The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1919-10-08

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If Colonel Roosevelt worshipped
anything at all it was his country, anc
though he told me Once that his faml'
ly life meant more to him than his
political career and all his other ad'
ventures put together, he never al
lowed his tenderness or sentiment fol
his family to interfere with his exalt'
ed sense of his and their responsible
ty to America.
A most amusing incident illustrates
this admirably: Just before his boat
sailed for France his sol Archie
Roosevelt took a few days, | was told,
for his marriage and honeymoon. In
a confidential worried mood the Col
onel complained of this son of his.
81 am afraid Archie has something of
the Stacker about him." he said with d
sincerely worried expression, "to
think of STOPPING for a honeymoon at
this time!"
Only a very few months later,
when Archie Roosevelt had done dis
tinguished service at the front, been
promoted, and then again promoted,
and wounded, we dined at Oyster
Bay. His proud father read us let
tiers he had received from Archie's
comrades and others from his super
Tor officers, all whole-heartedly
eulogizing his sons splendid service.
When he finished he told us with a
beaming face that he always knew
Archie was a brave and reckless
fighter. Mrs. Roosevelt smiled and
teased him about his immodest pride
in his sons.
And yet on a later occasion, only
a very short time before Quentin's
brave death, when both Archie and
Ted were in the hospital, he said in a
voice of foreboding: "My boys-I
am afraid / shall never see them
whole again. They are all doing this
for my sake!" Remembering all I'd
heard about these boys, | recalled to
his mind the remark of Finley Peter
Dunno, who once said to him during
the war, Colonel, one of these days
those boys of yours will be putting
the name of Roosevelt on the map"
eyes, they are fine brave boys on
their w account" he acknowledged
with satisfaction, and told me some
charming stories of their childhood.
But these were conversations dur
ing the last year of his life, and |
want to go back and commence with
that suddenly charged atmosphere,
that excitement and a that
entered our office with the beginning
of his association with US.
The advent of his opening New
York headquarters with the metro
politan Magazine" was the beginning
of two tempestuous days a week for
all of us that were as entertaining
and humorous as they were inspiring.
Heretofore, we had prided ourselves
on being a rather up-to-date, eftici-
ent, husthng concern, living up to all
the traditions of the speed that is
eXacted in one of the busiest sections
of the busiest city in the United
States, but the new Onrush caused by
the arrival of this one man left US all
breathless and dazed. Our desks and
chairs, our offices, corridors and
halls, were suddenly filled with the
strangest conglomeration of visitors.
Our stenographers were busy with the
visitors dictation, u office boys
with their errands.
The time eventually arrived when
1 should hardly have turned a hand
iidu OOlOlIlOIl anu al iI4o Wv 30 DCCl
ushered into my room to be enter
tanned while waiting for Colonel
Roosevelt, so accustomed did | be
writing copy while some ebony giant
ruler of Africa, bull-headed and mar
row-hipped, in his native version of
American clothes, festooned with
rings and beads, watched every stroke
of my pen with an interest as if |
were going through a Voodoo ritual.
On those days the space in my tiny
office was filled with politicians, fe-
male lobbyists, Mexicans that always
looked like bandits, and a Rough
Rider or two, talking, smoking, all
waiting for a word with the Great
Friend.
One early afternoon | made my
way into my office armed with an i'm
portant manuscript which had to be
read that day. A great confusion of
voices reached me, The room vas
filled with cigar smoke and chatting
men and women. The Colonels
secretary, Mr.. McGrath, extricated
himself from their midst and came
toward me. 81 have taken your
room for a few of Colonel Roosevelt's
VISITORS" he smiled conciliatingly. |
backed from the door sill and sought
out a quiet corner of the corridor,
and leaning up against a partition BE-
gan delving into the manuscript. But
not for long. Pretty DON Finley
Peter Dunno, the genial creator of
Mr.. Dooley, who also had his offices
with us at that time, chose that parti-
cular bit of gangway for promenad-
ing. | asked he cause of his lugu-
brious expression.
"For weeks Colonel Roosevelt has
been holding overflow meetings in
my room. That's been hard enough,
but all morning he has had an angular
old maid in there. Understand me, |
have no prejudices against old maids.
but that one can't take her eyes off
my pencil. | shall demand to have a
swung out of my window
Con the tenth floor to work in"
Following such a day, it was not
unusual for us to receive an editorial
from the Colonel on a subject we had
the previous day discussed, and again
would wonder how a man who led
a life in which the sequence of events
occurred with such ceaseless rapiditv
could find time to produce a piece of
writing that could only have been the
result of quiet and leisurely thought.
But such was the astonishing energy
of body and mind he possessed.