Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-10
JEROME OUT OF RACE Mr.. TAFT PUT TO BED
Announces Withdrawal as Clothes Wet; Baggage Late,
Candidate. Nothing Else to Do.
HEADQUARTERS GIVEN UP WALK MADE HIM PERSPRE
Shut by Strength of Fight Followed the Risky Trail Originally
Against Tammany. Made by Thirsty Man.
WILL GIVE NO SIDE AID PLEASED WITH YOSEMITE TRIP
Arrives
Narrowed-Rea- Day With
for the Naturalist.
Clothes Wet; Baggage Late,
Nothing Else to Do.
WALK MADE HIM PERSPIRE
Followed the Risky Trail Originally
Made by a Thirsty Man.
PLEASED WITH YOSEMITE TRIP
Arrives at Ell Portal After q Streuu-
Gus Day With John Muir,
the Naturalist.

Special Dispatch TO The Star.
Ell PORTAL. Cal. October 9.-President
Taft's rest at Yosemite Park is over. and
tomorrow morning he will resume his
speechmaking tour. He will stop of at
Merced in the morning long enough to at
tend services at the Presbyterian L--urch.
and in the afternoon he will speak before
the United Church Congregation.of Fres-
no. He will reach Los Angeles early Mon
there will turn east.
The President left the park this after
noon burned by the sun OIL three days Of
staging and feeling fit to face .e most
enthusiastic local committee that ever ar
ranged a banquet. The President also
came out singing the beauties Of the
Yosemite like other tourists and deter
mined to do everything in his power to
preserve them and make them more ac-
cessible to the public.
With the President when he left the
park was John Muir, the naturalist. who
had been close at his side for three days.
To him the President rendered his sim
cere thanks for having unfolded before
his eyes many Of the beauties Of the park
that otherwise would have passed unno-
ticed.
Wears Out Two Congressmen.
The elimination of the Presidents sight
seeing tour of the park came properly
enough on his last day there, when he de-
scended on foot the steep winding trail
from Glacier point to the foot Of the
Yosemite valley. 1t took the Pres
ident three hours to make the de-
scent and almost every step opened up a
oil fnt,r mil
walk for the President over rocks and
through sand ankle-deep in places, but
Mr.. Taft stood it better than OF ther MEM
bers of his party. Representatives Nc
both gave out and had to call for horses
that were being led by cavalrymen In the
rear of the party. The President, while
sympathiZing with them, mopped his
ifornians were helped into their saddles.
The trail at times took him along the
brink of precipices where slip or a fall
would have been fatal.
The President stopped for only two
brief rests on the walk down and his
face was streaming with perspiration
when, he finally landed on the floor of the
valley. A stage was waiting for him and
carried him to one of the Sentinel Hotel
cottages. The President had expected
to find hts baggage at the hotel, but 1t
had not arrived.
To Bed While His Clothing Dried.
His clothes were soaking with per-
spiration and SO, like the boy who had
only one shirt, the President undressed
and went to bed. He was in bed more
than an hour. while his clothing was
being dried in the kitchen OF the Sentinel
Hotel. The President probably would
have had to take his luncheon in bed II
the stage with the baggage had not ar
rived flfYf In time The PraSidant fnnk
the going-to-bed incident as a good joke.
He knew that 1t was hopeless to call
upon any Of the members Of his party to
help him out IN his plight.
The President was up this morning in
time to see the st1n rise. He appeared on
the veranda of the Glacier Point Hotel I'm
both slippers and pajamas and watched
the eastern light gradually break over the
shadows from the valley 1900 feet below
him.
The Presidents room at the little hotel
locked out across the valley to the giant
Half Dome of opposite wall and he had
requested that he be awakened as the
sun came up. Afterward. however. the
President returned to his room for an
other hours nap.
Maj. w. w. Forsythe, superintendent Of
the park, had planned to take the Presi-
dent down the four-mile trail on mule
back He had two mules. either of which
he allowed would carry the President
safely. Mr.. Taft, however, declined and.
taking a strong mountain climbers staff.
started the descent Before leaving
Glacier Point, though, he had one more
view Of the valley from the famous over
hanging rock. When the President start
ed on his downward trip he was 1900
feet above the sea level and some of
his. friends were fearful that he would
find. the walking too strenuous but the
altitude didn't cause him any discomfort.
Thirsty Man Started It.
Mr.. Muir explained to the President
when he started that the Glacier point
trail was originally worn by thirsty
man who lived on the top of the cliff.
His wife wouldn't allow him to keep any
whisky in the house. and to get 1t he
had to go down to the hotel in the VAL
ley. There weren't many places where
he could make the descent, but he found
them and opened up the trail, which the
government later improved SO that a man
could travel them.
The President had a good deal Of fun
with the aged naturalist on the walk
down. Mr.. Muir has spent ten years Of
his life in the Yosemite, and he admits
that he is in love with it. The merest
suggestion by the President Of the pos
sibility of cultivating anything on the
floor of the valley was sufficient to cause
the old man to pause on the edge of
cliff and deliver a little sermon.
"Why" he exclaimed this is natures
cathedral, place to pray In. See these
two fields with fences around them. 1t Is
a shame. sacrilege. You might just
as we'll set up a free lunch counter in
a corner of a great cathedral as to put
these fields in the midst of this magnifl-
cent structure.
Now, that would make an excellent
place for a DAM" the President remark
ed in a spirit of fun. pointing to the great
Ell Captain on one side and the Sentinel
on the other.
Naturalist Muir Risks q Pun.
"a DAM" exclaimed the naturalist.
''Yes" but the man who would dam that
would be damning himself"
The President chuckled. then told the
naturalist how the San Francisco people
were worried when they heard that he
was going through the Yosemite in COM
pany with Mr.. Muir.
The San Franciscans want to connect
the Hetch- Hetchy valley. which he de-
scribed as a twin sister of the Yosemite,
into a reservoir for their water supply.
Hetch- Hetchy is only nineteen miles from
the Yosemite and Is included in the
Yosemite National Park.
II know" said the naturalist that
they characterize me as their only enemy.
but 1 did not know before that / was so
important"
The President also aroused the natural
ist once or twice by intimating that water
instead of glaciers might have been re.