The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-10-19
ROOSEVELT OH THE o A
How the Candidate Meets and Greets
the American Voter.
john III. Raftery. in chicago Record.

o III. Raftery, in Chicago Record.
campaigning in Cuba was easy compared
with the last five weeks Of my political
career, and cowpunching at a roundup is a
picnic!" That's what Governor Roosevelt
thinks of swinging around the circle"
s~peechmaking and shaking hands. 1t looks
easy and from the outside of his private
car seems luxurious diversion. But Roose-
Welt has none of that imperturbable poise
which distinguishes Bryan. He is nervous
earth calculated to fret these conditions 1t
is the everlasting interviewing. handshak-
ing, dragging and bounding to which he
has been subjected since he left Detroit by
the local politicians" committees of
prominent citizens and others who board
his car at every station to escort him to
"our town.
They think that, as a politician. he will be
effusively glad to see them and ak to
them. Some of them want to ''hold hands
with him. They follow him from his state
room to the observation part of his car.
If he fees to his desk and begins to simu-
late writing they lean affectionately over
his shoulder and begin. Colonel, just a
minute. L want you to shake hands with
Postmaster Smith of our town." etc, etc.
He shakes hands with Mr.. Smith and then
rushes into a corner, seizes a book and site
down with his spectacles almost on the
page Then they swarm around him. sit on
his hat, spit all over his carpet, inspect
the loose papers on the desk, praise him in
confidential tones that can be heard in
the baggage car. and finally grab him and
drag him off m mako a Cnaa0h in ssopr
town"
This sort of thing happens to Bryan as
to every other national candidate. of
course, but it makes Teddy wild. For two
hours one day last week he was missing.
The local politicians were wild with fear
lest he had fallen off the train and would
not be able 10 appear before the mighty
throng in Squeezeville. When that metrop-
oils doomed up Teddy crawled out of an
upper berth in the correspondents car,
where he had stolen a soldiers nap.
In the far West he managed to calm his
nerves and exhaust his spleen by using an
indoor exerciser which he has fastened TO
the wall OF his stateroom. But since he got
back into the middle West the thing hangs
unused and rusty, and an occasional horse
PACK ride is his only chance to get solitary
strenuousnesS.
Since the trip began at Detroit five weeks
ago politics has been barred from the con-
versation of the newspaper correspondents
travelling with Roosevelt. He knows it, and
when he can he comes to the writer's car
and sits in happy in the knowledge that
the talk will be neither serious nor inquisi-
tive. A characteristic not peculiar either to
soldiers or politicians is his distate for off,
color stories. We have had senator's on the
train In various States whose claims to
distinction as wits are based upon the num-
Der of such stories they seem so proud to
tell. While such ~recitals are in progress IL
Is interesting to watch Teddy's face. One
and ~ hfa 1900
down. His teeth show, and he looks at his
boots. He mods his head as the points of
the story develop. He always acts like q
who has heard the story before, and