Yale University Library 39002014865597 i^' ^'f^'.if^'^i^'^p- cwsi, "Igiveiht/e Both ht^/at^uiiag ef a. Cellegt in iMf Cobny'l Bought with the income of the William C, Egleston Fund 192-0 Presidents and Pies A PRESIDENT AND A PIE PRESIDENT TAFT AT A RED CROSS LUNCH AT FORT MYER PRESIDENTS AND PIES Life in fVashington 1897-1919 BY ISABEL ANDERSON With Illustrations BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1920 COFYRZGHT, I92O, BY ISABEL ANDERSON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEDICATED WITH MUCH LOVE TO MY SISTER ELSIE McMillan WITH WHOM I ASSOCIATE MY EASLY DAYS IN WASHINGTON FOREWORD A CELEBRATED novelist once said, "If you write from the outside, you will soon reach the end of your material, but if you write from the inside, you can continue forever — you are never written out. It is like drawing on a well which is fed from an inexhaustible spring." But yet, though I have written more travel books than fairy stories, I have hopes that my well will never prove empty. No doubt it will need to be replenished, but twenty years in Washington, with its statesmen and diplomats, with its people from all over the world, with its wars and its crises, ought to furnish some underground spring. At any rate, I shall send the bucket down and see what is brought up. I am anxious to record my memories of old Washington before the World War, as well as the changes brought about by it, for we all feel that many of the changes have come to stay, and that the city will never be quite the same again. I started out simply to tell a little of the life in the Capital during the administrations of the last viii FOREWORD four executives, ending with the war-time canteen here; in other words, to talk of Presidents and Pies, but as I ramble on, there are more I's than pies and more parties than politics. Unlike a recent autobiographer, I shall not skip a decade or so without a word of explanation. If there are gaps and empty spaces in this narra tive, it is because my notes were taken at vary ing intervals and must be considered more or less fragmentary. For a time we lived in Brussels and Japan, for eight months during the present war I worked in France and Belgium Libre, and throughout several administrations the spring saw us taking trips or returning to our country place in Brookline, "What's the point in writing a book about your home town?" asked an interested friend. "To get yourself into trouble? Rather risky to write about Washington when you live there, it seems to me." She added suggestively, "And it's your thirteenth book, too, is n't it? " "Well, it may be risky," I answered, "but I'll run the chance, for it is n't my thirteenth book, but the fourteenth, you see, so the hoodoo must be lifted." FOREWORD ix Nevertheless, I realize that I have undertaken a delicate task. Some people who have not been mentioned may wish they had, and some who have been mentioned may wish they had n't. Moreover, some of the caricatures and comments on human frailties may not be appreciated. But at least my conscience is clear, for it has all been done in a kindly spirit and without malice, wish ing no man ill and all men well. I want to thank Miss Katherine K. Crosby and Miss Esther Bates for helping me collect my scat tered notes, and also the National Magazine for allowing me to reprint several articles. CONTENTS I. Looking Back i II. "A Red Torch flared above His Head" 24 III. Rough Rider and Buccaneer 46 IV. Parties and Politics 71 V. Enter Mr. Taft 98 VI. Sundry Visitings and Visitations 126 VII. Cruising and Campaigning 148 VIII. Divers Democrats 165 IX. Allied Missions 185 X. Pies 202 XI. A TopsY-TuRVY Capital 226 XII. Royalties Arrive 257 ILLUSTRATIONS A President and a Pie: President Taft at A Red Cross Lunch at Fort Myer Frontispiece Dining-Room, Anderson House, Washington 8 Tennis Cabinet Diploma 28 The President's Birthday Party: A Fantasy 32 Drawn by John T. McCutcheon M OSS and Shells from Florida : Weld Garden 52 Outdoor Stage : Weld Garden 64 The Duke of the Abruzzi 76 Caricature by Morgan Dennis Thomas Nelson Page 80 Caricature by Clary Ray Where the Duke Lunched: Weld Garden 84 Captain Archibald Butt 106 Caricature by Clary Ray General Clarence R. Edwards 106 Caricature by Clary Ray Andrew J. Peters 112 Caricature by Clary Ray Nicholas Longworth 112 Caricature by Clary Ray Larz Anderson :_ A Diplomat i 16 A Newspaper Caricature xiv ILLUSTRATIONS Rear-Admiral William Sheffield Cowles 124 Caricature by Clary Ray Commander (now Rear-Admiral) Albert P. Niblack 124 Caricature by Clary Ray Dancer in Miss Porter's Play at Weld, 1916 134 Presidential Golf 150 A Newspaper Cartoon Nicholas Longworth's Dilemma 158 Drawn by Mrs. Bellamy Storer, 1910 A Sweet Dream of Peace: A Preparedness Cartoon 166 Drawn by W. A. Rogers Visit of Marshal Joffre and Mme. Joffre to King Albert and Queen Elizabeth at their Villa near the Belgian Front, March 21, 1918 190 Canteen Workers 206 A Red Cross Traveling Kitchen 206 Ball-Room, Anderson House, Washington 226 Gallery, Anderson House, Washington 260 The King of the Belgians 270 Caricature by Morgan Dennis The Queen of the Belgians 278 The Prince of Wales 284 Caricature by Morgan Dennis The Pershing Parade, September 15, 1919 288 Photograph from an Aeroplane Presidents and Pies PRESIDENTS AND PIES » CHAPTER I Looking Back In Washington there is always something new under the sun. No other place is just like it in this respect — perhaps our republican form of govern ment with its constant changes is responsible. Prominent men arrive, take up their duties for a time and depart again; only the Justices of the Supreme Court remain for life. Watching ' the administrations come and go, we have seen no two alike, what with the shifting group of foreign envoys and the men whom our own States send here to represent them. Influenced by climate and the various racial strains that people their part of the country, the Senators and Congress men are strongly differentiated — descendants of Kentucky mountaineers, New England seafaring men, Nebraska pioneers, Florida Crackers — men of the North and the South and the East and the West, met together here to frame laws, and inci- 2 PRESIDENTS AND PIES dentally to make the Capital the most interesdng city in America. There are many points of view from which to write about Washington — indeed, no two people would be likely to describe it in the same way. I am no historian to dive into Congressional archives, no politician to record the disputes of House and Senate, no diplomat, no sociologist, humorist, nor reformer. Mine is the point of view of one who has lived here for twenty years and who has met and listened to the "Senators, hon- orables, judges, generals, commodores, govern ors, and the ex's of all these, as thick as pick pockets at a horse-race or women at a wedding in church . , . ambassadors, plenipotentiaries, lords, counts, barons, chevaliers, and the great and small fry of legations" who make the life here so varied and fascinating. Some politics, a touch of history, a dash of description, with a flavor of social affairs — such are the ingredients of my "pie," which, whatever its faults, I hope may not sit heavily on the reader's digestion. Of all the cities in the country, Washington is the one where the social life is most impor tant. This is true, obviously, of einy capital, for LOOKING BACK 3 such a regime is absolutely necessary for carry ing on much of the diplomatic and political busi ness of the nation. But it is especially true of Washington, where there are only a few first- class restaurants or theaters, and little good art or music. To be sure, an artist may appear for a few weeks to paint some political celebrity, and we do have a week of opera in the spring, the Philadelphia orchestra and the Boston Symphony occasionally come, and singers give concerts now and then in halls or private houses; but that is about all. As a consequence, one dines out continually. This gives people a chcmce to see each other under the pleasantest circumstances, and affairs of state and of international importance may be talked over informally and in that best of humors which comes after a good dinner. The diplo mat secures most of his information or quietly spreads his propaganda either at table or after wards in the smoking-room. When official confer ences are held, a certain procedure and precedence have to be maintained, and the appointment is sure to be published or made subject to surmise. A certain group of prominent Senators who used 4 PRESIDENTS AND PIES to meet for a game qf cards regularly were able to accomplish more, perhaps, in one session than they could during days of parliamentary proce dure in the upper chamber of Congress. So it is that the social life of a capital is not merely a matter of pleasure, as in other cities, but of business as well. In the olden days it was so much of a village that in La Fayette Park and Dupont Circle people met and gathered in groups — Senators, Representatives, Cabinet Ministers, and Diplo mats, with a mixture of old residents — and talked over the news of the day. These were called "curbstone receptions" and were very delightful affairs. There is a continual coming and going. Ac quaintances are quickly made, cind quite as quickly forgotten. You meet a friend who, you think, may have left town for over Sunday, and say, "Hello, where have you been?" And he answers, perhaps, "Oh, I've been five years in Rio!" But for all this it is a friendly city — or was, in the days before the Great War — "a city of conversation," Henry James called it — a place of handshakes and welcomes and cheer- LOOKING BACK 5 ful greetings, unhurried and unworried. There was always time to smile, and one always felt like smiling. The city is unique among capitals for its lack of pomp and parade — • I can't say that foreigners have ever been very enthusiastic about it as a post on that account. The Roosevelt and Taft administrations were, perhaps, on the whole, the gayest, for the White House entertained gener ously and handsomely — dinners, receptions, and garden parties. The Cabinet members sought to play their parts well, and received with distinc tion. Many fine private houses had already been established where, during those brilliant days, entertaining was done with discrimination and taste. But nevertheless, the elegance and formality of foreign capitals, as well as the gayety of restau rant life, have always been lacking, Washington is, of course, the most beautiful of American cities. Our first President himself chose the site here on the Potomac, He was one of the few who realized the possibilities of the location, which most people derisively termed a mud-hole. It was only when L'Enfant, the young French officer, had laid out its great avenues, and the 6 PRESIDENTS AND PIES town began to take form and substance, that its beauty became apparent. One day as we were entering the Senate we saw so many policemen that I inquired what the trouble was. "Oh, they've just dug up a man who has been dead eighty years," some one said. It proved to be the body of L'Enfant. The Govern ment wished to erect a monument over his grave, but the people on whose land he had been buried would not consent for fear they would be annoyed by sight-seers. So after a fitting ceremony and speeches at the Capitol by the Vice-President and the French Ambassador, his body was removed, first to Annapolis and later to Arlington, It has taken a century for L'Enfant's vision to become a reality, and now, with its many splendid colonnades, with the beauty of the long sweep from the Capitol to the White House, with the parks, the shining river, and the misty hills be yond, it is a reality that becomes a vision. When I close my eyes I see it as a white city which the setting sun leaves in a mysterious veil of pink mist. Above it all the wonderful shaft of the Washington Monument "seems to link heaven and earth in the darkness, to pierce the sky in the light." LOOKING BACK 7 Like green spokes to a wheel, the streets during the spring stretch out from the bright flowering Circles making cool and shaded aisles with their fine old trees whose boughs meet overhead. To the north one may continue on into wild Rock Creek Park, riding or motoring for miles on the hilly slopes by the winding brook, beneath the pink bud and the starry dogwood. Japanese cherry trees bloom along the speedway by the broad Potomac and the Basin, and here one can walk or drive between flower-bordered paths in the perfumed air and listen to the music of the Marine Band, Watching a game of polo or gazing up at the airplanes skimming about overhead, one thinks of the changes since the early days when Indians fought on the surrounding hills, and frigates bearing colonists sailed up the river, and log huts nestled in the Virginia woods. Driving along the bank, by the old canal toward Great Falls, passing darky cabins with piccaninnies playing outside, one comes to where Defoe's hero. Colonel Jacque, is supposed to h^ve lived. He was an English boy, kidnaped, "as was the fashion in the time of Queen Anne," and sold into slavery in Virginia. His story is typical of 8 PRESIDENTS AND PIES that class of men, the white slaves of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Driv ing back again through the twilight, and into the town once more, one sees great houses loom up, with negro cabins huddling close by. These cabins, once so characteristic of Washington, are fast disappearing. It was in 1897, during the administration of President McKinley, that we settled in Washing ton. My husband had formerly lived here for many years, however, and his mother could remember when there was "an earth road, or village street, with wheel-tracks meandering from the colonnade of the Treasury hard by, to the white marble columns and front of the Post- Office and Patent-Office which faced each other in the distance, like white Greek temples in the abandoned gravel-pits of a deserted Syrian city." In looking through L,'s journal I came upon this bit, written at the time of McKinley's elec tion, and recalling so vividly the uproar that Bryan's cry for the free coinage of silver aroused: "Thank God, our country is saved! Here in Washington, though there was less excitement. o(-o t o 2OmawQ •z< oo ai 6 2 LOOKING BACK 9 perhaps, than elsewhere, yet there was more real appreciation of the terrible importance of the day's election, for the national honor was felt to be at stake. The first excitement occurred when Mrs. Blaine sent over a telegram telling of New York's big vote. I hurried round to the club, where a spe cial wire told the latest news, and came back to tell the Blaines what was then known ; afterwards I went back to the club and stayed till midnight. When everything was settled I came home to bed. So it is all over, and well over." As time goes on, it seems as if every election was vital and all-absorbing — and, indeed, they are. The White House did little entertaining during the administration which followed, partly because the McKinleys were simple people and partly because of Mrs. McKinley's ill-health. The Presi dent made a very distinguished appearance, how ever, with his fine head and aquiline nose, and his dignified yet kindly manner. Although sometimes called "the pacifier," he had a splendid record in the Civil War, having been brevetted major for gallant services. (I think nearly all the Presidents up to Taft's time had had some military training.) After the war he became a lawyer, and in 1876 ID PRESIDENTS AND PIES was elected to the House of Representatives. His "McKinley Bill" of i8go for reduced revenues and very high customs duties, which put sugar on the free list and protected many young indus tries, brought him at once into prominence. Later he became Governor of Ohio, and in 1896, after a campaign conducted by the great Mark Hanna, he was nominated for President. Once in office, he gathered clean, efficient men about him, and then — a proceeding quite re freshing to remember in these days — gave them the credit for everything! Various questions came up that seemed momentous at the time — the annexation of Hawaii and the Samoan group; the Boxer outbreak and our participation in the march of the allies on Pekin ; Aguinaldo's revolt, and the bitter protest against imperialism led by men like Hoar and Reed and Carl Schurz. As each situation arose, people felt that the country was going to the dogs then and there, but we managed to survive somehow and go ahead, and I suppose we shall still. An Anglo-American alliance was put through which divided the press of the country into a party that praised and one that derided. "Life" LOOKING BACK ii came out with a skit which, in its second stanza, proved somewhat prophetic: " The Eagle and the Lion Went walking hand in hand. They laughed like anything to see Such quantities of land ; ' If it could all belong to us I think it would be grand.' " ' If seven kings with seven hosts Should want the reason why, Do you suppose,' the E^gle said, ' We 'd funk it, you and I? ' ' I doubt it,' said the Lion, And winked a humble eye." An ominous situation had developed in Cuba, where, after ten years of insurgent warfare against Spain, the natives were being rapidly extermin ated. So many barbarities were inflicted on them, in fact, that at last our Government warned Spain that her war must be conducted in a more humane manner. On the 9th of February intervention in Cuba was discussed, and six days later the battle ship Maine was blown up. Spain instantly dis avowed the affair and regretted the "incident" as she called it, but the United States was hot for a fight. 12 PRESIDENTS AND PIES Washington was in a hubbub. The White House buzzed with excitement, and messages kept pour ing in from all over the country, both private and official. Newspapers from Seattle to New Orleans sent their representatives on post-haste until reporters and correspondents blocked the corri dors. In spite of the fact that neither President McKinley nor Speaker Reed wanted hostilities, and that diplomacy made strenuous efforts for more than two months to avert them, on the 25th of April war with Spain was formally declared. But even then I did not feel that it was really upon us until one morning I was awakened by a band playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever," and looking out of the window saw our old friend, Colonel Sumner, marching by at the head of his troops. Later we went down to Chickamauga where the big national park with its many monu ments commemorates the battle of the Civil War. A large military camp was already there — and another has been stationed in the same place dur ing the World War. My husband had offered his services and one day in May received his commission. Soon after our return to Washington I saw him ride off on LOOKING BACK 13 Soldier Boy, a horse that he had bought from Buffalo Bill (thinking the animal would be used to gun-fire, but he proved to be afraid of a baby carriage), bound for Camp Alger, twelve miles out of the city, to report for assignment. He had been made a captain on the staff of General Davis, who afterwards became military governor of Porto Rico, and who was already widely known as the man who finished the Washington Monu ment. While my husband was in service I naturally wanted to do my part in whatever way seemed best. There were few things to be done by women at that time. There had been still less for them to do in the Civil War, and there has been so much more in the Great War. But we could make sponges and slings, of course, and roll bandages. Abdominal bands were especial favorites, for the doctors had a notion then that they were neces sary in the tropics. The Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the Revolution formed committees to look after the families of the soldiers. I was a member of both, and during the summer which I spent in Wash ington had several families to visit and see that 14 PRESIDENTS AND PIES they did not starve, because some of the soldiers were very remiss about sending money home. It was almost identical with the work that the Home Service Branch of the Red Cross has been doing lately on a broader scale. Occasionally I visited Camp Alger and took out good things to eat for my husband and his friends, such as huckleberry puddings, and capons — arti cles of diet not included in the army rations. Sev eral times the general in command invited me to mess with the officers, perhaps in return for my services in thus helping out the commissary. I also used to visit the hospitals to find out what was especially needed, and one day a doctor asked me for ten gallons of paregoric. Fancy the surprise of the druggist when I ordered it! My husband's letters give some vivid glimpses of the military life of that day. " I feel as if I had been here always," he wrote; "this morning I had a great deal to do, for everything went wrong all over the camp. It was one of those awful days ! And everybody who knew how to do anything had gone away, and the few who did things, did them wrong, and so I was in a great state of excitement, and worried about papers, and matters generally. LOOKING BACK 15 Late in the afternoon I took to the woods for a few quiet moments. It 's an ideal night, fresh and cool, while a lovely crescent moon is floating in the sky, making weird shadows in the grove where our tents are pitched. There is a group of officers now outside my tent talking. At last volunteers have come who don't know as much as I do ! And the colored cook and 'striker' are making more noise than any of the rest. The sentries have been posted emd guards on duty, and after taps the camp will be quiet. . , , Tattoo is just sounding (and the mules are, too) and in a little while all good soldiers should put out their lights and go to sleiep to dream of home." A little later he wrote: "I am feeling finely, though my vaccination seems to be taking. The General goes into town to-night on business, so I may not leave camp. I feel very important, and then to be addressed as 'General' is very fine. To-day I overheard two of the orderlies talking, and one said, in a fearful whisper, 'All these fel lows here are kernals, no matter what uniform they wear, and they have them court-martials here, too!' " I went this morning with General Davis on a i6 PRESIDENTS AND PIES ride through the camp, and to-morrow I am to go with him on an all-day reconnaissance back into Virginia. The General has to visit the site of a camp." Later: "We had a day of it! At Manassas we were a source of joy to the Sunday loafing element. They tried to sell us poor decrepit nags, and the old duffers talked of the last war, of Bull Run, and the battles round Manassas. Then we started off in an ancient chaise with a darky and drove about the lovely country, and ate our sandwich luncheon under the trees by a little creek. "Well, we rode on through wheat-fields, the Bull Run mountains in the distance, and the Blue Ridge beyond. We passed a settlement of Dunkards; the women of that sect so clean in their poke bonnets with their pretty, prim faces and the men in their Sunday-go-to-meeting best were all returning from church in gigs and bug gies. The General and I got as far as Catlett, and then took a train back, with six miles still to drive through the blackness to camp, passing the pickets by their blazing fires, and sentinels crying ' Halt! ' — on to our quarters." An outbreak of typhoid occurred, and soon it LOOKING BACK 17 was raging at Camp Alger. In order to prevent a further spread of the epidemic, L.'s division of ten thousand men was ordered to start at a few hours' notice on an extended march through Virginia. Little notes by the way ran as follows: "August 4, Barker Station, Va. Oh, we have had a time of it, — sent off by orders at a too short notice, without enough wagons, though they were promised us, and forced to march on a hot day with no military incentive. The men have been undisciplined and difficult to manage. As this is the largest body of marching men to shift camp since the war began, it has been a job. I was up till two and awoke again at five yesterday, and to-day is little better. If it were war, it would be all right, but this is on the eve of peace — at least, so far as I know, for we have n't seen a paper for two days," Peace was near, for on July 30 the French Ambassador had asked in behalf of the Spanish Government if the United States was willing to consider proposals for ending the war, and Presi dent McKinley had answered that peace would be considered after Spain had withdrawn all her troops and her sovereignty from the western IS PRESIDENTS AND PIES hemisphere, and had evacuated Manila, But ap parently Spain was not quite ready yet, and my husband's camp chronicle had still some time to run, " Near Bristow Station, August 8. This is another pretty place, and the thousands of tents streaking away across the rolling country below the hill on which we are camped, with myriads of little blue dots of soldiers working about like ants, made it look quite military, . . . The bridge we built across the Bull Run was a great success and the view of the troops crossing, the mounted officers all fording the rapid river down in its deep gorge in the early morning, was one of those picturesque sights that make a march have its delights. To-morrow the division moves on to the foot of the Bull Run mountains to Thoro- fare, near the Gap. "Thorofare, Va., August lo. Oh, we made a famous march' yesterday, I can tell you, although it may not go down in history. Under the adverse circumstances the command made an excellent showing. Oh, what wind and reiin ! It had poured the night before last like a torrent, and another of our bridges was swept away, and all things LOOKING BACK 19 were against going on. But we went ahead and the ten thousand men waded the swift Broad Run in water waist-deep, and the hundred and fifty wagons forded it without an accident. We passed twelve miles of 'black Jack' mud and on through Gainsboro and through Haymarket to Thorofare, while the rain pelted down in sheets, and into camp the soldiers marched, everybody cheering and the bands playing. The men pitched their little dog-tents on the ground and were sop ping wet all night. The sun has n't come out yet to dry anything, but I am happy to say that the military part of the service brought in the troops in better condition than when they started. " August II. This may be magnificent, 'mats ce n'est pas la guerre.' Late last night, we received orders to march, mind you, to Camp Meade near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, one hundred and twenty or more miles away, and this while trying to keep out of the rain at what we had been told would be our permanent camp. We can't possibly move off again for a day or two. The men have n't shoes, many of them, for their footgear went to pieces in the mud, and their clothes aren't dry yet. What we are going to have done to us. 20 PRESIDENTS AND PIES I can't for the life of me make out. This march up into the Pennsylvania mountains has little to recommend it. It will be through a pretty coun try, so let us hope it will be enjoyable after all, but there is much responsibility and anxiety with such a multitude of men. However, we are mak ing arrangements and will be better prepared than when the division pulled out of Camp Alger." On the I2th of August the peace protocol was signed, but there was still much to be done before the troops were mustered out. August 13 came the following: "The announcement of peace has made me want to leave it all, yet it may be weeks or months before I can do so dutifully. When I went to Washington I had a talk with the Secretary of Wcir and General Corbin. They were very nice and the Secretary said pleasant things. Now we begin to see light, and hope to get off one regi ment to-morrow. But I must remain for a time with General Davis, a splendid man, to whom I have become greatly attached, and whom I wish to do all I can for in my small way." Demobilizing was soon well started. Before long my husband wrote again: LOOKING BACK 21 "The trains are puffing and switching up and down and the sections will be running past in a few minutes, flatcars with ambulances and wag ons, stock cars with mules and horses, day coaches with men hanging out of the windows waving handkerchiefs and hats, and at the end the Pull man for the officers. It takes three long trains to carry a regiment. I am sending Soldier Boy home to Washington, as it is the beginning of the end. "What an odd, broken summer! It is over now, and for the best, no doubt. I have been in pleas ant places, and certainly of all the troops that remained in this country, this division, with its plucky march through Virginia, has certainly been fine. If I had gotten to 'Cuby' or Porto Rico, I might have been dead. I am looking on the bright side of things to-day, and glad to be alive. Soon I will put my sword over the mantel piece in the little library and start the fire, sitting next to you, and be at peace." The aftermath of the war brought the home coming of the heroes. Roosevelt, with his Rough Riders, was perhaps the most advertised, and Hobson a close second. He dined with us the night of his arrival in Washington, even before 22 PRESIDENTS AND PIES reporting at the Department, and before begin ning his kissing career. He reached town on Sun day, and I only learned that same morning that he would be our guest at dinner. Wishing to make the party as much of a success as possible, I sent word to my husband at camp to bring in several officers. The shops were closed, of course, but with some difficulty I was able to get hold of a caterer who made us some wonderful battle ships of ice cream. After ringing violently at the door of a flower shop, I saw a head pop out of an upper window, and explained my errand. The man promised to send us some flowers, but added that he could not come down to show them to me, as he was taking a bath! Hobson was very handsome in those days, and had a marvelous deep voice, so though he told us of his tremendously brave exploit in a very mod est manner, we were all quite thrilled. It will be remembered that he volunteered, with four others, to teike the Merrimac under fire of the forts, into the harbor of Santiago, and sink her in the chan nel to block the passage so that Cervera's fleet could not come out. His project was very similar to the sinking of the Vindictive at Zeebrugge by LOOKING BACK 23 the gallant Carpenter, whose brave deed stirred London to wild enthusiasm. But war left problems behind it, not the least of which was the holding of the Philippines, and much of the successful handling of them has been due to Taft, first as Civil Commissioner and later as Governor of the Islands. The remainder of the administration seemed peaceful and uneventful by comparison with the earlier part, and nearly every one was glad when McKinley was elected to his second term. We were off on our houseboat fishing, not long after this, when suddenly we noticed that the other boats were flying their flags at half-mast. In answer to our hail of inquiry they called to us across the still water, "The President has been assassinated!" Every one knows the story of the fatal shot and of McKinley's calm and gentleness and courz^e at that moment; how he made no outcry but turned very white and sank back, fumbling at his breast in great agony. And no one will ever forget his words, his one thought at that moment— " Cortelyou — Cortelyou. My wife — be careful about her. She's sleeping — break the news gently to her. ..." CHAPTER II '*A l^d Torch fared above His Head" President Roosevelt had been Assistant Secre tary of the Navy for McKinley, but he had re signed when the war broke out and organized a volunteer regiment of cavalry known as the Rough Riders. After the war he was made Gov ernor of New York, and then became Vice- President — an office that he took most unwill ingly and that many people thought would end his political career by switching him out of the beaten track of politics. It was an open secret at the time that he had not been tractable as Governor. A powerful political chieftain of New York, commenting upon Roosevelt's disinclina tion to surrender the governorship for the politically innocuous post of Vice-President, remarked that Teddy had been kicked upstairs. But an unforeseen fate, in September of 1901, put him at the head of the Nation. His administra tions were marked by a diversity of events, observ ances, and innovations, each and all character- A RED TORCH 25 istic of the man himself. They were for him seven years of incessant, almost demoniac activity — seven years without a day of illness or an engage ment postponed. It was said that he acted the way Napoleon's soldiers fought — "as if to morrow were the resurrection." Unresting energy marked the order of every day, both in work and recreation. Wrestling bouts and boxing contests took place two or three times a week. Expert Japanese instructors taught the President jiu-jitsu, and there were frequent broadsword encounters with his inti mate friends and with sons of the house. In one day he rode a hundred and six miles in order to give the army men an example, after mak ing a rule requiring them to ride thirty miles a day for three days, to show they were in proper condition. Wallace Irwin wrote of him in a con temporary weekly: " You were often hard to follow in your chase for Bull and Bear; ' • ^ And your walks with Army Captains — my, you hiked it so! Say, we almost choked to see you beard the Congress in its lair And emerge without a bump, and oh, you liked it so! 26 PRESIDENTS AND PIES You were never dull and clammy — you were either pleased or vexed, And we woke up mornings asking, ' What will he be doing next? Will he give the railroads Hades? Or express his views on Ladies, Or impale some Rabbit Faker on a pointed Moral Text? ' " He believed in teamwork and gave generous praise to those who worked under him. His suc cessor said he had never served any chief so willing to accord more than their deserts to the men who stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Prominent in his administration were Root, Knox, Taft, and Cortelyou. Perhaps the most dis tinguished member of the Cabinet was John Hay, Secretary of State. My husband writes of him: "John Hay belonged to the group of cultivated men of the world who at one period made Wash ington a most delightful capital. An incomparable diner-out and table companion, his give-and-take of talk was brilliant and profound. Soldier, author, statesman — he was the most charming American type, deeply cultured, widely traveled, with that great gift of humor characteristic of our race, and yet with a wise and wide and deep apprecia tion that made him an ideal diplomat and great A RED TORCH 27 statesman ; he was a philosopher whether he spoke in light vein or seriously. Fond of having young men about him, he would talk to them and un fold his views with as much care and interest as if he were in most important company. They re sponded by a devotion to him, and many of them have owed much to his helping hand. While he was Ambassador to England the English liked to think him one of themselves, for he fitted in so perfectly with their cultivated groups of intel lectual life. Indeed, although American to the core, perhaps his personality, as well as his lit erary work, was appreciated more abroad than at home. I remember that on one occasion I accompanied him to a Sunday service at West minster Abbey when Canon Feirrar in his sermon quoted from 'Little Breeches,' not even knowing that the author was in town and much less that he was sitting at that moment in the stalls." One coterie of Roosevelt's best friends and po litical followers was called the "Tennis Cabinet," a member of which I knew well, Mr. Alford Cooley whose career was unhappily cut short by illness. An extract from Roosevelt's letter, writ ten on hearing of his ill-health, shows both the 28 PRESIDENTS AND PIES chief magistrate's own personality and his fine recognition of the official who served under him : "You know the Russian proverb, 'Once in ten years you can help a man.' Now, my dear Mrs. Cooley, it may still be that the power for me to be of any assistance to Alford will never come, but I shall esteem it a real favor if you will let me know at any time when you think I can do anything whatever for you or Alford, or for your small son when he grows up." Sometimes I met the President at Mrs. Cooley's house for afternoon tea at the end of a game of tennis, and he would talk in the most diverting and unrestrained manner. His choice of words and flow of language were unparalleled. Once he told us about an encounter with two newspaper reporters whom he disliked. "I caught the skunks," he said, "and skinned them." I had a good chance that winter to see some of the inside workings of politics and the wire-pull ing. In spite of Roosevelt's popularity, there were innumerable scrimmages and verbal encounters — strife seemed to be in the very air. His name was on every tongue. "He's got the foot and mouth TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING: €om ^fvf/ ana C^ncwi/ e^ d L^jf a^/,o,n/ an J conj^m, /Um, wa/m,/ //le a6 Mere„.„/o a/>yer/ai,m,y. 3n ®f atimnng uilfprfof, -f /™ Ue,.„k «/ „y ^„y „„y „„„y //, ^,.„, ,„/ ^ ^/. mm Au^Jr^J „„^ nine aU ^/ l^e Aj,/,eUnc, «/ //, 'iin/ej S^/aie, cne /.^njr.,/ nU l/„rfy./Ar„ lr^-&-rj-x'Ci:!-UP /T.O— rr-l-^^ -^^g^^ TENNIS CABINET DIPLOMA A RED TORCH 29 disease!" "He's crazy!" Or, as the Yale police man put it, "He's a lovely man, but he's dis tressing." Some one was always slinging some thing at him, and he generally returned as good as he received. An army officer hit him off in a couple of stan zas which were much quoted at the time he made his famous trip to Europe : " Before him blared a big brass band, He shot off guns with either hand; A red torch flared-above his head. And as he cheered, again he said. Incognito ! " He wore a sash, red, white, and blue. At times he beat a bass drum too; And then he stood upon his head. And with a grin again he said, Incognito!" He had a gift for the unforeseen, and set poli ticians by the ears. A conundrum was current — "Why is Roosevelt like a grasshopper?" — to which one answered, "Because you never know which way he '11 hop, but when he does, he '11 hop like hell!" Sobriquets, phrases, and yarns were continually applied to him — and by him. The 30 PRESIDENTS AND PIES Strenuous Life, the Big Stick, the Ananias Club, the fable of San Juan Hill, the Round Robin, the Great American Trust Buster, Teddy and the Lions, Roosevelt and the Mother, Roosevelt and the Pope, and last but not least, Roosevelt and Dear Maria! He was alive, amusing, fearless, and outspoken. Whenever he appeared, it was Hurrah, boys! and something doing. But although he was a politician and had his enemies, the people as a whole trusted and admired him. The children at the White House were delight fully in evidence. To the older Washingtonians it recalled the days of Garfield, when Earl Garfield rode down the stairs of the White House on his high-wheeled mount, or had bicycle races round the East Room. I remember once at an Army and Navy reception noticing that Mr. Roosevelt, who was receiving, kept his foot moving restlessly and continually. Later I discovered the reason — two small boys, hidden under a sofa behind him, were mischievously pulling at their father's trouser leg! The Roosevelt pets were legion and not infre quently escaped the confines of the juvenile me nagerie — guinea pigs, kittens, homed frogs, badg- A RED TORCH 31 ers, rabbits, and macaws, to say nothing of the eagles, owls, and alligators sent by admirers from all over the country that had to be transferred to the Washington Zoo. Senators were assailed on staircases by sportive dogs. Congressmen wait ing in an anteroom would be gleefully hailed by a small boy, his pockets filled with tame snakes. Reporters hanging about the grounds gained more picturesque "copy" than a dozen other adminis trations had afforded. Another time, Archie, who was ill in bed at the White House, talked so much about his pony that Quentin decided the animal ought to make his brother a visit. So, with the aid of a little colored boy, he put the pony in the elevator and led him into Archie's room, to not only the chil dren's delight, but to the President's as well. When Eli Smith arrived in an Arctic sledge, drawn by six dogs all the way from Alaska to win a wager of ten thousand dollars, he drove round to the south side of the White House, and out came the children to see the driver put his team through their paces and listen to the story of his year's journey. One never knew in those days what one might encounter in the way of quaint occurrence. 32 PRESIDENTS AND PIES Freaks and adventurers knew that the children, at any rate, could be trusted to give them a welcome, and the chances were that their elders, too, would bend a kindly eye upon the new-com ers. Down Pennsylvania Avenue one morning came an old-time prairie schooner of the type of 1849; in it were a spry, weather-beaten old man with snowy hair and beard, his wife, and a collie dog of high spirits and engaging manners. The three of them had been two years journeying from Tacoma to pay their respects to the President. It was a cold November day when they arrived, but out came Roosevelt bareheaded to greet them, and out came the youngsters, eager to see the collie perform his tricks. Mrs. Cooley wrote, when visiting at the Exec utive Mansion: "Charles the Magnificent met us at the station, and we drove up with the presi dential plumes flying. Mrs. Roosevelt greeted us most cordially. Here we are in a beautiful room about the size of our house all put together, done in blue brocade with a velvet rug of blue, a huge four-poster bed and a nice little cot beside it in which at this moment my boy is sleeping sweetly. There is a dear little room adjoining which faces THE PRESIDENT'S BIRTHDAY PARTY: A FANTASY Drawn by John T. McCutcheon and presented to Mrs. Alford W. Cooley A RED TORCH 33 the monument and all the green of the White Lot with the fountains playing on the lawn. I have just seen over the mantelpiece this bronze which reads, ' In this room Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation of January i, 1863, whereby five million were given their free dom, and slavery forever prohibited in these United States.' And now my maid Carrie, a col ored lady, walks about here." Mrs. Roosevelt kept open house in a simple, in formal manner. As the children grew up, there were "young " parties for them, and a dance every Friday night for Ethel. Alice, who married my husband's cousin, Nicholas Longworth, was a chip of the old block. Her wedding took place in the big North Room. On either side of the altar the members of the immediate family were grouped — two of Alice's aunts, her stepmother and the children, while the groom's family was repre sented by his mother, his sister, the Countess de Chambrun, and L.'s mother. L. himself was an usher. A prominent society leader, with a penchant for associating herself with the family at every wedding which she attended, tried to add herself to this little group, but for once she found it im- 34 PRESIDENTS AND PIES possible. The aide firmly refused to let her in without a card, much to the amusement of every one, and the lady retired, bafHed, just as the bride, unattended, came up the aisle on her father's arm. Years ago the Presidents had only two aides, but in Roosevelt's time there were a dozen, both Army and Navy. At a reception one of them would ask the name of a guest in line and pass it on to another, who in turn repeated it to the Presi dent. Often the names became changed quite a bit before they were announced — I remember that on one occasion, Mr. Spreckles, the Hawaiian sugar man, was introduced as "Mr. Freckles." The ladies of the Cabinet received with the President and his wife, and the line, with the fat and the thin, the short and the tall, was often more amusing than decorative. During some of these very crowded entertainments people had their clothes almost torn off their backs in the terrible crushes. One woman had the shoulder straps of her evening gown broken, but kept her place in the procession, remarking when she was introduced, "Mr. President, I cannot shake hands — I have to hold on my dress! " When the crush was at its worst — at the be- A RED TORCH 35 ginning of Roosevelt's administration — the turn ing of the White House over entirely to offices and the building of a new presidential residence at the beautiful old Dent place, was considered. But the plan was dropped, and wings to house the offices were added on either side of the Executive Man sion. At a typical dinner of the period, the room would be filled with diplomats, Army and Navy officers, and politicians — men of the great world mixed with those who had more brains than social experience. There would be much bowing and clicking of heels and introducing, and then per haps a general would lead the way with an ambassadress to the dining-room. There was a Mrs; Malaprop of the administra tion who, on such an occasion, observing Sir Joshua Rejmolds's "Lady Cockburn and her Chil dren," remarked; "I suppose that is the Ma donna " — blandly ignoring the three infants and the Georgian costume ; and then, amid a series of suppressed chuckles, inquired if the portrait of the Duke of Wellington was not her host's father? Her lapses of language were famous. People never tired of telUng how she went around getting sig- 36 PRESIDENTS AND PIES natures for a "red robin" when she meant a round one; and how after her return from Cali fornia, she described a wonderful trip through the "valley of Gethsemane" when she meant Yosemite. Once she burst in upon an afternoon tea, announcing with loud and cheerful vigor: "I 've been out in the country for a walk, and do you know, I jumped from rock to rock just like a shamrock!" Some of the men were amusing in their way, too. There was one I remember in particular, a rural Congressman who rebelled at taking a desig nated lady out to dinner, saying stoutly: "I've never taken in anybody but my wife yet, and I guess I won't change now! " Very different from all this was the Washington of the fifties, described by Henry Adams: "Soci ety went on excellently well without horses, or carriages, or jewels, or toilettes, or pavements, or shops, or grandezza of any sort; and the market was excellent as well as cheap. One could not stay there a month without loving the shabby town. Even the Washington girl, who was neither rich, nor well-dressed, nor well-educated, nor clever, had a singular charm, and used it. . . . The happy A RED TORCH 37 village was innocent of a club. The one-horse tram on F Street to the Capitol was ample for traffic. Every pleasant morning at the Pennsylvania Sta tion, society met to bid good-bye to its friends going off on a single express. ... In four and twenty hours he could know everybody; in two days everybody knew him." But what a change since then — racial, so cial, convivial — crowded streets, clubs, hotels — and constant extravagant entertaining at the houses of millionaires and at the different em bassies! Although the British have been represented by several ambassadors during the past twenty years, I doubt if any has been more popular than Lord Pauncefote, who was in Washington when I first came. Ambassador Bryce, of course, stands out prominently, and so does Lord Reading. Among other diplomats who have remained for a num ber of years and are much liked are the French, H. E. Monsieur Jusserand; the Spanish, H. E. Monsieur Riano; the Danish, Monsieur Brun; and the Portuguese, Viscount d'Alte. The Austrian Ambassador, Baron von Hengelmiiller, was also here a long time, and Count von Bernstorff, whom 38 PRESIDENTS AND PIES people liked as cordially before the war as they despised him after it. The embassy functions were always sure, of course, to be different from any others. There was, for instance, a stiff dinner at the British Em bassy, where we entered the big drawing-room to find people standing about in a circle, all dead- silent, and not one familiar face. After shaking hands with the hostess we joined this impene trable group and watched the next arrivals go through the ordeal which we had just survived. At last a friendly face appeared and the spell — for us, at least — was broken. I went in with the Minister of Justice from Canada, gray-haired, quite deaf, and with a legal mind if ever there was one. I met a South African millionaire and some Congressmen, but the guests were principally South Americans with their plump and pretty wives. Beside me sat the Swedish Minister, who really was very interesting. Perhaps the wealthiest man of his day in Sweden — he owned factories over there which supplied America with elevator ropes. and piano strings — he was an extraordinary character. At twenty-five he had been a gay lieu- A RED TORCH 39 tenant in the army, but he and his wife became interested in General Booth, so they joined the Salvation Army and wore its uniform for eleven years, working among the poor and giving them the interest of their money. His Excellency almost converted me to the cause, for his enthusiasm still glowed. Apparently his interest in social and industrial problems had never flagged. He told me that when the people in his factories became old, they were transferred to lighter work. But even so there must have been difficulties, for he said that our labor troubles (or what we called labor troubles then) did not compare with those of Sweden, and that the discontent generally began in communities where there was no church, the people becoming irreligious and socialistic. We dined very pleasantly with him later at the Swe dish Legation, where his maids, in their native cos tume of gay striped skirts and black bodices, were a picturesque feature. Another fascinatingly foreign household helped to make Washington cosmopolitan — that of the de Buisserets, the Belgian Minister and his wife. He hopped about like a charming little bird, with his white spats and pipe. The German nurse 40 PRESIDENTS AND PIES brought the new baby down for us to see — it was in swaddling clothes such as I had never seen be fore, all tied up with bows of pink ribbon. Hardly had she taken the tot away again when the French butler informed Madame — now at luncheon — that she was needed, as the infant was hungry. One of their servants was a superbly costumed Moor who waited on table; they had brought him from Tangiers, an earlier post, and both spoke to him in Arabic. Dining at the Japanese Embassy was not so un usual an experience as might have been expected, for the establishment was quite Europeanized. The Ambassadress had been educated at Bryn Mawr and spoke excellent English; clad in a formal eve ning dress and wearing a diamond tiara in her hair, she received us most charmingly. The secretary's wife also spoke our language. Before that I had seen very few Japanese women who spoke any English at all. The Italian Ambassador was there, and the Dutch Minister, both magnificent in their uniforms, for they were dressed to go on to a re ception at the White House. One night we went to a dinner party to meet T. I. H. Prince and Princess Fushimi. I was A RED TORCH 41 taken in by a most delightful Japanese gentleman who spoke nothing but Japanese and Chinese, but he had so laughing a face and looked so jolly that you could n't help liking him. His Imperial Highness made a very striking appearance — tall and with the high-caste features of his long de scent. He had had an interesting life, traveled widely and seen much — in short, a kind of Jap anese Abruzzi; he spoke French, so I was able to talk with him. The Princess was very sweet, with the same high-bred ,look of distinction. She was accompanied by her lady-in-waiting, rather plain but very nice, and a companion — a diminutive, serious-looking person with glasses and an Ameri can education behind them. The men of the suite consisted of an aide and two naval attaches who were quick and clever as they could be. L.'s at tempt to talk Japanese made them laugh, which was what he wanted, knowing that the Japanese like to laugh and joke even more than most of us. Very different was a reception given a Chinese Prince by the Chinese Ambassador. There were at least eight men in the line, all wearing their beautiful native costumes, and at first one could not decide which might be the Prince ; but it turned 42 PRESIDENTS AND PIES out that the first man was the interpreter, the next the Ambassador, and the third — taller than the others and stouter — His Royal Highness. Only one or two of the group spoke English, but they shook hands in American fashion, and if they could n't speak, they could at least bow and smile. But they were not so jolly as the Japanese. A little to one side stood the ladies of the party — I had never seen so many Chinese women to gether at a foreign reception. They wore trou sers and straight embroidered jackets in rich and brilliant colors, and the slippers on their tiny feet were of satin. The little ladies did not look frightened in the least, but behaved very much like bright-eyed, self-possessed dolls, in their paint and their many-colored garments. I thought them very alien and impenetrable then, but later, when, during my stay in the Far East, I had a chance to know the Orientals better, I came to the conclu sion that they were not so different from the rest of us after all. Of still quite another sort was an American In dian party, a most original and amusing affair, given one evening at a country place outside of Washington. Mrs. Stevenson, whom we had A RED TORCH 43 known out in Zuni land, had brought me a corn- maiden's dress of white with black and red, and I wore moccasins, beads and bracelets, and had my hair flying and decorated with feathers. Mrs. Clarence Edwards also had a correct costume which had been given her by Frank Millet, the artist. L., clad in a mask and a blanket, with a bottle of whiskey and a sign, "Lo, the poor Indian," was one of the best. The band was playing plaintive Indian music when we reached the place. By the light of the setting sun it was great fun to watch the other guests arriving on horseback, — cow-boys and cow-girls and Indians giving war-whoops. To lend a touch of realism there were some "honest and true" Indians among them, too — I wondered what they thought of it all. As the afterglow faded, the trees became starry with colored lights and the tents were illuminated. Pistol shots rang out into the night, and we all danced madly about a great bonfire. On another occasion some theatricals were given in an artist's house — a queer, low-ceilinged struc ture of a style called Spanish, with only a few dim lights hung here and there. Incense curled about 44 PRESIDENTS AND PIES us and blurred the weird sketches of wild-eyed people who peered down from the walls as we groped our way about, running into mirrors and each other. I am sure the house had never been dusted, and it smelled as if it had never been aired — even the tapestries on the walls were musty and the air reeked with perfume. In the center of a room in which we eventually found ourselves, several more or less undraped ladies with bare feet were posing and whirling rhythmically. It was all quite unusual, but highly diverting. At that time bare foot dancing, now so common, was in its early stages, and this party caused considerable talk. Calling occupied almost every afternoon. The Cabinet ladies received one day, and the Sena tors' wives another. Ambassadresses still another. On New Year's Day I stayed at home in South- em fashion and served some delicious milk punch. Possibly the news of its virtues spread, for I think every man in Washington dropped in that after noon. When I had a quiet moment, which was not often, I loved sitting in our winter garden, sur rounded by palms and red azaleas. A little bronze A RED TORCH 45 faun peeped out from among the flowers while clear water trickled into a plate of yellow ala baster where lay violet orchids, and a pair of in quisitive parroquets fluttered about in the sun shine. With spring the magnolias blossomed every where and the warm air was full of the scent of budding flowers. In our walled garden at the rear of the house the crocuses came and went, the violets and pansies, the pink, blue-centered tulips, and the delicate gray Spanish iris. The Japanese peach trees seemed to bloom in a night and fade in a day. Before we knew it, the green leaves of the pin oak were giving shade so that we could sit under it and enjoy the scented pe onies and snowballs, and watch the progress of the budding roses. In springtime Washington is like fairyland. CHAPTER III Rough Rider and Buccaneer It was not easy to find time for the garden during the rush of social life, and the only means of get ting any real rest was to run away from Washing ton and everything connected with it. Roxana — half houseboat, half steam yacht — usually aided and abetted our escape. She had taken us north ward into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and south ward through inland waterways to Florida and even round into the Gulf of Mexico. But her shal low draught made it necessary for us to hug the shore, and to pick our weather at that. The spring after Roosevelt's accession, while memories of the Spanish War were still fresh, we decided to make a cruise with some friends through the West Indies, stopping to see Amer ica's new possessions, permanent and temporary. Since most of the trip would be made in the open ocean, Roxana was out of the question, so L. chartered instead a yacht named Virginia. Cold and cloudy was the morning that we set ROUGH RIDER AND BUCCANEER 47 off down the muddy Potomac, to the friendly tootings of little tugboats that saluted our pass ing craft. Through Chesapeake Bay Virginia rolled and tossed, and out into the stormy At lantic. That night, and the next, and the next, it was all we could do to stay in our bunks. After that, the Bermudas seemed like heaven, in deed. The sun came out, the clouds drifted away, and the yacht steamed smoothly along over a glorious, clear sea, for about us lay small islands covered to the water's edge with dark green cedars. A message from a naval vessel stationed there said we might come in if we were n't "too fond of the Boers," so the Virginia proceeded into the harbor and dropped anchor. Presently the consul and a couple of officers from the British destroyer Quail came aboard and matters were arranged satisfactdrily. After lunching at a bit of fairyland, supposed to be a French restau rant named Belterre, surrounded by giant ferns and hanging orchids and enlivened by monkeys and emerald and scarlet cockatoos, we drove over the pretty island. The scene at the barracks was very picturesque; a military band was playing. 48 PRESIDENTS AND PIES and the inhabitants promenaded up and down beneath the tropic trees, while standing about were the big black men of the West Indian Regi ment, most pompous in their brilliant red and gold zouave jackets and turbans. In the intervals of the music there came from across the straits the sound of Boer prisoners singing some old folk-song. On the different islands there were said to be five thousand war captives, many small boys and old men among them. Some were n't even Boers at all — one was a man from East Boston. Heaven only knows how he happened to be taken in a South African war! From all accounts they were treated well, and given just the same rations as the British sol diers. They lived in tents and did their own cooking and washing, and in that gentle climate could not suffer. Some did a little wood-carving, making canes and ornaments for sale, but the things they sold were hardly artistic. The English were extremely strict about allow ing outsiders to speak to or even see them, for bidding our guest, John Coolidge, to go anywhere near, although he had been in Pretoria and had ROUGH RIDER AND BUCCANEER 49 letters from Lord Milner thanking him for his services. One day, however, we did go over to an island to have tea with some officers, and got a glimpse, though at a distance, of the Boers. They looked rather shabby, and were anything but clean in their habits. The close supervision they were under had resulted in a minimum of escapes, only one man of the entire lot having managed to get away. The remainder of our time in Bermuda was spent in drives and picnics, a luncheon at Admir alty House, a tea on board the Quail, and a won derful day at St. George. In the Devil's Hole, an enchanting pool stocked with strange exotic crea tures of the deep, magnificent electric-blue angel- fish were swimming about with fan-shaped or needle-nosed ones, some speckled, or striped like convicts of the under-sea, others silvery and op alescent. Clinging to the rocks were rainbow-col ored sea anemones and great blue long-fingered starfish. The pool was as colorful with its crystal- clear water as a tropic garden. Our last night ashore was spent dining with friends at a hotel and dancing afterwards with dashing officers in gay red coats. 50 PRESIDENTS AND PIES It was high time we left Bermuda, for our sailors got into a fight with some men from the Quail and licked them. One Britisher was so badly hurt that it was feared our crew might be taken into custody because of the trouble, but the captain of the Quail very kindly fixed matters up with the magistrate, and the night Virginia sailed the British sea dogs rowed over and sang sailor chant eys to us, just to show there was no ill-feeling. It was "jolly nice" of them, and we gave them some grog and cheered, and applauded their sing ing, while they rowed off, still caroling, the old sea song dying away across the water: " So early in the morning, the sailor likes his bottle O A bottle of rum and a bottle of gin and a bottle of old Jamaica, Ho! So early in the morning." Perhaps it would be best to say nothing about the next day or two. The yacht encountered such a stiff gale that even the captain was sick, not to mention ourselves, and^the Virginia was obliged to slow down, so we were late in reaching our next destination — Porto Rico. Picturesque San Juan Harbor was guarded by an old morro — the very one our men had bom- ROUGH RIDER AND BUCCANEER 51 barded not long before, and we covered the same course taken by our fleet when it ran in at day break to silence the forts. There was little trace of fighting to be seen, though, in that tiny, com pact city, with its scant half-mile of old gray forts, of ancient gates hidden beneath streamers of giant-leaved vines, of stucco houses, yellow, pink, or green — all lying there against their background of hills that merged into fainter, bluer mountains, and then into still farther and fainter heights beyond. Here in this town, with its quaint shops and peaceful plaza, where dusky women lean over balconies. Ponce de Leon once sought his fabled fountain of youth. Sir Francis Drake fought the Spanish colonists, long years ago, and sacked the city so thoroughly that "Francisco el Dragon" is a tradition to this day. Escorted by an army officer, L. and I drove in a dougherty drawn by four mules to see the bar racks where our soldiers were stationed, and the morro. The latter was old and moss-grown, full of queer labyrinthine corridors and gloomy rooms, hewn from the living rock, with here and there a scar to show where our marines had landed a 52 PRESIDENTS AND PIES shell. A century before it had been deemed im pregnable, but Americans had silenced its bat teries in a single forenoon. The Spanish cannon were still there, though, and looked threatening and modern enough to command respect. After dinner at the barracks, where they gave us our first taste of royal palm salad — very delicious and much like celery — we took electric cars to el pargue, several miles away. Here a native band was playing in an open pavilion ; one of the musi cians produced a scratching accompaniment on a curious little instrument he called a witcherol. Sunday I went to what was designated the Protestant church, and found it rather pa thetic — just a small, bare room, with a few white people, and a sermon made indistinguish able by the noises in the street. Nearly every one on the island was Catholic and at that time very hostile to the Protestants, so the latter could hardly hire even a hole in which to have their services. The American Governor of the island and his wife lived in the same handsome but dilapidated palace which the Spanish Governors had occupied. It was built quite in the Castiliam style, with a z w Q(2!