearty, and he caused a laugh when a young man an- nounced himself as from the University of California. " That university ought to be mighty grateful to me," said the Colonel, " for I sent it an elephant. The first time such a gift was ever made to a university, I believe, and furthermore, it was not a white one." A WORD FOR EVERYBODY. President Miller of Bronx Borough got a hearty greeting, just as did Beverly Robinson, lawyer, who was reminded that he was with Roosevelt on Marcy Mountain when the news of the shooting of President McKinley reached them. The newspaper men got a kind word, and Colonel Roosevelt spoke of having " four of the elect of the guild " with him as constant companions " from way above Khartoum." Walter S. Page, publisher, was told that Mr. Roosevelt " wanted to see him soon about that book," and a professorlike man was assured : " Yes, I like my Romanes lecture the best of all. It was the more finished." Brig.-Gen. Wingate was informed that the Sirdar of Egypt had sent his best regards; Henry Clews was greeted and told to give his daughter " my best love ;" Frank Tyree, a former Secret Service agent, was reminded of old days; Joseph Murray, a Republican district leader, was thanked for having been Roosevelt's sponsor in political matters as a youth, and Gov. Mills of New Mexico, was thanked for coming so far. To a man who who wanted him to come out to Arizona, Colonel Roosevelt said : " Yes, I feel fine, ancl I can't look as fine as I feel ; but, there are 404 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. limits to my physical powers, sir, that is all." Former Senator McCarty of Kentucky, also was heartily greeted, and former Judge Elbert H. Gary was slapped on the back and told to " look cheerful." Alfred Lauterbach came in for a strong grip. All the handshaking was done by the time the Androscoggin had got close to Fourteenth Street on the North River, and then Colonel Roosevelt made for the captain's bridge. The shores of Xew Jersey, like those of New York and Brooklyn, were black with people, and the noise of the shrieking steam whistles was deafening. Opposite Fourteenth Street it was decided to turn back, instead of going on to Fifty-ninth. Time was passing and the Colonel was due at the Battery at 1 1 o'clock. Punctually at 1 1 Mr. Roosevelt reached that place, left the boat and went to the stand where Mayor Gaynor was awaiting him. The Battery Park and surroundings were jammed with spectators and the cheers were ear-splitting. Then calm was restored and Mayor Gaynor delivered his short address of welcome. MAYOR GAYNOR'S WELCOME. Mayor Gaynor welcomed Colonel Roosevelt in less than one hundred and fifty words and the Colonel began his reply imme- diately. His voice was a little hoarse, but he spoke with his usual force and declamatory effect. A big cheer and a loud laugh went up when he said with emphasis : " I enjoyed myself immensely." Mayor Gaynor, in welcoming the Colonel said : " We are all here to welcome Mr. Roosevelt to New York. We have watched his progress through Europe with delight. Wherever he has gone he has been honored as a man and as an exponent of the principles of the government of this country. He was received everywhere in Europe and honored as no man from this country ever was honored. We glory in all that, and it only remains for me to say now, Colonel Roosevelt, that we welcome you home most heartily, and we are glad to see you again." Replying to Mayor Gaynor, the Colonel said : " I thank you, Mayor Gaynor. Through you I thank your committee and through NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 405 them I wish to thank the American people for their greeting. I need hardly say I am most deeply moved by the reception given me. No man could receive such a greeting without being made to feel both very proud and very humble. " I have been away a year and a quarter from America and I have seen strange and interesting things alike in the heart of the frowning wilderness and in the capitals of the mightiest and most highly polished of civilized nations. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself, and now I am more glad than I can say to get home, to be back in my own country, back among people I love. And I am ready and eager to do my part so far as I am able in helping solve problems which must be solved if we of this, the greatest democratic Republic upon which the sun has ever shone, are to see its destinies rise to the high level of our hopes and its opportunities. DUTY OF CITIZENS. " This is the duty of every citizen, but it is peculiarly my duty ; for any man who has ever been honored by being made President of the United States is thereby forever after rendered the debtor of the American people and is bound throughout his life to remember this as his prime obligation, and in private life as much as in public life so to carry himself that the American people may never have cause to feel regret that once they placed him at their head." After the brief exercises at the Battery the land parade started. Because of the great number of organizations from all over the country that wanted to march, the parade was limited to little more than an escort. A selection was made, therefore, and these bodies were lined up on both sides of Fifth Avenue. The parade was led by a squadron of mounted police, followed by the Squadron A mounted band. The Roosevelt Rough Riders, who were holding their first reunion since 1905, came next, escort- ing their former Colonel. The Rough Riders had assembled under Colonel Alexander A. Brodie, who was a major in the old regiment. The men came from all over the country, though mostly from the West. Colonel Brodie 406 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. is now a lieutenant colonel in the regular army station at St. Paul, in the adjutant general's office. About one hundred and fifty former members of the regiment rode in the parade, wearing new vmi forms, but carrying the tattered old battle flags. The Abernathy boys, who came all the way from Oklahoma on horseback, were in the parade. The Colonel's carriage followed immediately behind the Rough Riders. Mayor Gaynor and Cornelius Vanderbilt were with him. In the carriages immediately following were the representatives of the President and the various States. The committee of the New York Senate and Assembly occupied five carriages. The three hundred members of the reception committee followed, and after them marched the Seventh Regiment Band of one hundred pieces. A high tribute was paid to Theodore Roosevelt by Governor John Franklin Fort, who addressed a throng of Freemasons at the ceremonies of the laying of the cornerstone for the first Masonic Temple in East Orange. He declared that the ex-President was an ideal Mason and the leading citizen of the world. GREATEST CITIZEN OF THE WORLD. The Governor offered his eulogy by a coincidence from the very platform from which a week previous he had roused the en- thusiasm of another crowd, by calling for three cheers for Roosevelt and leading them with a will. The Governor alluded to the time when the Fredericksburg Lodge of Masons in Virginia celebrated its sesquicentennial. Roosevelt, then President of the United States, addressed the celebrants, but in the lodge he was not " The President," but just " Brother Roosevelt." :i I say to-day that that same man is the greatest citizen of the Republic," said the Governor. " He is the greatest citizen of the world, and recognized as such, I believe, in every nation. I thought of that occasion at Fredericksburg when to-day I saw 500,000 pay- ing such a glorious tribute to one single man." Fully a million and a half people stood and waited for the moment when, in ship, or in carriage, the returning Roosevelt should NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 407 come within their field of vision, and when he did the noise broke loose. Bands blared, cannon roared, and sirens screamed, but above their din rose the steady continuous thunder of human wel- come. " Oh, you Roosevelt," " Good Old Teddy !" rang the five mile chorus, and through it all he rode bareheaded, flushed with the pride of hero-worship, bowing to right and left, picking out here and there some enthusiast for special notice, a wave of the hand or a wide smile. Theodore Roosevelt is little changed from the man who sailed for Africa fifteen months ago. A little more grizzled perhaps, as to the framing of his upper lip, a trifle heavier in the shoulders from the muscle forming strenuousness of big game hunting. HE'S THE SAME OLD ROOSEVELT. But the flat topped head was flung back as defiantly as when of old he faced an audience, the glistening teeth flashed as brightly under the gold rimmed glasses, the blue gray eyes smiled out with the same magnetic brilliancy and the stubby sun-scorched fingers gripped in handshake with all the tensity of yore. Ideal weather marked the passing of the show. " Roosevelt luck," his admirers called it, and not until the parade had disbanded and Rough Riders and Spanish War Veterans had dispersed did the sky open its flood gates and drench the streets with a furious down- pour. But Roosevelt Day was over then to all intents and purposes, . and the crash of thunder and blaze of lightning were deemed by many to be only the closing salute of the clouds. Mr. Roosevelt may well have felt a deep inward satisfaction at the quality of his welcome home. There were the parades on land and sea, there were the crowds, the shouting and the bands, there was, moreover, that sincere heartiness of greeting without which all these ceremonies would have been but a hollow formality. No circumstance appropriate to a triumphal re-entry was wanting. Mr. Roosevelt's city and Mr. Roosevelt's country rejoice that he has 408 NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. come back safe and sound from his voluntary yet most agreeable exile. Now that his remarkable journey has come to an end, his coun- trymen will inevitably turn their thoughts to the future. They wonder what part he is to take in their affairs. The conjecture that he himself is thinking of the future would not violently strain the probabilities, we presume. It is one of Mr. Roosevelt's pecu- liarities that he keeps thinking himself, and that he keeps others thinking. He has said that he shall say nothing about politics for at least two months. That resolution was wise and prudent, no doubt, though he may find it hard to keep it to the letter. It is another of Mr. Roosevelt's peculiarities that he is apt to give the country early information of what is going on in his mind. It is doubtless safer for him and for the country that this is so. It tends to the avoidance of surprises and gives time for preparation. CHAPTER XXXI. FORMS BULL MOOSE PARTY. Could Not Stay Out of Public Life — Seeks Third Term as President — Wages Picturesque Campaign — Victim of Crank's Bullet — Goes Down to Political Defeat — Back to Literary Work. RETURNING to the United States, June 13, 1910, after his re- markable European trip, Colonel Roosevelt devoted himself for a time to literary work. He wrote an autobiography which was published serially, attracting much attention, and took up his duties with ' ' The Outlook, ' ' a weekly magazine, at a salary that has been said — although not authoritatively — to have been $30,000 a year, and resolved not to enter into politics any further. But a nature so strenuous would not long permit him to keep out of the maelstrom of public life, when it was evident that there were things to be done, that had apparently become doomed to be left undone. It soon became patent to him that much of the im- portant and valuable work accomplished during his administration was to be rendered without avail. Colonel Roosevelt first took some part in the New York State campaign and gradually developed an interest in the national one, which sought to re-nominate William Howard Taft for the presi- dential chair. Extreme pressure was brought to bear upon the Colonel before he finally decided to become a candidate. When the campaign of 1912 approached, "The Outlook" took up the cudgel in his behalf. The governors of seven Western States journeyed to the Roosevelt home at Oyster Bay and asked him to run for the nomination for President on the Republican ticket. Letters, telegrams, personal calls from men in every walk of life and many other evidences of a strong popular feeling in his behalf found their way to Sagamore Hill, and eventually he "threw his hat into the ring" and made history in a memorable race. Colonel Roosevelt held that Mr. Taft, pledged to carry out the 409 410 FORMS BULL MOOSE PARTY policies of the preceding administration as he had carried out those of Mr. McKinley, had violated his word and, though bitterly as- sailed by many newspapers, he expressed it as his duty to return to do battle for "human rights. " Once having determined to enter the fight, he inaugurated what was probably one of the most remarkable pre-convention campaigns in the history of the country. With characteristic energy he toured a large portion of America, making fiery speeches in States that provided for presidential primaries. Great throngs greeted him wherever he spoke and his every appearance was an ovation. His reputation as a phrase maker was not allowed to suffer even during this feverish period. Referring to the long-delayed project of the Panama Canal building, in a memorable speech in the Metro- politan Opera House in Philadelphia he said in substance: "Since the days of Balboa there have been dreams and talk of a waterway spanning the Isthmus of Panama and joining the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. There was talk of it in the early days of the Republic. De Lesseps started to build it, but his enterprise vanished in talk. There has been talk and nothing but talk through successive Presidential administrations until I recognized Panama. Now after two hundred years of conversation they have stopped talking about the waterway and transferred their attention to me. But the canal is being built." FORMATION OF THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY His campaign seemed to insure a majority of votes large enough to secure his nomination at the Chicago convention. He personally conducted his own fight there, but the decision of the Credentials Committee against him in a large number of State contests alone kept him from once again holding the reins of his party. With Mr. Taft nominated, the Colonel after several weeks' con- sideration and encouraged by the exhortations of many of the most prominent of his countrymen, decided to "cross the Rubicon." He bolted his party and formed the Progressive Party, also nicknamed the "Bull Moose" faction, at a convention held in Chicago, August 7, 1912, being nominated for the presidency with Hiram W. John- son, of California, as his running mate. It is interesting to record that for the first time in this country's history a President's nomi- FORMS BULL MOOSE PARTY 411 nation was seconded by a woman, Jane Addams acting in that capacity. In the platform the newly born party declared among other principles for direct primaries for the nomination of States and National offices and candidates for the presidency; for the popular election of United States senators, and urged on the States the use of the short ballot, "with respectability of the people insured by the initiative, referendum and recall." National jurisdiction of problems which have expanded beyond the reach of individual States was advocated. Pledges were made to provide "a more easy and expeditious method of amending the Federal Constitution"; to se- cure equal suffrage; to enactment of legislation limiting campaign contributions and expenditures and providing for publicity thereof; to judicial reform ; to a full and immediate inquiry and to immediate action to deal with the high cost of living, and demanded "such restrictions of the power of the courts as shall leave to the people the ultimate authority to determine fundamental questions of social welfare and public policy." ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT The convention, unique in the history of such American political functions, was a picturesque and colorful affair. Enthusiasm was rampant. There were record-breaking cheers, parades about the hall and many other demonstrations of approval of their idol by the delegates. Governor Johnson, in his acceptance speech for the vice- presidency, said: "I would rather go down to defeat with Theodore Roosevelt than to victory with any other presidential candidate." Colonel Roosevelt at once opened a vigorous campaign which was carried on with unabated zeal until an attempt was made upon his life by John Schrank, a crank, during a speech at Milwaukee, October 14, 1912. Schrank shot at the Progressive leader from the centre of the crowd about the speaker's platform and the bullet lodged in the candidate's right breast. In spite of his weakened condition he persisted in his scheduled speech, but the attack tem- porarily put an end to his activities. It was at this point, however, that the Colonel showed his char- acteristic rare courage, aggressive determination and Spartan forti- 412 FORMS BULL MOOSE PARTY tude. Entering the Auditorium he began his address despite im- portunities by his friends to desist. He talked until he became faint from the loss of blood. Despite the frequent efforts of his son Kerinit to have him stop, he continued to address his audience until the blood had soaked its way through his clothing and made its presence evident to those about him by a large stain. Then waving his hand to his hearers, he staggered to the west wing of the stage supported by his son. So admirably had the Colonel carried out his speech that it was not until his dramatic exit that the report flashed through the building that the speaker had been wounded. The injured man was taken in a special train to Chicago, where he was placed in the Mercy Hospital. "Go on," he told his associates who stood about as the physi- cians probed for the bullet. For a long time he remained in a critical condition. The bullet found its way to the muscles of his breast and was never removed. His assailant was placed in a hospital for the criminally insane. But the indomitable Colonel recovered and with all his energy again plunged into the fight. THE PROGRESSIVE LEADER IS DEFEATED During the campaign considerable spice was added to its eventful progress by the charges of John D. Archbold that the Colonel had accepted substantial contributions by the Standard Oil Company to his presidential campaign fund in 1904. The candidate answered the charges in a letter to Senator Moses E. Clapp, chairman of the Senate Investigating Committee, in his characteristic manner. He directed his shafts against United States Senator Boies Penrose and John D. Archbold. "With characteristic zest, he added Senator Penrose and Mr. Archbold to the list of members of the "Ananias Club to make sure they would know who their associates are." In the communication he referred to a previous letter in which another of his more famous phrases appeared, "the shorter and more ugly word." Then came the election and the split in the Republican party which resulted in a victory for Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate, by an overwhelming majority of the votes in the elec- toral college. But even in defeat the Progressive leader showed his tremendous popularity. He carried six States, California, Mich- FORMS BULL MOOSE PAETY 413 igan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Washington, re- ceiving an electoral vote of eighty-eight, while President Taft car- ried only two States, Utah and Vermont, netting him eight electoral votes. Roosevelt's popular vote was 4,119,507, as against Taft's 3,484,986, while Mr. Wilson won the office of chief magistrate of the nation with a popular vote of 6,293,019. In a statement following the decision of the voters in favor of Mr. Wilson, Colonel Roosevelt expressed his hope in the eventual triumph of his principles. "The American people," he said, "by a great plurality have decided in favor of Mr. Wilson and the Democratic party. Like all good citizens I accept the result with entire good humor and con- tentment. As for the Progressive cause, I can only repeat what I have already said so many times; the fate of the leader for the time being is of little consequence, but the cause itself must in the end triumph, for its triumph is essential to the welfare of the American people.' ' ANALYSIS OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S CHARACTER Much unfavorable comment was excited against Mr. Roosevelt for his supposedly third-term ambition especially as he had previ- ously made a public statement on the night of his re-election to the presidency that he would not again be a candidate for the office. In the statement which was often quoted against him afterwards, he said: "I am deeply sensible of the honor that has been con- ferred upon me and I shall show my gratification by a wise and just Administration. On March 4 next I shall have completed three years and a half as President of the United States. I shall regard that three years and a half as my first term. The wise custom which limits the President to two terms regards the substance, not the form, and under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another term. ' ' Dr. Morton Prince, of the Tuft's College Medical School, who was an authority on psychology and nervous diseases, wrote an an- alysis of Colonel Roosevelt's character. He said in his work that he believed in the sincerity of the President when he made his atement on the two-term custom, but adds that a powerful sub- consciousness governed his afterthoughts not only in this matter, 414 FOKMS BULL MOOSE PAETY but in other matters where he failed, or seemed to fail, to keep his promises. "I think it safe to say," wrote Dr. Prince, "that Mr. Roosevelt will go down in history as one of the most illustrious psychological examples of the distortion of conscious mental processes through the force of sub-conscious wishes." Many of the friends of the "Bull Moose" standard bearer have held that he meant to phrase his statement, "another consecutive term. ' ' Following the election of Woodrow Wilson, the Colonel resumed his literary work, but at the same time continued to take a deep interest in the affairs of the nation. During this time he made many speeches in support of his theories in various parts of the country. On one occasion during the early part of President Wilson's administration, he paid a visit to the White House and sat with his host on a rear porch of the Executive Mansion sipping lemonade, the while the two distinguished men discussing by-gone pleasures and disagreements, swapping anecdotes and limericks and delving into the ramifications of new problems. CHAPTER XXXII. DISCOVERS RIVER OF DOUBT. Colonel Roosevelt Leads South American Expedition — Stricken With Fever and Barely Survives — Exploration of Brazilian Jungle — Has Lively Controversy With Scientists Over Find- ing op New Stream. THE campaign of 1912 over and the new administration fairly launched in the task of guiding the nation's destinies, the vig- orous campaigner was not long in seeking new fields in which to expend his apparently inexhaustible fund of energy. His desire for conquest unfulfilled in the political arena, it was only characteristic of him to "seek new worlds to conquer." His early love, his pas- sion, his hobby, if one can single it out among the many which this multi-sided man entertained, was natural history. His early train- ing, his temperament, his pursuits, his desires had all been pro- foundly influenced by his devotion to this his avocation. About this time the American Museum of Natural History, New York, invited him to head a hunting and scientific expedition to South America. Here were dangers, new trails to be blazed, new species to be discovered, something big to challenge the attention of this man with an inveterate thirst for knowledge and venture and the indomitable will to achieve it no matter how great the obstacles or the perils. Accordingly, within a short time he had set sail for the tropical continent under the direction of the American Museum of Natural History. Included in his party were his son Kermit, several botan- ists and zoologists and a number of representatives of the Brazilian government, in addition to a large retinue of guides and helpers. On his trip south he was received with signal honors at Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires and in both cities made addresses. Extensive preparations had been made for the trip, which proved to be the last he was destined to make. 415 416 DISCOVERS RIVER OF DOUBT After a trip lasting six weeks through Brazil, Uruguay, the Argentine and Chile, to fulfill his speaking engagements, the explorer was ready to begin his expedition. Inspired by the interest of his life long friend, Father Zahm, in such a trip, the Colonel had eventually made arrangements with Frank Chapman, curator of ornithology at the American Museum of History in New York City, to undertake the expedition under the auspices of the institution, and received the offer of a couple of naturalists from the museum to aid in the work of collecting speci- mens. The expedition was designed to be a hunting and scientific one. The men recommended by Chapman were Messrs. George K. Cherrie and Leo E. Miller. Both were fearless, efficient and widely experienced men, who had seen many years' experience in tropical lands and knew the kind of work which confronted them. The party also included Anthony Fiala, a former arctic explorer, who was an excellent man for assemblng equipment and taking charge of its handling and shipment and who had served in the New York Squad- ron in Porto Rico during the Spanish War; Colonel Roosevelt's secretary, Frank Harper; Jacob Sigg, who had served three years in the United States Army, and was both a hospital nurse and a cook; Father Zahm, and Roosevelt's son, Kermit, who joined the others in southern Brazil. EQUIPPING THE EXPEDITION. Great care was taken in providing the expedition for the eventu- alities of the trip. Each of the naturalists took 16-bore shotguns, one of Cherrie 's having a rifle barrel underneath. The firearms for the rest of the party were supplied by Kermit and the Colonel, and included a Springfield rifle, two Winchesters, a 405 and 30-40, the Fox 12-gauge shotgun, and another 16-gauge gun, and a couple of revolvers, a Colt and a Smith and Wesson. In the equipment were a couple of canvas canoes, tents, mosquito-bars, plenty of cheese- cloth, including nets for the hats, and both light cots and hammocks. Ropes and pulleys proved of great value. Each member of the party dressed according to his fancy. The Colonel wore a khaki suit, similar to the one he used in his African trip, with a couple of United States Army flannel shirts, and a DISCOVERS KIVER OF DOUBT 417 couple of silk shirts, a pair of hob-nailed shoes with leggings and a pair of laced leather boots coming nearly to the knee. The boots and leggings were necessary as a protection against the deadly bites of the poisonous snakes in that region, while it was also neces- sary to wear gauntlets because of the mosquitoes and sand-flies. It was the plan of the party to live on the country wherever they could, but ample precautions were taken to provide sufficient food, the sup- plies including a large quantity of United States Army rations and ninety cans, each containing a day's provisions for five men. The topography of the country which he proposed to traverse, is explained by the Colonel himself. ' ' The great mountain chain of the Andes extends down the entire length of the western coast, so close to the Pacific Ocean that no rivers of any importance enter it. The rivers of South America drain into the Atlantic. Southernmost South America, including over half of the territory of the Argentine Republic, consists chiefly of a cool, open plains country. Northward of his country, and eastward of the An- des, lies the great bulk of the South American continent, which is in- cluded in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Most of this country is Brazilian. Aside from certain relatively small stretches drained by coast rivers, this immense region of tropical and sub-tropical Amer- ica east of the Andes is drained by the three great river systems of the Plate, the Amazon, and the Orinoco. At their headwaters the Amazon and the Orinoco systems are actually connected by a sluggish natural canal. The headwaters of the northern affluents of the Para- guay and the southern affluents of the Amazon are sundered by a stretch of high land, which toward the east broadens out into the cen- tral plateau of Brazil. Geologically this is a very ancient region, having appeared above the waters before the dawning of the age of reptiles, or, indeed, of any true land vertebrates of the globe. This plateau is a region partly of healthy, rather dry and sandy, open prairie, partly of forest. The great and low-lying basin of the Amazon, which borders it on the north, is the very largest of all the river basins of the earth. "In these basins, but especially in the basin of the Amazon, and thence in most places northward to the Caribbean Sea, lies the most extensive stretches of tropical forest to be found anywhere. The forests of tropical West Africa, and of portions of the Farther-Indian 27— T.R. 418 DISCOVEES RIVER OF DOUBT region, are the only ones that can be compared with them. Much diffi- culty had been experienced in exploring these forests, because under the torrential rains and steaming heat the rank growth of vegetation becomes almost impenetrable and the streams difficult of navigation ; while white men suffer much from the terrible insect scourges and the deadly diseases which modern science has discovered to be due largely to insect bites. The fauna and flora, however, are of great interest. The American Museum was particularly anxious to obtain collections from the divide between the headwaters of the Paraguay and the Amazon, and from the southern affluents of the Amazon. Our purpose was to ascend the Paraguay as nearly as possible to the head of navigation, thence cross to the sources of one of the affluents of the Amazon, and if possible descend it in canoes built on the spot. The Paraguay is regularly navigated as far as boats can go. The start- ing point for our trip was to be Asuncion, in the State of Paraguay." THE EXPEDITION STARTS. Through the good offices of Lauro Midler, the Minister of For- eign Affairs in Brazil, the Colonel received the aid of Colonel Ron- don, of the Brazilian army, a man chiefly Indian by blood and for 25 years the foremost explorer of the Brazilian hinterland. He also offered to further the expedition in any way possible. He urged a serious expedition into the unexplored portion of western Matto Grosso, and the descent of a river of unknown course, believed to be a very big river and completely unknown to geographers. It was accordingly arranged that Colonel Rondon and some assistants and scientists should meet the party at or below Corumba and attempt the descent of the river, whose headwaters had already been located. On the afternoon of December 9, the party left the city of Asun- cion to ascend the Paraguay. The Paraguayan government had ex- tended every courtesy to the explorers, even lending them the gunboat-yacht of the President himself, a very comfortable river steamer, which made the opening days of the trip more than pleasant. It became evident to them later that the trip was to be far from an easy and pleasant one, with much to fear from the vicious man- eating, and to the laity little known fish of that section, not to mention the worst foe of the tropical explorer, the insects. DISCOVEES RIVEE OF DOUBT 419 On the Brazilian boundary, the travellers met a shallow river steamer, carrying Colonel Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon and several other Brazilian members of the expedition. His companions included Captain Amilcar de Magalhaes, Lieutenant Joao Lyra, Lieutenant Joaquin de Mello Filho, and Dr. Euzebio de Oliveira, a geologist. The preliminary conversations of these hardy pioneers in opening up the Brazilian wilderness, made plain to the party the dangers they had most to fear. There were as before mentioned, the man- eating fish, the giant anacondas, and no less deadly but smaller poi- sonous serpents, the wild beasts, but above all the attacks of the swarming insects, mosquitoes, tiny gnats, ticks, and the vicious poi- sonous ants which at times depopulated whole villages in these regions. These insects and the fevers they cause, and dysentery and starvation and wearing hardship and accidents in rapids were what the party learned were the principal dangers. EXPLORING THE PARAGUAY RIVER. After six days of pleasant, uneventful but interesting travel, the members of the expedition reached Corumba, where the party was completed. Cherrie and Miller, who with some others had gone ahead, had devoted their time to good advantage, having already col- lected some eight hundred specimens of mammals and birds. The next few days were spent hunting jaguar on the River Tap- ary, and after a number of interesting experiences, the party on the "Nyoac," a small river boat, started their trip, Christmas Day, up to the headwaters of the Paraguay. "The little steamer was jam- med," as the Colonel expressed it, "with men, dogs, rifles, partially cured skins, boxes of provisions, ammunition, tools, and photographic supplies, bags containing tents, cots, bedding and clothes, saddles, hammocks, and the other necessities for a trip through the 'great wilderness, ' the 'matto grosso' of western Brazil." A week or more was spent descending and ascending the various branches of the Paraguay River, with a number of heavy tropical storms to make things interesting and an occasional hunt for wild boar or jaguars to vary the monotony. At Caeres, the party was entering the scene of Colonel Rondon 's former explorations. Up the River of Tapirs the party next proceeded, until they 420 DISCOVERS EIVER OF DOUBT reached Tapirapoan, where they broke up their baggage, sending much material back on its way to New York, and prepared themselves for the serious work that now lay before them. It was shortly before this that it was learned that a boat ascending Gy-Parana, a confluent of the River Duvida, had been upset, three of the men drowned, and the provisions intended for the party lost. This only served to ac- centuate the dangers of the coming exploration. At this point it was also found difficult to get camaradas, or ordinary helpers, to accom- pany the party into the dangers of the unknown wilderness. Especial difficulty was experienced in finding a cook. Finally there were thirty men ready to begin the hazardous trip, with five dogs and tents, bed- ding and provisions; fresh beef, and skins, all jammed together on the small steamer. The expedition was now in the land of the blood-sucking bats. These are vampire bats than suck the blood of living creatures, cling- ing to the shoulder of a horse or cow, or the foot or hand of a sleep- ing man, and making a wound from which the blood continues to flow long after the creature's thirst has been satiated. GREAT DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. From Tapirapoan, the course of the explorers lay northward up to and across the Plan Alto, the highland wilderness of Brazil. "From the ledges of this highland country," as the explorer de- scribed it, "the affluents of the Amazon to the north, and of the Plate to the south, flow with immense and devious loops and wind- ings. " Two days before the party started, a train of pack-oxen left, loaded with provisions, tools and other things, which would be needed when a month or six weeks later they began their descent into the valley of the Amazon. There were about seventy oxen, many of them well broken. On January 21, the party itself started, with the mule-train. After crossing the Septouba rapids, they took a course westward. Here they encountered their first difficulties. Every step of the way through the dense tropical forest meant slashing a trail with the machete