Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-08-18
HE WEIGHS 2os POUNDS AND is
WORRIED.
CANNOT REDUCE HIS BULK
Plays Tennis in a Way to Make it Like
Workable Would be Delighted to
Have a Chance to Try Game of
HandbalI-Flesh Causes Him no In
convenience.


fore he was ''portiy," or rather stout"
but since he has passed the 200-pound
mark it is nothing but fat He weighs
now 20S pounds, and the last twelve
pounds he has put on worries him.
Try as hard as he can, he does not
seem able TO reduce himself. The presi-
dent has put in some strenuous days
in the last month at Oyster Bay racing
about the tennis court in the heat of
the day in an effort to get himself
down to weight. Horseback riding,
upon which he has always depended,
failed him. Now he puts in the most
of the ''weight-reducing' exercise at
tennis. He knows he gets more real
exercise out of that than he does in
l00-mile horseback ride.
The presidents old Harvard chums
have told him of many men who re-
duced their weight by playing handball.
Tennis is the nearst approach to hand
ball the president can get, as there is
no handball court at either Oyster Bay
or the white house in Washington, and
the presidents friends don't know
what congress might do if asked for
an appropriation for a handball court.
The first thing the president did
when he got back from oyster Bay,
after looking over the navy and seeing
that the South American republics had
paid their debts, was to have himself
weighed.
The president approached the scales
with the determination to know the
worst. He had known that he was dan
gerously near the 200-pound mark, as
some scales on which he had weighed
would fiutter, hesitate and slowly and
steadily rise when the weight was adj
vanced to that number on the balance
arm.
Lightly the president stepped on the
official" scales and showed the weight
/ to 200 pounds. The balance never
even wavered.
Been gaining some, Mr.. President,
suggested Secretary Loeb, while Du-
/ laney, the presidents personal attend
/ ant, looked anxious and worried.
TRY another NOTCH" suggested Mr..
Loeb, trying to look unconcerned.
Slowly the president tapped the
weight along by quarters and eighths
until the scales registered 20S pounds
and was at a perfect balance.
by Godfrey! but I'm getting heavy, y
the president said, with sigh, step
ping off the scales.
Then, to make sure that there was
no defect in the scales, he carefully
balanced the weight and again got
on.
But "20S" again registered the mex
orable scales, and the president was
convinced that what he had most fear
ed was a reality-he was fat"
! Ever since he became president Mr..
Roosevelt has been putting on flesh.
He weighed when he first came to
Washington as vice president but 1856
pounds. He had carefully kept his
weight down by the most vigorous ex-
ercise.
During the short time he was vice
president the exercise was continued
without cessation, but the manifold
duties of the presidential office have
prevented the president from devoting
as much time as he would like to exer-
else.
The presidents weight is evenly dis
tributed, and he shows less of it in his
face than elsewhere. He has no paunch
yet, but prevents this developing by the
way in which he stands. He is always
erect, and takes as much pride in pre-
venting the development Of the paunch
as a West Point cadet.
The president has weighed as high
as 212 pounds, but this was but tenn
porary, and soon came down to 208 I'M
der the hard tennis-playing. In addi-
ton TO tennis the president has gone
in for rowing this summer. He fire.
quently takes Mrs. Roosevelt out for
row on Oyster Bay, and finds that 1t
helps to reduce him.
The president is a man with a good
appetite and no digestive troubles. He
eats heartily and enjoys his food. He
prefers plain, substantial cooking to the
fancy efforts of chefs. Because of his
propensity to gain weight he has been
obliged to forego sweets, although fond
of them.
Clothes that the president wore when
he first came TO Washington are much
too small for him now. He has a chest
measurement Of forty-four inches and
a waist measurement Of forty-one
inches. His collars have increased in
size from 1871 to 17Ia. and the presi-
dent wears his collars tight.
He intends putting in all possible
time this summer IN an effort to reduce
his weight below the 20O-pound mark,
and viii keep at it throughout the win.
ter. Already he has taken to the
long walks which so tired members Of
his cabinet who were asked TO accom-.
pany him.
The presidents flesh causes him no
Inconvenience, but he simply dislikes