New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-04-02
THE PRESIDENTS READING
He Is as Rigorous IN That as IN Al
Else He Undertakes.
[rnoM - rn1nuNE nuREAu.I


leads and the regular hours he keeps II Is safs 10
say that few men Of affairs in the Republic read
more than the President. and fewer yet exteno
their literary fOFaging over wider range OF SUD
Jets. In addition to keeping up with the I'M
portant newspapers and magazines. which is a task
in itself. the President is always abreast OF the
times In fiction. science. historical research ana
art Reading is the President what rest Is 10
most men. When he is at home in Oyster Bay at
the White House In Washington. or i'm his car
| speeding over the rails to meet some distant en-
gagement. he Is invariably found with book IN
his hand when not engaged in some more important
| work When he starts on trip, be 1t long OF
short his is always stocked with volumes ana
magazines and lust as soon as he dspOses of his
correspondence bows out the visiting local COM
! mitteemen." who come to pay their respects ne
| takes up the book that lays open and continues
to race through its pages. Aided by wonderful re-
| tentive memory the President holds fast all that
he reads and ready If the need arise, TO repeat
| almost any thought expressed by the author years
after his eye had travelled with lightning speed
over the page. That the President Is able TO cover
! so much ground in literature is due to his sys-
tematic stick-to-it-ness.
! The other day. when he made his journey to New
York to appear at the ST. Patrck's banquet his
! train left at 6:55 a. m. Early the hour OF
| leaving, the President reached the Pennsylvania
station fifteen minutes ahead OF time. Though the
had arisen. IL dark beneath the train shed,
and pOrters trundling their baggage trucks
about by electric lamp light AS the Presi-
dent entered his car he took seat by window
with book in his hand. Murray. the old porter
VINO almost always accompanies the PRESIDENT on
his trips came into the observation parlor in re-
Spouse to push button summons. and lit a gas Jet
over the Executives head, and~the latter plunged
into his book. The last glimpse the crowd at the
station had OF the President. the train pulled
slowly out. his quiet figure framed in the
square of yellow light, with red bound volume
in the foreground. Thus he utilities every moment
of what the ordinary would call his spare
time" a term the President probably never uses.
for every minute of his day is precious and must be
used with Jealous economy
Enthusiastic reader as he is, and endowed with
capacity for accomplishing far more than the or
binary man. the President is. OF course unable to
sweep the whole literary horizon unaIded. In the
great volume OF literature that the publishers throw
upon the market every week, there Is much that Is
vaIueless. But tell the good from the
bad without digging into the pages. In order to
make every minute OF HIS reading count the
President in the habit Of leaning upon a few
friends whose literary Judgment he has found TO De
Trustworthy. Among these might be mentioned
James r. Garfield. chief Of the Bureau OF Corpora
tons IT. che Department OF Commerce and LABOR
Francis z. Leupp. the Indian Commissioner; AIRED
w Cooley Civil Service Commissioner, and Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts Between
Them with their divergent tastes. they manage TO
keep III close touch with most that is notable ana
worth reading in the field Of letters Then there
are the various reviews published for the use OF
busy men and a score more OF other friends VINO
communicate regularly with the President by mail
to keep him advised on what is and what is not
worth while"
I'd read this if 1 were you remarks MI Car
field as he enters the Presidents office almost any
afternoon when he is not out in Kansas investl-
eating oil or away from town some other I'M
portant mission. And this" he continues select
ing another from the package or BOOKS ne mas
brought under his arm, lis hardly worth your
while You'll find that the third chapter OF this
4 he clO a
and this volume OF short stories will repay you Tor
all the time you put omit.
Writers and editors all over the country further
assist the President in his literary selection Oy
sending him marked copies or ARTICLES ana edl-
tortals that they have written. These it may be
rauarLad are generally IL not invariably. pieces
Of reading matter that friendly to the Presl-
dent The unfrlendly criticisms usually reach the
President through other channels Enemies OF the
men who write them send them consplcuOusiy
crayoned to the White House.
The wild Western friendships Of the President
have made a great many newspaper columns dur
ing the last three years but little has been SAID
about his regard for author folk Whenever Seth
Bullock visits Washington and breaks oread Win
the President it recorded with flaming headIlhes
Nothing is said, however. when Owen Wister' au-
thor of The Virginian." comes for visit to the
White House Stewart Edward White, author OF
.o-Tbe BIazed Trail" "Conjurer's House" and
number Of other stories dealing with the Wooo-
lands Of the North, is another frequent mousse s"S
at the home Of the President. and his comings and
go,nSs excite no comment. The President edited
THE Virg1nian' as Mr.. Wister Acknowledges III
the preface Of that widely sold novel, and has a
high regard for the author. When Presldeht
Roosevelt took his long Western tour in 1858 he
invited Mr. White to join him during the time ne
travelled through Southern California: On his
New-England trip few months before. he was
Winston ChurchIlTs guest at one stage OF the jour
new in NeN-Hampshre, and up in Maine made
point of hobnobbing with Holman r. Day the
humorist- poet OF the Pine Tree state HIS 1rieno-
ship Cor Senator Lodge, now cemented by long
years Of congenal association. was originally a
nrreIv literary attraction. Jacob Riis. the worker
for better conditions in the slums is numbered
among the Presidents fastest friends And so the
list might Se extended. The President has warm
spot in mis- heart for all who write, and especially
for those whose writing proves that they think
He has as little for thnkless writers as he
has for do-less men IN the government service or
private lite
Whenever the President runs across anything In
his reading that particularly appeals to him he
likes to write the author letter, whether he knows
him or not. He will frequently dictate two page
typewriter missve telling the writer Of the book
or the article his theories on the problem involved
II was an incident OF this kind that started his
now famous race suicide" crusade. Probably the
President himself would have been very much sur
prised had he been told two years ago last New
Years Day that letter he had dictated that
morning would in such brief time become known to
the world as his most notable message to mankind
A few minutes before the start of the annual
ception that day President Roosevelt came into
Secretary LOeb's Office with the letter in his hand
Il have just been reading Mrs. Van VOrst's Woman
Who Tolls :" he said to Secretary Loeb and
couple Of newspaper men who happened to be in
the room, and I greatly impressed with what
she says. In this magazine which contains her
story OF association with the working women.