The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-22
COL. ROOsEVELTsS HOME.
The NATURALIZATION House at Oyster
Ray and Its Occupants.
New York Trihune.

New York Tribune.
1t is safe to say that Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt's quiet little home at Oyster Bay
has for the last week been the most talked
about private dwelling in New York State.
But at no time during the discussion in
which the house has figured has the place
itself been disturbed by the excitement
which the politicians brought upon them
selves by questioning whether the house
really is Colonel Roosevelt's residence, or
home, or domicie, or dwelling place, or
whatever the lawyers may be pleased to
call it. ttV ea.a
The house is on, CoveENecl<, three miles by
carriage from theiviilage of Oyster Bay. It
is approached by a steep winding roadway,
which takes the visitor through a dense
wood before revealing to him the house
itself Once on the crest of the little hill
which the colonel selected for his home,
tho visitor has beautiful view in every d.
rection, especially to the north and east,
where the waters of the sound and Cold
Spring harbor are seen Around the house
on all sides is a closely cropped lawn stud
ded with shade trees, big and little, and of
many kinds.
The main entrance to the house on the
laden with heavy vines and bearing a pair
of spreading antlerss. The walls of the
story and above that of wood, painted in
many colors A broad porch runs around
three sides of the structure, covered, except
in front, by a shingled roof, and shaded
here and there by iuxuriant Virginia
creeper.
Within the house is beautifully furnished
from cellar to attic. In nearly every room
are trophies of the cOlonePs life on the
Western plains and not few relics from
his Cuban campaign. just at the right of
the front door is Ren1ington's bronze of the
.Broncho Buster" which was presented to
the colonel by the Rough Riders at Camp
are many long shelves, well filled with
books, and a collection of bronzes and hunt
ing trophies A fireplace of old-fashioned
proportions is at one side of the room, and
near the windows is the desk at which the
colonel does most of his literary work and
correspondence. On the walls of the study
are portraits of Washington. Grant and
Lincoln, and photographs of Henry Cabot
Lodge and of the colonel himself. holding In
his arms the rightful heir to his name and
fame. Theodore Roosevelt jr
Tho colonel Is never so happy as when he
is sitting quietly in his home with his wife
and children. Home is to him the most
sacred place on earth, and he never allows
his family circle to be disturbed by the
many cares which fall upon him as a civil
however, most courteous in his reception of
all visitors, even though they may come at
a time when he is most DESTROYS of quiet
The romping, out-of-door life which his
six children enjoy for nearly eight months
,etes of them all. Teddy" jr is already
known as a horseman OF skill, and every
one of his brothers and sisters would, if
riding alone counted be fully qualified for
admission to a. regiment of rough riders by
the time they reach "Teddys" age. Young
Teddy is in all respects the counterpart
large. gold-rimmed speetacles.
On Oyster bay the colonel has a boathouse
and a bathing house both of which are lib
orally used throughout the summer months.
The Roosevelts usually occupy their Oys-
ter Bay home early in May, and rarely
leave it until after Christmas. The children
attend the village school like the other chill
dren of the town. Their father says the
public schools are good enough for any chill
dren. When the children are not in school
they are riding or running over the roads
and hills or sailing on the bay, or, if the
weather is unfavorable for out-of-door ex-
petitions, they hide themselves in the little
libraries. for their fondness for reading is
as marked as their love for the open air.