Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-09-14
TAFT WILL Be
WELL GUARDED
UNUSUAL PRECAUTIONS TAKEN
TO SAFEGUARD EXECUTIVE
ON COMING TRIP.
IOWAN is IN CHARGE.
Jack" Wheeler, Who Perfects Ar
engagements for Trip, Formerly
of Cedar Rapids; Travelled
100000 Miles For Taft.

Beverly, Mass, Sept. 11.-When
President Taft starts from Beverly
next Friday night for trip covering
twenty-four states and lasting forty
four days, he will be almost as well
guarded as the king of England or the
! German kaiser when travelling.
| But the president will not be sur
rounded by hundreds Of armed and
uniformed soldiers like a European
| monarch. The presidents guard will
be for the most part unseen by the
public. It's preparation is almost I'M
| known. 49,
( This careful protecting Of the presi-
dent Is comparatively a new thing. Up
to the time President Mckinley was
assassinated at Buffalo in 1901 the
president of the United States was
| poorly guarded in times of peace. The
system of guarding the president and
| the making of preparations in advance
for travelling really originated with
President Roosevelt's administration.
But 1t was after President Taft was
| elected that the guarding of and car
ing for the president when travelling
was perfected.
Vast Forces Set In Motion. .E
In the preparations for trip such
as President Taft made in 1909, fol-
lowing the tariff session of congress
and the one he will begin on Friday
the entire force of the white house
secret service, railroads over which
the president and his party will travel
and the police Of the towns and cities
he will visit play part.
The pivot around which this force
works is Lucien Jack as he is femil-
iarly known Wheeler. Jack" is the
name by which he Is known to every
railroad official and nearly every police
chief and newspaper reporter in the
United States.
1t is Jack" Wheeler who perfects
the arrangements for one of these
trips. It is he who weeds the goa&
from the sheep and has every rail-
road connection, every social function,
and every banquet working 41thout a
hitch and assures the President Of
smoothness and safety in his journey.
He Is the advance agent of the presi-
Dental travelling show.
Wheeler an iowan.
Wheeler was born in Iowa. He re-
Cedar Rapids and among the people
So years old and has been In the Sec
of these years have been spent guard
ing presidents and making their road
to the people easy and safe.
actly 175 pounds stripped. In his
stocking feet he measures feet
inches in height. He has the reputa-
ton of being one of the strongest
men physically In the service. His
nerve has been tested in many ways
and never has been found wanting.
After the president signifies his will
ingness to make an extensive trip the
white house force communicates with
members Of congress and heads OF
civic, business and patriotic organiza-
lions in the various cities which have
invited the president to visit them
(and every day of the year from a
dozen to one hundred invitations OF
this kind are received at the white |
house)
Laying Out Of Itinerary.
The replies to these communications |
are the signal for the calling in of the |
travelling passenger agent of the in
itial railroad, the railroad over which |
the trip is started. In the case of the
coming trip it is the Boston and
Maine
The passenger agent is given a
schedule of the trip. He in turn maps
out a time table for the trip, giving
all railroad connections. In doing this
he figures the presidents train as a
section of regular train.
After this is done the schedule Is
submitted to every road over which
the travelling is to be done. This is
done by telegraph. When the
replies from the roads are received
they are turned over to Jack"
Wheeler and he starts out. He
has to travel in advance Of the presi.
dent. On this occasion Mr.. Wheeler
will leave today. He will at once go
to the first stop on the itinerary,
which is Syria cuse, N. Y.
He first will 60 to the chief of po-
lice and make arrangements for a
full detail of police. He then will get
hold of the members of the local COM
mittee and, together with them, travel
over the full course the president is
to take when he arrives. If there is to
be parade with review by the pres
ident from a grandstand, he will go
over this, noting the cross streets on
the route, the class of people living
along the streets to be traversed and
the condition of the stand. e.,
Anarchists to be Watched.
He will have a blue print Of the
whole route made One copy of this
he furnishes to the chief of police and
instructs him where he wants the |
biggest detail Of officers. He then
communicates by wire with the head |
quarters of the secret service in the !
district in which the city visited Is To- !
Gated. He finds out how many men
can be sent. He also looks up the DO
lice records of the local suspects" |
and visits the anarchists bureau or !
headquarters if there be any there. If |
there be none, the district office of the
secret service finds out where every !
suspected anarchist in the district is |
located. The day of the presidents |
visit means they are watched con-
81 Yf1v