through a tangle of wilderness undergrowth. It was at this point absolutely necessary to depend on compasses for sense of direction, as the guides were time and again lost. Then came DISCOVERS EIVER OF DOUBT 421 a hot twenty miles across the Parecis plateau, with cool nights to make amends. There were many discussions between Colonel Rondon and Lieutenant Lyra over the course of the Rio da Duvida, and where its mouth might be. Its provisional name — "River of Doubt" — was inspired by the ignorance concerning it; an ignorance which the expedition was designed to dispel. It was reasoned, wrote the Colonel, "that it might go into the Gy-Parana, in which case its course would be very short; it might flow into the Madeira low down, in which case its course would be very long; or, what was con- sidered unlikely, it might flow into the Tapajos. "There was another river, of which Colonel Rondon had come across the headwaters, whose course was equally doubtful, although in its case there was rather more probability of its flowing into the Juruena, by which name the Tapajos is known for its upper half. To this unknown river Colonel Rondon had given the name Ananas, because when he had come across it he found a deserted Indian field with pineapples, which the hungry explorers ate greedily." TROUBLESOME INSECTS. It was found when Colonel Rondon and his associates joined the rest of the party that their baggage and equipment had been .labelled by the Brazilian Government "Expedicao Scientifica Roosevelt-Rondon, which afterwards became the proper and official title of the expedition. One striking feature at this point was the great number of ant-hills, some as high as a man. Before long these insects proved quite troublesome as did some of the other insects. Now the expedition encountered a series of beautiful water- falls, one the Falls of Utiarity, which outranked any falls the party knew on the entire hemisphere with the exception of Niagara. There was now a great deal of rainy weather and conditions under which the deadly beriberi and malignant malarial fever gen- erally claimed its victims. "With clear weather again the party started with a mule-train and two ox-carts into a still wilder region, the land of the naked Nhambiquara Indians. The difficult part of the expedition had now begun. The pium flies became a pest. The climatic conditions be- 422 DISCOVEES EIVEE OF DOUBT came unhealthy and the feed for the animals was poor; the trails became difficult and many of the conveniences of the expedition were dispensed with, as it had become necessary to cut down everything that was not indispensable. In fact as many of the pack animals died from the severe conditions further cuts were necessary from time to time. Conditions were made still more alarming by the report that two members of the party, who had undertaken a side expedition down the Papagaio Eiver, had met with a mishap in some bad falls with the net result that half of their provisions and much of the baggage was lost. ON THE RIVER OF DOUBT. By February 24, the expedition had approached to within six miles of their place of embarkation on the Duvida and at this point the party was divided. Some were to march three days to the Gy-Parana, and then descend it, and continue down the Madeira to Manaos. Colonel Roosevelt, Colonel Rondon, Kermit and the doctor with a number of others were to descend the Duvida in canoes and find out whether it led into the Gy-Parana, into the Madeira, or into the Tapajos. If within a few days it led into the Gy-Parana, it was proposed to return and descend the Ananas, whose outlet was also unknown. The Duvida party was provisioned for fifty days, not however full rations, as they hoped to live on the country. All were well armed. Here then before them was the unknown, with glory and satisfaction and achievement for all if they succeeded, but with dangers, disease, starvation and death all within the proba- bilities. Shortly after mid-day, on February 27, 1914, the party started down the River of Doubt. The general course was to be northward in the general zone of the equator, by waterway through the great forest. There were seven canoes, all dugouts, and only three of these absolutely good. As they went they surveyed the river. In the afternoon, they came to the mouth of a big and swift affluent entering from the right, which proved to be the Bandeira River, which the party had previously crossed. Monkeys which were shot proved very good eating. The forest was for the most part strangely silent. DISCOVERS EIVER OF DOUBT 423 The rapids soon presented serious obstacles. It was therefore necessary from time to time to make portages, carrying" the heavy baggage for a mile or so at a time. The insects became real pests. They were of great size and in many cases brought blood as they attacked their victims. The ants and flies grew particularly vicious and in a short time everyone was blistered and marked over his whole body. Two of the canoes were smashed and it became neces- sary to stop and build others. Torrential downpours hampered the work and added to the discomfort. MANY DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. At one of the rapids a serious accident befell the party. Ker- mit 's canoe was caught in a whirlpool, one of his paddlers crushed to death as he was pounded against the boulders by the powerful eddies, and Kermit, after the narrowest of escapes, was barely able to reach a place of safety. In a rapids further on, misfortune again awaited them. A canoe was lost, also a rope and pulley, invaluable at this time, while one of the party barely escaped with his life. The dangers of the trip now loomed up large. A third of the provisions were gone, the traveling was difficult and tedious, the distance was probably less than a fifth traversed, and it soon developed that they were in a country of wild and hostile Indians, who were crack shots with their bows and arrows, which fact was soon demonstrated in the death of a couple of the dogs of the party. It became necessary to still further reduce the baggage and dispense with comfort. Most of the camaradas became now affected with swollen feet, which only the utmost efforts of the doctor saved from being more serious. Coming upon a rapids suddenly around a sharp turn it became necessary to shoot the rapids and it proved a close call for the explorers. A little river discovered at this point was christened by Colonel Rondon, Rio Kermit. It soon became evident that the worst rapids were yet to be encountered. It was now recognized that the River of Doubt was a big river of real importance. Colonel Rondon in the name of the Brazilian Government christened it the Rio Roosevelt, this name being subsequently changed to the Rio Theodor. The rapids as before mentioned became more numerous and more difficult. One stretch of rapids which were quite precipitous took more than six hours in the descent. Everything was taken out 424 DISCOVERS RIVER OF DOUBT of the canoes and they were run down in succession. At one espe« cially perilous place they were let down by ropes, and even with this precaution one was nearly lost. The tremendous downpours of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning still continued for hours at a time, and when they stopped the forest dripped and steamed to a degree that made it almost impossible to explore. And still there were rapids, even more rapids, and ever more difficult rapids. Another disturbing factor was the increasing difficulty of get- ting game or other food from the forest. The party had started with fifty days ' rations ; which did not mean full rations. Two meals a day was the order of things and some of them were rather short. The hard work was beginning to tell on many of the men, and it was necessary to economize their strength, but at the same time the need of more rapid progress grew increasingly evident. In a month on the river, half the provisions had been consumed, with reason to believe that by far the greater part of the journey remained to be covered. There was present at all times the danger of accident in the rapids, and the party began to perceive that in a short time they would be in great straits. ACUTE SUFFERINGS AND HARDSHIPS. It had proved to be a big river, most probably the headwaters of the Aripuanan, a river which had not even been named on most maps. Two of the men in the party had been laid low with the fever. Reduction on the baggage this time, to meet the new condi- tions, meant cutting it to the bone. It was now necessary, the party found, to pass many of the rapids with the canoes by the ardous method of using ropes, the while the baggage was carried by land with great difficulty. The trail became more and more mountainous, with much exceedingly beautiful country to repay them for their labors. The ants which came about the tents in great swarms made things interesting for the party and destroyed much of their clothing. It became still more trying as some of the camaradas became down- hearted and expressed doubts as to the party ever coming out of the wilderness alive. The rapids running now through canyons became still more diffi- cult of passage. Not only was it hard for the transporting of the canoes, which thanks to several accidents were now reduced to two, DISCOVEES RIVEE OF DOUBT 425 but the party began to suffer acutely. Many of them were con- tinually soaked to the skin, their shoes had rotted off, they were covered with bruises which had become sores, and bites of the myriads of insects had become festering wounds. In fact it became necessary to kill several venomous snakes and scorpions in self defense. These were conditions to bring out in the best in men, or more probably the worst. A new and strange peril arose to confront the members of the expedition. One of the camaradas, a man of European blood, and a powerful fellow, though an arrant craven at heart, began to break under the strain of hardship, toil, and danger which was affecting everybody. He was a shirker, he shammed sickness and wherever he got an opportunity he stole the food of the party. In fact, he alone of all of them was in full bodily vigor. Detected steal- ing food by another camarada, a crime punishable almost by death under the conditions, the shirker received a tremendous smash in the mouth for his pains. The tragedy was not long in coming to a head. Catching his late assailant unawares in the fastnesses of the forest, the culprit shot his man dead. The danger then confronted the party of having a fear-crazed man running amuck, who would sell his life as dearly as possible. It was no longer possible to carry him along as a prisoner, even if his capture could be effected. GIGANTIC CAT-FISH. The men grew constantly weaker under the strain of unremit- ting and exhausting labor. Kermit was stricken with fever, while Cherrie and Lyra were down with dysentery. In fact it was but a short time before most of the party were so affected, some of them being unable to help themselves. Fortunately the river had swung into a level plain and the going became easier. At this point the party caught a huge cat-fish, three and a half feet long, which preyed as they found on monkeys, but they learned to their astonishment that still more gigantic cat-fish were to be found which made man as their prey. This fish averages more than nine feet length and with its disproportionately large head and mouth seems even more terrifying. Life had become for the party, just one rapid after the other, in fact one may be pardoned for referring: to it as a "rapid life." 426 DISCOVEES EIVEE OF DOUBT They slept constantly within earshot of rapids. Then after days the river became quieter and smoother, fish and game became more plenti- ful and easier to catch and, as if the end of good things was not yet come, a house, the home of a Brazilian peasant came into view. Other houses came into view and it became apparent to the over- joyed travelers that their perils were about at an end. They dis- covered that they were about fifteen clays' journey from the conflu- ence of the Aripuanan and Castanho Rivers. There were many rub- ber men at this point who had become permanent settlers. In the six weeks of interminable labor the party had come over three hun- dred kilometres. They had traveled a river about the size of the upper Rhine or the Elbe, a stream heretofore utterly unknown to geographers. ROOSEVELT STRICKEN WITH FEVER. It was high time though. Half of the camaradas were down with the fever, the Colonel, who had been badly bruised in a fall traversing a rapid, had also developed a bad attack of the fever, and it was necessary to alternately carry and canoe him for days at a time. But the indomitable spirit, which had supported him in every other undertaking, had stood him in good stead in this, so that together with the attentions of the doctor in the party, he had been able to recover, even when it had seemed that he must give up. The germs of this fever and the hardships of the trip remained with the Colonel, however, long after the trip was com- pleted and, in fact, he aged visibly upon his return to the United States. On April 26 the men passed the last of the dangerous rapids, having traversed in two months' time a distance of more than 750 kilometres. The river was therefore about a thousand kilo- metres in length and, if as it seemed, it was the upper course of the Aripuanan River, its total length would aggregate nearly 1500 kilometres. By easy stages the party reached the town of Manaos, where the Colonel bid goodbye to his faithful camaradas, while at Belen, or Para, as it was later called, the final adieus were said to Colonel Rondon and his comrades. Meeting Professor Farrabee, of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, who had just finished a highly successful ethnological trip across the highlands of Guina and down the sea- coast of British Guina, the party after an exchange of felicitations DISCOVERS EIVER OF DOUBT 427 and expression of appreciation for the kindnesses of their Brazilian friends, bade them good bye and sailed northward for Barbadoes and New York. Zoologically the trip had been a great success. Cherrie and Miller had collected over twenty-five hundred birds, about five hun- dred mammals and a few reptiles and fishes, many of which were entirely new to science. They had put upon the map, a river of some fifteen hundred kilometres in length, of which the upper course was completely unknown by anybody, while the lower course, al- though known for years to a few rubber-men, was utterly unknown to cartographers. This river had, in fact, proved to be the chief affluent of the Madeira, which is itself the chief affluent of the Amazon. STEFANSSON'S ESTIMATE OF ROOSEVELT. Upon his return to the United States and his published reports of his adventures and explorations, the Colonel again became a storm centre, as many scientists immediately challenged the veracity and accuracy of his statements. Then followed a hot series of answers by the explorer to his doubters, when in his picturesque language, he referred to them as "nature fakirs" and by other equally felici- tous and complimentary terms. The fact remained, however, that he had undertaken and over- come hazards that few men would have dared to encounter, much less deliberately seek, and had shown with renewed force and in a different light many of those traits, which has made everyone proud to speak of him as one of the greatest of Americans. In appreciation of Theodore Eoosevelt's talents, knowledge and achievements as a naturalist and explorer and as a powerful answer to many of the doubters and detractors of his South American ex- pedition, Vilhjamur Stefansson, the eminent arctic explorer, wrote shortly after the Colonel's death: "Apart from the political and personal motives of deliberate detractors, what disparagement there was of Colonel Eoosevelt's geographic explorations in South Amer- ica came from the labor-union-minded explorers and geographers who saw him as an outsider, because he had not served a protracted apprenticeship to their craft. But those who looked merely for competence and truthfulness gave his notable achievements due recog- nition from the start." 428 DISCOVERS RIVER OF DOUBT "Colonel Eoosevelt was the most explorer-minded man I have known. He was in continual quest of the unknown and the little- known in literature, in art, and in science. Inconspicuous poets, sculptors and explorers got that encouragement from the Colonel, which in time led to them to make their mark. It was amazing, not only how well he was informed on a vast variety of scientific sub- jects, but also how minutely, and exactly, and completely. "Many would say that Frank Chapman, curator of birds at the American Museum of New York, is the greatest authority on birds in America, yet when I asked him what he thought of Colonel Roose- velt as an ornitholigist, Chapman replied: 'The Colonel knows more about birds than I do. ' And similar things I have heard said about him by specialists in other departments. "As an explorer in literature Colonel Roosevelt did not con- fine himself to the finding of new authors of today; he examined also the literatures of distant times and obscure peoples. He would not allow his literary tastes to be formed by others, an example of this being furnished by what some may think his extravagant admiration of the sagas and other Old Norse literature. He placed the Old Norse literature next after the Greek and Roman in excellence, though he admitted enjoying it more than either of the others. "The truth, acknowledged by all who knew him, is that with an indelible memory and an interest in every field of knowledge he combined a sanity of judgment that quickly made him master of any development that was truthfully reported to him. Just as I have heard icthyologists and ornitholigists and mammalogists com- ment on the range of his exact knowledge and the soundness of his judgment, so can I say that in the field of exploration and in the one or two other departments that are peculiarly mine through study or through the accidents of birth and environment, I have known no better informed authority or discerning critic than Colonel Roose- velt.' ' CHAPTER XXXIII. ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS. Attacks Waiting Policy of Administration — Urges Policy of Na- tional Preparation for Defense — Victor in Two Libel Suits Nails Lie About Drinking — Charges New York Politician With Corruption. IT was but a short time after his return from South America when Colonel Roosevelt once more projected himself into the lime- light with a series of vigorous attacks on President Wilson's policy of "watchful waiting" in the Mexican situation. With the fatal shots at Sarajevo, which speedily plunged the whole world into a death grapple, a new call was heard by his adven- turous spirit. The disputes between the United States and Germany over the latter 's submarine policy and between the United States and Great Britain and her allies over the question of interference with neutral commerce, once more gave him the opportunity to wield his "big stick." Followed then the tedious negotiations attendant on the sinkings of the Lusitania, the Arabic and other steamships by the undersea craft of the Germans, with the heavy loss of Amer- ican lives. Here the Colonel laid lustily about him as he lashed the Administration and condemned their policy as weak, vacillating and "un-American." He was one of the first as the war assumed world-wide propor- tions to urge a policy of national preparation for defense. He advo- cated the establishment of universal military training and the im- mediate adoption of a great and expansive naval building pro- gramme. It was about this time that he wrote a book expressing his warlike views under the militant title of ' ' Fear God and Take Your Own Part." Early in 1916, the Colonel accompanied by Mrs. Roosevelt, made another trip, this time to Trinidad and other islands of the West Indies. As usual, wherever he went he was the object of great at- 429 430 ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS tention, interest and enthusiasm. He was feted and received with acclaim by the colonial Governors of the islands and by the popula- tion. While engaged in this visit, he showed still further his mili- tant attitude in an answer to a question as to his possible candidacy for the coming presidential election. "The United States," he said, "would have to be in a more heroic mood than it had shown, if he were to again sit in the White House." In his series of pleas for preparedness and attacks on the admin- istration policy of "watchful waiting," with particular attention de- voted to hyphenates and pacifists, the Colonel in both his writings and speeches exhibited all of his accustomed vigor, fire and aggres- sively picturesque directness. HIS ABHORRENCE OF PACIFISTS. At the beginning of his campaign, he made the statement that "what I have to say in the future will not be for sapheads or molly- coddles." He further illuminated this expression with his definition of a mollycoddle in answer to a question as to its meaning that "A mollycoddle is nothing but a grown-up sissy — a grown-up sissy of either sex. ' ' In a speech at San Francisco in July, 1915, he went for the paci- fists, speaking derisively of "elocution as a substitute for action," and said that the "professional pacifists, the peace-at-any-price, non-resistance, universal arbitration people are seeking to Chinafy this country — to reduce it to the level of impotence to which old China sank." The average Chinaman, he said, had taken the view that China was "too proud to fight," and "in practice made evident his hearty approval of that abject pacifist song: 'I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier.'" ' ' The United States had treated The Hague Conventions as mere 'scraps of paper,' when the demand was made that our signatures meant something." "No nation," he concluded, "ever amounted to anything if its population was composed of pacifists and poltroons, if its sons did not have the fighting edge, if its women did not feel as the mothers of Washington's Continentals felt, as the mothers of the men who followed Grant and Lee felt ; men who are not ready to fight for the right are not fit to live in a free democracy. ' ' ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS 431 At another time he defined the pacifists as "persons of inde- terminate sex, ' ' while at Plattsburg, in August, he hurled some of his choicest verbal missiles into their ranks. ' ' The man who believes in peace at any price or in substituting all-inclusive arbitration treaties for an army and navy should in- stantly move to China. If he stays here then more manly people will have to defend him, and he is not worth defending. Let him get out of the country as quickly as possible," he decared. HOT SHOT FOR SLACKERS. Among other excerpts from his famous address were : "For thir- teen months America has played an ignoble part among the nations. We have tamely submitted to seeing the weak, whom we have cove- nanted to protect, wronged. We have seen our own men, women and children murdered on the high seas without action on our part. "The hyphenated American, the professional pacifist, the pol- troon, the college sissy," and the "man with a mean soul" were all placed in the category of those who would "Chinafy" the United States. "When the time comes," he said, "hyphenated Americans will fight side by side with us, or they will be shot. They will be given the opportunity to be shot in front or accejDt the certainty of being shot in the back. ' ' Again, "I do not want the applause of any man for that state- ment on international morality, unless that man has a burning sense of shame that the United States has not stood up for Belgium. There are some persons who consider the wrongs of Belgium quite as coldly as if they were told of them on a motion picture screen. ' ' Other hot shot included: "No man is fit to be free unless he is not merely willing, but eager, to fit himself to fight for his freedom, and no man can fight for his freedom unless he is trained to act in conjunction with his fellows. "The greatest need for the country is a first-class navy. Next we need a thoroughly trained regular or professional army of two hundred thousand men if we have universal military service, and of at least half a million if we do not have such universal military service. "The professional pacifist is as much out of place in a democracy 482 ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS as is the poltroon himself, and he is no better citizen then the pol- troon. "And the Americans who are not right thinking should be made to serve anyhow, for a democracy has full right to the service of its citizens. "As for the professional pacifists and the poltroons and college sissies who organize peace-at-any-price societies, and the mere money getters and mere money spenders, they should be made to understand that they have got to render whatever service the country demands. "The events of the last year have shown us that in any crisis the hyphenated American is an active force against America, an active force for wrong doing. "The professional German-American has shown himself within the last twelve months to be an enemy to this country as well as to humanity.' ' MORE TRENCHANT EPIGRAMS. Aroused by one of President Wilson's notes in the conversations between the United States and Germany over the outrages of the lat- ter 's submarines, Colonel Roosevelt referred to the chief executive in the following ironic language: "Mr. Wilson's elocution and Mr. Wil- son's action are in flat contradiction. His elocution is that of a Byzantine logothete — and Byzantine logothetes were not men of action." In explanation, he afterwards said that "The Byzantine logothetes were lawyers and orators, who believed in the efficacy of words and could not be persuaded to draw the sword. ' ' The Colonel was the guest of honor at a private dinner given by Elbert H. Gary, the steel king, in his Fifth Avenue home, in New York, in December of 1915, which was notable for the great num- ber of financial giants who were present, it being estimated that more than $12,000,000,000 were represented at the function. It aroused great discussion at the time, it being supposed that plans were being made to slate the guest of honor for the Republican nomination in 1916, for the presidency. In Philadelphia in January, 1916, the Colonel got off some more of his trenchant epigrams on the subject of preparedness. Among other things he said: "There is absolute need of a larger national- ism." ROOSEVELT IN WAE CBIfcSiS 433 "When we sit idly by, while Belgium is being overwhelmed, and, rolling up our eyes, prattle with unctuous self-righteousness about the duty of neutrality, we show that we do not really fear God ; on the contrary, we show an odious fear of the devil and a mean readi- ness to serve him. ' ' The man who loves other nations as much as he does his own country stands on a par with a man who loves other women as much as he does his own wife. Once it was true, as Lincoln said, that this country could not endure half free and half slave. Today it is true that it could not endure half American and half foreign. ' ' The United States can accomplish little for mankind, save inso- far as within its borders it develops an intense spirit of American- ism. A flabby cosmopolitanism, especially if it expresses itself through flabby pacifism, is silly and mischievous. It represents national emasculation. "World peace must rest on the willingness of nations with cour- age, cool foresight and readiness for self-sacrifice to defend the fabric of international law. ' ' "All the forces that make for industrial or military prepared- ness must be under the regulation of a single power, and that power the National Government. "The demagogue is at least as great an enemy of social advance- ment as the crooked champion of business and political privilege. "There should be one sovereignty to which all the great inter- state corporations doing an interstate business should be reasonably responsible. We cannot get permanently good results out of 40 or 50 conflicting sovereignties. I believe in a national incorporation of any size engaged in interstate business. "The surest way to win the immigrant is to redeem the promises of America. Give him social and industrial justice. This can be done only through the effective regulation of business. "It is just as much a citizen's duty to defend his country as to pay his taxes. You can't conceive of it being left to citizens to 'vol- unteer' to pay their taxes. They must step up to the desk and settle. Necessary military sendee to the country is a duty that should no more be left to volunteers than the payment of taxes. "The professors of every form of hyphenated Americanism are 28— T.l. 434 ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS as thoroughly the foes of this country as if they dwelled without its borders and made active war against it. "There has been talk about 1,000,000 men springing to arms be- tween sunrise and sunset if we were threatened with invasion. Yes, they would spring to arms ; 400,000 of them would spring to rifles ; 400,000 black powder and squirrel guns, and the remaining 200,000 would spring to scythes, hatchets and things. ' ' For some time prior to the Republican primaries in 1916, the Colonel was persistently mentioned as the candidate for the coming presidential fight, but he finally put all speculation and rumor to flight when he ordered his name removed from the Illinois ballot. Then followed a series of "love feasts" between Colonel Roosevelt and many of his former enemies acquired through the 1912 break with his party. When Justice Charles Evans Hughes was finally selected as the Republican standard bearer, the ex-President turned in for the candidate and lent his support both in articles and a num- ber of speeches about the country. HIS PROPOSED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. Determined to follow up his preparedness addresses with suit- able action, the Colonel in February, 1917, presented a plan to head an expeditionary force into France to fight Germany. It was his in- tention to raise a division of 100,000 men, fully equipped and prop- erly officered, and, with himself as a commissioned officer, place it at the disposal of the Entente generals. In fact he had prepared to raise it to an army of 200,000, if necessary. He expressed readiness to place 20,000 men in the field within 60 days. "Put our flag on the firing line," he urged the President during an unprecedented call at the White House. He told him about his plan to raise a fighting division of mature men of military experience to carry the stars and stripes into the Armageddon of Europe. The President listened interestedly, but announced no decision. The sentiment of President Wilson and his cabinet seemed at first to be in favor of the project. It was favorably reported to Con- gress, but later rejected by the House. In the meantime volunteers began to pour in until there was, on paper, a force of 180,000 men ready to go with the Colonel on his expedition. It was organized on paper to the smallest detail. EOOSEVELT IN WAE CRISIS 435 Then came a hot fight in the Senate, when the project was both bitterly assailed and brilliantly defended, but the quietus was finally put on the plan when President Wilson swung his "big stick" and vetoed the project. It had, however, attracted widespread attention throughout the world, and many of the men in the proposed army en- listed anyhow and went abroad to serve their country. Two incidents in Colonel Roosevelt's post-presidential career, which were marked by his characteristic utterances, were the Barnes libel suit and an action brought by Colonel Roosevelt in 1912. The latter suit was inspired by an article published by George A. Xewett, editor of the ' ' Ishpeming Iron Ore, ' ' in his paper, in which he stated that "Mr. Roosevelt curses, lies and gets drunk frequently, and all his friends and intimates know this. ' ' Within a week of the publication of the article the Colonel had brought suit in court to recover damages for the alleged slander, or "pay for the error," as he expressed it. Many of his old-time friends rallied to his support to refute the allegations made by the defendant. The Colonel himself took the stand and facing the Michigan jury reviewed in detail phases of his life. He gave character for sobriety as "not a total abstainer," but never intoxicated in his life. "At public dinners," snapped the witness, "I sometimes drink a glass of champagne, perhaps two ; on an average I may say, one glass of champagne a month, and I do that in public. "There was a fine bed of mint at the White House," continued the witness. ' ' I may have drunk a half dozen mint juleps in a yea r. ' ' A light supply of wine and liquor was taken on the African expedi- tion, and of this a bottle of brandy was taken along for himself he said. The physician of the outfit measured it out for him from time to time for chills or other reasons. "I touched nothing else," continued the witness, "and the doctor, apparently out of whim, at the end of the trip measured what was left and found that I had consumed just seven ounces." The witness expressed a detestation for whisky and beer. Of the latter he could remember having takenTmt one mouthful in his life. That was at the Deutscher's Club, in Milwaukee, where he was urged to pay the tributes of a swallow of the amber brew which forms one of the city's leading industries. As for whisky, he said he 436 ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS got it mostly after protest and the insistence of the doctors, who put a teaspoonful of it in goblets of milk which they sometimes forced upon him on occasions of extreme fatigue in the midst of political campaigns. The weight of evidence proved so overwhelmingly in Colonel Roosevelt's favor that Mr. Newett, the defendant, took the stand and retracted the charges, saying: "It is fair to the plaintiff to state that I have been unable to find in any section of the country any indi- vidual witness who is willing to personally state that he has seen Mr. Roosevelt drink to excess. I am forced to the conclusion that I was mistaken." Although suit was brought for $10,000, it was ruled that as the consideration involved was not a monetary one, so much as the fair name of the plaintiff and that that had been vindicated, a verdict should be rendered for nominal damages, which under the law of Michigan called for six cents. The Colonel expressed lively satisfaction at the verdict, saying later : " I have wanted to nail that lie for a long time, and now it is nailed." THE BARNES LIBEL SUIT. In July, 1914, Colonel Roosevelt aroused William Barnes, Repub- lican State Chairman of New York, to action in a suit against him for $50,000, on a charge of criminal libel, following a statement issued by the Colonel, in which he pictured "the rottenness" of the State Gov- ernment as ' ' directly due to the dominance in politics of Mr. Murphy and his sub-bosses — aided and abetted, when necessary, by Mr. Barnes and the sub-bosses of Mr. Barnes." In his complaint Barnes said that the Roosevelt statement in effect was charging the State Chairman with part responsibility for political corruption. Colonel Roosevelt, in answer to the suit, accepted the challenge with the liveliest evidence of satisfaction and said that he would do all he could to hurry forward the suit. "I regard the action of Mr. Barnes, as the most striking proof," he snapped, in his verbal reply to notice of the suit, "that the bosses recognize in me personally the one enemy that the type of machine government for which they stand has to fear, and furthermore recognize that the most dangerous EOOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS 437 menace to the present system of bipartisan politics in this State is contained in the movement to elect Mr. Hinman on a non-partisan ticket. "I shall continue with increased aggressiveness to attack Messrs. Barnes and Murphy and the kind of machine politics which they typ- ify, which I hold must be eliminated from the State/' In the statement which drew the fire of the Republican State