The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-01-14
Athletics Helped Him Develop
 His Robust Constitution.

In the death of Theodore Roosevelt the country loses one of the keenest sportsman that ever lived and man whose wonderful successes in fife were largely due to the splendid phy- sique he built up through athletics. Through athletics mainly Theodore Roosevelt developed from a puny, sickly child into strong, robust man. Realizing the benefits accruing from indulgence in athletics, he continued 10 exercise regularly as long as he
 was able to. Just before his last
 sickness Colonel Roosevelt spent fortnight at a physical culture farm at Stamford.
 When he became president, Colo
 mel Roosevelt gave mild shock to the
 advocates of Jeffersonian simplicity
 and the worshipers of historic asso-
 ciaticn by converting the cabinet
 room of the White House into what
 he playfully declared the admins
 trations department of physical cul
 ture"
 The well known cabinet table.
 bookcases, maps, globes, clocks,
 chairs, rugs, bronze and marble
 busts gave way to wrestling mats
 shields, boxing gloves, falls, single
 sticks, wire masks and punching
 bags.
 There Col. Roosevelt used to box with the late Prof. Mike Donovan, g
 wrestle with Prof J J. OBrien of
 Boston and joust with single sticks with Gen. Leonard Wood It was
 there also that President Roosevelt
 took jiu-jitsu lessons from Hitachu-
 yani, the famous master of the an-
 cient are of the Samurai. On the
 tennis court outside the President daily would engage in matches with Am assador Jesserand of France gen.
 eraliy as his partner. Across the Po- tonac was an open htlly section in which Col Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts occasionally took cross country runs. President Roosevelt always was a familiar figure at Yaie-Harvard foot ball games and at the boat races in i New London. He especially was fond ] of football and watched the sport 1 closely. Just how closely can be seen
 by the following incident:
 | On Dec. 4, 1905, the committee to
 notify President Roosevelt that the
 house was organized and ready for business Reps. McCleary of Nfirne- l sota. Littauer of New York and Will Hams of Mississippi called Secretary Loeb to ask when the President could see them. It then was approaching three o'clock
 The President cannot see you be- tween 3 and o'clock" Loeb tele- phoned after a consultation with Col. Roosevelt
 l Why not?" asked the committee. He is busy said Loeb, and hung
 up the telephone
 The president was busy talking football with Walter Camp and Jack Owsley of Yale, Bill Reid and Dr. D. H. Nichols of Harvard, Arthur T. Hildebrand and John R. Fine of Princeton. The previous season hal resulted In many more accidents than usual and the president was of the opinion that for the good of ths game the rules should be revived. It | was for that purpose that he called Mir. Camp and associates to Wash 1 ington.
 The late Martin p. Sheridan, all- around athlete fncomparable, often | declared Theodore Roosevelt was the greatest man in the world. With q twinkle in his eye Martin would re- mark:
 T arrived at the conclusion the September day in 1908 when the | president received the American Olympicans at Sagamore Hill. Two incidents then took place that led m. to realize what a wonderful man Theodore Roosevelt is. One of them
 was Mel Sheppards presentation to the president of 8 medal he had won ] in the 800 meter event at the Lon don Olympfes. The other was thu declaration of Pat Conway, president of the Irish-American A C., that. a,- though he was a democrat, he was sorry he had but one vste he could | cast for Roosevelt
 Any man." declared Sheridan,
 that can make Mel Sheppard give up medal and make Pat Conway forget all about Tanmany Hall is the l greatest man in the world"