Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-04


seen in Yale. He had annexed the
Latin scholarship prize, the Eng
fish scholarship prize, the prize for
complicated mathematical problems. the
class oratorship and the class salutatory
besides a host of smaller spoils.
The result OF the merger was beneficial
in the extreme. The young men OF Yale,
released from the necessity of competing
Tor prizes, went forth and attained such
prowess in the athletic field that they out
rowed Harvard. trampled on Princeton and
ran away from Pennsylvania At the end
of his college course, Taft had all OF the
scholarship prizes in his trunk while the
Yale gymnasium had been enlarged three
times and was once more OVERLOOKING with
athletic trophies. To this day, Taft IL
hailed as the athletic genius OF Yale. He
was one of the first men to prove the
greater benefits arising from the elimina-
ton Of competition.
In one way the glory of being elected
president is dimmed for Mr.. Taft. In be-
coming president he is simply making
good" with the friends of his youth and
with his family. Being born practically at
the top it has become necessary for him
to erect a few extra rungs to the ladder.
He belongs to the Taft family which has
always had things pretty much its own
way. His father, Judge Alphonso Tan,
was a rich man and was secretary OF war
himself in 1876. He had been a Yale man
and had been a famous student. Young
Bill Taft began life with the task OF an
choring those shaking heads whose owners
are always ready to say Hes a good boy,
but an awful come down from his dad"
Paced by his brother, Charles, who has
acquired a newspaper. several millions and
a senatorial banker he had succeeded In do
doing so. 1t is not. of course, that he
would have been regarded as a total failure
If he finished his life as a mere cabinet
officer. but there would have been a great
deal OF disappointment at Yale and else
where. 1t must be a satisfaction for a man
Of this kind TO get so high that his as
piring friends cannot chalk out new marks
to be attained.
Mr.. Taft comes to the White House a
/ tried and proven athlete and a man whose
nerve and staying qualities cannot longer
he doubted, They were established in the
recent campaign. A presidential election
is no longer a mere discussion OF issue,
1t has become an endurance contest,
When Mr.. Bryan, the tried veteran OF two
presidential campaigns and seventeen
lecture tours, read OF the nomination OF
Taft last June he smiled with satisfaction
Taft was a good man, but unknown per-
sonally to the people and could not with
his build be expected to make one-night
stands over the country With quiet glee
Bryan planned a campaign which called
for an average Of seventeen speeches with
a travelling schedule that would lay q
private car up for repairs after a week.
II was an awful challenge, but Taft was
game. Laying out s schedule that went
the peerless leader one speech better per
day he went ~piuckily forth. inexperienced
u the task OF making a cyclone swath OF
oratory over half a continent he suffered
untold miseries. His throat which lie as
unreliable as a cheap automobile, developed
hoarseness, air bubbles, heated bearings,
short circuits, season cracks and water
blisters. His voice logged up and died
away it kept three physicians busy for
days at a time coaxing II to come out
between stations But Taft hung on. Hs
followed the pace and improved on ii. This
farther he went the better he got. BY
September on a standing start OF a 60
mile dash through thirty-five towns. catch
as catch can dinners and sleep, and