Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1905-02-08
WASHINGTON LETTER..
From our Regular Correspondent

(frOm our Regular Correspondent
Congress has Topped three millions
from the Washington appropriation
bill and many projected improvements
must wait, and disappointment among
| the projectors of these improvements
| is both deep and loud. But now the
city feels that it is not altogether with
out compensation, for Mr.. Freer, Of
Detroit a multimillionaire, has for
mally proposed to give to the city and
| the country, through the Smithsonian
| Institute. his fine art collection, con-
sisting of rare paintings, curios, and
| other works of art valued at million
and half of dollars. He also propos
IS to build in the city gallery for his
splendid gift. Not since w. w. Cor
coran gave Washington and the coun
try the magnificent gallery known tt
all the art lovers of the country. has
the capital received such a splendid
donation. twithstanding the won
lerful material progress of the coun
try and its equally marked progress in
education. the United States is as vet
far behind the old world in art, and
pays millions yearly to maintain our
| artists and art students ard art lovers
in Paris. which has been for century
the art centre of the world There is
no reason why with the almost fabul-
Gus wealth OF this country, the arl
center should not be transferred tt
Washington, as it is predicted, the
| financial center will soon be fixed in
New York. Then art students and
artists from all over the country and
even from Europe will come to Wash
! ington. to study and copy the young
| masters.
1t is believed that Mr.. Freer's exam
| pie will call the attention Of other col
I6CtOlS W liS WlouOH vi StIoCGlDg
! Washington as place for artistic
| munificence. There is a growing feel
ing throughout the land that the Cap
ital city is to be not only the social
centre as it has long been the political
centre but also the artistic and literary
centre Of the country.
! 1t is given to many men to coin a
striking or cpl grammatic phrase which
may become a party Or campaign
| slogan but it falls to d few to furnish
in himself the picturesque significance
| Of the phrase which gives it life. II
| his case the man is Roose welt, wbt
| irst gave cerrency to the expression
The Strenuous Life Siuce the DAYS
of his early manhood when he took his
part and share of ranch work, through
the active days of bis New York re-
form work, as rough rider and writer
Of Round Robins to within the present
week the president has stood always
as the most strenuous example of the
strenuous life. Such energy without
offensiveness, such activity without
frivolity has seldom been seen, and
never in the presidential chair. Take
as an example Of the strenuous life the
record, incomplete though it is of a
| few days work of the president of the
| United States, and let any man who
is striking for shorter hours of work
pause to think.
On Saturday night the president ap-
peared at the Gridiron club in Wash
ington and made an address. which
clever as it was cannot by the rules OF
the club be reported Or repeated On
| Sunday Morning unannOunced he ar
peared at the Lutheran church and in
a long address. exhorted the people
of that church to renew their efforts
to care for the immigrants who come
| W our SHORES. his duufeSS showed e
familiarity with the history of the
church, an acquaintance with it's
peculiar tenets and a sympathy with
it's work that a few of it's members
could surpass. No 1day morning he
took the train for Annapolis in snow
storm that was fairly a blizzard and
arriving at the Naval Academy de-
/ livered the address to the graduating
] class fastening back to the train