The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-18

made New York seethe with excitement
for year. Disguised, he visited at
night the various precincts, seeing for
! hlmsef and testing the probity and
capability of his corps. BY day he
fought the other Police Commissioners,
he upset old-time rules and enforced
old-time blue laws"
| The sixth phase of Mr.. Roosevelt'S
career was brief, but most satisfactory,
! and was embraced in the short time Of
| his service as Assistant Secretary of
! the Navy. A story so characteristic of
the man as the one related Of him in
! Washington at a recent dinner party
largely made up of army and navy
officers is worth repeating. 1t was said
| that MI. Roosevelt, shortly after his
appointment to office, asked for an ap-
!! preparation OF sS0000 for ammunition.
/ powder and shot for the use of the
navy. This appropriation was made.
and a few months later the Assistant
Secretary of the Navy made another
application. This time he requested
100000. When he was examined by the
proper authorities in connection with
the application he was asked what had
been done with the first 100000 worth
of ammunition.
Looking through his spectacles, Mr..
Roosevelt said, blandly: Every cent
of 1t has been used in buying powder
and shot for practice, and every bit Of
the powder and shot has been fired"
He was then asked what he was going
to do with the $500, 900 he had recently
requested, and he replied, with the
same vigor and determination and also
with characteristic sweetness:
Going to use every ounce Of that
TOO, within the next thirty days In prac-
tice shooting"
prominent navy man, who told the
story, said: How much the magnifi-
cent shooting of the American navy
was due to this costly but necessary
practice 1t is impossible for us to say
precisely"
The seventh phase of Mr.. Roosevelt's
/ career we all know. AS colonel of the
magnificent regiment of Rough Riders
/ he has shown himself to be true to his
| own ideal, and his country has been
quick to recognize 1t and show It's ap-
probation of his heroism.
| The Roosevelt homestead Is an ideal
country seat, and the Roosevelt family
a very old one in the neighborhood OF
| Oyster Bay. The house Is large, home
| like and countified-quite unpreten-
tious 1t crowns the very topmost peak
of Sycamore Hill.
At Oyster Bay Mr.. Roosevelt's inter-
est Is in his home, and his greatest d.
version he finds in the pranks Of his
babies who all resemble their father.
When very young Mr.. Roosevelt mar
ried a Miss Alice Lee of Boston, who
lived but two years, and died leaving
little daughter, now nearly grown. Mr..
Roosevelt's present wife was Miss
Edith Carow, who had always been an
intimate friend of the Roosevelt fam
lily. Mrs Roosevelt is most accom-
plished and charming woman-a firm
believer in her husbands talents and
remarkable ability, and more ambi
tious for him than he perhaps is for
himself Mrs Roosevelt is of medium
height, with fair complexion, dark eyes
and hair, with wonderful charm of
manner. She dresses very simply, al
ways in the latest fashion, wears few
Jewels and only very handsome ones.
While Mrs. Roosevelt is unquestionably
the greatest spur to her husband in his
public career, and while her ambition
for him is unbounded. she herself
shrinks from publicity or public activ-
ity in every form There are six little
Roosevelts, and a eioht of these romp-
ing, fair-haired, bare-legged, joyous
children clambering about their father
is one calculated to inspire confidence
unlimited in the man who as soldier
was equally beloved by cowboys and
| dudes and as husband and father is SO
| frankly idolized. When one first ap-
breaches the Roosevelt home at Oyster
Bay the impression is that there are
more children and doo~ about the place
than one has seen for many long year
in a family group. Children ranging
in arms to the lad of II or IL, all happy,
free and unrestrained, full of energy
and sunshine. and on terms OF most
absolute freedom with both parents,
dancing about and around mother and
father, 1t is certainly a domestic pic
ture to linger over.
Next to wife and children Mr.. Roose-
welt apparently is on most intimate
terms with a half dozen or more mag
nificent speciments of dogs. Little and
Ii <&
house. In spite of his years of celebrity,
Theodore Roosevelt is still very young
man. His career as a politician has
been interrupted by literarv work of
value. He has written history of the
naval battles of 1912, descriptions Of
hunting trips of a ranchman, history
of New York and many papers on var
ious questions of politice and outing
exercises.
Indeed, of himself Mr.. Roosevelt
says: Literature is my profession. Any
usefulness that l may have depends in
my view upon my willingness to quit
politics at any time. If the people want
me in politics gladly accept the trust
The fundamental proposition of the
new system is that every American citi-
zen has right to serve the public (pro-
vided that his services are needed), if
on his merits he is able to show that he
is the man most capable of filing the
position he seeks, and all he is required
to do is to show this superior capacity
in fair competition with other American
citizens In other words, the system is
one of common honesty and of fair play
for all, and therefore it is essentially
American and essentially democratic"
1t says plainly enough if Theodore
Roosevelt is the man who has shown a
superior capacity in fair competition
with other American citizens to serve
the public in position he believes he
has the right to seek, we'll and good
Theodore Roosevelt will do his honest
best to gain the position and to fill it
honorably.
AS to the purity of Mr.. Roosevelt's
motives, not even his f1ercest antagon-
lists can doubt.