New-York tribune., 1908-09-01
GREETINGS TO MR.. SULLIVAN.

GREETINGS TO MR. SULLIVAN
AS the procession neared the top the whole
line began whistling. ''Theren Be Hot Time
in the Old Town Tonight. AS soon as the
house was reached the President called for Mr..
Sullivan. and after greeting him heartily the
rest of the line was ushered in by cne, the
Olympic commissioner introducing each The
President, dressed in white linen suit, with
Mrs Roosevelt beside him. stood just inside the
door. At the other end of the porch Mr..
and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, Miss Ethel Roose-
welt. Kermit Roosevelt and other members of
the family
Here's the topnotcher," said the President,
as he grasped the hand of John j. Hayes, the
winner of the Marathon race. This is fine,
fine, and L glad that New York boy
won it. By George. 1 am glad to you all,
boys"
To Melvin w. Sheppard the middle distance
runner, who came second, President Roosevelt
said: Il am right glad to see you. L followed
you during the Athens days. Let's see. aren't
you a member of the New York police force?
They turned you down? Well, by George,
wish still Commissioner
So it continued down the whole line Coming
back Commissioner Sullivan voiced the opinion
of the athletes when he declared the Presidents
knowledge of what state each member of the
team hailed from and what each had done was
marvellous" He made only one mistake, said
Mr. Sullivan, and that only about the state
of one of the men.
PRESIDENTS SPEECH.
Going into the library after speaking to each
of the newspaper men who came from the city
with the Olympic party, the President addressed
the whole party, saying:
Gentlemen, [ just want to say, one word of greet
feel hat
Anerica is proud Of you don't want to rsI speak m IN
Sullivan. to say that the feat this team has per
formed has never been duplicated IN the . nist1ay tory
has been psrfooed o BY any N d team man and on
the team Who does not deserve his share in the
total credit 1t is not only the men who won the
duty duty as they all did. Who deserves his share of
the credit. congratulate you all. and thank you
want to Sullivan o orS MfosPP 2f special 1o
could have got together and sent Sysr U
back victors-there are plenty of those-bpt to
abroad in such shape tisf you could be viotors:
peve felnh on e snd eas Of
Now that we are here. we must not forget how
proud are of the American rifemen and re
HsTe ns for The batesRp
When the President met F. T. Connolly he
said: 81 know your brother. who is H. the
navy; he's a mighty fine man. Every man who
went over there did his best You fellows cer-
tainly have the right spirit In you. You won
out because every did his best and be-
cause there was Jealousy among you. / am
not an athlete myself. but know how to ride
and shoot
The President said he especially inter
ested in the Marathon and in the other
contests where Americans showed their staying
qualities When the unprecedented permission
for the photographers to come up the hill from
the steamer had been granted and they had
been brought up the President stood on the
porch, surrounded by the athletes five or more
minutes while the snapped. Then
many of the athletes requested the Presidents
autograph. After signing number he was
stopped by a Secret Service man, but promised
all others who wanted his autograph who would
write him TO send it on the White House sta
tonery.
Cheer upon cheer given by the party on
the lawn In the midst of the noise the Presi-
dent raised his hand. and soon as he could
be heard said he wanted to say goodby once
more and tell them he was mighty proud or
YOU as set of Americans, representative in
every way"