Chairman, the Colonel said : "In New York State we see at its worst the development of the system of bi-partisan and boss rule. The out- come of this system is necessarily that invisible government which the Progressive Party was in large part founded to oppose. It is impossible to secure the economic, social and industrial reforms to which we are pledged until this invisible government of the party bosses working through the alliance between crooked business and crooked politics is rooted out of our government system. "The State government is rotten throughout in most of its de- partments. ' ' The interests of Mr.' Barnes and Mr. Murphy are fundamentally identical, and when the issue between popular rights and corrupt and machine-ruled government is clearly drawn the two bosses will always be found fighting on the same side, openly or covertly giving one another such support as can with safety be rendered. "They really form the all-powerful invisible government which is responsible for the maladministration and corruption in the public offices of the State." VERDICT FOR ROOSEVELT. The suit came up for trial in April of 1915, at Syracuse. Colonel Roosevelt was the principal witness on the stand and poured verbal hot-shot into his opponent as he produced a mass of testimony sub- stantiating his charges against the boss, in addition to many letters and communications from Barnes, which in a sensational manner laid bare many of the nefarious workings of the machine in the Stale Evidence was produced by the Colonel tending to show that Barnes was a grafter and a manipulator in shaping party policies or selecting party candidates for office and in the raising of funds for campaign purposes. He told how he "had tried to make a good citi- zen out of Barnes and gave it up as a bad job when he discovered that 438 ROOSEVELT IN WAR CRISIS Barnes had what he called a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde nature and could do nothing with him. ' ' Nearly a month after the case was opened in court the jury found a verdict for the Colonel, absolving him from the charge of criminal libel. Some dispute was caused by the action of one juror, who wanted to have Mr. Roosevelt divide with the plaintiff the costs of the suit, amounting to about $300. The case was finally settled by the complete vindication of the Colonel. Barnes, however, remained his eternal enemy and, at many future stages of his career, he and the New York boss clashed as the oppor- tunity offered for one or the other to penetrate his opponent's armor. CHAPTER XXXIV. COLONEL, MAN OF MANY SIDES. Home Life Ideally Happy — Favorite With Children — Loved Out- door Life and Athletic Sports — Had Many Thrilling Adven- tures—How He Trained a "Bad" Man — A "Strenuous Day"— Played Pranks on His Friends — Maker of Picturesque Phrases. LOOKING back from the day of Colonel Roosevelt's death, it seemed but a short time since the public had read of the pranks of the Roosevelt youngsters at the White House in Washington or the family home at Oyster Bay. Those same youngsters were grown ; some of them had children of their own. The boys all became sol- diers. Quentin died for his country. Archie was seriously wounded. Theodore, Jr., wore wound stripes. Colonel Roosevelt loved his family dearly and his home life was ideal. His wife was helpful and sympathetic and she caught the enthusiasm of her husband in his every undertaking. This same spirit was infectious among the children, of whom there were six — Alice, the only child by Colonel Roosevelt's first wife; Theodore, Kermit, Archibald, Quentin and Ethel. Alice became Mrs. Nicholas Long- worth and Ethel Mrs. Richard Derby, whose husband at the time of Colonel Roosevelt's death was in France, as an army officer. The children were brought up as Americans and nothing else. They went to the public schools, they mixed with other children, they were taught to abhor snobbishness. They received loyalty from their father ; they gave loyalty in return. When they lived at the White House they had their pets— ponies, dogs, cats, birds and even mice. They were treated as chums by their father and were allowed considerable freedom. One day Mrs. Roose- velt saw the boys acting suspiciously and she followed them to the stable, where they were just about to pull off an old-time chicken fight between two game cocks that had been given them. Ordinary pranks of childhood were never suppressed by Colonel 439 440 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES Eoosevelt or his wife. They reasoned that in due time the children would pick up sedateness and sound judgment, and they simply guided their boys and girls in the right direction. There was genuine love and trustfulness. In Washington the President took the children with him on many trips to the country and at Oyster Bay when the boys grew older he went camping with them. Sometimes the trips were made in rowboats, at other times it would be a hike. They carried blankets and provisions and at dusk picked a camping spot, built a fire, prepared the meal, and after tales of the Wild West were told and the night thickened they rolled them- selves into their blankets and went to sleep. On many trips Mrs. Roosevelt accompanied her husband, for she was a lover of riding horses and had several of her own. Alice, too, was an excellent horsewoman. Until a few years before her hus- band's death Mrs. Eoosevelt did a great deal of tramping. She wore a short skirt and alpine hat and faced all sorts of weather cour- ageously. On the trips she was always accompanied by her hus- band or some of the children. A COMPANION OF CHILDREN. Theodore Roosevelt's heart went out to children and they loved him. The trustfulness of the child found instant response with him. Youngsters ran to him and romped with him. It was no uncommon thing at Oyster Bay to see him heading a party of his own children and their friends on a tramp. He delighted in organizing picnic parties and they always included Mrs. Roosevelt and a lot of boys and girls. With several boys he started off on a twenty-one-mile horseback ride across Long Island. A big thunderstorm came up, but the lads were plucky and the whole party kept on through the woods, while the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed. One of the little fellows said afterward that confidence in Colonel Roosevelt gave them cour- age to meet the storm. On another occasion when he was out with a lot of children he tumbled into the water. " There goes our daddy," yelled the little son of General Leonard Wood. Every child who came in contact with the man felt that way — that he was daddy. Colonel Roosevelt was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES Ml His wife belonged to the Episcopal Church and every Sunday the father and mother took the children to services. They loved the church near the Long Island home, for 'Colonel Roosevelt had taught them to regard the services as more of a pleasure than an enforced duty. His home was a real home, rather than the habitat of a personage. He did not encourage political callers to visit him at Oyster Bay, but he wanted those whom he trusted and who "had nothing up their sleeve" to enjoy his hospitality. The interior of the house was marked for the plain taste in furnishings, the only elaborate decora- tions being buffalo robes, bearskins and other trophies of the chase. These were found in nearly every room. The residence is a rambling frame structure with vine-clad porches. It commands a fine view of the water. Sagamore Hill at Oyster Bay was always the real home of the Roosevelt family. It was here that Colonel Roosevelt spent his boy- hood. The estate showed the love of the master for nature. The roads are old-fashioned gravel thoroughfares and there are plenty of trees, oak and maple. The underbrush runs wild. There are hay- fields and gardens and a fine big barn and stables. All in all it is just like the average well-kept estate of the average American, with Long Island Sound off in the distance to lend its share toward making it a delightful and restful spot. MRS. ROOSEVELT'S PERSONALITY. Here Colonel Roosevelt threw off all his cares ; here he worked and played with equal enthusiasm. Here the children romped and gathered happiness. Mrs. Roosevelt, although absorbed by the care of the children, was an admirable hostess. In Washington the State affairs at the White House were looked upon as out of the ordinary. She had entered into the social life with a hearty will and she suffered a breakdown. At Sagamore Hill she recuperated and was as blithe as ever. The guests at the Roosevelt home felt that they were part of the family. To his wife he ascribed much of his success and happiness, and her modest personality was a pervading influence through his career. She did not figure at any time in the gossip of society reporters and newspaper correspondents, and Mr. Roosevelt made it emphatically understood that her wishes must be respected. 442 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES His notions of family life were decided and in this connection he coined one of his many phrases which became a household word in America — race suicide. It occurred in an extremely " plain" talk before the Mothers' Congress, in March, 1905, when he deplored the sinister statistics as to divorce. He characterized easy divorce as * ' a bane to any nation and a curse to society. ' ' "If a woman is sunk in vapid selfishness," he asserted, "or lets her nature be twisted so that she prefers a sterile pseudo-intellectu- ality, if she deliberately foregoes the blessings of motherhood from viciousness, coldness or self-indulgence, such a creature merits con- tempt as heartily as any visited on the soldier who runs away in battle." COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S PRESENTS. Anent the Colonel's life of simplicity, it was an interesting obser- vation on the part of many visitors to Sagamore Hill, that there was a complete absence of an up-to-date lighting equipment. Callers were surprised to see Colonel Roosevelt reading or writing by the light of an ordinary oil lamp. In the last few years of his life the home at Oyster Bay was wired, the Colonel explaining "that he just had to put in electricity, as the servants made him do it." As the years passed the children one by one went away to college ; in time Alice married, then Theodore and Ethel and later Archie. The interest of their father never altered and he sought every opportunity to be with them. The companionship with his wife grew closer. Na- tional affairs occupied a great part of his time, but Colonel Roose- velt's attachment for his home and his children increased. He saw the boys go to war and his heart was with them. Friends said that he was constantly thinking about them and he showed great concern for them. Colonel Roosevelt's home at Oyster Bay contains an unique col- lection of presents given to him by rulers and other persons of note in all parts of the world. There is a large oval room, in which his gifts and hunting trophies are displayed. Among them is a rug worth many thousands of dollars from the Sultan of Turkey. There is also a pair of elephant tusks, among the longest in the world, from the Emperor of Abyssinia. There are snuff boxes from Pope Leo XIII, valuables from the last Empress of China, gifts from Indian chiefs, presents from Emperor William, King Victor Emmanual, Czar COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 443 Nicholas, the President of France, King Alphonso, Emperor Francis Joseph and from representatives of many governments in South America. He maintained five servants — three in the house, a chauffeur and a gardener. The Colonel was greatly interested in bird life, and every spring he had signs posted on trees about his grounds, forbid- ding boys to disturb their nests. It is said he became interested in bird life as a result of a visit to Sir Edward Grey (now Viscount), at that time British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who is an amateur ornithologist. While Colonel Roosevelt was left a considerable fortune by his father, it has been said by some persons who knew him well that in later years he had to write for a living. The expenses of his many lours and the large requirements of his family made serious drains upon his income. AN ESTIMATE OF ROOSEVELT. An interesting sidelight on Colonel Roosevelt's character is given by Mrs. Bellamy Storer, a friend of the Roosevelt family for many years and wife of the former United States Ambassador to Austria- Hungary, who was recalled by Colonel Roosevelt while President. Mrs. Storer, describing a visit to Oyster Bay in 1896, after President McKinley's first nomination, said: "Theodore Roosevelt seemed to us at that time like a younger brother, and Archie was Mr. Storer 's godson, so it was a great pleas- ure to see them all. Their life was ideal in its simplicity, and no one could be more amusing than the host — no one ever knew what he would say next. He was certainly very witty himself, and he caused wit in others. "He used, during this time, to get on the warpath over Sienkie- wicz's novels, 'The Deluge' and 'Fire and Sword,' and when he was quite sated with laughter, his face would be radiant, and he would shout aloud with delight. He seemed as innocent as Teddy in ' Helen 's Babies' who wanted everything 'bluggy.' But his primitive passion for killing has been wreaked only upon lower animals. His vitupera- tion was most amusing, and he had a most extraordinary vocabulary, and at this period his attacks were as harmless as target-shooting — there were no mangled corpses after tlie fusillade. 444 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES ''Never in our lives have we laughed so much or so often as when Theodore Roosevelt, was our guest or our host. Light-hearted memo- ries linger about Sagamore Hill of those days and the little house in Nineteenth Street. At this period (to all of us who knew him well and were fond of him) Theodore Roosevelt seemed never to have grown up, and as though he would be no more mature than one of 'Helen's Babies.' ' ' He had all the attraction, for this reason, of a fascinating, rather fractious child. He was, in consequence, an irresponsible father, taking his small boys on unconscionably long walks through the woods, himself clad in thick stockings and knickerbockers, the children barelegged, showing the next day the most pitiful scars from briars and welts from poison ivy, for the rhus-toxicodendron grows plentifully at Oyster Bay. He preached stoicism to the little boys, himself always, however, wearing thick stockings in the woods. ' ' There stood out in the life of Theodore Roosevelt an overpower- ing love for outdoor life and athletic sports. From the time he was a child to virtually the day of his death he was a consistent sports- man. Exercise was almost a religion, travel delighted him and every form of athletic games aroused his enthusiasm. A STRENUOUS LIFE. Although he denied he was a good shot, he was a famous hunter and he killed a greater variety of animals than any other American. He preferred the strenuous side, which explains why he took less of an interest in fishing. He rode horses, handled boats, liked to box and wrestle, took long walks, fenced, played football and chopped trees. He bore the scars of many accidents. Only recently did it become known that for years he was blind in one eye, the result of a boxing bout with an army officer. While living on his ranch in Dakota he was thrown by a broncho and three ribs were broken. He tried to cross the Little Missouri and nearly lost his life in the quicksand. Once his horse tumbled down a hundred-foot embankment and he was badly bruised. He carried a scar received from a rapier while fencing with Gen- eral Leonard Wood. There was a scar on his left shoulder where he was mauled by a grizzly bear. With him the Spanish War was a COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 445 great game and at San Juan he got a scratch from a piece of explod- ing shell. In a trolley accident at Pittsfield, Mass., he was badly bruised and "Bill" Craig, a secret service man, was killed. He car- ried the bullet of a would-be assassin. While he was at college he was hurt several times playing football. Colonel Eoosevelt liked sport because he believed in it and be- cause he sincerely felt it made good citizens. "I have fought and not always won, but I can say that I always came up for the next fight when I lost," he said in one of his speeches. He detested cowardice. "The boy that won't fight is not worth his salt, ' ' he declared. "I have taught my boys to take their own part. 1 do not know which 1 should punish my boys for quickest — for cruelty or for flinching. ' ' A GREAT HORSEMAN. When he was Governor of New York he employed M. J. Dwyer, a professional fighter, to stay at Albany and put him through a course of training every day. When he was President he fitted up a little gymnasium in the White House. He boxed with noted pugilists and went to the mat with famous wrestlers. Once he sent for Sandow and had the strong man give a demonstration of his skill. He took a course in jiu jitsu and became so adept that he could seize a man by the coat collar and throw him over his head. Up until very recent years Colonel Roosevelt was an earnest horseman. This was his favorite form of exercise when he was Presi- dent. Accompanied by one or two of his friends, he would start off for a jaunt of several hours and nearly always he made runs across country, sweeping across fields, taking fences and small streams and dashing through woods. In every sport and in every form of exercise Colonel Eoosevelt went at the job in a whole-hearted, enthusiastic manner. When he played tennis he played it with dash and he kept his opponent very busy. When he walked it was not a ladylike trip of a few blocks, but a regular tramp at top speed. He put his heart into it and he took the heart out of the chap who happened to be with him. When he went out rowing he covered plenty of water and he came back snort- ing with the glory of the exercise. Tn everything he did lie demon- strated the strenuous life. 446 