The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-05
Old Cleveland Yell Greets Taft
at Savannah
When He Talks About Compile
tiOn of Panama Canal.
HE MADE A BIG HIT
When He Referred to Ty Cobb
of the DetrOits
As One of the Distinguished
Citizens of Georgia.

savannah, Ga, NOV. 5.-PreSfdent
Taft slept today and delayed the pro-
gram of sightseeing arranged for his
last day in Savannah by nearly an
hour. The president left at o'clock
this afternoon for Charleston.
The Gordon residence, where the
president stopped during his stay
here, was guarded throughout the
night by a detachment of police and
this morning while Mr.. Taft slept the
tide of traffic was turned down other
thoroughfares.
| Several thousand persons gathered
as near the residence as the police
| would permit to catch a glimpse of
| the chief executive.
1t was well after dark when
| President Taft reached the city last
| night to participate in parade
| Illuminated by torches and a search
light placed on one of the tall build
| ings.
After breakfast at the Gordon resi-
dence the president boarded the
revenue cutter Yamacraw for an
| hours sail on the river. During this
| trip he was sa1uted with the Wash
| ington guns of Savannah's famous
military organization, the Chatham
| artillery. The guns are revolutionary
relics and were presented to the artil-
| lery at the time of General Washing
toms visit to the city.
! The river trip ended the president
was taken for a fast ride over the
automobile course of which the grand
prize races were run last fall. The
ride ended at Thunderbolt casino,
| where luncheon was served.
| His Banquet Speech.
| On the way back to the station to
take the train for Charleston the
president passed before all the school
! children of the city. Mr. Taft made
of 40 e-iu
| in his honor. He was the last on the
| long program. At one time during his
speech there were cries of second
term and the old Cleveland yell of
| -four years more"
The president said he had the same
/ friendly expressions from one audi
ence-in the District of Columbia.
1 Therefore, - he ~ added. amid
| laughter, "I accept such a demonstra-
| ton as an evidence of profound good
ciate it and I pass over the matter of
! judgment and power"
The president made a great hit
with his audience by referring to
Detroit American league baseball
team, as one of the distinguished citi-
zens of Georgia.
The president paid tribute to the
United States army and navy and
| agreed with Rear Admiral Sperry who
| that there was no act I'm the won
derfully useful and inspiring ad-
ministration of Theodore Roosevelt to
which we are more indebted than the
sending of the 16 battleships around
the world"
ssSteam Engine in BreecEles.'
Referring to the Panama canal, the
president repeated the promise he has
| made before that it will be completed
by January 1, 1915. The president said
| it took a strong man to supervise the
| work as secretary of war, so he chose
a southerner, Mr.. Dickinson, man of
wonderful ingenuity and steam en-
gine in breecheS." 1t was when the
president said he hoped the Panama
| canal could be hurried to completion
during his term of office that the cry
of -four years more" came from the
banqueters.
| your city of Savannah said the
president, "has history and traditions
of which you may well be proud ]
| don't wonder that every smile I see in
| Georgia is broader than when I was
here in January. With Is cent cotton
| you can be enthusiastic to the point ot
| exuberance and people will understand
| why.
ssHead May Be Swelled."
ct can not help feeling (perhaps my
| head is a little bit swelled and I am toe
| prone to that sort of thing) there is
something personal in the reception
| have received in Georgia and in this
| city, and that it grows out of my ex-
| pressed wish to do what little I can as
| the chief magistrate of this nation to
| show to Georgia and her sister south
! ern states that in the administration o.
| the government at Washington she is
| as much a part as the state of Ohio
| In firing salute to President Taft
as he was being taken down the river
| here today, two men, Charles Hanson,
white, and Cornelius Hamilton, col
ored, were badly injured by the ex-
pIosion of the cannon. Hanson will
| probably lose an eye and the negro a
| hand.
part of the cannon passed over
| the revenue cutter on which the presi-
i dor,t h 70