New Britain herald., 1916-10-04
TAFT AND TEDDY
 GIVE FRAPPE HAND
No Reconciliation Of Ex~PreSi.
 dents at Union League

New York, Oct. 4.-In any event, Taft and T. R. shook hands
 The much discussed, long hera1ded get together meeting which was to make the republican party great and reunited, took place last night in the carefully censored library and dining nall or the Union League club And Tn all the happenings which involved the heterogeneous mass of political fig ures-Old Guard, progressives pro- gresslVe republicans, and others who were not quite sure how they ought to be .classifed-the one most discussed the one awaited with the deepest in terest was the moment when the chief haters of 1912, Theodore Roosevelt and ex-President William Howard Taft, clasped hands
 The event came at moment when newspaper reporters were led, some times with scant courtesy, into side room where their eyes could not see and ears were useless to hear what might be said. Immediately after ward there were 9 dozen versions of what had taken place. There was the : Whitman version and the Sheldon yer sion, the Taft version, and the Roose- welt version. Edward T. O'Brien, a member of the reception committee, burst into the room where the re- porters had been sent and said:
 They shook hands and there was the greatest cOrdialty, Yes, certainly! , The greatest cordiality. I never saw such a smile on Colonel Roosevelts face, and also upon that of MT. Taft. Don't forget that; it was most cor- dial"
 nf all O only one which had anything to say about cordiality. The so-called Taft version, as relayed to the reporters by friend who dropped into the room, was that we shook hands like any gentlemen might do and there was not word said.''
 No Reconciliation.
 As large proposition this version . was pretty much the same as the others. The true story is this:
 There was no reconciliation. Colonel Roosevelt, after shaking hands with eight or ten others who were in a group in the alcove of the libray where the reception was held, found himself confronting MT. Taft. MT Taft ex- tended his hand and the Colonel shook 1t. There was uttered by each some passing triviality-a "how do you do' and there the conversation ended. AS far as could be learned neither mentioned the other by name, and the conversation, if such it might be called, was not taken up again during the evening. Colonel Roosevelt went on shaking hands with a thousand ether men, greeting old friends who may have differed with him political ly in the past four years with hearty words and broad smiles.
 He shook hands with Senator Boise Penrose of Pennsylvania, who, by the way, extended his hand first also. He recalled here and there a happy in- cident of past relations, and laughed and joked about it. The briefest greeting of all was that with MT. Taft.
 William Barnes, another of the ha- ters of 1912, who may have recalled also the drubbing the Colonel gave him at Syracuse when he sued for h- bel, was late in arriving, reaching the club about 9:45 o'clock. Colonel Roosevelt, it was understood, was ready to shake hands with Barnes if Barnes extended lis hand first, but when Barnes got ther Colonel Roose- welt was about to deliver an address. The music which reached the ears of Barnes was great outburst of ap- plause-easily the most spontaneous and enthusiastic of the evening. When he looked up he found before him the smiling face of Colonel Roosevelt, ready with c1enched fists to follow up an address by MT. Hughes with one of his chara racteristically vigorous ap- peals to the true spirit of patriotism.
 Except for the brief moment when hands were clasped, Roosevelt and Tof toI 1vxra hy a person. Tn the receiving line it was Chauncey M. Depew At the supper which followed the speaking they were seated at different tables-Colone Roosevelt at 9 table labeled No. 2 Mr. Taft at table No. 3. Co1one Roosevelt also was two nearer the head of the receiving line at the re. ception.
 MT. Taft arrived at the club first at any rate. There was big crowt In front as he drove up shortly afte1 o'clock with State Chairman Fred erick Tanner and Elihu Root. pres dent of the club, and George T. Will son. and the ex-president was cheered
 Then came William M. Calder. nom nee for senator; w. Murray Crane Charles D. Hilles, John w. Weeks Colonel Theodore Roosevelt with Re eis H. Post and George w. Perkins Charles F. Hughes with Nationa Chairman Wilcox.
 MT. Hughes arrived just as Colone Roosevelt was blowing his wa through the mass of men in the lowe lobby of the club in a fight for a path way to the elevator to take him to tn reception room on the second floor The crowd had been cheering enthusi sstical1y for the colonel, and whe Nr. Hughes appeared the cheers fo him mingled with those for Roose ve1t.
 tThree cheers and tiger shoute