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES For more than fifteen years he took regular trips to the hunting districts of the West, mostly in Colorado. Just before he was sworn in as Vice President in 1901 he went after mountain lions and he brought back the finest collection of skins that the Smithsonian Insti- tution ever mounted. Four of the cougars in his collection were killed with the hunting knife. One lion was shot at night when Colonel Rooosevelt was compelled to lean far over a cliff to make the hit. Several years later he made another trip to Colorado, and with his old friend Goff slew more mountain lions and numerous bob cats and bears. He has patiently stalked mountain sheep, he trapped wolves, he hunted in every State where big game was to be found from Maine to the Pacific Coast and from Louisiana to the Canadian border. A ROOSEVELT ANECDOTE. In Africa he met the most dangerous animals known to man, and he showed the same preparedness as marked his whole career. His expedition was well equipped. He took precautions against the dread tstese fly, responsible for the sleeping sickness from which there is no cure, and none of his party suffered. On every hunt he planned so well that there were no fatalities due to carelessness. Although his poor eyesight kept him from being a crack shot, Colonel Eoosevelt was what they call in the West a "sure game shot"; that is, he had the faculty of killing game or animals. He always attributed this to his care at sighting. The real reason, accord- ing to expert hunters, was that he was cool. An example of his iron nerve was shown in many of his encounters with mid animals, some of which are described in preceding chapters. Following his notable South American trip, there was one more trip that the Colonel wanted to take and he had really made some preparations toward it. This was a journey to the South Sea Islands. It was never carried out, because the war broke out and the great sportsman thought his larger duty was in remaining in America. Probably the favorite among the thousands of Roosevelt anec- dotes is that one about the bad man and the two-gun bully whom he thrashed in his ranching days. The incident is thus described by William T. Dantz, who ranched with the Colonel in North Dakota: "Of all the 'bad' men— and their name was legion— 'Bad-Man COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 447 Finnegan' was 'cock of the walk.' He said he came from Bitter Creek, where the further up you went the worse the people got, and that his headquarters were at the fountain head. His heart got bad one day after filling his skin with Bob's 'conversation juice,' so, taking a commanding position in the center of the town, he ' pumped lead ' into everything within his line of vision. The first shot, through the office of 'The Bad Land's Cowboy,' sent the editor of that publi- cation flying into a washout ; the second took off the corner of the pool table in 'Blood Ean John's' oyster grotto, while various other shots judiciously scattered soon had the whole population hiding in the shallow hollow at the foot of the bluffs. CAPTURING A BAD MAN. "Satisfied with this popular respect for his prowess, 'Bad-Man Finnegan' sauntered down to the river and entering an old scow there floated on to other fields. Passing the Elkhorn Ranch, he spied Roosevelt's neat hunting boat tied to the bank. All boats looked alike to Mr. Finnegan, so abandoning his own he appropriated the other and went his way. "When the young ranchman discovered the loss he was 'sure hostile. ' Securing another boat, he started in pursuit, the swif t cur- rent carrying pursued and pursuer alike. "Nearly a hundred miles were thus covered, when a fortunate late ice-gorge enabled Roosevelt to overtake and capture Finnegan and also the latter 's partner, whom he had picked up. "Here was a nice 'load of poles' — a hundred and more miles from civilization with two ugly characters on "his hands. West of the Kill- deer Mountains, far out over the divide, Roosevelt knew that Jack Mason had a ranch, so with his prisoners before him, he marched them through the wilderness to that place, where he secured a team, finally landing Finnegan and his partner in Dickinson jail. "Dr. V. H. Stickney, whose twenty-odd years' work as physician and surgeon had been spent healing the injured and maimed fron- tiersmen, who within a radius of fifty miles were brought to him for treatment, thus describes Roosevelt's appearance when he reached Dickinson that time : " 'He was all teeth and eyes; his clothes were in rags from forc- ing his way through the wild rose bushes that cover the river bottoms 448 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES down there; he was scratched, bruised, hungry and in tatters; but gritty and determined as a bulldog.' " Strenuosity was observed in his daily routine year in and out, his adage being "life is action. " An example of it might be cited from his activity on one day — May 10, 1905 — when returning from a long tour over the country. He began with a brief address to the railroad men in the yards at Clinton, la., followed with a speech to citizens at the station, and along the route addressed gatherings at Sterling, Dixon, DeKalb and Geneva, 111. At noon he was the guest in Chicago of the Merchants' Club, delivering another address; at three o'clock he spoke at the Hamilton Club, holding an inf ormal reception later at the Harvard Club, and at five o'clock he reviewed members of the National Association of Lumber Manufacturers. SOUGHT BY LABOR UNIONS. In the evening of this day he was the guest of honor of the Iro- quois Club, leading Democratic club of the Middle West, and before boarding the train East he received and read a petition from the Teamsters' Association, which was on strike. To the latter he made a statement of 600 words, so effective that the agitators were silenced. His addresses for the day, aggregating many thousands of words, had not been dictated to a stenographer and were not "prepared" otherwise than he planned them while "resting the night before." On his arrival home he declared that he felt "bully" and pitched immediately into a great mass of correspondence. Eoosevelt was the only police official to whom the labor unions of New York came for counsel on friendly terms. Usually the police and the unions were at odds. A small strike, in which there was much bitterness between the strikers' pickets and the patrolmen, brought this condition forcibly to Eoosevelt 's attention. He promptly called a meeting of the leaders, spent an evening with them discussing their grievances, and finally made the very simple and sensible suggestion that they appoint duly authorized pickets whose rights the police should protect. After that there was perfect confidence between the police department and the labor unions. One day Senator Burton, of Kansas, went to the White House in behalf of an applicant for office. "I want to know, Mr. President, whether you intend to appoint that man," he said brusquely. COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 449 Mr. Roosevelt was equally terse. "Senator, your man has been in the penitentiary, hasn't he!" Roosevelt's eyes snapped behind his glasses and his teeth showed ominously. "Oh, that was a long time ago," answered the Senator. "It was an indiscretion of youth and the man has lived it down." "Well," said the President, bringing his teeth together with a click, " I '11 tell you what we will do. We will first take up the list of men who haven't been in the penitentiary, and then, if we cannot find a man suitable for the place, we will take up the list of men who have been in the penitentiary." John Morley, after living in the White House for two days, said of Roosevelt : ' ' I have seen two tremendous works of nature in America. One is Niagara Falls and the other is the President of the United States." When Mr. Bacon became Assistant Secretary of State he had a good illustration of the rough symbolism by which Roosevelt fre- quently impressed his virile spirit upon his associates. Mr. Bacon was one of the most carefully attired men in the country. He was invited to go for a walk with the President, and when he appeared was dressed "within an inch of his life." Mr. Pinchot, of the Bureau of Forestry, also attended. After a long walk the party turned along the bank of the Poto- mac. As night fell they found themselves at the edge of a deep, wide pond lying between them and the White House. Without a minute's hesitation, the President put his money and watch in his hat and plunged into the water, swimming 300 feet before he reached the opposite shore. Mr. Bacon, in his new suit of clothes and with a tightly rolled umbrella in his hand, was forced to swim across with Mr. Pinchot. "What difference does it make?" said the President, as the three dripping figures started for the White House. "It was the shortest, quickest way and a wetting does no harm." On another one of these walks, Mr. Jusserand, the French^ Ambas- sador, started to swim the Potomac with the President and others of the party. Just as they were about to get into the river to swim, somebody said to Mr. Jusserand, "Mr. Ambassador, Mr. Ambassador, you 29— T.R. 450 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES haven't taken off your gloves," to which he promptly responded, "I think I will leave them on ; we might meet ladies. ' ' General Frederick Funston was taken on one of these walks with the President one day, and they came to a canal. The President and the others swam the canal with all their clothes on. General Funston did not. "Come on, General," called the President. "You are not afraid to swim the canal, are you!" "No," cried General Funston. "I'm not afraid, and I'm not a fool, either." General Funston told that anecdote in Vera Cruz and later Mr. Koosevelt confirmed it at Oyster Bay, taking occasion then to say of General Funston : "I like Funston. He's a real American, and he's fighting ugly." Colonel Eoosevelt was a humorist. Describing his ranch fore- man, whose name was Hell Roaring Brown, he said the man once knocked down a foe. Roosevelt said he asked Brown if he hit him hard. "Hell Roaring" replied that if the blow he delivered hadn't knocked that man plumb down he ' ' would have walked 'round behind him to see what was propping him up. " In speaking of a political opponent, he said: "Don't speak of him as my enemy. I like him. He is interesting. It is pleasant to see how many ways he has of not doing the thing he has exactly prom- ised to do." And again : "Oh, I think Brother is a sincere friend. But his money is very sensitive. If he acts peculiarly when he twitches, we must find a way to forgive him. ' ' NEAREST TO INDIAN FIGHTING. The Colonel was authority for the tale about the time when, riding his ranges alone, reports of hostile Indians about notwithstand- ing, he noticed three mounted braves converging in his direction. He slid off his pony, set the sights of his rifle for long range and showed himself aiming carefully, but did not pull the trigger. The trio talked it over and sheered off. Colonel Roosevelt said it was the nearest he ever had come to actual Indian fighting. The Colonel's telegram to a Western friend immediately after he was shot, in 1912, mystified many, who took it for anything from delirium to a private wire code, that he had to explain it. COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 451 " Probably a .38 or a .45 frame," he had telegraphed. The allu- sion was to revolvers and their calibres, and had been a stock phrase of some old plainsman whom he and his friend had known. It is too bad that no dictophone was present one night during the Barnes libel trial session, when Colonel Roosevelt was a guest at the home of James R. Day, Chancellor of Syracuse University, with whom in earlier years he had more than once broken lances, or pos- sibly bludgeons. Their meeting was a little formal for three minutes, at the end of which the Colonel found out the Chancellor too had once lived in the still wild West. From then till past midnight they sat close to- gether, roaring and chuckling and slapping one another on the knee as they matched good frontier stories. The rest of the company listened in a kind of awed delight. During the same visit the Colonel kept up his horseback exer- cise, riding about the residence streets on a mount which a local admirer had loaned. One afternoon a prominent Syracusean looked up from his newspaper on the front porch and called to his wife upstairs, " There goes Theodore Roosevelt on horseback." A LOVER OF CHILDREN. At the moment the six-year-old son of the house was in the bath- tub and in nothing else. He heard his father, rushed scampering and spattering downstairs, out the front door and right down the walk to the middle of the street, hoping for a glimpse of his idol. That night at a reception the father told the Colonel of it. "By George — by George!" — and the Colonel chuckled. "You bring that boy to me — I want to see him." He was brought, duly clad and was mounted for half an hour on the Roosevelt knee, and told stories about Injuns and lions and giraffes and grizzlies. Tales about him with children here and there are innumerable. There was the little invalid in Portland, Ore., carried to the curb on a stretcher to see him go by, when he was passing through in 1903. He noticed her, too. There was the day in February, 1911, when walking back to the office of the "Outlook" after luncheon, he found a lost nine-year-old, newly arrived with his parents, by way of Ellis Island, crying in the streets. He dried the child's eyes and took him to a police station, 452 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES where he turned him over to the matron, and then swapped old memo- ries with the bluecoats behind the desk, one or two of whom had been on the force when he was commissioner. On an autumn day in 1917 he sat .for two hours at the elbow of Justice Hoyt in Children's Court and heard the cases and acted as unofficial consulting Justice. Once, leaning over, he whispered to a youngster: "It's all right this time, sonny. You're all right. But remember, don't do it again, or he'll send you away! He'll send you away!" Again, after hearing how some other juvenile malefactor of little wealth had made full restitution to the pushcart man or some- body, the Roosevelt fist thumped the arm of the chair, with "That's a fine boy ! That kind make first-rate citizens ! ' ' The house where the Colonel was born used to figure in anec- dotage. It was an old brick front, 28 East Twentieth Street. In 1903 a detective squad raiding gamblers' places went through it. All the gambling evidence they could find was a pile of ashes in a fireplace, and a quaint gathering of sportive and furtive gentry busily playing checkers. But on a mantelpiece they discovered a hand-printed card, with the truthful legend: "President Roosevelt Was Born in This House." STORIES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. This has been vouched for by members of his family : On the east side of Madison Square, when he used to play as a little shaver, stood a Presbyterian church. The sexton one day noticed the little 'un timidly peeping in. But he wouldn't come in for a. look around ; noth- ing could induce him. "I know what you've got in there," he ex- plained. And later he confided in his mother that what the sexton had in there which was terrible was "the zeal," probably something like a dragon or an alligator. This reduced itself to his memory of Psalm lxixx, 9 : "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." On one occasion the Colonel's devoted friend, the late Jacob A. Riis, was making a stump speech for the Colonel, when a voice from a rear seat whined: "You say Theodore Roosevelt is a brave man. How about his shooting a Spaniard in the back?" Riis retorted: "The man who says that is either a liar or a fool. Which of the two are you?" And in the ensuing turmoil, a burly cabman came to the speaker's rescue with: "Let 'im alone! Let Perfessor Riis alone! Theodore Roos'velt is the greatest man alive — and I druv him once !" COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES 453 He liked new martial or sporting implements — things he could play with — as keenly as any boy. In 1906 the Mikado sent the Presi- dent as a token of esteem a complete suit of Samurai armor from the thirteenth century. The President excused himself to an informal caller for a moment and off with his frock coat and on with the armor, presto ! and he made a costume parade of one up and down the cor- ridors of the White House. "When, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he was sharpening our modern naval gunnery by what seemed to Congressmen scan- dalous sums of money for target practice, he secured an $800,000 appropriation. At the end of the month he was back for $500,000 more. "But — er — but what did you do with the other?" the Con- gressmen gasped. " Burned it!" he snapped. PHRASES THAT HAVE BECOME FAMILIAR. Colonel Roosevelt attained an international reputation as a maker of picturesque phrases. His speeches were dotted with them and many of them immediately slipped into the vernacular of the country. Among the more famous of these expressions were : "All I ask is a square deal. Give every man a fair chance ; don't let any one harm him, and don 't let him harm any one. ' ' 1 ' Abyssinian treatment. ' ' i ' A man cannot act both without and within the part} r ; he can do either, but he cannot possibly do both." "A man of hard mind and soft body." "A man who cannot take his own part is a nuisance in every community." "Ananias Club." ' ' Armageddon. ' ' "A ton of talk weighs less than nothing if it is not backed by action." "Beaten to a frazzle." "Buck the line hard." "Bully!" "By George!" 1 ' Byzantine Logothete. ' ' ' ' Captains of industry. ' ' "Cave of Abdullam." 