Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10
TAFT RETURNS
TO IL PORTAL
CONTINUED from parn ouel

! theory that the prOSpector must nave
been a white man and that he was
made away with by the Indians.
One result of the presidents trip
into the Yosemite has been to make him
an enthusiast of forestry. The secluded
Sequoias We're not responsible for this,
for they are in a class by themselves.
For three days the president has
Travelled through succeeding forests of
yellow and sugar pine and fir trees
{ that have lowered from 200 to 800 feet
above the road, and they have called
out constant expressions of his admir-
alton.
To many the slender, arrow-lilke
grace of the pines and the frs holds
more beauty than the gnarled, rugged
mass of the Sequoias.
Riding in the forests yesterday, the
president heard giant pine fall, the
result of decay near the roots. The
crash was like the report of distant
artillery.
Nap Refreshes
While the presidents clothes were
drying at Sentinel hotel today he took
two hours nap, after which he felt
greatly refreshed, so much so, in fact,
that when he reached here at 5:15 p m.
after a 16-mile stage ride he declared
he was ready to begin the day all over
again. The president lunched with Ma
jor Forsythe, superintendent of the
park.
Acton boulder of granite fell down
the mountain last night and landed di-
rectly in the road over which the presi-
dent travelled Thursday entering the
Yosemite park and again today on his
way back to El Portal. The rock was
blasted off the roadway this morning
by a gang of park laborers.
Members of the California delegation
in congress who have accompanied him
/ through the Yosemite have been urging
the president to make trip to the
Philippines in 1911.
Mr. Taft has no deeper interests than
that of the Philippines, and he has
listened to the suggestions of trip to
the islands with some degree of enthus-
iasm.
May Visit Islands
1t has been pointed out to the presi-
dent that he could make trip to the
Philippines we'll inside of three months
by taking a fast cruiser, and that he
would actually be away from Washing
ton but little longer than on the jour-
ney through the west.
If the president should decide to go
it would be his idea to have a large
congressional delegation precede him
on a ship, so that they might go over
the Islands with h1m.
The president is extremely anxious
to return there for a visit
With a contemplated visit to Alaska
next year and a stop at Honolulu on
the way home, followed by a voyage to
the Philippines in 1911, with an occa-
sional visit to Panama, President Taft
would easily set new mark for pres
idential travel.
President Taft announced tonight
that he was convinced after spending
three days in the Yosemite with John
Muir that Secretary Ballinger's visit
to the Hetch- -Hetchy next week and
his investigation of conditions there
would be greatly facilitated by having
Mr.. Muir as a companion.
Muir Is Invited
The president has invited Mr.. Muir
to go with Mr.. Ballinger and when
the secretary of the interior arrives at
FL Portal Monday to take stage for
Hetch- -Hetchy he will find Mr.. Muir
and a letter from the president await
ing him.
Mr.. Muir's open opposition to the
project of making a water reservoir
out of the Hetch-H -Hetchy valley is as
we'll known to Mr.. Ballinger as it is
to the president.
Mr.. Ballinger had thought of asking
Mr.. Muir to accompany him but he
hesitated to do so for fear of calling
out charge of partisanship.
The president believes, however, that
Mr.. Muir's knowledge of the geological
condition of the valley and the result
of his studies in this section of the
country are too valuable for the sec
retary to lose and that his we'll known
views against the project on senti-
mental grounds can easily be dis
counted.
The president chaffed Mr.. Muir con-
stantly during the day and once laugh
ingly suggested to him that as the
Yosemite was So far away from the
centers of population it might be just
as we'll to use it commercially. The
jest drew the old professors fire i'm
mediately.
"But we don't want it used CONNER
cially," he protested. "This is a place
to worship. You might just as well
say that because a cathedral is a long
way from a meat market it ought to
have a lunch counter In it,"