The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-22
Beat Wilson" Seems to Have Been Sentiment of
 Those Present
HUGHES LOOMS UP
 AS A POSSIBILITY
All the Guests Are Silent, However, and Not Word on the Subject Comes From
 Oyster Bay

New York continues to show great in- terest in the dinner given by Judge E. H. Gary to Colonel Roosevelt. The Sun, which ached Birmingham last night, contained the following:
 Remarkable secrecy attended the Roosevelt dinner which Judge Ebert II. Gary gave at his home Fifth avenue and Slxty-seventh street, Friday night Sev- eral of the 20 guests were asked for in formation yesterday, but only one had definite affirmative statement to make. That was F. w. Whitridge, who said: T talkd with Frank B. Kellogg for two hours about the superiority of broiled prairie hen to Scottish grouse
 Asked if it is regarded as proper to serve a third cup of coffee with this bird MT. Whitridge became silent. Politicians who passed the afternoon speculating on the meaning of the gathering, insisted that this very reticence, manifested ap- parently by every man who was present was, in itself. one of the most significant features of the dinner.
 As was pointed out by one man who has earned a reputation in sizing up mys-
 
 scarcely have been greater unanimity in the answers of diners who wore asked to talk of the affair if they had taken a. sosamn pledge not to reveal anything that had happeneh Requests for information were met with solemn shake of the head and the elevation of warning fin- 'ser. The suggestion that politics might possibly have been mentioned at sometime during the evening-Colonel Roosevelt 5e- iBg the guest of honor-appeared to cause great surprise.
 oyster Bay maintained an almost un- eanny silence during the day The colonel instructed his secretary that he had ab- solutely nothing to say. George w. Per- kins, as on Saturday, insisted that it would be highly improper for him to talk, and Frank B. Kellogg, erstwhile trust buster, was certain that no subject of public interest had been mentioned
 All of which led the political wiseacres to speculating what it was all about and to predicting that the Gary dinner may one day have a big place in political his tory. They recalled that Colonel Roose- Welt ard the Steel trust Heads have not Teen at outs since 1907 or thereo' and figured on the possibilities of political as well as personal friendships Judge Gary is chairman of the United States Steel corporation and Richard V. Lind abury has represented it as counsel Frank B. kellogg also has argued many cases Tor big corporations in recent years, and the colonel himself has asserted that there are good trusts as well as bad
 'One report had it that so far as polit- ical interest focused around the coloned it concerned not so much his possible can didacy for President as his politics It was said that Colonel Roosevelt let his friends know that events since 1912 have swept aside, temporarily, at least, issues which in tfat year the bull moose pro- claimed as paramount. His advice was that preparedness should be the slogan for 1916
 President NN>sson is not a favorite with a majority of the men who attended the dinner. Colonel Roosevelt has made it plain that he would couple Beat Will son clause with his preparedness slogan. In this connection it is interesting to re- call that MT. Lndabury, who is New Jerseyite, has been credited with being one of the men who induced Woodrow Wilson to run for governor, thus starting him on his dash to the White House
 Whether or not Colonel Roosevelt took
 
 the guests so it is known to his intimates that he feels that the best interests of the country demand that President Will son shall not be reelected. saI It is also known that most of Judge Gary's guests were men who, regardless oh party lines agree with Colonel Roosevelt that their interests and those of the country de- mand the defeat of the President
 Justice Hughes is believed to have been favorably mentioned as a possible repub- lican candidate. There is a general inn pression that Colonel Roosevelt would be willing to give Justice Hughes his sup pert and that conservatives and progress sives could agree on him more readily than on any other possibility who has been suggested. It is considered certain that the colonel slenced any suggestion which may have been made Friday night that he himself should seea the nomina- ton next year"