Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-16
ROOSEVELT AND CHARLESTON.

ROOSEVELT AND CHARLESTON.
Made by the President.
A staff correspondent Of the Wash
ington Post, who accompanied the pres
ident to Charleston, sent his paper the
following letter under date Of April 8:
President Roosevelt has captured
Charleston and Charleston has captured
the president. Nothing could be more
genuine, spontaneous, and universal
than the cordial welcome which has
been accorded him today. The only
danger which he invites by coming to
this quaint and beautiful southern city
was the danger of being killed by kind
ness. He went to bed tonight tired
but thoroughly happy man. From ear
ly morning, when a committee welcom-
ed him at Summerville, % miles from
Charleston, until midnight, when he left
the banquet room amid enthusiastic
cheers, he was literally in the hands OF
his friends. They couldn't do too much
for him. 1--WE wanted to show" said
Governor McSweeney to me tonight,
THAT Charleston wanted the president,
and that we would give him patriotic
and cordial welcome. If we have sue
ceeded we ask no more"
| Rose to the Occasion.
There can be no doubt that the
Charleston people have succeeded.
Their hurrahs are still ringing In the
ears of the president, who has literally
bubbled over all day long with his en-
thusiasm at the warmth of the greet
ing extended to him. He Is most un-
conventional president. This very alb
sence of formality, this hearty and un-
restrained participation in every detail
of the programme arranged for his en-
tertainment, the total absence OF re-
serve and official frigidity won all OF
the hearts of his hosts. They knew
that he was of different mould than
Mckinley. But If the truth be told
they expected that he would go to the
other extreme. They rather anticipa-
ted that he would move impulsively ac-
cording to his own free will; on the
contrary he was most compliant. He
followed where they led. Every feature
of the elaborate programme was ac'
cepted by him with such instantane.
Gus good will and with such evident
enjoyment that the hearts of the hard.
working committeeman went out to him
as one Of their own kin. II have beer
simply delighted with every moment Of
the day." said the president to Mayor
Smyth as he left the revenue cutter Al.
gonquin late this afternoon, after sew
eral hours spent upon the waters of the
picturesque harbor, and the remark lef
no doubt Of his sincerity. Il really be-
lieve the president has enjoyed him
SELF" said Mayor Smyth.
Most Democratic of Presidents.
Yet the president, it Is worth repeat
ling, was most unconventional. He wa!
more democratic in the real sense o.
the word than any president Of recen
years. II am the last man in the world
to be bound by etiquette" he remark
ed with good natured frankness wher
a mistake had been made in the ordel
Of precedence. Never, Of course, did III
overstep the line which divides dignit!
from sociability and yet he was alway!
Roosevelt. He couldn't be anything
else if he tried, and it Is quite evident
that he does not propose to try. He 1!
himself always. When his hat blew of
while he was standing at the parape
of Fort Sumter, he at once started tt
run after it with almost boyish free
dom, and when it was finally caught
by smutty workman from the black
smiths shop, he grasped the mans
hand and thanked him with such
learnestness and warmth that the mar
was overwhelmed. Until his dying day
that workman will remember that the
president of the United States treated
him like a brother.
When the president was greeted al
ISummerville by the reception commit.
tee, headed by Mayor J. Adger Smytf
and Col. John C. Hemphill, he greeted
them with a speech so cordial in it's ma
ture that the committeeman were en-.
Enthusiastically repeating it all day long
When he was marched over the beauti-
full roads of Chicora park, which is tc
be the site of the naval station, he went
into rapture over the panorama that
unfolded itself before him, and praised
the beauty Of the live oaks, festooned
with Spanish moss in fervent express
ions which manifested his keen love OF
nature. The myriad of sandflies which
annoyed everybody else while awaiting
the arrival Of the Algonquin, merely
hunting trips in the Adirondacks, where
the midgets were more or less trouble
some,
Upon the boat the stiff breeze from
the west made his silk hat a burden
He at once borrowed from Colonel
Hemphill crush hat Of soft wool,
pulled it down upon his head, and was
perfectly content. For half an hour,
while he chatted with Judge Simonton
and Judge Brawley he sat upon the
skylight on the quarterback, disdaining
a chair, with head uncovered and the
wind playing havoc with his hair.
Once, when the lace of Mrs. Roose-
velt's shoe became united, he was on
bended knee in an instant, fastening
the unruly string. In all of these things