The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-06-30
A STUDY OF ROOSEVELT
SOME ORIGINAL OPINIONS EX.
PRESSED IN sFINE WRITIN'.-
A Man of Force Who Might Have seen
a Viking i'm a Past stage of Ex-
stence-H Achievements.
Albert E. Hunt, in Philadelphia Telegraph.

Albert E.. Hunt, in Philadelphia Telegraph.
Roosevelt is irrelevant.
You feel that the moment you begin
TO study him. He is out OF his time and
place. Instead of a Vice President, urbane,
dignified. important. he should have been
a Volsung, barbaric. free. unframed by
| creed, formula or philosophy.
1t may be that in some prior age he was
such. and is now but a reincarnation. The
| Berserker lust of combat RACES within him.
| He would be congruous in long hair, whip
ped by the winds of the sea. or in mail.
fourishing a spiked battle-axe.
He is brother to the moose and the buff
falo, and he knows their language The
rush of mighty rivers is music to his ears.
and his JOY of life is i'm the cry of the wolf
| and the crack of the rifle. He is the tonic
man for whom Whitman looked: for whom
| Kipling is still seeking.
1 watched Roosevelt in the convention the
other day. He is not a tall man, as you
might suspect. His figure might be called
square and stolid. The head is a perfect
round. like a cannon ball, and the hair is
cropped close to the scalp. The jaw is
straight and firm. and the mouth defiant.
Many men pressed upon him when the
tide began to sweep him toward the Cap
ftol- He Srasped their hands in a way that
must have hurt, and gave each a short.
quick shake. Sometimes he slapped one on
the shoulder with the same emphatic ges-
ture. His head would go to one side and
back again in an instant. and his lips
spread. showing you two rows of white
teeth and reminding you of a bulldog.
When he stood upon the platform watt
ing for their howls to subside, so that he
could speak, he was in what might be
called aggressive repose: head erect, feet
together, and arms stiffiy at his side. Sud-
denly he raised his hand, palm outward,
inclined his body forward. with protruding
head and one foot on tiptoe. 1t was an at
titude for the camera, but il was entirely
natural.
The first word came like a bullet. When
IL was out, the head went back with the
same abrupt motion, and the hand dropped
TO his side. These were his only positions
| during the speech. The voice was throaty,
but the delivery clear and incisive. When
he felt the thrill of a strong period the
words came like Kisses from between the
clenched teeth, out went the head again,
and the mouth screwed up in a ferocious
pout.
VIA HE HAS DONE.
If you think this an exaggerated estimate
of the man. read what he has done. Here
are the names of some of his books:
Hunting Trips of a Ranchman."
Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail"
1.-THE Winning of the West"
1.-THE Wilderness Hunter"
1.-THE Rough Riders"
Once he saw a herd of bison grazing in
| a glade. One bull stood with outstretched
tree, which shook violently. Behind rose
the dark pines. AT the left of the glade the
ground fell away TO form the side of a
chasm, and down in its depths the cata-
racts foamed and Numbered. Beyond the
huge mountains lowered"
He fired and caught him behind the
shoulders. He was a splendid old bull,
still i'm his full vigor, with large, sharp
horns and heavy name and glossy coat. /
felt the most exulting pride as l handled
and examined him.
evening. so, after taking out his tongue and
cutting off enough meat for supper and
breakfast. L scrambled down to near the
torrent and found a good spot for camp
ing. Hot and dusty from the days hard
tramp. l undressed and took a plunge in
the stream, the icy water making me gasp.
Then, having built a lean-to of brush,
cut long alder twigs. sat down before some
embers, ralSed apart ana grilled and ate my
buffalo with the utmost relish.
Night had fallen and a cold wind blew
up the valley. Tn torrent roared and
leaped past and the flame of the fire flick
cred and danced. lighting up with con-
tinual vivid flashes the gloom of the forest
roundabout."
1DlS Is tne klnQ OF man whose muscles
are like wires and whose blood is warm
and red. Another time he killed seven
deer without missing a shot. though some
were rather difficult
A SON OF NATURE.
Such is Roosevelt. the hunter. the free
son Of nature. Then there is Roosevelt,
the soldier. the Rough Rider The story
of the deeds Of the First Volunteer Cav
airy. of which he was colonel. are a par:
of American history. He tells of his com
partnership with Leonard Wood and how
they talked it over.
From the beginning / had determined
that If a war came, somehow or other l
was going TO the front. In the summer
he and l took long walks through the
beautiful broken country surrounding
Washington. In winter we varied our
walks by kicking a football in an empty
lot, or, when there was enough snow, by
trying a couple of sets of skis or snow.
skates, which had been sent TO me from
Canada"
We know about that fight at San Juau
hill and ii is not hard to understand why
his men were willing TO follow him to hell
He was called upon to rebuke some negro
soldiers one day, and this is how he did
Ii: NOW, 1 shall be very sorry to hurt
you, and you don't know whether or not ]
will keep my word. but my men can tell
you that / always do"
anu hLlC wv aAfN| 0A4 A@At-
ers, who made up the Rough Riders. sol.
emily nodded their heads. and commented
i'm chorus, as If in a comic opera: He al.
ways does. He always does
The stress and storm and misery of those
broiling days in Cuba can only be weakly
fancied by those who were not there. Re.
Numbering this, read this of Roosevelt
and observe the reticence of it. The Who'll
man is there:
with all troops in time of trial the bes,
work can be got out of the men only II
the officers endure the same hardships and
face the same risks In my regiment. as
in the whole cavalry division, the proper
ton of loss I'm killed and wounded was
considerably greater than among the troop
ers. and this was exactly as IL should be
Moreover, when we got down to hard pan
we all. officers and men, Jared exactly alike
as regards both shelter and food. This
prevented any grumbling."
This is the man who will be Vice Presi-
dent. Can you imagine him in evening
clothes?
E~-a~ QaftA. n~~.