The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-26
WITHAN Ak
Roosevelt Can Make
the Chips Fly.
GREATEST DELIGHT
The Solitude of the Forest
and His Books.

Gov. Roosevelt's two greatest lux
uries are solitude and books. He has
come nearest to realizing a heaven on
earth when he has been alone in his
ranch on the Rocky Mountain slope,
with storm bowling outside, no other
human being within 20 miles and a
fairly large library within reach of his
hand. OF the two, solitude perhaps
appeals to him rather more than books,
because it is harder to get, says
the New York Sun, It will be
almost impossible for him at Albany,
just as it was impossible for him while
he was in the army. When Col. Roose-
Welt hears himself lauded for sharing
with his men the hardships and the
lack of luxuries incident to the cam
paign, he is apt to smile grimly. For,
as he says freely enough, the things
that his men would have considered
luXuries-pies, canned soups and all
that sort of thing--were not things that
he wanted himself half so much as to
be absolutely alone with a book for
hours together. The depriVations
which worked the greatest hardships
on him were those which most of his
men would not consider deprivations at
all. As a matter of fact, it was, in his
sight a privilege to be kept hard at
work in rough quarters on an even
rougher diet. because it kept him from
feeling how much he wanted the more
intellectual privileges.
| In anticipation, apparently, of the
limitations of his daily life at Albany,
Col. Roosevelt made the most of the
| opportunities of outdoor life which he
had in the last few days he spent on
| his big place near Oyster bay. The
outward characteristics of his home
exemplify his tastes. The house is half
mile from the main road and is con-
cealed from sight by a quarter Of a
mile of woods. From the house itself
no other house can be seen, although it
is situated at the top of a hill so steep
that the road leading up to it winds
so much that 1t is almost twice as long
as the distance between the main road
and the house. There is an area of 40
/ or 90 acres about the house compare
| lively free from trees. A small part of
/ 1t is lawn more is farm land. The rest
| is woods and thickets. The woods are
alive with small wild things-squirrels
muskrats, mink and raccoons-which
the proprietor never allows to be dis
turbed. In these woods Col. Roosevelt
found the luxury of solitude.
! A visitor to the governor one day last
December told how Col. Roosevelt found
solitude at Oyster bay. when |
reached the house." he said, ct was
told that Col. Roosevelt had gone out
for walk and would not be back for
some time. was rather in a hurry and
| inasmuch as l only had a word to saw
TO him, which would require no discus
sion, / determined not to wait for him
to come back, but to try to find him.
The snow everywhere was from six
inches to three feet deep and it seemed
proper to infer that there were very
Few directions in which he could have
walked. l asked which way he had
gone. 1 almost thought I caught the
Meeting shadow of a smile when the re-
/ ply was made that he had gone down
! toward the woods
| From an old colored man working
ABOUT the barn I got little more def
mite information as to the path bv
which Col. Roosevelt had passed out of
sight. went through the gate and fol-
lowed the path across a stubble field.
There it stopped at a woodpile. Fresh
footprints made by a pair of hobnailed
sHoes LED on across another field. l fol-
lowed them. 1t had been a rather warm
morning, and light rain had just be-
| gun to fall. The snow was sticky and
heavy as lead. That trail led through
drifts, over stone piles and concealed
j brush heaps. 1t would have been the
toughest kind of walking even had
/ there been no snow. AS I was following
Ine hopnahed footprints down a steep
gully toward the woods which extend
from the east of his lands clear to Cold
spring harhoT I heard the dull echoes
OF ak blows ahead. I stopped and lis
tened and in a moment heard the graf
ing crash of falling tree. I Trained
on down the hill and entered the woods
Notwithstanding the fine, almost
misty drl2zle, the snow under foot
/ MADE the woods quite light AS 7
| climbed the fence that separated tha
pasture from the trees 1 saw figure
moving on hill a hundred Yards AWAY
In another moment l recognized the
/ goVernor-elect. He wore neither hat nor
coat The sleeves of his rough gray fam
mel shirt were rolled back, and he had
on rough gray knickerbockers. He was
hacking away at lot of small SAN
lings and young oaks and chestn1Its
! with trunks from two to four inches
IN diameter. Some of them he cut AT a
single DloW; others required half a
Dozen He jumped from one side to am
other lodged falling trunks and leaned
TO guide them as they fell with the
qulckness of a wildcat. watched him
| While he cut two almost through and
/ d a
big one, so that in falling it knocIad
the others down with a big crash AS
! they fell he stood and laughed out loud
at the racket them made Then in an
other moment he leaped on the Wreel,
clearing up the trunks and uhoppine
them off into f1rewood lengths A Iiphf
cloud Of steam hung about him as he
WORKED. stepping over his coat, which
was lying in the snow, I went near9r
and spoke
He looked over his shoulder with a
! quickness that had nothing of the
! startled in it, and smiled.
Hello he said, where did Won
! come from? Without waiting for an
! answer he turned back to his chop-
ping. m glad you've come he said.
I In another moment he turned back
again This is bully lie said: 1t is as
good exercise as man can get
have just been thinking about
that appointment he went on. referr-
ing to the matter with regard TO which
he knew l had come to see him, and
I've made up my mind
He cleared away The last twig. and
went on to a standing tree, took Off his
distance and drove the ak three inches
/ into the wood.
1 think he continued, as he took
a fresh hold on the AK handle, "A is a.
thoroughly good man (hep), but so. l
believe (hep), is b a good (hep) man
And he stands (hep) out before the
public for a principle that (hep) want
thoroughly understood (hepJ.
He jumped back, and with a crack
and rush the tree came down. Every
chip that flew mSrked point in his
argument.
g Your good friend, Mr.. c. | said to
him, at one point, does not want you
TO do this.
He straightened up and looked me