The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-30
a Captivating Picture of a President
at Play.

with President ROOSEVELT in the spring
Of 1908. In the Atlantic Monthly for May
Mr.. BURROUGHS now tells the story of his
camp life with Mr.. ROOSEVELT. 1t is
worth reading.
We note in the first place, with con-
siderable satisfaction, that the absolute
confidence which THE SUN expressed
at the time in Mr.. RoosEvELT's scrupu-
lous observance of the law against the
destruction of bird and animal life in the
Yellowstone Park vas justified, except
in one insignificant particular. What
ever were his impulses and temptations
in the presence of big game, he obeyed
the law Of the land as faithfully as if he
had not been protected from detection
in wrongdoing by the exclusion of the
reporters, the surveillance of none but
a few carefully selected companions,
including Mr.. BURROUGHS, and miles
Of remoteness and hundreds of piokets
covering every possible route OF ap-
proach. Mr.. BURRoUGHs's testimony
concerning this is positive:
AS we were riding along In our Dig sleigh toward
the Fountain Hotel, the President suddenly Jumped
out. and with his soft hat as a shield to his hand,
captured a mouse that was running along over
the ground near us. He wanted 1t for DR.. MER.
RAM. on the chance that II might DO a new species.
While we all went fishing in the afternoon, the
President sk!nned his mouse. and prepared tho
pelt to be sent to Washington. 1t was done as
neatly as a ~professed taxidermist would have done
1t. This udS the only game te President killed IN
The Park"
Not a single mountain lion; only one
inconsiderable mouse, and that for
strictly scientific purposesl While it is
possible that a great constitutional law
yer like Mr.. TILLMAN of South Carolina
might persuade himself that this mouse
came constructively under the prohibi-
ton of Section A of the act of 1894, mas
much as Mr.. ROOSEVELT could not have
supposed that it was a dangerous ami
nal, about to destroy human life or to
infliot physical injury on any Of the
party, We do not imagine that the Presi-
dent is in jeopardy of impeachment for
ernment's protected little beast.
Much more interesting than this story
of the mouse is the North River natural
lists record of his observations of the
Presidents demeanor when emancipated
from the restraints of conventional life.
Mr.. BURROUGHS found his companion
"a good deal of a storm--a man Of such
Astounding energy and oeaseless ac-
tivity that he sets everything in motion
around him wherever he goes" On his
way out to the wilderness she usually
spoke from eight to ten times every
t~wenty-four hours, sometimes for only
a few minutes from the rear platform of
his private car, at others for an hour or
more in some large hall. At one minute
he would be discussing with oratorical
fervor the great questions involvedin the
policy of his administration. The train
espy a little brown schoolhouse near the
track, with the schoolma'am and her
flock drawn up in line:
W were at luncheon, but the President caught
a glimpse ahead through the window and took in the
situation. With napkin in hand. he rushed out
u Nho ~ aHA N'SS W y AhcoS
children he said. as he came back, wanted TO see
the President OF the United States. and l could not
dlsappoint them. They may never have another
chance
Next, he would be entertaining his old
cowboy friends, "as happy with them as
a ~schoolboy ever was in meeting old
chums." He 1beamed with delight all
over" all along the line. He dubbed
with laughter continually" In the Park
he gleefully chased little birds a they
flew from tree to tree. When he and Mr..
BURROUGHS ran down a band of elk,
neal Tower Falls, 4the President laughed
like a boy One day he was shaving,
when a band of mountain sheep was re-
ported in front of the camp:
one side of his face was half shaved and the
other lathered. HoFKB and l started for q point
on the brink Of the canon where we could have Q
better view.
"!By Jovel, said the President. II must see
that. The shaving can wait. and the sheep won't
so on he came. ACQUIRED as he was-coatless,
hatess, but not latherlcss. nor toweness.
He laughed with the delight OF 1t and quite forgot
his need of a hat and coat till 1 sent for them"
Mr.. BURROUGHS veraoious pen is the
first to record, we believe, from the
Presidents own lips, the story of his
encounter years ago with a bad man"
in the barroom Of a little frontier hotel,
AS he entered the room he saw that every
man there had been terrorized by a half
drunken %ruffian, who stood in the middle
of the floor, revolver in hand, compelling
all corners to treat:
"' went and sat down behind the stove said the
President, as far from him as ] could get. and
hoped to escape his notice. The fact that ] wore
glasses, together with my evident desire TO avoid
a night, apparently gave him the impression that I
could be imposed upon with lmpunlty. He very
soon approached me. founshing his two guns,
and ordered me to treat. ! made no reply for
some moments. when the fellow became so threat
enlng that ! saw something had 10 be done. The
crowd. mostly sheep herders and small grangers,
sat or stood back against the wall. afraid to move.
/ was unArAed, and thought rapidly. Saying,
" Well, II 1 must. / must" I got up as II 10 walk
around him TO the bar: then, as l got opposite him.
| wheeled and fetched him as heavy q blow on the
chin point as l could strike. He went down like