Arizona republican., 1908-06-22

lground with every honest man among | them and as to what the dishonest | may do or think he does not care the lsnap of his finger.
 | Indoors his approach to the stand lis never an easy matter unless there lis private entrance Nine out c1 | ten times he must come through the icrowi and neTer viii they have left lquNe enough room for him to pass. | lone meeting I recall, the place vas packed like figs in a basket. with a little bit of narrow aisle between
 humanity laden chairs leading from Ithe side door to the rostrum.
 The secretary stopped, looked at
 the path and at the people nearest to Ihim.
 Some of you have got to come out
 before I come in. I am two-man
 wide and it don't help matters if
 try to go sideways. Also, I warn you
 mot to get stepped on."
 | Suppose we carry you up," sug- gested the nearest man, a big brawny Irishman.
 | Thank you, but I want you to stay and hear my speech, and that will
 be hard enough even for a husky fel-
 low like you.'
 | If he is late. which is Gery sell dom. for he believes in being on time, | it is impossible to persuade him to
 enter and interrupt the speaker then on the platform. He always defers | to the rights of the man who has
 the floor. When he reaches the plat form he seems disinclined to march to the place of honor always reserved for him, glancing about to see if he cannot find some one else more wor- | thy to fill it. That is one great fault his friends find with him; while he l is impregnable in his determination and always sure of his opinions and policies he believes there are so many other, greater, wiser and bet ter men around him that he is will ing to put himself at constant dis ladvantage.
 Past experience has taught him to be careful of his chairs. He always settles into them guardedly. Many a fine old piece of furniture has gone on for years supporting human frames and earning respect and af-
 lection from it's owners, it's weak lnesses never suspected until Secre-
 
 posted his three hundred pounds on it. Then it has been retired. A curiosity vendor in Manila was offering a chair for sale. its claims for unusual price being that it was the one which Taft sat on when he opened the Philippine congress. Gov
 Smith, who happened to sit next to Mir. Taft on this particular occa- sion. listened thOughtfully to the
 Spaniard's picture of the glory that must hang around it in years to come.
 I'll take it." said the governor.
 It's all right about the souvenir
 value. Taft sat in it is the main thing, so I know it's a damned good chair"
 A broad smile and a friendly nod
 with, perhaps a wave of the hand is the secretary's response to the un- failing applause attendant on his ap-
 pearance and then he settles to the serious business of the meeting, lis- tening with absorption to every word of the speakers who precede him and thoroughly unconscious of the atten- tion diverted to himself. This is by no means a pose or intended to com pliment the speaker or the audience. He listens because he knows he is
 going to learn something and he has a thirst for information as some men thirst for drink and some women for admiration. Also it is plain that he is not thinking about his own speech It has been my opportunity to sit with many of the greatest men of hn n platform where I could watch them closely. and I must say all of them with the exception of Taft, gave little signs of being conscious that Tn few minutes they themselves would be speaking and were engaged in pre- pairing little things to fit the make up or the special humor of the au- dience or were preparing to trim what they had to say to agree with or to oppose the views of the man who was then speaking.
 When his time comes he steps slowly to the front, his eye rowing the
 sea of faces before him and it is certain to alight on some one wear ling a welcoming smile. The big man smiles back and then he smiles at the people who are not smiling
 and they suddenly loosen up and smile themselves. The speaker evil ldently refuses to immediately take
 the situation seriously.
 Out in a little town in Michigan where I once knew everybody, there
 was a big, wholesome, whole-souled
 country doctor, who never took any interest in partisan politics and had
 little leaning toward prohibition. if
 anything. and many time when call | ing on a patient he was very likely to forget to leave any medicine put never failed to tell two or three won derfully good stories. In times of To- cal tribulatiOn, when there was warm session of township trustees, some one would usually send for Doc
 Emptige and he would come in and talk the trouble over with his fellow townsmen and thereafter they usually found an easy way of settlement
 That is just the way that Taft has often impressed me when he talks to a crowd When I attempt to describe it I feel as if I had paralysis of the adiectives. It is not fatherly, it IS not in the way of an oracle, it is not as the vernacular has it, jolly ing" it is not diverting, yet 1t IS something of all four. It clarifies the
 situation, gets down to brass tacks
 good .humoredly and produces wisdom