The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-04-15
TEACHERS RAMbLE
ABOUT WASHINGTON
Detroit Party Presented To Presi.
dent Taft and Spend Interesting
Hours in sightseeing.

Jne members OF the party tnat went
on the teachers Eastes excursion
were. perhaps, the first Detroiters TO
be received by President Taft since
his elevation to the office OF chief ex'
ecutive.
There were some SO members OF
the party that left Detroit just after
the close of the public schools. Satur'
day. April 3, but not all were instruc'
tors. although the excursion was In
tended primarily for teachers. Among
those who went on the trip was Miss
Anna Conway, one OF the bright young
teachers In the Alger. school. and she
with the others report delightful
trip from the time they left Detroit
until they returned. Not the least In
teresting OF the experiences while
away was the reception accorded the
members of the party by the presi
dent. the affair having been previous
ly arranged by Congressman Edwin
DENLY.
"Of course, we were all excitemen,
to see President Taft" says Miss
Conway. Congressman DENLY had
made all arrangements To be admit
ted to the White House we were oblig
ed to present cards at the door, and
were then ushered into the east room
Here we waited. with several other
parties that were to be received at the
same time, until the president made
his appearance. He was accompanied
by two officers In uniform and two Sc.
cret service men.
"As we approached him to be intro.
duced, the officer asked each one OF
us to pronounce his name plainly and
distinctly, and he In turn repeated 1t
when presenting u.s. President Taft
gave each one a hearty hand grasp
and We passed on to the next room.
While the line was passing. II was no.
ticeable that one of the secret service
men kept his head In one position,
looking intently at the hands of each
person that passed before him. That.
no doubt. was to be on the lookout for
any weapon that some crank might
have.
President Taft made no speech. He
simply greeted us In cordial way
and had a pleasant smile for ALL At
forwards. we went through the White
House, which was deliberately decorat-
ed with profusion of the most beau
could see dozens of the magnolia
trees in full bloom -On the grounds.
while In Washington we went to
the United States supreme court room,
and were there when the Judges
entered in the full robes Of their Of
fee. We spent some time In the SEN
ate and saw Senator Smith, from
Michigan, and also saw Vice-Presi-
dent Sherman presiding. Later we
went to the house of representatives.
In the latter place, there was a dis.
cussion ON concerning the tariff and
II seemed a perfect Dabble OF voices.
the members all trying to talk at
once. like a lot Of children. One rep
declared that IL the tariff
were to be increased OH women's
hosiery and gloves. II was no more
than fair that French briar pipes for
men should have an additional tax.
That was about the only thing We
could hear concerning the proposed
change In the bill.
"Of course, we visited the various
public buildings, including the mag
congressional library. One
peculiar thing that struck me was the
fact that ON one side Of the street
there would be the costliest buildings,
while on the other there would be
old shacks. In this re-
spect. the city of Washington was a
disappointment.
Then. we made a trip 20 Mt. Yer.
non and saw Washington's old home
and his tomb. and also visited Airing
ton Heights, where so many of the
nations dead are buried-thousands
in unmarked graves.
"A feature Of tho city Is the pay-as-
street cars, but l do not like
them, for a woman with a number Of
parcels in her hands finds II very in
to open her purse at the
time of entering the car Another no
ticeable thing Of the city Is the lack
Of attractive opera houses. II was
evident that there were many visitors
in Washington, as nearly every person
we met had guide book.
when we left Detroit, we went by
way OF Cincinnati to Richmond, and
from there down the James river to
Point Comfort. II struck me as
rather peculiar to gee one side IF the
river boats reserved for the whites
and the other for the colored people.
Through the courtesy Of Congress-
man DENLY, we were privileged to go
the battlesnip Minnesota, and
the Delaware, which is just being built
at Point Comfort. The middieC had
a Teddy bear for mascot. and we
were shown how the guns are manipu.
lated, and the various interesting
points about these mammoth war ves-
sells. While we were there big Ger.
man cruiser came along and fred n
salute and received p reply from the
United States boats"