Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-05-27
I. R. TELLS Of RIVER,
DISCUSSES POLITICS


CONTINUED From First Page1
| Wilson administration. The congress
men, for their part. wished to go over
the whole field with him. learn his
ideas regarding matters now before
Congress and, if possible, map out a
tentative plan for the coming cam
paign.
Colonel Roosevelt protested. how
ever that politics was not the main
| object of his visit to Washington.
1T was for science. not for politics"
he said.
| With the exception of his confer
ence with the Progressive congress
| men, politics played little part in his
day here. He was too busy for that.
Reports that while here he might meet
Republican leaders came to naught,
! for the Colonel saw none of them.
Not a Republican showed his
head" he said laughingly.
| 1t was learned that before Colonel
! Roosevelt left Oyster Bay a Repub-
lican member of Congress telegraphed
to him, asking for an appointment
Colonel Roosevelt declined to discuss
the matter. but 1t was understood that
he felt that too much already had
| been crowded into the day to permit
of such a meeting.
Calls On the President
Colonel Roosevelt's visit with Presi-
| dent Wilson was perhaps of greater
! interest to the public than any other
/ event of the day. The President and
| his predecessor spent more than half
an hour together and talked of most
everything except politics. A good deal
of the time was put in at telling
stories.
When the Colonel arrived at the
| executive mansion he leaped out of his
automobile with his old-time vigor
and walked quickly into the White
House where the President was await
! ing to receive him in the red room
| The former President greeted warmly
| Jimmy" Sloan, a secret service man.
and other attaches who served during
his administrations.
| I'm very glad to see you," said the
President, as he shook hands with Mr.
Roosevelt.
| Speaking of travel, books, and tell
ing stories. the two men seemed to
enjoy their meeting greatly. All con-
| troversial subjects were avoided.
On his arrival in Washington Colonel
| Roosevelt went first to the Smith,
sonian Institution. 1t was his first
glimpse of the game he shot in Africa
| since 1t had been mounted.
| AS soon as he entered the building
he caught sight of huge rhinoceros
in glass case.
II shot him." he exclaimed "It
was a rather close call too. Kermit
said, Wait a minute. dad, till I take
| his picture, the rhino rushing at us,
head down. I've got to shoot /
protested but Kermit got his picture
| and then l got the rhino."
For an hour the Colonel wandered
through the museum. There was sup
posed to be a reception committee, but
| it was lost in the crowd, and the
| Colonel found the way himself, paus-
ing from time to time to explain the
| hne points of specimens to those who
| happened to be nearest to him and
rafting out scientific words which no
| one understood.
From the museum Colonel Roose-
welt went to the home of Senator
| Lodge for talk with the senator and
the British. French and Spanish am
| bassadors Then he attended dinner
| given by President Gilbert H. Grosve-
nor, of the National Geographic So
ciety. The lecture came next, with
| the conference with Progressive con-
gressmen the last thing on the pro-
gram before his departure for New
York at midnight.
Proclaimed before a great audience
OF scientists from many cities as the
| 'discoverer of a river in South Amer
lea one thousand miles long" Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt assured the Ma
tional Geographic Society that he had
put this river on the map and chal-
lenged all the photographers in the
world to disprove his achievement.
| I'VE Put 1t On the Map
| Scientists. the Colonel declared, had
attempted to dispute his discovery.
Tracing on blackboard with piece
of chalk the river of his finding, he
| declared emphatically:
Il say we put it on the map and
| mean what 1 say. No map has ever
yet shown this river. Scientists have
said we might have traversed the
River Tapajoz or the River Madeira,
but the fact is that some Of our party
went down one river and some went
down the other, while we went down a
river in between them which no map
maker ever saw. l can direct any man
where to find this river, and rivers
stay put, so that the discovery we have
made may be verified" =
The Colonel described in detail the
hardshipS of his trip into the Brazilian
wilds, and particularly the hardships
endured in navigating the rapids OF
The River of Doubt In the upper
part of the river, he said the rapids
were so severe that it required forty.
two days for the party to traverse one
degree from 11.45 south to 10.45 south
During that hazardous trip they lost
nearly all their food and belongings.
we were forced to eat monkeys tc
exc out our rations.' declared the
Colonel. Don't shudder. for 1 assure
you that after this experience you
might leave me in the monkey house
without my making any mistake"
There were many Indians in the
upper reaches of the Duvida, the
Colonel said:
They were seemingly very timiG
and in some cases hostile" he added
Il believe they were hostile only be.
cause they were timid, but it Is almost
as unpleasant to be shot by a mar
because he is afraid of you as if he
killed you because he disliked YOU"
He said he had built upon the work
done by South American explorers
particularly during the last eight years
He characterized his South American
| expedition as Zoo-geographic recon.
naissance" and said that exhaustive in.
vestigating work would not be done
properly by the first expedition tc
penetrate the wilderness.
The Colonel said the work of earl,
Spanish explorers who discovered the
Amazon river made "the exploration,
of our day seem like child's play" III,
added that these explorers also discov
cred the mouths of several tributarie.
of the Amazon.
"Dr. Muller told me-" Mr.. Roose
welt declared, that as a result of tn,
work of the Brazilian telegraph,
Commission in Western Brazil, all tn,
maps in existence of that part of tn,
country would have to be changed.
Some of these MAPS" the Colone
l x,tk L n