The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-05
NEW YORK TOPICS
ROOSEVELT's VACATION AT
OYSTER BAY.

The Present Chief Executive the
Only Ono Who Has Ever Spent
His summer Rest Time So Nenr to
New YOrIS-ROOseveIt and the
Newspaper Men-ReIations of His
Predecessors and the Correspond
ents-HRrrisOn ana Cleveland
Were Both Difficult" to All Jour
nalists Except Their Particular
Friends-McI(iRIey and the Vaca-
tiOn Time PhOtORrnpher-CIev
lands Days mt BuzERrd's Bay-Ar-
thurs Timidity-HOw He Kissed n
Correspondence ChiId-Hayes' I'm
expected Kindness to n Corre-
spOndent in an Emergency.
New York. July 4-On this the 127th
anniversary of the nations birth Theo-
dore Roosevelt has been at Oyster Bay
for just seven days, and all the week
the papers here have given much at
tention daily to the current doings at
the summer capital
Mr.. Roosevelt is the only President
who has ever summered so close to
the metropolis, and consequently the
only President whose vacation doings
have received the publicity that is de-
voted to his. Cleveland used to pass
his midsummer period of relaxation at
Gray Gables on the shore of Buzz
yards Bay; Mckinley generally Sc
cluded himself in the mountains Har-
vic al aaSVoI1u anfOVad
far from the big town. All three were
much averse to letting the public
know about the way they recuperated,
and reporters were generally kept at
a distance. None of the three, nor
any of their predecessors. for the mat
fledged executive Office throughout the
vacation time as Roosevelt does or
kept so close in touch with affairs in
the hot season as he.
But while Mr.. Roosevelt may be
seen both by newspaper men and
reason for seeing him. now, as when
at Washington, he doesn't like to be
intruded upon any more than his pre-
decessors. Thus, while 1t is not diff
ficult to gain access to his democratic
little oyster Bay Office, the corre-
spondent OF politician who should
make his way unlimited to the Roose-
welt residence would get a very cold
reception. In fact. he would find it
hard to do so, because of the guards.
As a class the newspaper men like
Roosevelt. Like most of those who
have gone before him. for many years
he will not submit to an interview. to
be reported, as such. But he does not
exclude reporters from his presence,
as some of the others have striven to.
and. as a rule, he does not show much
partially in his dealings with them.
This is. perhaps, because he had a
good many intimate friends among
the reporters before he was President,
especially when he was police COM
missioner of New York. 1t was then
that he formed a friendship with
Jacob Riis, the How the Other Half
Lives man, so intimate that they still
address each other as Jake" and
Teddy"
Perhaps Presidents Harrison and
Cleveland were the most difficult of
latter day Presidents for the CORE
spondents to get along with. 1t will
be remembered that Harrison was
counted unduly cold by every one who
knew him. though in reality he was a
man of warmth and sympathy. His
supposed aversion to correspondents
was not. in fact. in excess of his gem
eral standoffishness to nearly every
boy, and there were ca few corre-
spondents with whom he was on
terms of the greatest intimacy. There
was one IN particular, who. in Harri-
sons day, represented a number of
and is now holding an
official position of great trust, with
whom the President advised as con-
fdentially as with any member of his
cabinet.
Cleveland. too, had several exceed
ingly close friends among the news
paper correspondents, and they were
always especially loyal to him. It was
at the special request of Mr.. C1eve-
land that a well-known Washington
for a Chicago news
paper was accorded a famous inter-
view with the wife of William c.
Whitney when the latter was Score
tary of the Navy. and the representa-
tives at the Capital Of the Baltimore
Sun and the Philadelphia Public Led
ger were always sure of the inside
track with regard to White House
news.
Chester Allan Arthur was probably
the most tfmid of all the Presidents in
the presence of newspaper men, yet
he had a few special journalistic
friends before whom he used to talk
with great freedom.
To one newspaper man Mr.. Arthur
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