Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-30

| President and native OF GeaWJuh sun,
and proud of it"
| Since Taft became President, the Captain
has been known to the public as mass of
smiles and network of gold lace, which re-
sided in big automobiles ornamented the
background of any scene upon which Mr..
Taft might appear, and shone respondent at
every White House ball and afternoon tea.
He has been set down as the carpet knight
of glittering achievements and gabby gor-
geouSneSS.
But "Archie he denies that his full
name is Archibald Willingham de Graffen-
ried Clavering Butt-has done things that
have established his reputation for sterner
deeds than bending gracefully over
woman's fan or handling cup of after din
ner coffee with all the grace of a magician.
| In the first place, when he was in active
service in 1900, he revolutionized the method
of transporting animals by ship So we'll did
his innovation work that the British army
has adopted it. He was put in charge of
shipload of horses and mules to be trans
ported from Portland Oregon, to the Philip
pine Islands, and, as he stepped aboard the
cattle craft, he was handed a bulky mass of
orders instructing him how to handle the
animals. The general purport of these
papers was that he must put each horse and
mule in sling in its stall so that the rolling
of the boat would not cause the beasts to
lose their footing. This sling was made by
a tail band, a belly band, and a shoulder
plate, all so adjusted and tied to the sides
of the stall that the horse or mule could
neither fall down nor lie down. In fact,
these sings held the beasts little above
the flooring of their stalls and let them sleep
suspended in air. The theory on which this
was done was that no animal could stand on
its feet for thirty-fve days, the time con-
sumed by the voyage, and live.
| No sooner had the ship lost sight of land
than the Captain issued blanket order that
all the sings be done away with and that
each mule and horse be given three feet of
chain to its halter. 1t was rank insubordna-
ton, for he was going against the bulky
mass of orders from his superior officers;
but Archie spent his youth on farm in
Georgia, and he knew that when the water
got too rough for a horse or mule to keep its
footing it was time for mere man to contem-
plate the danger of going to the bottom of
| the sea. He also knew that horse or a
mule could stand on its feet and sleep on its
feet almost indefinitely
Luckily for him, the reform worked Won
derfully well. He got the shipload of ami
mails to Manila without losing one. Before
that more than half of every shipload of
horses or mules carried to the Philippines
from this country had died on the way
The result was that the Captain was highly
commended, and his plan was adopted by
the army of the United States and by the
British Government.
Few people remember that Archie accom-
panied former President Roosevelt on his
famous ride of one hundred and six miles
from Washington to Warrenton, Virginia,
and return. The trip was made in fourteen
hours and forty minutes, and the last sixteen
miles were covered in binding storm of
sleet and snow. The start from Washington
was made at three-fifty o'clock in the morn
ing, and the only thing Archie and the
Colonel ate during the whole day was soup.
The morning after the ride Butt went to
the White House and took occasion to step
around in lively manner. SO as to disguise
the fact that the long ride had made him
stiff. Roosevelt, after watching him few
minutes, called him into corner and said:
Archie, see you're putting up the same
bluff 1 am. moving about quickly so as to
hide your bodily discomfort"
That ride was made by Roosevelt to show
that his executive order, requiring every Of
fcer in the army to ride hundred miles in
three days every year-thirty miles each
day-was neither unreasonable nor unjust.
THERE has recently come to light in the