Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-06
OYSTER BAY LAUGHING
Incident Causes. Fun With
Secret Service Men.
BILL SNITKINS' WILD BET
How Two Westinghouse Gathered
in $25.
ENTERED THE POSTED LIMITS
Surprised Bill and Others by Driving
Close to Presidents Home Un-
challenged and Unmolested.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


is laughing today over the discontinue Of
Bill Snitkin. At the same time 1t is wor-
ried over the idea that the President of
the United States Is not amply protected.
No one hereabout ever dreamed that 1t was
easy to wander about Sycamore Hill I'M
| molested at the dead Of night. The story
came as revelation, and the laugh Is on
the secret service men, whose function Is
to guard the President. as well as on Bill
Snitkin. Incidentally Bill is out s25.
The plot was Matched, according to one
Of the participants, in the barroom of the
Octagon Hotel Bill has lived in Oyster
Bay all his life. and Is as proud of the
fact that the President Of the United States
lives here as that he himself has enormous
capacity for Oyster Bay firewater. Bill
wandered into the Octagon night before
last and proceeded to put the finishing
touches to his Fourth of July celebration.
His eye wandered to the sign which Sam
the bartender had hung up over the bottles
announcing his new masterpiece, the
Fairbanks Roosevelt cocktail" sBilrs
imagination was instantly touched and the
way he went at the new beverage made
SANS heart glad. In the course of the even
Ing Bill struck up an acquaintance with two
| men who had come to Oyster Bay to see
the Presidents home They had been out to
Sycamore Hill during the afternoon and
were discussing the insufficient way in
which the President seemed to be guarded
They had seen but little of the secret serv-
| ice men and had difficulty in driving
around the Roosevelt estate.
Were from Washington" said one. land
! 1t seems to be the easiest thing in the world
| for any one to approach the President I'll
bet could go to Sycamore Hill any time
| OF the day or night and no one would stop
me-.
This was rank heresy to Bill. He knew
the secret service men personally and they
| had often told him how hard their duties
| were and how carefully they had to stand
guard.
TN take that bet said Sam. thickly;
| well try it tonight"
Plot for Midnight.
So 1t was agreed that the attempt to cir
cumnavigate Sycamore Hill should be at IL
O'Clock last night Just as the hour struck
| the three climbed into a one horse runa bout
| and started out for the Cove road
They reached Sycamore Hill at / O. clock
| in the morning and drove boldly through
| the gate on to the Roosevelt grounds Or
dinarily there Is a secret service man sta
| toned right at this gate, but according to
! one OF the men who took the drive, none
| showed up to stop the party. They drove
up the winding HILL he afterward said, I'M
der the porte cochere. and completely circled
| the house itself
Four secret service men are supposed to
guard the Presidents grounds at night and
| IOuT Outing tne Jay. lney are StatlOneQ
at various points around the grounds-one
at rustic seat under tree half way up
| the winding road. For some reason or other
none of them appeared to interrupt the
| successful entry Of the three men in the
| runabout. 1t was about o'clock in the
| morning when the carriage stopped in front
| Of the barn, directly in the rear Of the
| house.
| two Washingtonians, chuckling over their
success. cuffed the sleeping Oyster Bayian
until he woke. Bill rubbed his startled
| eyes and the men showed him what looked
| to be the Presidents house. 1t was some
| time before he could realize that he was
| actually within few feet Of the home Of
| o'clock in the morning. with the President
| and his family asleep within easy call Of
| his voice.
Molestihg No One.
| Not a dog barked, not a stable hand or a
| secret service man appeared. When Bill
| had become fairly awake the driver took
the three out of the grounds, still without
Injecting any opposition. and went back to
! the village Over more cocktails in the bar
| room of the Octagon Hotel, Bill, sadly crest
| fallen. paid his $25. The two Washing
| tonians left by an early train.
| When Bill came to the next morning he
began to doubt that the men had taken him
| to Sycamore Hill at all. The more he
| thought 1t over the more convinced he be-
came that another house on the grounds
| ndQ Deen pdlIneu Oil On HlHl. II was too
| late however, to get his money back for
| the men had gone.
| When Secretary Loeb was asked II 1t were
possible for such an incident to take place
| he laughed,
utterly impossible he said. ''why.
there are four secret service men up there
| all night"
| "They may be up there some one sug-
| gested, but that doesn't guarantee that
| they are on the job"
| NO" replied the secretary but even if
| they were asleep the dogs would have
| awakened everybody up. The secret service
| men are the best that can be obtained any
where. and they are always strictly on the
| fnh