River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-06-05
ROOSEVELT CASE
IS COMPROMISED
EDITOR NEWETT WlTHDRAvvS
CHARGE OF PAPER AND THE
COLONEL Is INDICATED.
TESTIMONY PROVES S0BRIEN
Nominal Damages of Six Cents Award
of Court to RooseveIt-Defense
Unable to Find Witnesses
Who Saw Teddy Drunk.

Marquette, Mich, June 3.-Theodore
Roosevelt has won his vindication. He
has proved he is not a drunkard.
More than that, he has proved as
nearly as a man may do by his init
mates of lifetime that he has never
even been slightly under the influence
of liquor and that he is as abstemious
as man may be and still drink alco-
holic liquid. His libel suit against
George A. Newett of Ishpeming ended
abruptly.
Charge Is Taken Back.
Newett surrendered and withdrew
the charge of his paper that Roose-
welt gets drunk and that not infre-
quently."
In a statement read in open court,
he admitted he had combed the coun-
try but had found not one single wit
ness who could testify he had seen
Colonel Roosevelt take liquor to ex-
cess. To all intents and purposes he
threw himself upon Roosevelt's mercy.
And then Roosevelt, unwilling to as
sess upon Newett the heavy damages
he could have claimed, arose in court
and declared he had achieved his OBJ
ject, disproved the tale that did him
such injury in the last campaign and
asked the court to direct verdict in
his favor for nominal damages only
which, in Michigan, means 6 cents.
The cents were paid and the col
onel will settle his own costs of close
to $4,000.
Refuses to DivuIge Intent.
Somebody asked the colonel later
what he would do with the cents. He
threw back his head and laughed a
hearty guffaw, but refused to reveal
his intent with respect to the nickel
and the penny he had accepted.
AS sort of climax to his case, The
odore Roosevelt brought into court
Saturday the four men who have been
closer to him than anyone that lives,
aside from his wife and children, to
testify that he had never taken liquor
to excess.
ColonePs Closing Witnesses.
w. Emlin Roosevelt, his cousin and
lifelong chum; Frank Tyree and
James Sloan, the secret service men,
who spanr all their waking hours with
him while he was president and slept
at his door at night: William Loeb,
Jr, the colonels private secretary
while he was governor and president,
all mounted the stand and sWore the
colonels use of strong drink comes
close to total abstinence.
Tyree, who guarded his door during
the ten holly exciting days of the Chi
cago national convention last year,
swore that in that time no drink but
milk entered the coloneps rooms.
w. P. Shaufele of Cleveland, the
railroad traffic manager who routed
and travelled with the colonePs cam
paign train in 1912, also testified that
Roosevelt tasted no more than sin
gle glass of mildly alcoholic drink on
any one occasion.
Dispositions by George Fl. Roose-
Welt, cousin once removed to the plain.
tiff; DR.. Albert Shaw, editor of the Re-
view of Reviews; George B. Cortelyou,
president of the Consolidated Gas cor
poration of New York and former Sec
rotary to President Roosevelt, and
Alexander Graham, newspaper CORES
pondent, were read.
All testified to the colonefs strict
sobriety.
Other dispositions from Admiral
George Dewey, DR.. Edgar A. Mearns
and William B. Dulaney, the colonels
barber while he was president, were
read at the afternoon session.