Evening star., 1901-03-02
Three Different Views of the Vice
President-Elect.
WHEN UNDER FIRE In CUBA
How He Received the News of the
Election.
HIS FIRST INAUGURATION


Written for The Evening Star by Edward Marshall
Theodore Roosevelts latest book is called
The Strenuous Life" He is the man to
write such a book, for his own life Is fifty
described by the adjective. 1t has been my
good luck to see him during three Of his
most strenuous moments.
When he was first under fire in warfare.
When he was inaugurated governor OF
New York state.
When he received the news Of his cleo
ton to the vice presidency.
had gone to Cuba as the correspondent
of New York daily and learned that the
Rough Riders were to go to the front the
day after landed. / also learned through
the horrifiedly profane remarks OF an OFF,
Ger that Lieut. Col. Roosevelt had no sad
die. although he had a horse. 1 had no
horse, but had several saddles. 1t was my
privilege to send saddle to the colonel
which have never seen since. Perhaps
that may have had its effect on the fact
that was permitted to go to the front
with the regiment and be present at its
first fight At any rate 1 went.
1t occurred the next morning
There were only a few men who knew
just when we would be fired upon. 1 had
shrewd guess of it, and, of course, the
colonel did also. Certain signs-a dead
Cuban and some abandoned campfires-
were salient. We found these signs, but
for while there was no shooting. Col.
Roosevelt stood IN a breach in a barbed
wire fence. I was lying in the grove on
the other side OF the trail, resting, as 1
watched him. The temperature was above
100 degrees. No one knew just what was
coming, but we were all waiting for some
thing to break loose.
When First Under Fire.
I have never seen a man more appar-
emily nerve-racked than Roosevelt was 1t
showed on his face and in every motion OF
his body. He twitched. His khaki-clad
figure had for its background the superb
green of an almost impenetrable Cuban
jungle. The trail was narrow. Evidently
1t had been used for years merely as a
bride path. Back of us for a long dis
tance it was filled with the soldiers from
the west, most of them lying down as 1
was, because of the awful heat and the
effects Of the hard march. They did not
know. I had been told, but scarcely be-
lfeved 1t. Roosevelt knew and realized.
AS l have said, he was extremely ner-
vous. He was not frightened, but every
fiber In his body was tense with excitement
He was waiting for the crack of Mauser
rifles. If anything else had come it is
hard to figure out what he would have
done. l earnestly believe if some one had
got behind him and said "Boo.' he would
have jumped and might have run. That
would have been unexpected and the sur
no one did. What he had expected hap
pened Some men had been sent in ad-
vance and they ''got it, That first vol
ley sounded like the crackle of brushwood
fire greatly magnifed While the soldiers
were jumping to their feet and orders were
being rapidly given a strange metamor-
phosis occurred in the expression of Roose-
velt's face He was no longer nervous. He
became as calm as any man ever was in
combat with the first song of the first bull
let's. He led his men into that jungle, and
he led them well. 1t was a strange eX-
ample of the nervousness that will come
with expectation and the tremendous self
control which may belong to the strong
man with the coming of realization.
Kindness to the Wounded.
Later during that day another phase of
Roosevelt's character showed. A number
of wounded men were lying under big
tree. The group constituted the so-called
"feld hospital" l was one of the victims.
Roosevelt came around and he was in
finitely tender and kind. The men wor-
SHIPPED him He went among us as we lay
there on blankets in the damp, sWeet-smell-
ing grass and gave US a little Scotch whfs-
ky which he had in a medicine bottle. For
every man he had a pleasant word. and he
knew each ones name. His sympathetic
syllables were cut off as closely by those
characteristic teeth as were the words of
his railroad car speeches during the recent
campaign, but they meant a lot to us.
To several men he paid more attention
The hospital corps was overWorked and
Roosevelt as well Col. Wood, went
among us. Strengthening the blanket of this
man and rearranging the cartridge belt on
which another rested his head When he
found an empty canteen he saw to It that
1t was filled, and as the little group of dead
men on the knoll grew, certainly no face
showed more real distress than his.
One illustration of that composure which
came to him at the first firing attracted my
attention during the fight. He was tired
and leaned against a small palm tree,
Three times, while he stood there, this tree
was hit and once his eyes were filled with
dust driven out by the impact Of the bull
let But he did not change his position.
And that was the man under fire!
Inaugurated Governor.
When he was inaugurated governor of
New York state. the episode less in
teresting because it lacked the element of
chance. The ceremony was arranged be-
forehand and he expected everything that
GOOD