El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-15
President William Taft
Celebrates His Birthday
By
Frederic
]. Haskn
SOME OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.

seph Benson Foraker was the governor
| of Ohio at that time, and gave to Mr.
/ Taft his first appointment on the bench
| Thus it is that his most prominent per-
| sonal opponent and his leading polit1-
cal opponent were concerned in this
earliest step of Mr.. Taft's toward the
! presidency.
Is Physical Giant.
/ Mr.. Taft was not long in Ohio politics
! before he gave some evidence of the
! spirit which had made him the undis-
| puted wrestling champion of Yale. a
man who had graduated into journal
| ism from the prize ring published what
! Mr. Taft regarded as a Scurrilous at
| tack on his father. Taft believed that
| libel suit would be to no purpose
! against such az man, so he concluded to
take justice into his own hands. He
met the man on the street and asked
| him if he had written the article. An
affirmative answer led Mr.. Taft to grab
the writer and throw him violently to
the ground. After rubbing his face into
the sidewalk with no degree of gentle
mes, he asked the victim if he was
ready to leave town that night. He
was, and did. In another case a giant
stOnemasOn disputed his right to serve
as an election watcher. A punch that
would do credit to many a pugilist flew
out from Mr.. Taft's shoulder, and there
after no one ever attempted to dispute
his right to watch at the polls
Mrs. Taft the Politician.
The president likes to forget those
strenuous days in Cincinnati He pre-
fers TO think Of his experiences on the
bench as one of the circuit judges of
the United Staes. There have been few
men in public life who could bear crit
icism with as little fortitude as the
present chief magistrate, and while it
has been pouring in on him he often
yearns for the woOlsack again, where
he had only to do his duty as he saw it
and care nothing for the consequences.
He has said that Mrs. Taft is the politi-
clan of his family, and that if it had
not been for her he. never would have
been governor of the Philippines, secre-
tary of war or president of the United
States, but would have been content
to have spent the rest of his days as
the dean OF a Cincinnati law school and
as judge on the bench. When the
Worlds International Sunday School
convention was held 81 y -shington last
summer, Mrs { accompanied him TO
the platform of the convention hall At
ter he had finished his address the con-
vention shouted itself hoarse for Mrs.
Taft to come to the front of the plat
form The president led her TO the i'm
prOvised pulpit, and amid the tumuItous
applause of ten thousand people an
nounced that there was the real presi-
dent of the United States.
Is Good Athlete.
Aside from Mr. Roosevelt. Mr.. Taft
is one of the few presidents who has
cared much for play. While his weight
precludes his riding jumpers, and his
tastes have never taken him in the
direction of shooting, he IS as fond of
fishing as was Izak Walton, and as de-
voted TO golf as was Mr.. Roosevelt TO
tennis In fact, if one were so minded.
he might construct a golf cabinet from
among Mr.. Taft'S chumS on the links. |
He was a devOtee of golf long before !
he came TO the foreground OF American |
politics One of the pleasing stories of !
his experiences at this game comes |
from no less person than justice Har- |
Ian of the United States supreme court (!
He was playing with Harlan and was J
three or four strokes behind. He teed /
his ball and hit terrific drive They |
started together 10 look for the gut |
"" when Taft's caddy shouted that ii /
was in the hole 1t was one of those !
one in a million shots. and Justice Har- !