The Washington herald., 1911-07-22

goodly dimensions of Solicitor General
Lehman. Only one automobile had
halted before entering the first ford. It
| contained five detected newspaper cor
respondents, who thought that they had
forever lost track of their charge. the
President. From a native of Virginia
they learned Of a roundabout way which
would lead them to a bridge to pass the
| river. They hurried on, little sinking
they would ever catch up with the Presi-
dent. 1t happened, however. the Presi-
dent also had learned Of this bridge
route and was, in fact, following close
upon their heels.
What Of the other members of the party
in the stream? Three Senators. a Solic-
itor General. three doughty sleuths Of the
Secret Service, the Presidential stenogra-
pher, and a newspaper correspondent
were impatiently biding their time in the
middle of the two streams which the
party had passed. One pember Of this
party. Gus Karger. correspondent for
Charles Taft's Cincinnati paper. proved
his resoluteness and resourcefulness in
this test. A farmer forded the stream In
q buggy near him. hailed him and
asked to be taken on to Manassas. The
farmer hesitated. He wanted to go to the
Bull Run celebration, but his wife was
upon the bank on the other side of the
stream, and he was afraid TO leave her.
A Farmer and Wife.
Take me to her." said Karger.
And with intense enthusiasm he per-
suaded both the farmer and his wife to
join him in a Junket to the Bull Run cele-
bration. Mr.. Karger was the first to
arrive at Bull Run. The people had been
waiting for him a long time. Many Of
them already had left. Gov. Mann, of
Virginia, insisted that Mr.. Karger make
an apology tc the waiting crowd for the
President. Mud-stained and embarrassed,
the Cincinnati correspondent made his
virgin speech.
In the meantime President Taft, with
Senator Nelson and his needed vote for
reciprocity secure in the rear seat. was
speeding on toward Manassas There is
law in Virginia which requires persons
In automobiles to get out and hold the
heads Of frightened horses when they
pass teams on the road. AS the Presi-
dent neared Bull Run battlefield It was
evident the retreat from the famous bat
tlefield had begun. BY scores the bug
gies, phaetons. and farm wagons drove
by. and each farmer seemed this day to
have hitched his youngest colt to his
trap. Representative Carlin. of Virginia,
was one of the Presidents guests. As
the Representative of these people in
Congress II was his bounden duty to
hold the horses heads while the Presi- |
dents car passed by. But he had an
assistant In this work. Maj. Archibald |
Butt. U. s. A, military aid to the Presi- |
ient, barefooted, with his toes tenderly |
turned upward from the sharp flint stones |
Of the Virginia road. played groom to half |
the farmers teams passing from Wash |
ington to Manassas
In the meantime. the Senators had been |
rescued from their predicament and |
brought to dry land by a good Samaritan |
with a buggy. Communicating a ma
chine which passed by, they pursued the |
tracks OF the Presidents automobile |
which were plainly seen in the soft mud |
All Of the party which had been stranded |
in the stream begged to be taken in this |
machine. Each one insisted II was most |
important he should arrive In Manassas
with the President.
Dignity at Stake.
The Senators argued their dignity, the
Secret Service men their necessity to Mr.
Taft's safety. the newspaper correspond
ents their necessity to his publicity, and /
lastly the stenographer his necessity to
obtain accuracy in that publicity. Eleven |
persons finally were loaded into this MAJ
chine The Presidents stenographer and
one correspondent were excluded. When
they were last seen the stenographer was
whiting a willow stick by the side of
the stream and the correspondent was
hoofng 1t in the direction Of Washington.
President Taft finally reached Manas-
sas. He made a little address to the
gathered veterans, who were celebrating
the great battles anniversary, saying
he had learned that not only were the
people of Virginia hospitable, but that |
the mud and water Of this peerless State
even gathered about and clung to one in
their warm welcome. Il
The experience OF the trip to Manassas
was too much for President Taft for
him to try to return In his automobile.
A special train was made up and in this
he returned to Washington.