454 COLONEL— MAN OF MANY SIDES "Dee-lighted!" "Eyes to the front!" "Fear God and take your own part." "Fit as a bull moose." ' ' Good trusts and bad trusts. ' ' ' ' Government by convulsion. ' ' "Holes alone mean hits, and the shots that hit are the shots that count. ' ' "Hyphenated Americans." "I built the Panama Canal after two hundred years of conver- sation." " I '11 hew them hip and thigh ! ' ' "In the long fight for righteousness, the watchword for all of us is ' spend and be spent.' It is a little matter whether any one man fails or succeeds ; the cause shall not fail, for it is the cause of man- kind." 'Let us pay with our bodies for our souls' desire." : Limburger Envoy!" (Herman Eitter.) : Malefactors of great wealth. ' ' : Molly-coddles. ' ' : Muck-rakers." ' My hat 's in the ring ! ' ' ; Nature-fakers." No community can make much headway if it does not contain both a church and a school. ' ' ; Pacifists are persons of indeterminate sex." 'Pussy-footed busybodies." 1 Puzzle-witted. ' ' 'Race suicide." Small people, like small lies, love to contaminate great things." 'Speak softly, but carry a big stick." : Special privileges. ' ' The flag in the Philippines must 'stay put.' " 'The leader for the time being, whoever he may be, is but an instrument, to be used until broken and then to be cast aside ; and if he is worth his salt he will care no more when he is broken than a soldier cares when he is sent where his life is forfeit in order that the victory may be won. ' ' ' ' There can be no divided allegiance at all. ' ' COLONELr— MAN OF MANY SIDES 455 "There must be no sagging back in the fight for Americanism merely because the war is over." ' ' The short and ugly word. ' ' "The strenuous life.'.' The wage-worker "must never be looked upon as a mere cog in the industrial machine. ' ' ' ' Unctuous self -righteousness. ' ' "Utterly baseless stories" (about the Panama Canal) ; "a string of infamous libels." ' ' We have room for but one flag, the American flag. ' ' ' ' Weasel words. ' ' ' ' When you play, play hard ; and when you work, work hard. ' ' 1 ' There has been talk about 1,000,000 men springing to arms be- tween sunrise and sunset if we were threatened with invasion. Yes, they would spring to arms ; 400,000 of them would spring to rifles ; 400,000 to black powder and squirrel guns, and the remaining 200,000 would spring to scythes, hatchets and things." CHAPTER XXXV. THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN. Nation Suffers a Loss in the Sudden Death of Colonel Roosevelt — Death of His Son Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt Hastened End — Simple Funeral as He Wished — Whole World Pays Tribute to His Memory — America and Other Countries Plan Memorials in His Honor. THE death of Colonel Roosevelt on January 6, 1919, came as a distinct calamity to America and to the world fighting for Democracy. Although he had been under a physician's care for some time, Colonel Roosevelt's death was entirely unlooked for when it came. On Christmas Day, he left the Roosevelt Hospital in New York, to return to his home at Sagamore Hill, after a seven weeks' illness, suffering from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. He responded readily to the ordinary treatment for this trouble and was allowed to go home. It later developed that the distinguished patient had a pulmonary embolism about three weeks before he left the hospital, which nearly cost his life at that time. This was caused by a clot of blood break- ing away from a thrombosed vein. On this occasion the passage of this clot through the arteries to the lungs or the brain was checked in time to save the patient. His death, which was painless, was sub- sequently caused, his physicians stated, by a second embolism, an unusual but not rare development of pulmonary rheumatism. But at no time until the end actually came was Colonel Roose- velt's death believed to be imminent. In fact for a period of three hours on the Sunday before he left the hospital, he had dictated articles for the Kansas City "Star." At that time he ate well and slept like a child. Blood-pressure tests, it was said, showed the Colonel to have the arteries of a man of forty instead of sixty years. 456 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN 457 Colonel Roosevelt had been looking forward to his journey over- seas to view the grave of his son Quentin. No plans had been made for the departure, it was said, but it was thought that if his condi- tion improved he and Mrs. Roosevelt might start some time in May or June. The day before his death, Colonel Roosevelt, far from foresee- ing his end, had planned to accept the honorary chairmanship of the general citizens' committee appointed to welcome returning sol- diers to New York. Mrs. Roosevelt in sending the letter to Charles Stewart Davison, chairman of the committee, wrote that "the rheumatism has invaded the Colonel's right hand, so that he wants me to write that he has telegraphed his acceptance. This note is to assure you that he will be at your service by spring time." THE COLONEL'S LAST WORDS It was at 4.15 o'clock on the morning of January 6, 1919, that the former President died in his sleep. "Put out the light, please," were his last words. They were addressed to his personal attendant, James Amos, a young negro who had been in his sendee since he left the White House, and who was sitting at the foot of his bed. Some time later Amos noticed that the patient was breathing heavily and became alarmed. He left the room to call the nurse, who had been summoned from Oyster Bay the day before. When they returned Colonel Roose- velt had breathed his last. They called Mrs. Roosevelt, the only member of the family who was at home. There had been a family gathering Christmas Day, but as no alarm was felt over the Colonel's condition the children who were able to spend the holiday with their parents had gone to different parts of the country. Cable messages were sent to Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and Captain Kermit Roosevelt, who were in service in France, and tele- grams to Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, to Captain Archibald Roosevelt and to Mrs. Ethel Derby. One of Colonel Roosevelt's New York physicians visited him three days before the end, but although the former president was suffering some pain from rheumatism, he made light of it, laughing and chatting without restraint. 458 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN The Colonel called to Sagamore Hill, the day before his death, a village barber whose work he liked. "I'm feeling bully, John," he said, "but I sent for you because I don't feel like shaving myself today, so get ready." An interesting revelation was made, in the final statement of Dr. John H. Richards, one of Colonel Roosevelt's physicians, when he said that his inflammatory rheumatism, from which he suffered acutely at times, was traceable twenty years back to an infected tooth. This infection spread to nearly all the joints in the Colonel's body as the years went on. Theodore Roosevelt was buried on January 8, in Young's Memorial Cemetery, near his Sagamore Hill home. Nature put on her grimest armor of snow and sleet and gray sky to receive her distinguished warrior son. THE FUNERAL SERVICES. Perhaps no other ex-president of the United States has been paid the tribute of so simple a funeral as the one which was given Colonel Roosevelt. Military and naval honors were not his in death only because it had been his wish, and that of his family, that the last rites be surrounded with the simple dignity that might attend the passing of a private citizen. But the American nation, and foreign governments as well, sent representatives, as did also the State and the city in which he was born. These noted men sat sorrowfully in the pews of little red- gabled Christ Episcopal Church, while brief services of prayer and Scripture readings were held without a eulogy in which so much might have been said. There was no singing or organ playing. It was the noon hour when, at the Sagamore Hill homestead, all of Colonel Roosevelt's family except two of his sons, Lieutenant- Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and Captain Kermit Roosevelt, soldiers in Europe, assembled for a few moments of private prayer at the side of the coffin in which lay the body. Draped over the coffin were battle flags under which the Colonel fought as a Rough Rider on Cuban soil more than twenty years ago. The Rev. Dr. George E. Talmage, rector of Christ Church, said the comforting words which were the final ones spoken for the Colonel in the presence of Mrs. Roosevelt — for she did not accom- THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN 459 pany the cortege to the church or to the grave in Young's Memorial cemetery. At the Sagamore Hill services only members of the im- mediate Roosevelt family were present. The body . of the former President was then taken from the famous room of trophies which he had assembled from all quarters of the globe, and was carried from Sagamore Hill on its final journey. Snow had come at dawn and had been falling steadily until the countryside was white, but the sun broke through the leaden clouds as the hearse left the Roosevelt estate and passed into the highway leading to Christ Church. Between hedges touched with melting flakes and under bare winter boughs which cast shadows upon the bushes of red berries lining the roadside the procession moved slowly, headed by mounted policemen who were the Colonel's friends in life and who had been sent by the city of New York to act as a guard of honor. MANY PROMINENT MEN PRESENT. Around the shore of a pond-like inlet of Oyster Bay and over a small hill the cortege moved to reach the church, a green frame structure with its roof surmounted by a steeple in which was the bell which was to toll the passing of the nation's twenty-sixth Presi- dent. Here, standing on the slippery hillocks which are the lawns of some of the Colonel's neighbors, were waiting townspeople. Because of the limited seating capacity of Christ Church, these villagers to whom the Colonel had long been friend and neighbor had not found admittance. They uncovered their heads as the coffin was borne into the church and waited outside until the services were over and the procession started for the cemetery. The sun had passed the meridian and the stained glass windows caught and held its rays as the coffin was carried up the aisle and placed close to the altar. In the pews were men who are among the foremost of the coun- try's citizens. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall represented President Wilson. General Peyton C. March, chief of staff of the army, and Admiral C. McR. Winslow represented the military and naval services and Secretary Lane the cabinet. William Howard Taft, who upon Colonel Roosevelt's death became the only living ex- 460 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN president; Charles Evans Hughes, Elihu Root, United States Sen- ator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts ; Major-General Leonard Wood, Vice-Admiral Gleaves, Henry L. Stimson, secretary of war in Taft's cabinet; Governor Alfred E. Smith, of New York; Speaker Champ Clark and former Speaker J. G. Cannon of the house of rep- resentatives, were present to pay their last tribute on behalf of the nation, Congress, the State and the metropolis. The diplomatic corps at Washington also was represented. Many wreaths and floral tributes for which there had not been room at the Sagamore Hill home filled the church with fragrance. One which was sent to the Roosevelt home, and then brought to the altar, was the tribute of President Wilson. SCENE AT THE GRAVESIDE. Doctor Talmage, with Bishop Burgess, of Long Island, seated in the sanctuary, read the sentences, Psalms and Scriptural lessons which are a part of the Protestant Episcopal funeral services. The former President's favorite hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," was recited by the rector, in conformance to the Roosevelt's family's desire that all music, even the organ voluntary, be omitted. When he came finally to the Lord's Prayer, the congregation joined. The scene at the graveside was perhaps the more impressive. The plot which Colonel Roosevelt himself had selected as his burial place is the commanding spot in the peaceful and picturesque ceme- tery. At the foot of a slope and beyond the public highway there is a cove, while beyond lie the waters of Long Island sound. Not far distant, but concealed from view by some of the woods in which the Colonel was wont to roam, stands the Sagamore Hill home to which his father brought him when he was a small boy. Trees stand about this knoll, and the winter grasses were visible through the thinning snow. Here stood the Roosevelt family, except the boys abroad, and their mother, as the coffin, its historic flags now removed, was low- ered into the ground. Near at hand, looking on reverently, were men in public and private life, who had been intimately associated with Colonel Roosevelt in affairs of state, politics, literature and the army. Rough Riders, neighbors for whom Sagamore Hill will ever be almost hallowed ground, and children from the village school THE PASSING OP THE GREAT MAN 461 to wliicli the Colonel sent his own sons and daughters. They formed a sorrowing circle as Doctor Talmage read the brief committal cere- mony. Former President Taft stood quite apart from the others in these final moments and seemed almost an isolated figure. The political quarrel which kept these two former presidents so long apart had long since been healed and Mr. Taft hurried from Penn- sylvania to attend the funeral. Earlier in the day, standing outside Christ Church, he had said: "Colonel Roosevelt would never have been happy to live the life of an invalid. His passing is an international loss." At the grave side he joined Doctor Talmage and the others as- sembled in saying aloud the Lord's Prayer as part of the com- mittal ceremony. As the outdoor congregation recited the Lord's Prayer, it was noted that Captain Archibald Roosevelt stood directly behind the clergyman at the head of the grave. DISPOSAL OF ROOSEVELT'S ESTATE. Other members of the family stood a few paces back from Cap- tain Roosevelt, while the congressmen and people of Oyster Bay were assembled directly behind a delegation of Rough Riders at the foot of the grave. The former President rested with his head toward the west, where the sun, dropping toward the horizon, brought out in striking silhouette the white-robed figure of the priest reciting the time- honored committal service of the Episcopal Church. As the last words were spoken a great flock of white birds were seen to alight on the frozen surface of the cove which the snow-capped eminence of the cemetery overlooks. Only the Rough Riders' floral tribute relieved the plainness of the coffin as it was lowered to its final resting place. Colonel Roosevelt's will, made in 1912, was said to have amounted to not more than $500,000. It provided that the entire estate with the exception of the family silver and plate, should be held in trust for the widow during her life, and gave her the power to dispose of it by will as she saw fit. In the event of no will on her part, it was provided that the estate should be equally divided 462 THE PASSING OF THE GBEAT MAN among the children. The silver and family plate, was divided among the children, as it was in effect a $60,000 trust fund left to Colonel Eoosevelt by his father. Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and W. Emlen Roosevelt, a cousin of the Colonel, were named as trustees of the document. Extraordinary honors were paid this eminent citizen, following his death. Flags all over the country and in many other parts of the world, officially and unofficially were placed at half mast. Official business was largely suspended on the day of his funeral. Houses of business and industry, public and private, ceased activities on that day. Aeroplanes from the Government field at Mineola flew over the home of the former President and dropped wreaths as official tributes of the country to one of her distinguished sons. Scenes of gayety were halted and the wheels of industry stopped all over the country simultaneously with the final moments of the funeral allowing a minute or so of prayer and meditation. TRIBUTE TO THE GREAT AMERICAN. The United States Army of Occupation along the Rhine and in other portions of surrendered German territory, at every di- vision headquarters, paid a signal and fitting tribute to the great American during these same moments. Every American Flag in Rhenish territory on official orders from Washington was lowered at half-mast. At each division headquarters an official salute of twenty-one guns was boomed by the great cannon, which had but a short time previously belched forth a death knell to German hopes of victory, while at many places dirges were played by army bands. Tributes, messages of esteem and consolation and statements of appreciation both official and personal poured into the Sagamore Hill home from all parts of the world. Great personages and those of humbleness and obscurity, the world over, in one way or another gave voice or expression to their sorrow. Crowned heads, states- men, national leaders, warriors, men of thought and action in every walk of life -hastened to pay tribute. The press of the country and of the world contributed a remarkable outpouring of sentiment and appraisal of the great American's superlative qualities and enduring services. THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN 463 President Wilson cabled to Mrs. Roosevelt: "Pray accept my heartfelt sympathy of the death of your distinguished husband, the news of which has shocked me very much. ' ' President Poincare, of France, when informed of the death of Theodore Roosevelt, said: "I am very much affected by the report of President Roose- velt's death, It was so unexpected. After the President had left the hospital some days ago we thought that all danger had passed. "Well do I remember the dignified letter which I received from MEMORIALS PROPOSED. Mr. Roosevelt after the death of his son Quentin, in which he in- formed me that he was coming to France to visit the grave of his son. It is distressing to me to think that poor Roosevelt will not have an opportunity to lay flowers on the grave of his