Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-24
ROOSEVELT AS A BOOK LOVER
Doesn't Like n Preaching, but Tie
Enjoys Stories of Real
Life.

The phrase applied 20 President Roose-
| welt by a friend and adnirer-"a man Of
letter in love with life"-aeems very apt
when one hears him talk about books.
The president was brought up among good
books. and his children are brought up
| among good boolIs-and these books are not
all new.
Accent has been put on the fact that
he is an omnivorous reader. hut this accent
| Is in the wrong place; he reads carefully
| only the important things He seems 70
read by paragraphs. not by sentences. and
| he manages to consume the essence Of
every good thing printed in the magazines
| and 70 make II AZ into a place in life.
Any important book you may mention
has been OF win be read by the president
II he has not read the book which you
consider worth reading, he whips out his
pencil and takes the tide at once. There
is no pretense Of pedantry about him
preaching novel he cannot endure
| He likes a story that reflects life, as, for
| instance, John Foxs Little Shepherd Of
Kingdom Come" Hamlin Garland's Cap
| tain Of the Gray Horse Troop" Mark
Twain's Tom Sawyer" or. perhaps, though
| not so whole heartedly. Jack London's
sea Wolf and Bret Harte's earlier tales.
| He has no reserves about octave Thanets
| sociological stories nor about Uncle Re-
| mus"
| II is a great pleasure 70 those who fear
| that the great authors may be put on the
shelf to hear the president talk Dickens.
He seems TO know his Dickens as well as
| Secretary Bonaparte. Thackeray's humor
| and his love for the poor and the AFFLICTED
appeal to the president
The muck raking. psychological novel
| Is not on his list. The novel Of hopeless
ness he seems 70 pass by. Poems with
the truth in them, no matter where OF
| when written, appeal TO him. Some OF
! Bliss Carman's songs delight him.
with the help Of Kermit he discovered
Robinson, who wrote Children OF the
Night" The moment he discovered the
Songs Of the wild Geese" by Emily
LAwless. he seemed ahre until he had
other people enjoying them. The test OF
his valuation Of a new book is when he
says:
II will show It TO Mrs. Roosevelt"
Only the best goes to her. II read and
,njoy books" he once said, but she
| knows"
His children know, too, by heart his
| favorite characters OF fact and fiction. II
| may be the fire drake in the Beowulf. tht
Leprachauns In Celtic folklore, the gnome'
Of the Catskills or ono Of Alice Hegar
Rice's or Kate Douglas Virgins people
whichever it is the president introduces
It and his own young people receive hin
or her humorousy or seriously as an ole
friend.
A book like THE Jungle" may interes
him because he sees construction behinC
f.; but the muck raker'' In fact and hctior
who gets to the condition where he en-
joys anAlyzing the result OF his researches
/ IL % e. not 20
the president.
For esayists that merely speculate tn,
president seems TO have little regard. ''Th,
Simple Life Of Pastor Wagner; now s.
famous, attracted his attention; not be
1 cause OF style or refinement OF metaphysics
; but because II gave IN a straightforward
manly way the lessons OF temperance an
simplicity with a spiritual basis whicl
every intelligent man or woman could un
, derBtand.
The doctrine Of the simple life wa
, taught long before Pastor Wagner laugh
! Il; It was taught in the parallels; by IN
saint lately "re-canonized' by the world
Francis d'Assisl; by the Brook farmer
Z and Emerson tried to teach IL without tn
: spirituality OF st. Francis, but Wayne
brought It within the scope OF the averag
man Of today.
:, The book that teaches the old and tn
young that the amount OF money speu
: is not the real test OF the value Of tn
pleasures Of life; the book that show
what a human being may get out Of tn
simple gifts OF God always awakens tn
enthusiasm Of the president. This IL IN
secret of his admiration for John BuI
= roughs' work.
d Always an admlrer Of those fundamentt
stories that show the early color Of ns
:, tional life. he discovered some time ag
the Celtic sagas. Asked on one occasio
what was their principal charm. he pause
and then answered. They are so unp'
V gan in their attitude toward romantic loN
I lin them am attracted by the idealisi
o so unusual on pre-Christian sagas,
: the relation Of lovers At the root OF h
II admiration for a book there is as a ru
: an ethical or a sociological reason.-ha'
= rice Francis Egan in Rosary Magazine.