McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1919-01-24
New York Letter.

startling death of Theodore Roose.
velt. Even in this great, hurly-burly
hive of humanity, where one life more
or less is so small a factor, the It'd
ings came like thunderbolt. AnC
when his remains were being laid to
rest, the City stood still for one min,
ute: all subway and elevated cars anC
all other machinery stopped for sixty
seconds; the bells toled, hats werl
removed, and New York paid a singu
lar and impressive tribute to tins
mighty soul that had passed out tt
the limitless beyond. His death mus
have been painless. A small clot 0.
blood, perhaps no larger than a pea
formed in one of the arteries of thu
lungs, and he stopped breathing. /
is said that the real cause begar
twenty years ago, when he had an at
tack Of rheumatism arising from al
infected tooth. From that came The
end of one of the most remarkable
men that ever appeared upon the
stage of human existence. 1t shows
upon what slender thread our lives
may be hanging. Conversely we may
infer that, as it hangs by such a slen-
der thread, this life is not Of so much
value. Nature generally safeguards
her precious things quite carefully
and so it is evident that another life
is ready and waiting for US as soon
as this one is done. Col. Roosevelt
might have lived twenty years longer
(he was sixty when he died) but let
us believe that his tremendous ener-
gy and his power for righteousness
we're needed somewhere else more
than here, and so be who filled so
we'll and so faithfully every trust inn
posed upon him here. must have been
called higher. Force is eternal, and
goodness can never die.
| first saw Theodore Roosevelt in
Washington, when he was president
With my son, then a little boy, at
tended one Of the White House re-
ceptions at which people stand in long
lines waiting their turn to shake
the hand of the Chief Magistrate. !
got within two feet of Roosevelt, who
was shaking hands at the rate of
perhaps fifty a minute, and | got a
good view of him. He looked rather
sandy-haired and freckle-faced, and
as he saw my boy he patted him Oh
the head and gave sort Of chuckle,
and said, "howdy,' and then we passed
on. next saw him in June, 1911, in
Baltimore, at the Golden Jubilee GEL
ebration of Cardinal Gibbons. As he
walked out of the Mount Royal rail-
road station and took his seat in an
auto, got a SIDE view of his massive
head, and it looked as big as a half
bushel basket to me. A man near
me held up a little girl to look at him,
and ! said: Let her get a good look
at him, for she can say in after years
that she saw the greatest man that
America ever produced, and one of
the greatest Of all history" | saw
him soon afterward in the big Armory
building where twenty thousand .peo-
had gathered to hear Roosevelt, Taft,
and dozen Of the biggest men In the
nation help honor the Roman Catho-
lie Cardinal. Roosevelt spoke, along
with others. but was disappointed in
his speech and his style Of delivery.
His voice was harsh and metallic, and
his words lacked fire. All, but the
crowd was with him, and that ryth-
mic roar I'VE want Teddyw repeated
by thousands Of throats. seemed TO
be music to him, as he stood in the
center Of stage with a grin on bis
face that looked more like a sneer. L
did not enthuse over him much that
day. But in the summer of 1917,
when John Puroy Mitchell, Mayor Of
New York City, was running for re-
election. Teddy came to the rescue,
along with Hughes and other big men,
and / heard Teddy speak again. Then
be put bis whole soul into the speech.
and the people went wild. | was close
to seesRoosevelt's marvellous
head and take mental note of it.
When boy | got hold of the
chronological works of Fowler and
Wells, and ever since. size up a
mans head and try to figure on. what
IS inside of it. If one had never ssen
Or heard of Theodore Roosevelt, the
mans sudden appearance in a crowd
would make you feel that he was one
of the earth's chosen sons. There
vas unusual width of brow, and an