The broad ax., 1899-01-14
sANTIAGO'S POOH-BAH
GENERAL WOODS ADAPTIVE
NESS.
rhs Emeisat Governor Gs Always Aiers
and vlgoroas-Hs Sec Everythlng ana
ccrreets Many Evils

Tn. Emeisns Governor Is Always Alert
ana vlsoroas-Hs See EvsrythIng and
correess Many Evils
When Colonel Teddy Roosevelt Is
sworn IN at Albany the rough riders
will have given two governors 10 tne
nation. for General Leonard Wood -
! tha military governor OF Santiago de
/ Cuba. The rough rider governor or
New York will have to set pretty not
pace when he begins his gubernatorial
! career II he would run in the same
class with the rough rider governor OF
Santiago. for General Wood not onlX Is
making history but a record beyond the
most sanguine hopes OF his warmese
admirers. 1t Is a striking coincidence
| that the colonel OF the rough riders
| should be appointed governor OF SANTA
90 and lieutenant colonel Of that COM
| mand be elected governor or New horA
| In less than six months from the DAY
the rough riders were sworn into the
service Of the United States But those
who know both men can readily De-
lieve that the sequence or events
! placed both men where they are sole
| ly by the operation OF the law OF the
selection OF the fittesJ.
Ii would take n long and weary
search to find two men more unlike
than Governor Wood and Governor
elect Roosevelt Roosevelt Is all nre,
demonstrative enthusiasm, explosive
energy, visible aggressiveness. leading
! up to pyrotechnical finishes. Wood Is
! like a hydraulic press which accom-
plishes large results quietly and unos-
! tentatiously by the exercise OF ire
which is all the more effective because
IL is noiseless, constant and under
perfect control. And, like that same
hydraulic press, Governor Wood Is self
! contained, imperturbable and solidly
/ constructed.
The whole army knows all about
| General Woods physical prowess, bis
skill as a boxer. his reputation as an
all-around athlete. But 1t remained
for the "after-surrender' days Of San
/ tiago to develop the fact that as an ex-
executive official, dilomat. eyen-tem-
pered Judge and adroit handler Of men
Governor Wood has few equals
asked General Wood about i've
minutes after he had taken his seat at
/ the desk formerly used by the Spanish
governor general what he would do
first.
"Clean out about 200 years Of dirt"
he replied.
That very hour the first gang Of Gu
bans was put to work on the streets
The first week Of his administration
| Governor Wood was in the saddle eigh-
teen hours a day. He personally
inspected every foot Of every street. al
ley. court and lane in old Santiago. He
made a house to house canvsss, exam
/ lining interior courts. rooms and hall
ways, and before the Spaniards and
| Cubans OF the city knew what had hap
pened they were whitewashing their
! houses. digging dirt out of their courts,
sweeping their halls, cleaning their
rooms and Obediently and dutifully fill
/ ing barrels with refuse, which was set
out every morning on the curbs OF the
narrow sidewalks for the carts and
/ the town.
The citizens did this unusual, this
unprecedented, kind of work not under
3 orders Of Governor Wood, but because
4 the alcalde-the mayor Of Santiago
| had issued the instructions. Governor
Wood, with that diplomatic craft
I which has enabled him to administer
| the municipal affairs without friction,
never put his name under an order,
ordinance or official proclamation In the
! earlier days Of the American Occupa-
/ ton Of Santiago. All such papers were
signed by the mayor Of the city, but
/ they were written in General Woods
office and carried across the hall to the
mayors Office.
The military governor OF Santiago
was a veritable POOh-Bah; he was
/ mayor, corporation counsel, commits
! sioner OF public works, superintendent
| of police, commissioner of health, oil
\ inspector, inspector of weights and
/ measures, port physician. harbor mas
/ ter, superintendent Of street and alley
/ cleaning, gas inspector, city attorney,
! CITY collector, city treasurer, city clerk,
! chief janitor Of the city. hall, desk ser
| geant OF the central station and police
| magistrate. In this continuous mu-
| nicipal performance General Wood
| played all parts without leaving the
| stage, sometimes acting two or more
| roles at once
As police magistrate he was unique.
Most Of the men brought before him
were Americana. steyedOres who had
slipped from their ships in the harbor
or az the docks and had tried to get
the better of Santiago rum; soldiers
| who had run the guard or sneaked
through the lines for a day In the city;
| civilians who found themselves In
Santiago and had attempted to run
things on the wide-Open policy. The
culprits were lined up in the broad en-
trance Of the governors palace, In the
morning, with an armed soldier guard
ing each end Of the line. The corporal
Of the guard and sergeant Of the pa
troll acted the part Of prosecuting wit
nesses, and ninety-n1n times out OF
hundred the accused turned states ev-
idence on himself. pleaded guilty and
threw himself on the mercy Of the
court
As a matter Of curiosity followed
up a dozen cases-fan them down, as
II were-and found that Governor
Wood had diagnosed the cases per-
fectly and had graduated the punish
ment according to the degree Of crime
/ or misdemeanor.-Chicag Record.
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