heroic son. "The whole heart of France goes out to Mrs. Roosevelt in sympathy. "Friend of liberty, friend of France, Roosevelt has given, with- out counting sons and daughters, his energy, that liberty may live. We are grateful to him. We wish to express to Mrs. Roosevelt our most sincere condolence." When informed of the death of Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Pichon, Foreign Minister, said : "Without entering into political matters pertaining to the United States, the t death of Mr. Roosevelt must be regretted. He was an eminent and courageous man, inspired with pure patriotism. France shares with the entire American people in the sorrow following his death." Similar messages were sent by King George and the heads of every nation in the world. In a proclamation President Wilson, though abroad, paid official tribute to the former President, and ordered that appropriate honors be done him. As a great national memorial, services paying tribute to the Colonel were held simultaneously on February 9 in all parts of the country. Preparations to build monuments in his honor were started in many places and like honors were proposed him in many other countries. A national order was sent out to 16,000 troops of Boy Scouts, as a "permanent expression of all Colonel Roosevelt stood 464 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN for to the boys of the nation," for the planting by each troop of one or more trees with suitable inscription and ceremony in memory of the former President. Lieutenant-Governor Channing H. Cox, of Massachusetts, sent a telegram to Senator Lodge asking that he introduce a resolution in Congress providing for the change of the name of the Panama Canal to the Roosevelt Canal. "In this manner," declared Lieutenant-Governor Cox, "there would be linked together for all time the name of the great American leader and this great American contribution to the world." Another proposal was made to have a new great bridge to be added to the number already spanning the Hudson River, named after the great American. Colonel Roosevelt himself, shortly before his death, had urged as a testimonial of the government to her heroes in the great war, a system of roads throughout the country, either built, in course of construction or contemplated, to be suit- ably named in their honor. QUENTIN'S DEATH A HARD BLOW. One of the things believed to have contributed more than any other to Colonel Roosevelt's breakdown, and already referred to, was the death of his son, Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, the aviator, in action in France. When Theodore Roosevelt saw his sons and his sons-in-law leave the shores of America to join in the most tremendous struggle the world has ever known, he knew they took their chances just as hun- dreds of thousands of other boys. He asked no favors for them. His only regret was that he could not fight beside them. And so, when Quentin, the youngest boy in the family, was killed in a battle among the clouds, Colonel Roosevelt accepted the result as a part of the Great Adventure. He had no complaint; his grief was too deep for sympathy. He had in the weeks preceding heard how his son, Theodore, had been gassed and wounded and how Archie had been crippled by German bullets. The end came to Quentin and Colonel Roosevelt displayed his wonderful fortitude in these words : ' ' Quentin 's mother and I are very glad he got to the front and had the chance to render some service to his country and to show the stuff that was in him before his fate befell him." THE PASSING OF THE GKEAT MAN 465 And yet, behind this was a depth of feeling and love that could not be suppressed. At a meeting soon after the United States en- tered the war, he was asked by a heckler why he was not in France. His reply was: "I asked not only to go over there, but I came with 100,000 hands to help. And I will tell you, you man over there, that I have sent my four sons. I have sent my four boys, for each of whose lives I care a thousand times more than I care for my own — if you can understand that, you creature over there!" How much Theodore Roosevelt suffered when Quentin died, no person will ever know. The boy had sailed for France in July, 1917, to enter the air service as a lieutenant. He had been in the officers' training camp at Plattsburg, but without waiting to complete liis course he joined the aviation service. He worked hard, won his way by perseverance and skill and was loved by his associates. Once in active service on the fighting front, he showed his courage. Early in July, 1918, he brought down a German plane. A few days later he started out with a patrol in the Chateau Thierry sector. ROOSEVELT'S LITERARY PRECISION. It was at the beginning of a decisive battle which started out with a final dash on the part of the Germans to reach Paris and ended in a German defeat at the hands of American troops. In this fighting the air combats were bitter. Young Roosevelt's plane was attacked by two enemy machines. It fell and the young lieutenant was taken out of the wreckage, his body bearing the marks of sev- eral bullets. He was buried near the spot by the Germans, part of his plane being used to make the grave marker. Although suffering almost constantly from his long-standing ailment, inflammatory rheumatism, Colonel Roosevelt not only kept up his public writings, but found time during the last ten days of his life to digest a 250,000-word volume on pheasants written by William Beebe, of the New York Zoological Park, of which he in- tended to write a review. On the day before his death he wrote to Mr. Beebe as follows : "Dear Beebe: I have read through your really wonderful vol- ume, and I am writing Colonel Kuser about it. I cannot speak too highly of the work. Now, a question, on page 23, final paragraph, 30— T.E. 466 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN there is an obviously incorrect sentence, about which T formerly spoke to you. Ought you not call attention to it and correct it in the second volume! In it you say, by inference, that the grouse of the old world and the grouse of the new world are in separate families, although I believe that three of the genera and one of the species are identical. Moreover, you say that the family of pheasants in- clude not only the pheasants, but the partridges and quail of the old and the grouse of the new world; and, furthermore, red-legged partridges and Francolins, which, of course, you have already in- eluded in the term partridges and quail of the old world. Obviously, someone has made a mistake, and I cannot even form a guess of what was originally intended. Do you mind telling me, and I can say in my review that this slip of the printer will be corrected in some subsequent edition. Faithfully yours, T. R," This, one of the last letters written by Colonel Koosevelt, was received fourteen hours after his death. AN ADVOCATE OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE. Theodore Roosevelt's last written expression on woman suffrage was made in a letter he wrote under the date of January 3 to Senator Moses, of New Hampshire. The letter follows : "You know how fond I am of Cabot Lodge, and I think he has done wonderful work during the last three months in international matters. But it is a misfortune from the standpoint of the war and from the standpoint of party expediency that he and Senator Wads- worth, of New York, and some of your New England senators should have been so bitter about woman suffrage. I earnestly hope you can see your way clear to support the national amendment. It is coming anyhow, and it ought to come. When states like New York and Illinois adopt it, it can't be called a wildcat experiment. I very earnestly hope you can see your way clear to support the amend- ment." There was much talk of having Colonel Roosevelt as the Re- publican candiate for president in the 1920 contest. In any event he was looked upon as the party standard bearer in this fight and his loss was considered a severe blow to his party's hopes. The THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN 467 New York "World" was authority, however, for the following state- ment shortly before his death, that "Colonel Roosevelt's determina- tion to remove himself from political activities results entirely from his health. Interested politicians say the Colonel is not a well man and realizes he would be unable to undergo the rigors of another campaign. He considers it better for him to step aside rather than rush headlong into a certain physical breakdown." As a writer and speaker, Theodore Roosevelt was prolific. He was the author of many books, he prepared scores of magazine arti- cles and essays and he issued pamphlets on vital questions. HIS WONDERFUL AND PROFOUND REASONINGS. Most of his writings were popular with the public, although he was frank enough to admit that some of them were not of high literary merit. And yet, as was pointed out by Frederick Boyd Stevenson, there are chapters in the Roosevelt books, many of them, that rank with the best literature. He says : "Many of Mr. Roosevelt's speeches possess great literary merit. They are always aglow with originality and force. Sometimes there is humor in them, something that sets the country in a titter, like the Mollycoddle speech. Always when he writes or speaks, he has a motive^ He never sits down, pen in hand, waiting for the thoughts to come to him. The reason of the thing is the first thought; the style, the second. In his first essay in 'American Ideals,' he says: 1 ' ' Every great nation owes to the men whose lives have formed part of its greatness not merely the material effect of what they did, not merely the laws they placed upon the statute books or the victories they won over armed foes, but also the immense but inde- fineable moral influence produced by their deeds and words them- selves upon the national character. It would be difficult to exag- gerate the material effects of the careers of Washington and Lin- coln upon the United States. Without Washington we should prob- ably never have won our independence of the British crown and we should almost certainly have failed to become a great nation, re- maining instead a cluster of jangled communities, drifting toward the type of government prevalent in Spanish America. " 'It was not only the country which these men helped to make and helped to save that is theirs by inheritance : we inherit also all 468 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT .MAN that is best and highest in their characters and in their lives. We inherit from Lincoln and the might of Lincoln's generation not merely the freedom of those who once were slaves: for we inherit also the fact of the freeing them, we inherit the glory and the honor and the wonder of the deed that was done, no less than the actual results of the deed when done. BOOKS OF REFERENCE AND ADVENTURE. " 'The bells that rang at the passage of the emancipation procla- mation still ring in Whittier's ode, and as men think over the nature of the triumph then scored for humankind, their hearts shall ever throb as they cannot over the greatest industrial success or over any other victory won at a less cost than ours.' "There is literature in every line of that. "President Roosevelt's extensive reading on nearly all topics made him today one of the best — and perhaps, I might better say the best— generally informed man in the country. Mr. Roosevelt has his ideals among the men who have uplifted the nation. These ideals are among those who are reckoned as the great men of the world — men like "Washington and Lincoln and Wellington and some of those sturdy characters of history. "His 'Naval War of 1812,' sparkles with brilliant sentences and there also he has exhaustive references. He describes the American Navy at the beginning of the war and analyzes the race identity of the combatants. In 'The Rough Riders,' which was written at Al- bany, while he was governor of New York, he tells how he trained the regiment, and follows its movements on through the war and into the trenches and on the firing line. He goes into the personnel of his regiment. He knew every man in it. He had hunted with some of them, busted bronchos with some of them. And here is shown the camaraderie of Roosevelt — the good fellow in him — and here is the secret of his hold upon the people. He unconsciously has told this himself in his 'Rough Riders.' Many other things he has told to us, in his books, and so after all, the real side of Theodore Roosevelt, the soul of Theodore Roosevelt, is read in his writings." Colonel Roosevelt was author of the following books: "The Winning of the W T est," "History of the Naval War of 1812," "Hunt- ing Trips of a Ranchman," "Life of Thomas Hart Benton," "Life THE PASSING OF THE GKEAT MAN 469 of Gouverneur Morris," " Ranch Life and Hunting Trail," " History of New York," "The Wilderness Hunter," " American Ideals and Other Essays," "The Rough Riders," "Life of Oliver Cromwell," "The Strenuous Life," "The Deer Family," "Outdoor Pastimes of An American Hunter," "Good Hunting," "True Americanism," "African and European Addresses," "African Game Trails," "The New Nationalism," "Realizable Ideals," "Conservation of Woman- hood and Childhood," "History and Literature," "Theodore Roose- velt, an Autobiography," "Life Histories of African Game Ani- mals," "Through the Brazilian Wilderness," "America and the World War," "A Booklover's Holidays in the Open," "Fear God and Take Your Own Part," and "National Strength and Interna- tional Duty." MEMORIAL SERVICES IN WASHINGTON. The final tribute of the nation to Colonel Roosevelt came on Sun- day, February 9, a month after his death, when special public memo- rial services were held in all parts of the country. In Washington the services were held before one of the most distinguished gatherings that ever filled the hall of the House of Representatives. Members of the dead ex-President's family occupied a special gallery, while on the floor of the House were seated William Howard Taft, the only living former President of the United States ; members of the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court, representatives of the army and navy, ambassadors, ministers and attaches of foreign governments and the Senators and Representatives. Only two members of Colonel Roosevelt's family were present at the services. They were Mrs. Alice Long-worth, his daughter, and Mrs. Douglas Robinson. Frank L. Polk, acting Secretary of State, headed the Cabinet members who attended. They included Secretary of the Treasury Glass, Secretary of War Baker, Secretary of the Navy Daniels, Sec- retary of the Interior Lane and Secretary of Commerce Redfield. General Peyton C. March, chief of staff, and Major Generals Crowder, Sibert, Black and Squiers represented the United States Army. Rear Admirals Blue. Braisted and Clark represented the Navy. 470 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN Diplomatic representatives of the following nations occupied seats to the loft of the Speaker's desk: Spain, Mexico, Japan, Chili, Portugal, Bolivia, Norway, Guatemala, Sweden, Denmark, Siam, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Salvador, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Do- minican Republic, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Netherlands, Peru, Serbia, Great Britain, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, France, Roumania, Panama, Haiti, China, Montenegro, Greece, Cuba, Switzerland, Russia, Bel- gium and Persia. While the United States Marine Band played "'Come All Ye Faithful," the distinguished men who gathered to honor the memory of "the Colonel" entered the hall of the House in solemn procession and took their seats. The Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, chaplain of the United States Senate, delivered the prayer, and then the Vice- President of the United States, Thomas R. Marshall, introduced United States Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts, who pronounced the eulogy. SENATOR LODGE'S EULOGY. The feeling which moved a great nation to honor the memory of the ex-President with such public services found its interpretation in the eulogy of Senator Lodge, who said : " 'A tower is fallen, a star is set ! Alas ! Alas ! for Clem.' "The words of lamentation from the old Moorish ballad, which in boyhood we used to recite, must, I think, have risen to many lips when the world was told that Theodore Roosevelt was dead. But whatever the phrase the thought was instant and everywhere. "We cannot approach Theodore Roosevelt along the beaten paths of eulogy or satisfy ourselves with the empty civilities of com- monplace funeral tributes," said Senator Lodge, "for he did not make his life journey over main-traveled roads nor was he ever com- monplace. Cold and pompous formalities would be unsuited to him who was devoid of affectation, who was never self-conscious, and to whom posturing to draw the public gaze seemed not only repellant, but vulgar. In his spirit of devotion to truth 's simplicity, I shall try to speak of him today. "He was a great patriot, a great man; above all, a great Amer- ican. His country was the ruling, mastering passion of his life, from the beginning even nnto the end. THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN 471 "Roosevelt was always advancing, always struggling to make things better, to carry some much-needed reform, and help humanity to a larger chance, to a fairer condition, to a happier life. Moreover, he looked always for an ethical question. He was at his best when he was fighting the battle of right against wrong. 1 ' This is not the place to speak of his private life, but within that sacred circle no man was ever more fortunate in the utter devotion of a noble wife, and the passionate love of his children. The absolute purity and beauty of his family life tell us why the pride and interest which his fellow-countrymen felt in him were always touched with the warm light of life. In the home, so dear to him, in his sleep, death, and "So Valiant-for-Truth passed over and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side." 5EP 23 K