Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1909-01-21
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.
WAsHINGToN, Jan. 16, 1903

Ever since the command from the
White House went forth that army and
navy officers would be required to un-
dergo mild physical endurance test
there have been muffied protests. AS
q usual thing army and navy men over
forty years old do not keep themselves
in training and it is suspected that a
majority of them after horseback ride
of ten or fifteen miles would experience
considerable fatigue and soreness.
The test required by the President was
a horseback ride of ninety miles in
three consecutive days, pretty severe
test for soft men of middle age, the
majority of them weighing two hun
dred pounds? The men weighing that
much is probably not in good health
and has spent too many years since
he was thirsty in sedentarY eating and
drinking. He is too heavy for an or
binary horse, and extraordinary horses
are hard to find A rider in practice
has an indurated seat and can easily
rde thirty miles day not only for
three consecutive days but for ten or
thirty. Well the groans, and the pro-
tests of the captains, coionels and
majors came to the ear of the Presi
dent and he determined to show them
what the Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy could do and to that
end one day this week he got up be
tween three and four o'clock in the
morning mounted his horse and with
three companions rode to Warrenton,
Virginia where he ate luncheon and,
after rest of half an hour rode back
to the White House arriving about
eight O'Clock at night, having covered
in the round trip, a distance of ninety
eight miles, in other words, having
ridden in one day eight miles more
than he bas required regular army and
navy officers to ride in three days.
| The President weighs two hundred
pounds but he is tough and as hard as
nails. He has been riding constantly
for years, probably about eighteen miles
day and was of course In training.
There can be no doubt but that there
is too much effeminacy on softness
among the officers both of the army
and of the navy. Mr.. Roosevelt doubt.
less remembers the striking example
of General Shafter who was in COM
mand of the Gu ban army sent in mid
summer to Cuba. The immensely
stout old General weighed probably
three hundred and fifty pounds but in
tnO way Va hO " 40 bihO q VII OO
hundred andsffty ton milestone around
the neck of the army. His headquart-
ers were miles in the rear of the army
and there on couch groauing with
| gout he sweltered in the humid tropi.
cal July climate.
The lives and the treasure lost to the
country through promotion by senior
ity of unfit men will never be known
! The only road to physical fitness is
| through exercise and abstemiousness.
There can be no sufficient exercises
without abstemiousness. Rockefeller's
doctor has just predicted that the
multi millionaire will live to be hun
dred years old because as be say, the
takes a great deal of exercises in open
air and always leaves the table
hungry" OF course the doctors pro
phesy is not proved but it may be as
sumed that Rockefeller has about as
good physician and as wise as money
will buy and this hint and suggestion
in the way of preventive medicine il
one that every reader may note an(
profit by without paying the bill tina
Mr., Rockefeller pays his doctor.
That the present Congress is of thu
opinion that the big President elect il
worth fifty thousand dollars a yeal
more than the President who has beer
fourishing the big stick is plain to see
Yesterday Senator Cullom reported th'
legislative, executive and judicial bill
to the Senate. The most prominen
feature of this bill is an increase of th,
salary of the President of the United
Stats to one hundred thousand dollar
oear The sumo bill increases the
salary of the Woe President to twenty
thousand dollars, and that of tn
Speaker of the House to twenty thous
. and. This is doubling of the salarie
for all three offices. Until the election
, of President Grant the salary of tht
. President of the United States wa
only twenty-five thousand dollars
year and now after thirty-seven year
, at fifty thousand dollars it is propose'
, again to double it The wealth of tn
1 country has more than doubled sine
the Presidents salary was last increas
ed and there are a number of men
presidents of much smaller corporatio
than the United States of American
who are receiving yearly salary {
more that it is now proposed to pay tn
President.