Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-02
PRESIDENT SOAKED
BUT STILL TALKED
Caught in a Storm During the
St. Louis Procession.
MADE SPEECH ALL THE SAME
Greeted by a Crowd of Tens Of
Thousands.
MANY GOVERNORS IN PARTY
Record Gathering in the City and
Distinguished Audience at
His Reception.
MADE SPEECH ALL THE SAME
Greeted by a Crowd of Tens Of
Thousands.
MANY GOVERNORS IN PARTY

| ST. LOUIS. October w elcoraed pS
screaming whistles, changing bells, thun-
| dering intonations Of bursting bombs and
| the huzzahs from thousands Of human
| throats President Roosevelt landed at ST
Louis at 9:47 o'clock this morning. mark
| ing the first stop on his voyage down the
| Mississippi river from Keokuk, Iowa, to
Memphis. Tenn, where he will attend the
Lakes to the Gulf Deep Waterways As
sociation convention Friday. The cruise
is the Presidents active response to a
general invitation from the governors Of
the states along the Mississippi river,
given in tie belief that he will be so
Impressed with the enormous waste of
freight carrying energy that he will ex-
ert a powerful influence in favor of COM
mitting the government to act with def
mite and larger spirit toward deepening
the great inland channels for navigation
by ocean-gong craft.
The entrance of the steamer Mississippi
bearing the President into the harDor Of
ST. Louis was announced by the firing OF
bombs and blowing of whistles. Tens of
thousands of persons lined both shores OF
the river. and across Eads bridge. the
main viewpoint stretched chain of hu-
manrv. solidly packed from the Illinois
to the Missouri side.
Great River Show.
With the stateliness of naval review the
escorting steamboats, maintained their line
Of procession and swept along to the point
Of landing, at the foot Of Olive street,
where they halted. The Mississippi
steamed on down to the end Of the course
and then returned, ploughing slowly up
stream to effect landing. AS President
Roosevelt stepped ashore he was welcomed
by fifteen governors from various states.
representatives and city dignitaries.
The morning had dawned bright and
clear, but by o'clock clouds began to
gather. Efforts were made to rush the
program along because of the threatening
weather. The line Of procession was
quickly formed for the drive to the Jai
Alai building in the western portion of the
city, five miles from the river, and where
the President was to deliver his speech. A
Gordon OF mounted police led the way, fol-
lowed by a troop of United States cavalry
and the Presidents carriage, containing
also Mayor Wells and the secret service
men Following came the twenty-five car
riages bearing the visiting governors and
other dignitaries. with a military band and
two companies of infantry from Jefferson
barracks bringing up the rear
Heavens Opened.
BY the time the procession had proceeded
eight blocks the skies opened. and the
President and his welcoming host were in
stantly drenched. The horses were Whipped
up and, regardless Of the professional for
nation, the President was hurried to the
Jai Alai building
Notwithstanding that President Roosevelt
was caught in the rain as he stood in the
open carriage bowling to the multitude. he
proceeded straight to the Jai Alai building
and went through the program in his wet
clothes.
Ignored the Wetting.
Mayor Wells whose raiment was also
danpened, introduced Gov Folk of Mis-
souri,, who in turn made brief speech pre-
senting President Roosevelt. At the first
mention of President Roosevelt's name TO-
600 people sprang to their feet and began
waving flags as they voiced their greeting
by the full of their lungs The ovation
continued for full three minutes.
President Roosevelt stepped to the front
of the platform and the moment he began
to talk the cheering arose, but it was of
brief duration.
President Roosevelt waited a moment un-
til quiet had been restored and then began
the delivery of his address.
1.-THE Presidents speech in full appears
elsewhere.I
President Roosevelt concluded speaking
at 12:23 pm. The weather had cleared and
the sun shone brightly as he again en-
tered his carriage and drove off to the JEFF
ferson Hotel amid cheering of the multi
tude. He officially entertained at
luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel.