Personal LETTERS No. 3 Oct. 15/97 to 7 Personal No. 3 Oct. 15, 1897 to324. 76- 268 282 290 320 327 374 404 487 490 519 ll. g. Co Item #251 RDEN INDEX PAT. 1871A Allen - Rev. Jno. K 17-86 Andrews AD Hon 124 - 296 - Acton John 211 Allen J.K. 226 Andrews M L 326 Alger - Prof. Philip R 366 Alp[?]os Wm E 375 Abbott AW 402 -513 Alger - Hon R.A. 412 Auditor for the Navy Dept 439B Benedicks - L 2 Bishop-Geo. R 3 Brown. Adm. Geo 8-59 Bancroft. Wm A. 13 Bowles-[?Coms.?] F. 7. 16-138, 167. 388-401 Bogan - Dr. A.W.B. 19 Bunn, Paul V 33-55 Buttershell - F. E. 50 Bancroft Wm A 54 Bainbridge-Hoff. Wm. J. A. 82 Butterfield Wm M 87 Barton . Rev W.E. 96 [Brusal?] . Stephen 97 Bigelow . Stergeas 111, 151, Ball Hm Theo H 139 Buckland Edward G. 161. Barach Real Awper. 164. Bayer H. H. 176, 214 Baath M. S. 182, 205, Balat G. C. 187 Botkin P. 188 Brooks [?] 194, 383, [Barilett?] Millard 203. Bope Cal. H. P. 213 Brown Admiral 221 Brodbent C. S. 233 Bissell, G. P. 249. [Boerek?] John Paul 264, 340 Brentanos 302-311- Bryan. Char. Page 303 Bowker RR 329 Barnum Mrs. Francis C.B. 337 Bryce . James 344 Boutelle - Hm CA 345 . 390-411 Belford Hm J.M. 368 Broconell . T. Frank 420 Brett - Geo P 423 Byrne Edward 456 Boerner . Dr. [Er???] L 456 Bliss - C.N. 473 Bronson . Bethel 489 overBull Melville 500 Black JR 500 Betts Horace 501 Binder Spence 501 Brown A E 514 Brosein Marriott 514C Crawfords - J 36 Crocker - AL 36 Cooper Capt PH 40-138, 160, 381, 422-450 Clark - Jms. H. 49 Constable - Stevenson 63 Cash - Walter S 65 - 302 - Chapman - Fred'k L 66 Chandler - Wm E 72, 154-403 - Crowninshield Capt AS 78-301-306-447 Cochran - Hon. W. Bourke 86 Clark - Frank J 105 Cogswell . W.F. 115 Callender - El[l]iot 121 Cushing - Marshall 128-449 Chadwick Capt. 150 C+R. Chief 172 Cockrell F. M. 178-347-423 Claud [Arctier] et al 183 Carey Wm 197, 228 Chandler Wa. 213-450 Carmichael' Ga. 225 Cohen WN. 227 Childs H.P. 235 Conkling - Hon. A.R. 283 Cabot - Capt. 309 Clarke Jus. Proctor 312 Cox - LB 314 Coit - Rev. J.H. 342-425 Cowles - Mrs. W.S. 345 Cummings - Hon Amos J 346 Cowles - Capt W.S. 377 Criswell FM 384 Church M.E. 415 Cridler TW 489-516 Cook Mrs. J.W 516D Demmon . Stephen 4 Dauchy - O.B. 11 Dodge. A. B. 17-39 DuFais - John 23-53 [Dodge - A. B. 39] Duffie . Rev. Cornelius R. 104 - 125 Davis - Capt CH 110 - 136, 204 - 312 - 506 Davis - Commander J.Z. 131 Douvies G. S. 176 Davenport JL. 195 Dubrey [?.L.] 223 Drinker H.S. 245. Dodge - Wm E 269-374 Doyle - Father AP 284 Dashill - Proof. Paul J 304 - 348 C. S. Devoy 305 Duggan . Offic. Wm H 331 Dalby . Z Lewis 347 - 396 [Das??? Paul J 348] Day. Hm Wm R 348 DeReiner . W E 349 Davis - Hm [Cush????] K 404 Dana Mrs R P 424 Davis - James R 438 Davis + Marsh 447 Doty - S H 502Edwards, A.W. 15-47 Erans, H. Clay 184 Eliot, C.W. 212, 214, 234-274 Elliott, Herbert 204 Evans, Capt. RD 269 Evening Post, N.Y. Edition 291-299 Edmond, Robert 311 Easeleyn-Ketcham Sapphard 336 Elliott, Rev. JH 409 Emmons, Lt. Geo J 474 Editor Encyclopedia of Spent 484 Eagvey, G. J. 517F Fisher, C C 43 Ferber, Chase 54 Ferris, D, M. 142 Farson, John 155 Ford, G. H 164 Freemont, J. C. 168, 193 Foraker, Hon. J. B. 170 Faucinelli, Prof. 222 Fitch, Mrs. E. W. 226 Foote, W. Lennard 270 Fraser, Horatio G 378 Fleet, Sam'l V. W. 406 Fletcher- AW 410 Faber, Sidney 413 Fougera, E. 414 Flenge, Henry 435 Ferris, Sylvaine 441 Frost, Wm. 442 Frost, Wm. G. 463 Fiske, Miss Mary M. 480 Fitzgerald Hon J. F. 518G Gardiner, E. Watson 1-42 Goodrich, Capt. C. F 2-81-275-286-479 Grant, Louis J 3 Griscom, Clement A. 16 Goris, Rabbi Moses J. 38 Granert, F. W. 38 Griffin, Albert 40 Guild, Austin 45,162, Guild Austin, B. L. 59 Gray - Hon, Geo. P. 77 Grinnell, Geo Byrd 132-167-350 Goodman, Elias 153 Grant, Madison 171 Gage, R. J. Hon 177 Grant, L. Bedell 198 Gary, J. A. Hon 218 Gibbons, Cardinal 219 Grace, W. R. 230 Garland, Hamlin 274-461-473 Graham, Robert 305 Gaffney, T. St. John 349 Gage, Hon Lyman J. 350 Gardner, A. P. 369-451 Governor of N Y 372 Gallagher, Mrs. Emma 376 Gardner, Frank S. 378 Gardiner, Marcus 386 Greve, CM 398 Gippert, Mrs. Mary 425 Gordon, J. B. 426 Gray - Justice Horace 426H Herron - M. J. 1 - 60 - Hampton - Gen. Wade 14 - 22 - 68 Heiskell - J. Monroe 23 Hanscom - Arthur L. 76 Hall - Franklin 89 Heatwole - Joel P. 88 Harrington - Capt P. F. 92 Hasbrouck - G D B 98 - 371 Hessian - J. C. 120 Hollis - Ira N. 143, 169, 463 Howison - Com H E. 151 Hallaplian - J. G. 165 Harlan & Hollingsworth 193 Hobart - Garrett A. 197, - 351 - 427 Heywood Col. 212 - 276 - 391 Hutchinson W. G. 265 Hoopes - Edgar M. 270 Hawes - F B 273 Higginson - Capt. F. J. 287 - 373 - Hill - Geo. Wm. 293 Hayden - A P 322 - 352 Hendrie - Strathearn 352 - 385 Hanna - Hon M A 402 Houghton - Mrs. Rev. O. A. 410 Hale - Hon Eugene 412 - 445 Haskett W. F. 444 Herben S. J. 457 Hartwell - Alfred S. 459 Haskett - Walter F. 460 Hardiman - Dr W N 511 Howison Com. H. L. 519I Ir[s?]ch F 449J Johnson - Henry 85, 196. Javier Thomas A. 148 Jarvis J. J. 255. - 428 Jones. Jess. T. [?] 327 Jennings H H 353 Johson C 417 James. Boyd B 465 Janett. Adm. [Jes?]. E 465 Johnson Hm M Ch 466 [Jain???] - Dennis A 475 Johnson Henry P 519K King Lucas 18 Ketcham Hon W. A. 41 Kimball - Lt. W.W. 61 - 129 - 277 - 379 - 467 - 488 Kipp W. F. 232 Kay-Jos. W. 317 - 440 Kennedy - Geo W 370 Kochl - Jus. C 515 Klie - Dr. G J Chas 42[?]L Lodge - Hon. H. C. 14 - 106, 156, 179, 252 - 292 Lockert + Askew 15 - 47 Linderman Robt 22 Lawson . J. F. 31 Law. Pres. Seth 67 Lovett Wm P 95 Littamer. Hm L. A. 132 Lambert Dr Alex 137 Lewis CW 137 Lyman George A.(H.?N.?)147 Legendre W. 222 Lea - Preston 280 Laffan W.M. 315 Lesper Lt E. F. 315 Lakeman Mrs. Charlotte Low 321 Lawson. Wm A 327 Lloyd. Jno. U[r?]i 328 Lilly. Eli + Co. 328 Lehman. R. C. 332 - 409 - 451 - 452 La Farge. C Grant 375 Lowell - Augustus 418 - 453 - Lummis. Chas F 471 Long - Jones(James?) D 490 [L????](Lawson?Levinson?)Dr J L 490Motley.J.M 24 Magnudco P.H. 2-9 - 51 Malone - Sylvester C 37 Miller . Capt Frank. E 43 , 178 Miller Capt J.W. 4-4 - 326 - 354 Martin . Fred H 6 - 8 Matthews - Branden 70, 151, 295 - 331 [M????] . Mrs. Clara Hanson 77 - 355 Meek . Philips 78 Marvin Whinthrop L 79 Morris F H [??] Miller . [Eu???gine] 150 Martins . Hm .WE 126 Medicines + Surgery 140 McClurr S. S. 163. Mantaur AP. 166. Morrison A R. 221, 257. Mayses E. 231 Moure H.E. 248 Mottel Henry 255 Minis - Mrs. Louisa 319 Mathew Mrs Mary E - 224 Mickle John Hm GD 353 - 492 Megandorf MD 356 Manning John H 356 May Fred'k [79] 380 Merriam. Dr H Hart Monahan J J 391 Marshall - E. C. 401 Mayo . Caswell A 413 - 481 Murphy . Wm D 430 Meyer Bros 431 Meade. Richard W 432 Macdona - Henry D 448 - [479] 470 Mahan. Capt A L 458 - 503 - 509 - 515 Marine Review 491 Moor F C 513 Mc. McLoughlin - C. O'Connor 28 - 51 McSween - Angus 34 McDowell - W. O. 64, 229 McClintock - Mrs. Rosa 102 McClure S. S. 189, 253, 333, McClay W. C. 224 McGarr Mrs. M. 247 McCullagh J. J. 266 McNulta - John - 307 McBee Rev Silas 320 McCormick John 387 McCullagh John 443 McIntyre - Cadet Edward W 469 McCall - Sam'l W 482 McAneny Geo 493 McAdoo Wm 512Nash, Geo. K. 32-35, 181 Nelson, Hon. Knute 89 Norton, G. L. 227 Nelson, S. A. 247 Not, Prof 264 Nelson, H. L. 306-341 New York - Gov'r of 372Offley - Holmes E 53 O'Neil Capt. Chas 85 O'Bierne, J. R. 225 O'Donovan, Wm. Rudolf 297 Oldberg, Oscar 400 Ober, Frank W 434Pitcher, Capt. ?? N. ?? 26 Peters, Rio Madison 33-37 Peck, Jas. Edward 52 Porter, Hon. ?? Addison 90, 228, 396-466 Peary, H.R.E. 95-300 Palmer, Prof. R.E. 96 Peck, Jas. Edward 97 Putmans G.P. ?? 107-135 Putman, Geo. ??? 118 Parker, H.E. 136 Paymaker General 153, 173 Procter, J.R. 174, 280-357 Putman G.H. 175 Pennyfather, J.S. 175 Parker, A.S. 188 Page, M.H. 199, 250 Platt, J.G. 210 Page, Mary H. 217 Preston, A.R. 281 Payne, Geo t. 335 Patton, John f. 388 Pease, R.B. 392 Parker, Fred E. 397 Pulitzer, Walter 398 Parsons, ?? Jas. 405 Pierce, H.L 436 Pill, Mrs. Carolina E. 455 ?? ?? 461 Palmer, Hon. John 470 Police Commissions N.Y. 476 ?? Francis B. 504Quay MS. 189.208. Quigg LE 442-479R Roosevelt - Hon. Theodore 5 Reilly - Mrs. Annie E. 7 Roche - James Jeffery 8 Reynolds - James B 10, 177, - 289 Russell - R. H. 48 Rathgeber - Frank 48, 166, - 289 Reid - Patrick J. 48 Riis - Jacob A 57, 206, - 294 - 339. Reed - Hon T. B. 62 - 358 - 404 Remington - Fred'k 71, 215. Roche - James Jeffery 73, 146, 195, Ripley - Chas. T. 79 Riggs - J. Morton 101 Roosevelt - Edward 115 Ritchie Ryerson 194, Ross John R. [W] 200, 224 Rust Lieut 223 Russell Merrill- 256, Reid Patrick T. 265. Roosevelt Emlen 296 - 297 Rust - Lt. Armistead 298 Roosevelt S M 315 - 411 Ritchie - Mrs. Delia 374 Rice - Hon J J 384 Rutter - Robert 389 Ropes E H 399 Rutter Miss Mabel A 436 Roose - Dr. St. John 443 Remington - Jos P 457 Richardson J D 494 Rhea J S 495 Richards J K 496 Ruddiman E A 502 Robinson Douglas 504S Sullivan, Felix R 9 Stewart, Alex T. 9 Scott, Fred H. 27 Steinreich, Edward 30 Strong, Rev. Josiah 30 - 81 (Needs of Commonplace Virtues 236) 249 Skainkamp, Capt Henry 39 Schuyler, Philip 45 - 100 Scott, Frank H. 52 Spears, Jno R. 58 Skidmore, Abraham W. 93 Sulloway - C A 99 [Schuyler P L] Sould - Harry B. (Gunner) 117 Stevens, B. F. 122 - 360 Strohm, Miss Gertrude 123 Sullivan, Hon. T. D. 133 Sullivan, J D. 134 Spann, Albert C. 163 Sharp, W. B. 196 Sherman, P. T. 201, 258, 290 Steele, G. W. 254 Sifton, Hon. Clifford 281 Stanton - Lt. A. S. 293. Selfridge, Lt. Cmdr. J. R. 303 - 329 Shaffer, Dr. Newbold M. 316 Stuart, C. E. 317 Sanger, Wm. Cary 318 Spies, Albert 321 Silk, Chas. 323 Sicard, Adm. M. 359 - 407 - 462 - Selous, F. C. 362 Sayre, Edward A 385 Scott, Walter 394 See, Wm. W 417 Starke, Ashton 437 Stevenson, Paymaster J H 437 Stewart, A H 478 Smith - Lt. R. C. 486 - 512 Sampson, Capt W. T. 487 Searle & Hereth Co 496Seabury, Geo J 497 Shaw, Albert, 497 Scott, J. McDonald 498 Sigsbee, Capt. Chase 499 Seaman, Noah 505Tilley, Commander B. F. 12 Thompson, Ernest Seton 14-50-125-271 Thornston, Rob't H. 41 Toepfer, Riggs 46 Thonston, R. C. Ballard 91, 149 Thrasher, M. B. 141 Townsend, E. W. 220 Taylor, James P. 256 Thrasher, M. B. 271 Tillinghast, Gen. C. Whitney 304 Taft, Judge Wm. H. 313 Taylor, Alfred B. 400 Thompson, Hugh, S. 464 Trenholm, W. L. 464 Tyler, August T 474 Minor League Club 135, 154Van Cott, Hon. C. 7 Vedder, Chas S. 58 Van der Voort, Paul 229 Van Gatze, C?? et. 294 Van Herman, Brown 379W Washburn- C. G. 13 Wendell- Evert Jansen 27 - 44 Wait Horatio L. 28 Wiese - Theo. 32 Whelan - Philip 42 Wilson - Gen Jas. H 46 Waterloo - Stanley 69 White W A 80 Wolf - Simon 82 Wendel - Capt Louis 103 Wood Arthur J 116 Wheelock - Edwin D 120 Wall - F H 122 Wellman Walter 123 Warwick Bicycle Co. 174, Wainwright Lt. Comdr. 185. White Henry 190. Welling R W G 210. Ward Rowland 211 Waring G E. 246 Wardman Ervin 248 - 295 - 511 Wood Dr Leonard 268. - 408 Williams Wm P. 282 Watson - Matthew 322 Weidig Dr H. P. 330 - 386 Williams Mrs. Talcott 332 Warner W. R. 333 Weaver - H. G. 334 Wakeman - Wilbur F. 361 Ward - Rowland 397 Wolcott - Hon Edward O 403 Williams S. W. 414 Wheeler C. Gilbert 416 Wood A Felton 416 West - Commander Clifford H - 466 Wister Owen 472 Watson - Mrs Mary Perkins 478 Webster H G 498Young Joe Russell 362 Yeakes JW 399 Young S. Edward 4381 October 15, 1897. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 14th instant, and to say that the same will be brought to his attention when he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinman Act'g Private Secretary. Mr. M. J. Herron, Union Central Life Insurance Co., Bel Air, Maryland. October 15, 1897. My dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I beg leave to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, and to say that it will be brought to his attention upon his return to the Department. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinman Act'g Private Secretary. Mr. E. Watson Gardiner, Amsterdam, N.Y.2 October 15, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, and to say that he will write himself when he returns to the Department. Mr. Roosevelt also directs me to say that of course you can command him whenever he can be of service. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Acting Private Secretary. Captain C.F.Goodrich, U. S. N., Naval War College Newport, R.I. October 15, 1897. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I take pleasure in sending you a copy of the pamphlet you request. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Acting Private Secretary. Mr. L. Benedicks 114 Spring Street, New York.3 October 15, 1897. Dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is out of the city, so he cannot answer your letter in person. He has requested me to say that he had already vainly interceded for Williams; and that he earnestly hopes there will be further proceedings, with yourself as counsel, against Waters. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinman Act'g Private Secretary. Mr. Louis J. Grant, 93 Nassau Street, New York. October 15, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is away, so he cannot answer your letter in person, but he has re- quested me to write, thanking you for your letter and for the clipping enclosed, and saying he thinks you did great service by your article. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinman Act'g Private Secretary. Mr. George R. Bishop, New York Stock Exchange, New York.4 October 15, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt has directed me to write you of the status of the case of Wilson, at the Boston Navy Yard. Upon inquiry I am told that the Secretary has directed that Wilson be transferred to his old position at the yard. Very respectfully, Wilbur S. Hinman Act'g Private Secretary. Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, Nahant, Mass. October 15, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is out of the city, so he cannot answer your letter in person. He has requested me to say that he will most gladly do everything he can for Mr. Bryan. Very truly yours, Wilbur S Hinman Act'g Private Secretary Mr. Stephen Demmon, Union League Club, Chicago.5 October 15, 1897. Dear Mr. Roosevelt: Your letter, with enclosures, came this morning, and your directions have all been followed, except as to the Ichabod Cole case at the Kittery Yard, about which Arthur L. Hanscom has been writing. I have not written to Hanscom about this because Mr. Peters advised me not to. He says the Secretary has himself written to Cole an "indefinite" letter, and as the Secretary is undecided as to what will be done, we cannot write a letter about it without, as Mr. Peters expresses it, "treading on his toes". When the case came up a week ago the Chief Clerk did not give me a regular memorandum about it, but I took the following down in shorthand from his conversation: "Ichabod Cole the Secretary discharged (with others) to reinstate veterans. The matter is under consideration, and circumstances are such that he is unable to give a definite reply, and he does not himself know exactly what to do in these cases. He feels that injustice has been done them, but does not know exactly how to rectify it. The less said about Cole's case the better." This information was given me after I had written my report to you, and I did not send it because I did not want to bother you any more about it, and thought it would best6 2 wait until your return. I got the impression, from what the Chief Clerk said, that nothing would be done in the case, and was distinctly told that the Secretary did not want any letters written about this and similar cases until something definite had been decided. I had written Hansoom, as you directed, stating that the case would be looked up and he would be informed; but I haven't informed him because I don't know what to say. Wouldn't it be best to let the matter rest until you return, when you can see Mr. Peters and get full information about this and other similar cases? I have written Mr. Lodge that the Secretary has directed that Wilson be given his old place at the Boston Yard. Very sincerely yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Oyster Bay, L.Y., N.Y.7 October 16, 1897. My dear Sir: Your letter of the 12th instant was received in Mr. Roosevelt's absence, and forwarded to him. He has directed me to acknowledge the same, with many thanks. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Act'g Private Secretary. Hon. C. Van Cott, Postmaster, New York City. October 16, 1897. Dear Madam: Your letter of October 12th was received in the absence of Mr. Roosevelt, and forwarded to him. He directs me to say that you had best ask Mr. Valentine G. Hall, 11 West 37th Street, New York, what to do. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Mrs. Annie E. Reilly, 336 East 39th Street, New York.8 October 16, 1897. My dear Sir: Your letter of the 7th instant, with clipping enclosed, was received in Mr. Roosevelt's absence, and forwarded to him. He has directed me to say that he will answer it in full as soon as he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. [Hinsman?] Acting Private Secretary. Mr James Jeffery Roche, Editor THE PILOT, Boston. October 16, 189 Dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to say that he will reply to your letter as soon as he returns to the Department. Very respectfully, Wilbur S. [Hinsman?], Acting P. S. Rear-Admiral George Brown, U.S.N. (retired) 103 Woodruff Place, Indianapolis.9 October 16, 1897. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt, I taek pleasure in sending you a copy of the Navy Register of July 1st, last. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. [Hinsman?], Acting Private Secretary. Mr. Felix R. Sullivan, 25 South Street Baltimore. October 16, 1897. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt, I take pleasure in sending you some books relating to the naval service, as requested in your letter of October 14th. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. [Hinsman?] Acting Private Secretary. Mr. Alex. T. Stewart, Room C, 24 State Street, New York.10 October 16, 1897 Dear Sir: In Mr. Roosevelt's absence I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, and to say that it has been forwarded to him. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Act'g Private Secretary. Mr. James B. Reynolds, Citizens Union, 39 East 23d Street, New York.11 October 16, 1897. Dear sir: Your note of the 14th instant has been handed to me for reply. Professor Shaw's lectures on International Law are, I believe, out of print; but I take pleasure in sending you by this mail a copy of a pamphlet on the American Naval Policy, which I think is one of the documents you ask for. Very truly yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Act'g Private Secretary Mr. O. B. Daushy, 84 Illinois Street, Chicago.12 October 16, 1897. My dear Captain Tilley: Mr. Roosevelt is away, and as he will start west in a day or two for a short trip, I fear he will not be able to accept your invitation. I beg leave to thank you, in his name, for your kindness, Very sincerely yours, Alex?. Sharp?? Jr. Commander B. F. Tilley, U.S.N., U.S.S. NEWPORT, Newport, R.I.13 October 18, 1897 Mr. William A. Bancroft, Boston Elevated R'y Co., Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is not expected back here before the last of the month. In the meantime I will try and ascertain Mr. Smith's status in the Charlestown yard and see if he can consistently be retained in his present position. Very sincerely yours, [??????????????????] Private Secretary Oct. 19, 1897. Mr. C. G. Washburn, 314 Main Street, Worcester, Mass. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt has been away from the Department for sometime. He speaks tonight in Cleveland, Ohio, before the Chamber of Commerce; and I have repeated your telegram to him there. When he telegraphs me where a letter will reach him I will take pleasure in forwarding your note of the 18th. He is due in Boston on the 21st. Very sincerely yours, [?????????????????????] 14 October 19, 1897. Gen. Wade Hampton, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: Just as soon as Mr. Roosevelt returns to the office (he is now away on his vacation) I will take pleasure in handing him your letter of the 18th instant. He is expected back next Monday. Very sincerely yours, [????????????????????] Private Secretary. October 19, 1897. Mr. Ernest Seton Thompson, 144 Fifth Ave., New York City. My dear Sir: Just as soon as Mr. Roosevelt returns to the office (he is now away on his vacation) I will take pleasure in handing him your letter of the 18th instant. He is expected back next Monday. Very sincerely yours, [??????????????????????] Private Secretary.15 October 19, 1897. Mr. A. W. Edwards Fargo, N. D. My dear Sir: Upon Mr. Roosevelt's return to the city I will with the greatest pleasure hand him your letter of the 15th instant. Very sincerely yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. October 19, 1897. Gentlemen: Your letter of the 16th instant will be brought to Mr. Roosevelt's attention upon his return. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Messrs. Lockert & Askew, Clarksville, Tenn.October 19, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to say that he will accept, with great pleasure, your invitation to attend the banquet of the Society of Naval Architects, at Delmonicos' on Friday, November 12th. Very truly yours, Private secretary, Naval Constructor F. T. Boles, U.S.N., Secretary-Treasurer, Society of Navel Architects, 12 West 31st St., New York. October 19, 1897. My dear Sir Referring to your letter of the 7th instant, permit me to say, in Mr. Roosevelt's absence, that he has directed me to accept for him the invitation of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers to attend the banquet at Delmonico's November 12th, next. Very truly yours, Private Secretary Mr. Clement A. Griscom, 307 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.17 October 19, 1897. My dear Sir: In Mr. Roosevelt's absence I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, enclosing copy of stenographic report of his remarks at Tarrytown last week, and to say that the same will be handed to him as soon as he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Rev. John K. Allen, Tarrytown, N.Y. October 19, 1897 Dear Sir: Your letter of the 15th instant will be brought to Mr. Roosevelt's attention as soon as he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr. A. D. Dodge, Leighton Machine Co. Manchester, N.H.18 October 19, 1897. Gentlemen: Your letter of the 16th instant has been received, and will be handed to Mr. Roosevelt when he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wm. Howell Private Secretary. Messrs. King & Lucas, Publishers THE ENTERPRISE, Fishkill-on-Hudson, N.Y.[19] [20-21] October 18, 1897. Dr. A. W. B. Bogan, 606 Mass. Ave., N. W., City. Dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is not expected back here before the last of this month. With regard to your letter of there 16th inst. I can only say that the Revenue Cutter Service bears no relation to this Department, but comes under the control of the Treasury Department. I suggest that you address yourself to Secretary Gage, who doubtless will furnish you full information concerning that branch of the Government. I will show Mr. Roosevelt your letter on his return. Very sincerely yours, Wm [?] Private Sec'y. 22 October 20, 1897. Gen. Wade Hampton, Interior Department, City. My dear Sir: I return herewith Mr. Auerum's letter with a memorandum from the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, which is self explanatory. As the vacancy is to be filled by the member representing the Camden, S. C. district I don't see how Mr. Roosevelt can be of any assistance to Mr. Auerum. Very sincerely yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Acting Private Secretary. October 20, 1897. Mr. Robert Linderman, The Bethelhem Iron Co., South Bethelhem, Pa. My dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 12th instant. I understand that Mr. Long is quite anxious to look through your establishment, but will be unable to do so on the occasion of his coming visit to Philadelphia. When Mr. Roosevelt returns to the office I will with a great deal of pleasure bring your letter to his notice. Very sincerely yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman23 October 20, 1897. Mr. John DuFais, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. My dear Sir: I expect Mr. Roosevelt here next Monday, when I will take pleasure in handing him your letter of the 19th instant. Very sincerely yours, Wilbur S. Hinman Private Secretary. October 20, 1897. Hon. J. Monroe Heiskell, 49 Liberty Street, New York. My dear Mr. Heiskell: I expect to be here right along now, so if Mr. Arents comes down Friday he will find me in town. Mr. Roosevelt will be back next Monday; and it might be well for Mr. Arents to defer his visit until then. With best wishes, Very sincerely yours, Wm Howell24 October 20, 1897. Mr. J. M. Motley, 43 John Street, New York. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 19th instant with regard to procuring your nephew an appointment to Annapolis as a Naval Cadet. I take pleasure in enclosing herewith a list of the vacancies, and also a copy of the regulations governing the admission of candidates into the Naval Academy. I doubt very much if Mr. Roosevelt can be of any aid to you in a matter of this sort, as , with the exception of these appointments25 ledged with the President, every nomination is made by the Congress, and the candidate nominated must be a resident of the district in which the vacancy exists. The President is at all times represented by twelve cadets at the Academy, and vacancies in this Presidential representation only occur through graduation, death, or resignation. At present the President has one vacancy to fill. Usually he nominates the sons of naval officers. Very sincerely yours, Wilbur S. Hinsman Private Secretary .26 October 15, 1897. My dear sir: Mr. Roosevelt is out of the city at present, so he cannot answer your letter in person. He has requested me to say that he is pledged first to two sons of naval officers in support of their candidacy for appointment as paymaster, but he will gladly make Mr. Bryan his "second alternate." Very truly yours, Wilbert S. Hiesman Act'g Private Secretary. Captain John Pitcher, U.S.A., The Shorsham27 October 21, 1897. Dear Sir: Your letter to Mr. Roosevelt will be handed to him when he returns to the Department early next week. Very truly yours, WM Howell Private Secretary. Mr. Evert Jensen Wendell, 8 East 98th Street, New York. October 21, 1897. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 20th instant will be handed to Mr. Roosevelt when he returns to the Department early next week. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr. Frank H. Scott, The Century Company, Union Square, New York.28 October 21, 1897. Mr. Horatio L. Wait, 110 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt is out of town. But immediately on receipt of your letter of the 15th instant I referred the same to Prof. Rawson, superintendent of Naval War Records. His reply is enclosed herewith. Very sincerely yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. October 21, 1897. Dear Sir: I am directed to acknowledge, with thanks, your letter of receipt date, and to say that it will be brought to Mr. Roosevelt's attention as soon as he returns to the Department. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr.C.O'Conner McLoughlin, Irish National Alliance, Potter Building, Park Row, New York.29 October 21, 1897. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 20th instant will be handed to Mr. Roosevelt when he returns to the Department early next week. I am informed, however, that the vacancy in the [?] [?] to which you allude, has already been filled. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr. P. H. Magruder, Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.30 October 22, 1897. Dear Sir: In the absence of Mr. Roosevelt I take pleasure in sending you, under separate cover, a copy of the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1896, which contains the informa- tion you desire. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr. Edward Steinreich, 54 Stone St., New York. October 22, 1897. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 21st instant will be handed to Mr. Roosevelt upon his return to the Department early next week. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Rev. Josiah Strong, 511 United Charities Building, Fifth Ave. & 22d St., New York.31 October 22, 1897. Dear Sir: In Mr. Roosevelt's absence I take pleasure in sending you by this mail a copy of the pamphlet requested. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary. Mr. J. F. Lawson, Hutchinson, Kansas.32 October 23, 1897. Mr. George K. Nash, Chairman, Columbus, Ohio. My dear Sir: Your telegram of the 22d instant will be handed to Mr. Roosevelt immediately on his return to the Department next Monday. I would repeat your message to him, but haven't his address. I doubt very much, however, if he can accept your invitation to speak in Ohio next week, as he will have his hands full of Departmental matters now for sometime to come. Very sincerely yours, Wm. Howell Private Secretary. October 23, 1897. Dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to say, in reply to your letter of the 27th ultimo, that he is already well supplied with press clippings. Very truly yours, Wm. Howell Private Secretary. Mr. Theodore Wiese, 56 Fifth Ave., Chicago.33 October 23, 1897. My dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of yesterday, and will take pleasure in bringing your request to Mr. Roosevelt's attention next Monday, when he will return to the Department. Very truly yours, Wm Howell Mr. Paul V. Bunn, Civil Service Commission, Washington. October 23, 1897. Rev. Madison Peters, Bloomingdale Church, New York City. My dear Sir: When Mr. Rossevelt returns to the Department next week I will be very glad to hand him your letter of the 18th instant, together with the copy of your book---THE GREAT HEREAFTER. Very sincerely yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary.34 October 25, 1897. Mr. Angus McSween, SUN BUILDING, City. Dear Sir: Upon Mr. Roosevelt's return to the Department I will hand him your letter of the 22d instant inviting him to attend a dinner, as a guest of honor, to be tendered Mr. Karl Decker by his Washington newspaper friends, at THE RALEIGH, Tuesday evening, October 26th, at nine o'clock. It is just possible Mr. Roosevelt won't be back by then. Very sincerely yours, Wm. Howell Private Secretary.35 NAVY DEPARTMENT. TELEGRAM. WASHINGTON. October 25, 1897. Chairman George K. Nash, Republican State Committee, Columbus, Ohio. Just received telegram on return from Massachusetts. I will speak Thursday at Columbus as you request, or on Friday or Saturday if you should prefer. Am sorry for the delay. Please wire place and hour. Theodore Roosevelt36 October 25, 1897 J. Crawfords, Esq., Managua, Nicaragua. My dear Sir: You are very good to remember me. Indeed I shall read that pamphlet with the greatest interest. I should particularly like to know your adventures in tropical jungles. Again thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt P.S. I am very much interested in what you write me about the revolution. I have sent your letter to the Office of Naval Intelligence and I thank you for it. October 25, 1897. President A. L. Crocker, Board of Trade, Minneapolis, Minn. My dear Mr. Crocker: I would gladly give you that in full, but I don't know quite what you want, especially by the words "extent and composition of the administrative departments." I will say briefly, however, that every administrative department should be single-headed where possible. The police, the fire, the street cleaning, etc., should be single-headed. The board of health should probably be multi-headed. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt37 October 25, 1897. Rev. Madison C. Peters, Bloomingdale Church, New York. My dear Mr. Peters: I thank you very greatly for your courtesy in thinking of me. I shall read your book with deep interest. I have looked over it enough to be able to tell something of its value, and it has to me the added value of knowing the life and the strife after right of the man who wrote it. With great regard, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897 Rev. Sylvester C. Malone, Brooklyn, N. Y. My dear Father Malone: I must just write you a line to say how I appreciated your letter. You have always been to me one of our typical [patriots?]. I no more think of you as an Irish-American than I think of myself as a Dutch-American. The prefix must be dropped! Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt38 October 25, 1897. Rabbi Moses J. Gries, 372 Kennard Street, Cleveland, Ohio. My dear Sir: I wish I could accept, but I am sorry to say it is out of the question. I doubt if I shall be in Cleveland again; and I am busier than I can say. With many thanks, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. F. W. Grauert, Esq., Sucre, Bolivia. My dear Sir: I thank you for sending me a copy of the letter you have written to the Secretary. I shall consult with him about it. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt39 October 25, 1897. Captain Henry Skainkamp, 23rd Precinct, New York City. My dear Captain: I was very glad to hear from you; and particularly pleased to learn that your son is now a policeman; and I hope his career will be as long and honorable as that of his father. You are one of the men whom it was a pleasure to know and to try to have helped. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. Mr. A. B. Dodge, Leighton Machine Co., Manchester, N. H. My dear Sir: I am much obliged for your courtesy; but I am sorry to say that it is not possible for me to interest myself in any sporting club at present. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt40 October 25, 1897. Mr. Albert Griffin, THE TOPEKA INDEPENDENT, Topeka, Kansas. My dear Sir: You will readily understand that I am not at liberty to write fully on the matters about which you have spoken to me. I can assure you, however, that I cordially agree with your propositions, barring one or two points of detail; and that so far as I have any weight, what you advise will be done in the event of trouble. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. Captain P. H. Cooper, U. S. N., Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. My dear Captain Cooper: If I can possibly get down to one of those football games I certainly shall. I thank you for your hospitality. I think I can arrange to see at least one of the games. Faithfully yours,41 October 25, 1897. Hon W. A. Ketcham, Attorney General, Indianapolis, Ind. My dear Sir: I wish it were in my power to accept, but I am sorry to say it is not[w]. This is the third request to speak at New England banquets on the 21st of December that I have had to refuse. I simply am not able to accept them. With great regrets, and many thanks, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. Mr. Robert H. Thurston, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. My dear Mr. Thurston: I wish I could accept, but it is simply out of the question. I have more on my hands than I can well attend to, and I can't go into anything new. I am very sorry, for I should like particularly to get up to Cornell and speak on such a subject. Faithfully yours,42 October 25, 1897. Mr. E. Watson Gardiner, Amsterdam, N. Y. My dear Sir: As I wrote you before, it is very unlikely that I will be permitted to say anything whatever about the Internal Revenue Collectors. There is a man in New York who I earnestly hope to see appointed to that place, and even about him I doubt if I will be consulted. I am very sorry. Sincerely yours, October 25, 1897. Mr. Philip Whelan, 76 Park Row, New York. My dear Sir: I am sorry to say that there is no way I could put you on the Police Force. I believe the vacancies are pretty well filled now; and new places are filled at the regular civil service examinations. I will gladly give you the recommendation to which your services entitle you, but you would have to go to the Police Department yourself to find out about getting there. Very sincerely yours,43 Oct. 25, 1897. Captain Frederick C. Miller, care Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Del. My dear Sir: I regret to state that I have nothing to do with the Light-House tenders. They come under the Treasury Department, and it would not be proper for me to interfere. I am very sorry. I reenclose the papers. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Enclosure. Oct. 25, 1897. Mr. C. C. Fisher, Bennett Building, Marion, Ohio. My dear Sir: No, I never wrote the articles of which you speak. I have written various articles on the west---ranching and the like. Sincerely yours,44 Oct. 25, 1897. Mr. Evert Jansen Wendell, 8 East 38th Street, New York. My dear Evert: All right, I will be very glad to see Vandyke. I thought well of Smith, but I don't like to interfere needlessly in the Police Department now that I am out of it. Faithfully yours, October 25, 1897. Captain J. W. Miller, N. M., N. Y., New Pier 36, N. R., New York. Dear Mr. Miller: I guess that's all right about Anderson. Is there anything else you want done? I shall get Gibbons to give me your piece on the "The Development of Naval Militia" at once. Sincerely yours,45 Oct. 23, 1897. Mr. Curtis Guild, Jr., 282 Washington St., Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: Commodore Howison had already spoken to me about Major Pope, and your brother called on me in his behalf the evening I was in Boston. I will bring your letter to the attention of the Secretary at once. I have nothing directly to do with the matter myself, but if there is anything I can do towards helping Major Pope I will. Sincerely yours, October 25, 1897. Mr. Philip Schuyler, Irvington P. O., Westchester Co., N. Y. My dear Mr. Schulyer: It is a pleasure to hear from you; and I thank you very much for what you say about my article. Now, as to Harvey. I haven't any power to get him appointed in the Navy Yard. He has to take his turn just as the others do. I enclose you the papers to give him. I am very sorry not to be able to answer you more favorably. Very sincerely yours,46 October 25, 1897. Gen. James H. Wilson, Wilmington, Del. My dear General: Of course I will do what I can for young Haines, but I don't believe I will be consulted at all. I am pledged first to Admiral Brown's son, as I wrote him. I have been doing everything I could for him, and have so far failed completely. Faithfully yours, P. S. I am informed there are no vacancies at present anyhow. October 25, 1897. My dear Sir: I regret to state that there is absolutely no position that I can get you. I have literally hundreds of these requests. In the civil service examinations no one can help you. I am very sorry. Yours truly, Mr. Viggo Toepfer, 208 East 32d Street, New York City.47 October 25, 1897. Gentlemen: I am sorry to say I would not know where to tell you to go to purchase those books, although surely you ought to be able to get the volumes by Foot and Pickett. Adair and Bartrum have long been out of print. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Messrs. Lockert & Askew, Clarksville, Tennessee. October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Edwards: You know how strongly I feel that you ought to be appointed, and that North Dakota ought to have ample recognition; but I am absolutely powerless in the matter. What can I do more than I have done? I have twice spoken to the President; I have twice been to see the Secretary, once with Mr. Johnson. If there is anything more I can do I certainly will, but do you yourself see what it is. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Major A. W. Edwards, Fargo, N. D.48 October 25, 1897. Roundsman John H. Russell, 116 West 101st St., New York. My dear Roundsman: You are not a stranger to me. I followed you up pretty closely, and I thought you a good man or I shouldn't have backed you up. Faithfully yours, October 25, 1897. Officer Frank Rathgeber, Police Headquarters, New York. Dear Roundsman: It was a great pleasure to get your brother-in-law transferred. I was sorry to miss you at 689, for I always want to see you; and shall always be interested in your career. Remember me warmly to my other friend, Miss. Kelly, also. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt49 October 25, 1897. Patrolman Patrick J. Reid, 34th Precinct, New York. My dear Patrolman: You men who did your duty had no stauncher friend anywhere than I was; and it was a pleasure to me when I could commemorate active courage as I commemorated yours. Very sincerely yours, October 25, 1897. Mr. John H. Clark, Care Dumville & Co., Lockport, N. Y. My dear Mr. Clark: I am sorry to say that there isn't a position in the Navy Department not under the civil service rules, so that it is absolutely impossible for me to help you. I very much wish that I could. Not an appointment has been made excepting under these rules since I have been in the office. With great regret, Very sincerely yours,50 October 25, 1897. Dr. F. E. Battershell, New Philadelphia, Ohio. My dear Dr. Battershell: I am very glad to hear from you again. I shall always remember the "bloody- minded dentist." I am glad that matter was corrected as it was. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Thompson: No stress of business would make me forget you. I am very sorry to hear of your ill- luck with wolves. I am also rather alarmed by what you tell me about your article, for I suppose it was in the hands of Grinnell by this time. Do send it to him at once: George Bird Grinnell, Forest & Stream, 346 Broadway. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Ernest Seton Thompson, 144 Fifth Avenue, New York.51 October 25,1897. My dear Mr. Magruder: There is absolutely nothing I can do to help you. I know this because I have been trying in vain to help the son of Admiral Brown, and I find that the President does not desire my advice on these matters, and I can't give it unasked. I am very sorry, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. P. H. Magruder, Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. October 25, 1897. My dear Sir: It will be a great pleasure to me to see Mr. Lyman and the inventor of whom you speak. How would Thursday, November 4th after election, at 11 o'clock, do? Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. C. O'Connor McLoughlin, Irish National Alliance, Potter Building, Park Row, New York.52 October 25, 1897. Dear Mr. Scott: It is entirely proper for you to give anything to Vallely, but you want to do it through the Police Board. Write to the Police Board, perhaps through my friend Andrews. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Frank H. Scott, The Century Company, Union Square, New York. October 23, 1897. My dear Sir: I am very sorry, but I haven't a single position in my gift. I have a great many urgent appeals to appoint men to such positions as that you request for Mr. Mumford, but I have to make the same reply to all of them as I simply haven't the power to appoint anybody. With great regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Joseph Edward Peck, 138 West 62d Street, New York.53 October 25, 1897. Dear Sir: The subject you ask about is much too extensive and important a one for me to answer offhand, and I really haven't the time to go into it thoroughly. I am very sorry, but it simply isn't possible. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Fred H. Martin, Potsdam, N.Y. October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Du Fais: As you probably know, Mr. James K. Taylor has been appointed Supervising Architect of the Treasury. I wish I could have been here when your letter came, although I am sure I could not have done anything toward securing the appointment of your friend, as any interference from me would almost certainly have been resented by Mr. Gage. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. John Du Fais, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York.54 NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON October 22, 1897. Dear Sir:- Referring to your letter of October 16, in regard to the retention of P. E. Smythe in the Boston Navy Yard, Mr. Smythe was recently transferred from the department of Supplies and Accounts to the department of Construction and Repair, but there is no disposition on the part of the Department to discharge him so long as he performs his duties satisfactorily to his superior officers. He is needlessly [worrying?] [?] Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Assistant Secretary. Mr. Wm. A. Bancroft, Boston, Mass.55 October 25, 1897. To whom it may concern: I have known Mr. Paul V. Bunn for years, and most earnestly recommend him as an honest, intelligent, and thoroughly competent young man. He came to Washington a raw, good-hearted, high-minded North Carolina boy, who had fought and worked his way up to a responsible railroad position, and had then retired of his own accord, and with no political backing whatever taken the civil service examination and was appointed as a clerk. He served under me during my presidency of the Civil Service Commission, and I very speedily found that he was much more than a routine clerk. He had energy, push and real business capacity. During his youth he had managed to get a very good education indeed, and the man is innately a gentleman. He showed remarkable aptitude for learning new work, and his abilities as an investigator were such that I soon made him one of the two men upon whom I placed my trust when there was a difficult job to be done which required thorough and careful investigation, good judgment, and willingness to accept responsibility on the part of the man undertaking it. When I went to New York two years ago it was only the fact that there was no position that I could offer Mr. Bunn56 in the Department of Police that prevented my taking him with me, because I felt from his intelligence, his high sense of honor, his industry, and his aptness at learning new work, that he would have been the very greatest possible aid to me. Theodore Roosevelt Assistant Secretary of the Navy57 October 25, 1897. Jacob A. Riis, Esq., 301 Mulberry Street, New York. Private My dear Mr. Riis: As usual you have acted just right. Mrs. Lowell has been very unreasonable--extremely so. I asked permission of the President to take part in this campaign, and he told me with the greatest emphasis that I must not interfere, and that he himself would keep neutral. When Bliss came out for Tracy I asked permission again to come out for Low, and again the President told me I must not. I spoke to Carl Schurz and John Kennedy Todd about it, and both said it would be foolish in the highest degree for me to resign my position here when it doesn't seem as if I could do an amount of work that would be worth the sacrifice. All that I would do quietly I of course have done. Indeed the story you tell me touches me deeply. My beloved friend, does not even your modesty see that these two little mites came to Police Headquarters because of what you had done, and not I? When I went to the Police Department it was on your book that I had built, and it was on you yourself that I continued to build. Whatever also58 October 25, 1897. Mr. John R. Spears, The SUN Office, New York. My dear Mr. Spears: No request from you can ever be a trouble to me. I am looking forward to your history of the Navy but I don't know how to advise you about the Naval War Records. We have exhausted our quota, and we are continually having requests which we simply are unable to gratify. I think you will have to look around and get some old copy. I am very sorry. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. Mr. Charles S. Vedder, President, New England Society, Charleston, S. C. My dear Sir: I wish it were possible for me to accept, but it is simply out of the question. I have more on my hands now than I can well attend to, and I cannot go into anything new. If I could I most certainly would. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt58A I did there was done because I was trying with much stumbling and ill success, but with genuine effort, to put into practice the principles you had set forth, and to live up to the standard you had established. And all the trials and everything else count for nothing compared with the fact that we were able to do a little. I am sorry you couldn't joint [sic] me at lunch but am consoled in knowing that you and Mrs. Riis will be in Washington this winter. I shall have Senator and Mrs. Lodge to meet you, and probably my chief, Secretary Long, too. Let me know about your boy from time to time; and do write me occasionally, for I prize your letters more than I can say. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[59] October 25, 1897. Rear Admiral George Brown, U. S. N., 103 Woodruff Place, Indianapolis, Ind. My dear Admiral: I am at my wit's end to know what more to do about your boy. Everything I could do I have done. Can you suggest anything more for me to do? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 25, 1897. Mr. B. L. Goulding, Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga, Tenn. My dear Friend: I thank you for your kind note. I shall be very glad to see Mr. Cook. The itinerary of the Board was in the hands of the Secretary, and I wasn't consulted about it at all. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt60 October 25, 1897. Mr. M. J. Herron, Union Central Life Ins., Co., Bel Air, Maryland. My dear Sir: Western Montana and Northwestern Wyoming would be the best places, but you will find nowadays that there is no good game country in the neighborhood of the big ranches, though there are some antelope and deer around them. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltOctober 25, 1897. My dear Captain Kimball: I am really greatly obliged to you for sending me that letter. It was most interesting, and I have read and reread it. I am more than pleased with the way you have begun. I feel it has justified all I had hoped. I trust the FOOTE will be able to join you soon. I am particularly pleased that you have been able to test that search curve business. I of course understand that it will take some time before you can get really "into your tactics," so to speak. [?] When do you expect to be in Savannah? I should like very much to go down and visit you there. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Commander W.W. Kimball, U.S.N., U.S. Torpedo-boat Squadron. 62 October 25, 1897. Hon. T.B. Reed, Portland, Maine. My dear Mr. Speaker: I got your note on my return. I had already directed that it be shown to the Secretary. I suppose he has answered it. So far as I know, there is absolutely no intention of upsetting the civil service rules there. Has anything been done that caused you to think there was such intention? The Secretary restored a couple of veterans wholly without my knowledge. Is it this that you refer to? Let me know at once about anything where I can be of the least assistance, and I will treat any letter as confidential or not, or just exactly as you request. Very [sincerely] faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt63 October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Constable: As you probably know, the new Supervising Architect was appointed last week. Even if I had received your letter in time it would have been impossible for me to do anything to aid your brother in securing the appointment, although of course I should have been very glad to help him if it had been in my power. Any interference on my part would most certainly have been resented by the authorities of the Treasury Department. I have just returned to the Department, and so have not been able to answer your letter before. With great regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Stevenson Constable, 22 East Sixteenth Street, New York.64 October 25, 1897. Mr. W. O. McDowell, THE SPIRIT OF '76, 20 Rose St., New York. My dear Sir: The books that I have written on American history are "The Winning of the West," "The Naval War of 1812," "The Life of Thomas Hart Benton," "The Life of Gouverneur Morris," and "The History of the City of New York." Now, I am afraid I can't answer your question off-hand. There are very many fields of great possible usefulness, and some men can best do work in some of them, and some in others. I wish I could be more definite, but the subject of good citizenship is a very large one. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt64 October 25, 1897. Mr. W. O. McDowell, THE SPIRIT OF '76, 20 Rose St., New York. My dear Sir: The books that I have written on American history are "The Winning of the West," "The Naval War of 1812," "The Life of Thomas Hart Benton," "The Life of Gouverneur Morris," and "The History of the City of New York." Now, I am afraid I can't answer your question off-hand. There are very many fields of great possible usefulness, and some men can best do work in some of them, and some in others. I wish I could be more definite, but the subject of good citizenship is a very large one. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt65 October 25, 1897. Walter S. Cash, Esq., The Jackson, Parkersburg, W.Va. Dear Sir: I do not think I could take an interest in that book. In fact, I don't quite understand how you want me to. By the way, if there is to be any further edition of the book, I must request that my introduction be amended so as to be limited exclusively to the pictures to which I refer. The pictures of wild game are admirable, but I regret to say that wholly without my knowledge certain fake pictures of stuffed animals were put in which greatly mar the book, and which should be taken out, and some of Mr. Wallehan's later pictures substituted if the book is to be published. If Mr. Wallehan will put in some of the recent pictures which he has, which are first rate, and knock out all the fake pictures, he will produce a first-class book for which I will be glad to write a preface. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt66 October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Chapman: It was a real pleasure to meet you even for a moment after my speech, and it is of course doubly a pleasure to receive so kind a letter as that you have just sent me. I don't suppose I had thought of that incident for fifteen yours, but it comes to my mind now. You know, however, I always believed my antagonist was really nervous, and that it was more from nervousness than anything else that he hit me as he did. I am very much obliged to you for your more than kind thought of me. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Frederick L. Chapman, Care General Hocking Coal Co., Columbus, Ohio.66 October 25, 1897. My dear Mr. Chapman: It was a real pleasure to meet you even for a moment after my speech, and it is of course doubly a pleasure to receive so kind a letter as that you have just sent me. I don't suppose I had thought of that incident for fifteen yours, but it comes to my mind now. You know, however, I always believed my antagonist was really nervous, and that it was more from nervousness than anything else that he hit me as he did. I am very much obliged to you for your more than kind thought of me. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Frederick L. Chapman, Care General Hocking Coal Co., Columbus, Ohio.67 PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. October 15, 1897. My dear Low: As soon as I got back here I saw the President. He told me positively that he was taking no stand one way or the other in the New York contest, and should not take any stand, and that Bliss had acted purely on his own responsibility. The President has refused to make the local appointments which Platt earnestly desired, because of their possible effect on this contest. His Private Secretary, John Addison Porter, is for you, and when I told my chief, Secretary Long, how I stood, he said I was quite right and that he should vote for you if he were in New York. You probably saw that, after Butterworth's statements as to the President wishing to see Tracy elected, Porter had an interview in the Brooklyn EAGLE in which he emphasized the fact that the President was not taking part in the campaign. I only wish I could be [working] on the stump for for you, for I have hardly ever felt more interested in any one's success. All that I could do on the quiet has been done. My great friend in my district, the ex-President of the Board of Excise under Mayor Strong, Joseph Murray, has been doing valiant work for you. Somehow I have begun to feel very hopeful of the result recently. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt President Seth Low, Columbia College, New York.68 October 26, 1897. My dear General: I shall come in to see you as soon as I can, but I have been very, very busy. Of course you must never think of coming to see me. In your letter you speak of an enclosure, but there was none such. I will gladly try to find out from the President what action he proposes to take, although I don't know whether or not he will tell me. On receipt of your letter I went over to see the President, but after waiting an hour had to come back to my office without seeing him. I shall try again tomorrow, or get Secretary Long to try. Faithfully yours, (over) Theodore Roosevelt General Wade Hampton, Commissioner of Railroads, Interior Department P.S. My private secretary tells me that the enclosure referred to in your letter was received, and that he returned it to you under date of October 20th. 69 October 26, 1897. Dear Mr. Waterloo: It is not often that I open a book with the genuine interest with which I have already opened yours and read the first two or three chapters You may remember how I liked your one or two first efforts in this line, and I congratulate you and congratulate myself on the fact that you have elaborated [it] them, and have done it so well as in "The Story of Ab." I have not read more than a third of the book yet, but that I have been interested in it may be proved from the fact that I have been reading it in the intervals of my regular work during the day; and I am a rather hard-worked man. The ways of primitive man have always been of all-absorbing interest to me, and I have come to the conclusion that it is only the good novelist who can teach us the best part of history--the history of the life itself. You give me the idea of Ab that [hinkering?] class of Zagloba in the 17th century Poles. With hearty thanks, and very sincere congratulations to you upon having written such an admirable story, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Stanley Waterloo, Press Club, Chicago.70 October 26, 1897. Dear Brander: I was very glad to get "Outlines in Local Color." I think I have read all the stories, but I shall read them all over again with the keen pleasure I can conscientiously say I always take in your work. Now in writing to thank you for your kindness I have got to be a little disagreeable. I don't think I could undertake now to do the work you suggested. I fear it would take a little more time than you believe. Only a few of these old stories are at all well written, and I fear there will have to be a great deal of re-writing done before they will be in passable shape, and I don't dare at present to go into any new work. The next time I come to New York I have got to, somehow or other, arrange a lunch with you. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Prof. Brander Matthews, 121 East Eighteenth Street, New York.71 October 26, 1897. My dear Remington: I am almost ashamed to take your beautiful book; but I am going to take it, for nobody would have given me anything which I would value so much. You know you are one of the men who tend to keep [?] my hope in America! It was great fun having you down aboard the White Squadron. You never will care for the ship as you do for the horse and his many, many riders; but you must like the ship, too, and the man aboard in particular, for he is simple and honorable, and he works hard, and if need be is willing to die hard. Always yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Frederick Remington, New Rochelle, N.Y. I like your backwoods ranger almost as much as your [?][*72*] [*NAVY DEPARTMENT,*] [*WASHINGTON.*] October 26, 1897. Hon. William E. Chandler, Waterloo, N. H. My dear Senator: Your letters always interest and always entertain me; but oh, Bentonian Senator from New Hampshire, you are altogether too suspicious about that dock board. I never told them a thing as to which they were to report, excepting that I wanted them to give me the exact facts, and I made but one suggestion, and that was that inasmuch as I cared infinitely more to get a dry dock than where that dry dock was, that if they could conscientiously say something in favor of League Island and Portsmouth I hoped they would. When the report was ready I asked about this, but they told me that if they were to report conscientiously as officers what would be best for the Navy, they could not do other than they have done; and that, in particular, Portsmouth was a very bad place for a dock. Now, as I say, what I want is the dock. I want it, if I can get it, in the best place, and I shall be very sorry to see a repitition of our Port Royal experience as to locality, or our New York dock as to material; [for] but I am accustomed to making the best of things, and if we have got to have either a dock in the wrong place, or none, why we have to take the dock in the wrong place; and if it isn't too hopelessly wrong I should be glad to get it.73 2. Chandler. The contract with the Bath Iron Works for the construction of Gunboat #12, "NEWPORT," was dated November 15, 1895, and provided for the completion of that vessel and her delivery at the navy yard, Portsmouth, N. H., "on or before the expiration of fifteen months from date of contract," to wit, February 16, 1897. She was delivered at Portsmouth, N. H., June 22, 1897, and preliminarily accepted as provided for in the contract July 6th following, having been preliminarily tried on the 25th of May. A further requirement of the contract provides for a final trial to take place within four months from date of preliminary acceptance, in this case before November 8th. Certain work not required by the specifications--a part of the contract--such a coppering, masting, etc., was to be done by the government after preliminary acceptance. Because of the slow progress made in preparing the vessel at the Portsmouth Yard for final trial, and for fear that she would not be ready for such trial within the time prescribed by the contract as above stated, the Department felt that it was for the best interests of the Government to transfer the NEWPORT to the navy Yard at Boston. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt74 October 26, 1897. My dear Mr. Roche: I have got your letter, and have been looking up the thing here. Chaplains are appointed for good behavior, and all any administration could do would be to deal with the vacancies as they occur. Among the native-born men of the Navy I am inclined to think that Catholics would slightly predominate, although I have no figures to go on. Among the foreign born, the reverse would be the case, as they mainly come from North Germany and Scandanavia [sic]. Neither the Secretary nor I have any say in the appointments of chaplains, beyond advising the President if asked; and since I have come in there has been no vacancy. I thought there would be one at one time, and I have been pushing Father Fitzgerald, a Catholic priest, and a great friend of Archbishop Ireland, for it. The President told me that Father Fitzgerald could have either an Army or a Navy Chaplaincy when a vacancy occurs. I rather think he is pledged to someone else for the first vacancy, and so he did not tell me that this first naval vacancy should go to Father Fitzgerald. There has evidently been no effort whatever to divide the chaplains numerically according to sect, for The Disciples of Christ have two, and the Presbyterians only one. Of course, numerically, this would be utterly unjust. However, your correspondent is very much out in his figures. Instead of75 2 the Presbyterians having five, they have but one. The Baptists have three instead of five. There are only 23 chaplains in the Navy all told, so that of course the Catholics could not be entitled to eighteen. Still, they should have more than they now have; but it would not be legal, nor would it be right, to dismiss men for the sake of putting others in. The way to remedy the inequality would be by appointing from time to time men like Father Fitzgerald when vacancies arise. This I should advise; but I can only advise. I do not [?] should make any effort to keep an exact proportion, which would be neither feasible nor desirable. Pray treat this letter as confidential. Let me know if you come to Washington. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. James Jeffry Roche, Editor THE PILOT, Boston, Mass.76 October 26, 1897. My dear Hanscom: On coming back I took up your letter. I know nothing about the case of Cole myself, and the Secretary tells me that in a letter of October 14th he gave Cole in full the reasons why he reinstated the veterans. I am sorry to say that there isn't anything I can tell you beyond what the Secretary has already told Cole. Sincerely your, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Arthur L. Hanscom, P.O. Box 64, South Elliot, Maine.77 October 26, 1897. Hon. George P. Gray, United States Senate: My dear Senator: Referring to your letter of the 18th instant, I find that George H. Price, Yeoman, 3rd Class, U. S. N., now on board the U. S. S. RALEIGH, has made no application for the position of Mate in the Navy. Moreover, the Department for the present has decided to make no further appointments of this sort. We try to give them only to the best of applicants, and that we do. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 26, 1897. My dear Mrs. Mohun: It is all right about those papers. They are not important, and should have been mailed to Mr. Mohun on board the BENNINGTON. They have been forwarded to him. Thanking you, I am, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Clare Hanson Mohun, 2119 California Avenue, Washington.78 October 26, 1897. Philip Meek, Esq., 88 Ralph Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. Dear Sir: I should suggest that you write to Mrs. George C. Lee, Chestnut Hill, Mass. She might wish the photograph. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 26, 1897. Captain A.S. Crowninshield, Bureau of Navigation. My dear Captain Crowninshield: Can you tell me about John Low, recently Chief Gunner's Mate on the MASSACHUSETTS, who I understand is now disrated. I am informed that he did well on the NEW YORK. He wishes, I am told, to have the matter examined into as to whether or not he should have been derated, and either to be transferred, keeping his rate, or discharged, as he has but three months more to serve. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt78 October 26, 1897. Philip Mock, Esq., 68 Ralph Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Dear Sir: I should suggest that you write to Mrs. George C. Lee, Chestnut Hill, Mass. She might wish the photograph. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 26, 1897. Captain A. S. Crowninshield, Bureau of Navigation. My dear Captain Crowninshield: Can you tell me about John Low, recently Chief Gunner's Mate on the MASSACHUSETTS, who I understand is now disrated. I am informed that he did well on the NEW YORK. He wishes, I am told, to have the matter examined into as to whether or not he should have been derated, and either to be transferred, keeping his rate, or discharged, so he has but three months more to serve. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltOctober 26, 1897. Charles T. Ripley, 25 Fester Street, Everett, Mass. My dear Sir: The question of reinstatements rests entirely in the hands of the Secretary, so I have referred your letter to him. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 26, 1897. Mr. Winthrop L. Marvin, BOSTON JOURNAL, Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: Your letter gave me the most genuine pleasure. I had earnestly hoped that the very point you make would be made, and of course I would rather have it made in the JOURNAL than anywhere else. I don't suppose it is necessary for me to say how entirely I sympathize with your view as to our need of more ships. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt80 October 26, 1897. My dear Mr. Morris: I am very much obliged to you for your courtesy in sending me that editorial. I really appreciated it. I can assure you that I enjoyed my visit to Cleveland very, very much, and I was only too glad of the chance to get there. With many thanks, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. P. H. Morris, The Arcade, Cleveland. October 26, 1897. My dear Mr. White: I take the liberty of sending you herewith a little book of mine called "American Ideals." I don't know any one who has fought more valiantly or more faithfully than you have fought to bring about the realization of some of these ideals; and so I want to have the pleasure of sending you the little volume. May I not hope that you will be back in Washington some time next winter? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. A. White, The Emporia Gazette, Emporia, Kansas.October 26, 1897. My dear Sir: Any work in which you are engaged must command my support. It is very hard for me to get time to write anything, but I shall have to write for you. How many words do you want from me, and how soon? Faithfully yours, Rev. Josiah Strong, 511 United Charities Building, Fourth Avenue. car, 22d Street, New York. October 26, 1897. My dear Captain Goodrich: I was very sorry to miss your visit here. I wish I would see you and Taylor together a little later, some time in November. I quite agree with Taylor that we owe a debt to Dickens for giving you the chance to answer. I most heartily wish that you could be put in charge of a battleship, and all I can do toward that end will be done. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C.F. Goodrich, U.S.N., Naval War College, Newport, R.I.[*82*] October 26, 1897. My dear Mrs.Bainbridge-Hoff: I am very sorry indeed that no further action was taken in the matter. Governor Wolcott wrote that my letter and yours had been by him "referred to the committee in whose hands is the distribution of the invitations," for their action. Of course neither Secretary Long nor I had any power in the matter. Equally of course, both your husband and your son should have been invited. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Juliet Adele Bainbridge-Hoff, 1829 Jefferson Place, Washington. October 26, 1897. My dear Mr. Wolf: I took pleasure in directing that the necessary permission be granted you to examine the files of the Department. There has been some delay, on account of my absence from the city. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Simon Wolf, 926 F Street, N.W., Washington.83 October 26, 1897. Mr. Holmes E. Offley, Hamilton, Va. My dear Mr. Offley: I received both your letters, and had a long interview with the Civil Service Commission about you. Captain Davis is very much interested in it, and I would very gladly help you if I properly could. I am informed by the Commission that they have certified you to the Pension Office for reinstatement. Now, before anything can be done for you here in the Navy Department it will first be necessary for the Interior Deparrtment [sic] to reappoint you. Then an application for transfer to this Department would be in order. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt84 October 26, 1897. Mr. Charles Ferber, 1926 Webster Street, Alameda, Del. My dear Sir: I regret very much to say that it isn't in my power to give you a special preference. The Department does all it can to favor the veterans, and we try scrupulously to preserve their rights, but we cannot favor one veteran above others, and we cannot keep the veterans doing work which they are unfit to do. Now, I hope in your case that there has been a mistake, and that you are entitled to stay, and I have written on to find out about it; but I cannot do anything more than thus try to find out what the facts really are. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt85 October 27, 1897. My dear Captain O'Neill: The enclosed letter is from Dr. Sturgiss Bigelow of Boston, one of the most expert rifle and pistol shots I have every met. Would you give me a few statements, either verbally or in writing, as to what he says? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Charles O'Neill, U. S. N. Chief of the Bureau of Ornance [sic]. October 27, 1897. Mr. Henry Johnson, Anacostia, D.C. My dear Sir: Like Senator Lodge, I would do anything for you I could, but I simply don't know what to do. You know that where they don't pay heed to a Senator they certainly will not pay heed to an assistant in some other department. I tried everything on your behalf, and I am more sorry than I can say that it failed. Yours very truly, Theodore Roosevelt86 October 27, 1897. My dear Mr. Allen: I herewith return the speech. I assure you I enjoyed the meeting. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. John K. Allen, Tarrytown, N.Y. (Enclosure) October 27, 1897. Hon. W. Bourke Cockran, 31 Nassau Street, New York. My dear Mr. Cockran: It is always a pleasure to hear from you; but I am sorry to say that the day before yesterday Dr. Wm. K. Van Reypen was appointed Surgeon-General. Do let me know if you come to Washingon. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltOctober 27, 1897. Wm. M. Butterfield, Esq., Manchester, N.H. Dear Sir: I thank you very much for your kindness. I wish I could be present at your banquet, but I am sorry to say it is simply out of the question. I am a very busy man, and I find it literally impossible to get away. I have had to refuse I cannot tell you how many similar organizations. With great regret, and many thanks, believe me, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 27, 1897. Franklin Hall, Esq., Care Theodore Roosevelt, Esq., Oyster Bay, L.I., N.Y. Dear Sir: Please look through the drawers of my desk in the library and see if there isn't a manuscript journal of William Clark. It is an old manuscript written over a hundred years ago, and I have been requested to return it. I wish you would hunt it up for me and send it on here by registered mail. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt 88 NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON. October 27, 1897. My dear Congressman Heatwole: Together with your telegram Congressmen Eddy and Stevens called in person. I at once took them in to see the Secretary, and state that I hoped Duluth would be visited. The Secretary answered, however, that unfortunately the request came too late; that now the Board would have to come back at once in order to complete their report by the time Congress meets; and he added that he was sorry the Board had visited any places at all, for really it could make no report upon the advisability of the places, but would only put in its own estimates and ask bids. I am very sorry that the Duluth people didn't think of this a little sooner. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Joel P. Heatwole, Northfield, Minn.89 NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON. October 27, 1897. My dear Senator Nelson: Together with your telegram Congressmen Eddy and Stevens called in person. I at once took them in to see the Secretary, and stated that I hoped Duluth would be visited. The Secretary answered, however, that unfortunately the request came too late; that now the Board would have to come back at once, in order to complete their report by the time Congress meets; and he added that he was sorry the Board had visited any places at all, for really it could make no report upon the advisability of the places, but would only put in its own estimates and ask bids. I am very sorry that the Duluth people didn't think of this a little sooner. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Knute Nelson, United States Senate.90 October 27, 1897. My dear Mr. Porter: Just before I received your letter the Secretary had called me in and shown me what you had written to him, and his answer to you. Indeed, if there was a place I could get for you in this Department, I would get it at once, but there simply is not one. I told you--did I not?--of my vain struggle to place a man for Senator Davis, and a woman for Senator Lodge. We have the most pitiful appeals made to us on behalf of daughters of old naval officers--of Admiral Worden, for instance; and there simply isn't a place we can give. Indeed I hate to have to write like this. If there was anything in my power to do I would do it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John Addison Porter, Secretary to the President.91 October 27, 1897. R. C. Ballard Thruston, Esq., Big Stone Gap Improvement Co., Louisville, Ky. My dear Sir: I am exceedingly mortified to find that I have not returned you the journal of William Clark. I have had such a multitude of things to do that I supposed the journal had been returned to you. I have hardly been to my home at all this summer, and when I was there it simply escaped my mind. I have sent for it at once, and will get it for you just as soon as possible. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltVery sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt 92 October 27, 1897. My dear Captain Harrington: I am very much obliged to you for sending me so full a report. I have read it, but I haven't yet really studied it as it deserves to be studied. I am a little at a loss to know exactly how to study it to the best advantage. Thus, some of the very abuses you speak of, in connection with long delays in filing requisitions, I have tried to meet in a recent general order giving greater power and latitude both to captains of ships and to commandants of naval yards; but the Chief of the Bureau of Equipment is now complaining very much about this order. I need not say how much I enjoyed the brief glimpse I got of the PURITAN, and the officers aboard her. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain P. F. Harrington, U.S.N., U.S.S. PURITAN, Navy Yard, New York.93 October 27, 1897. Abraham W. Skidmore, Patrolman, 7th Precinct, New York. Dear Patrolman Skidmore: I am very much obliged to you for your letter. You owe me nothing whatever. All I did was to try to give every honest man a show on his merits, and I am delighted you were able to win on yours. I thank you for your kindness in thinking of me about your boy, and will be glad to see his photograph: but don't you think it would be better to name him after one of his own kinsfolk? Remember me to Mrs. Skidmore, and believe me, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt94 October 27, 1897. My dear Mr. Peary: First of all let me thank you very much for your kindness in thinking of me and sending me that splendid walrus head. Next, I want to mention that yesterday I sat by Dr. Nansen at lunch, and he spoke of you with the warmest regard and admiration, and evidently appreciates to the full what you have done. He said you were the foremost of living Arctic explorers, and was evidently a good deal annoyed at the HERALD having misrepresented him. If I were you I should be careful not to make any public statement about anything that the papers may choose to attribute to Nansen without being sure that he has said it. We all know how these papers, and notably the HERALD, JOURNAL and WORLD, at times misquote, although the JOURNAL and WORLD are of course the worst offenders. I told the Secretary about the way that Nansen had spoken of you, and his estimate of you as an Arctic explorer, and I think it was a distinct assistance to you. We'll have you at the Pole yet! Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieutenant R. E. Peary, U.S.N.,95 October 28, 1897. My dear Sir: I very much regret to inform you that, under the law, nothing can be done to help your brother who deserted from the naval service. If he surrenders himself he will have to stand trial by court-martial, the result of which will be dishonorable discharge, with probably a sentence of imprisonment at the Boston Prison. I am very sorry to have to write you in this way. With regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William F. Lovett, 59 Wall Street, New York.96 My dear Mr. Palmer: I will at once try and see if I can get you that. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Professor T. S. Palmer, Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture. P.S. I send you the pamphlet under separate cover. October 28, 1897. My dear Dr. Barton: You are very kind indeed to have thought of me. I shall look out for your book, and the first chance I get I shall read it. I can't promise to do so at once, because I am a very busy man with scant time even for the literature of my own profession, and until I get a little leeway I fear my chance of reading anything outside will be small; but as soon as I do get a chance I will read your book. With great regard, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. W.E. Barton, 6 John A. Andrew St., Jamaica Plain, Boston.97 October 28, 1897. Dear Sir: I return you herewith the letter of Rev. R. E. MacArthur, as requested. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Joseph Edward Peck, 135 West 62d Street, New York. (Enclosure) October 28, 1897. My dear Mr. Bonsal: Many thanks for your suggestion. I guess I won't write that article. I shall be exceedingly interested to see Peshine's statement. Again thanking you, believe me, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Stephen Bonsal, 10 East 28th Street, New York.98 October 28, 1897. My dear Mr. Hasbrouck: I shall have that matter looked up at once. but I ought to say that we find that there are innumerable applications for the discharges of marines, and that as a matter of self-preservation we have been obliged never to grant the discharges unless there is some really vital reason. However, I will see what can be done. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. G. D. B. Hasbrouck, Attorney General's Office, Albany, N.Y.99 October 28, 1897. My dear Sir: I wish it were in my power to accept that invitation, but I belong to the laboring classes and the eight hour law does not apply to me. I have had my hands more than full, and the two or three times I have been able to get away I have had to make it, for some dinner connected directly with the Navy, or some function of a similar kind. Between election day and Christmas I have been able to make but one engagement, and that is to attend a dinner of the Naval Architects, where I have to be present unless the Secretary is. I thank you very much for your courtesy, and I am exceedingly sorry I cannot come. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. C.A. Sulloway, Manchester, N.H.[*100*] October 29, 1897. Philip Schuyler, Esq., Irvington P.O., Westchester Co., N.Y. My dear Mr. Schuyler: I am very sorry these letters were not sent. I send you some more papers now, but I will explain that we had sent the papers to Harvey direct, and thought this was what you wanted. I do wish I could see a chance of spending a night with you, but I am afraid there is none. I can't get away from here. Are you going to be down in Washington [New York] this year? Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt (Enclosure) October 29, 1897. Enrique Miller, Esq., 1961 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. My dear Sir: I thank you for your kindness, but I do not care for any of the photographs at present. Yours truly, T. Roosevelt101 October 29, 1897. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to thank you for your kindness, and to say that he does not anticipate that there will be any immediate trouble. Very sincerely yours, William G. Howell Private Secretary. Mr. J. Norton Riggs, 120 Broadway, New York. October 29, 1897. Messrs. George P. Putnam's Sons, 27 West 23d Street, New York. Gentlemen: I understand that there is a new edition of Polybius out. Will you tell me what the cost of that is, and also what the cost of the best or at least of a good edition of Livy is? Will you also please send me here Lodge's volume of Essays, just published by Harpers'. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt102 October 29, 1897. Hon. Lucius N. Littauer, Gloversville, N.Y. Dear Lit: All right--I will see if I can't get a condemned cannon for you. I think I can. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt October 29, 1897. Mrs. Rosa McClintock, Care Court Civil Appeals, Austin, Texas. Dear Madam: I have turned your letter over to Mr. Procter, the President of the Civil Service Commission. He will send you all the information. I haven't any myself. You see I wouldn't know what position you want. If it is one of stenographer and typewriter, the preparation you have had for the last three years is the best you possibly could have. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt103 October 29, 1897. Captain Louis Wendel, N.G.N.Y., 340 West 44th Street, New York. My dear Captain Wendel: I have just received your letter. As you can readily understand I have been flooded with requests to write for almost every one of the old men, and I have finally had to make the absolute rule that I could not do it. Commissioner Andrews is most goodnatured, but he cannot, and ought not to, pay heed to the ex-Commissioner who has no better means of knowing than he has. He and I both liked your brother. We very often looked him over. I am sure he has him in his mind, and nothing I could say would have any effect. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt104 October 29, 1897. Rev. Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie, 263 Lexington Ave., New York. My dear Dr. Duffie: Of course I would most gladly do anything I can to help your son, but I fear it must lie exclusively with the Congressman and the people from Connecticut. The Postmaster General will not pay the slightest heed to the statement of a man outside of the State, and especially to the statement of a subordinate in another department. The first chance I get I will speak to him, but I am sorry to tell you that I know in advance that it will not be of the slightest use. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*105*] October 29, 1897. Hon. Frank J. Clarke, Peterborough, N. H. Dear Sir: It is a matter of very great regret to me that I can't accept the invitation of the Calumet Club to dinner; but unfortunately it is an impossibility for me to get away from here at that time. You can hardly imagine how many requests I have to refuse. It is with the greatest reluctance that I have to forego the pleasure of being the guest of such an association, but I have no option in the matter. I am very sorry. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*106*] October 29, 1897. Hon. H. C. Lodge, Nahant, Mass. Dear Cabot: Most certainly I shall keep that gem from Charles Eliot Norton. If we are threatened with a domination of his kind I am not only for Platt and Lauterbach, but I am for Croker and Sheehan. Anything is preferable to that stuff. Now, about Ripley. As you know, I originally recommended the discharge of the Italian captain of the watch and the reinstatement of Ripley in his place. The Secretary didn't act; why I don't know; and he has since taken the Ripley case into his own hands and has written to Maccabe about it. However, I have also started on my own book and am going to see if I can't work it through. The Secretary's letter was in effect that the semi-annual report showed the Italian, the present incumbent, to be a good man; and, in consequence, there is no vacancy. I at once looked up the report about him, and, sure enough, the captain of the Yard, Captain Philip, gave him a mark of 96 for character and quantity of work, which would show him to be well above the average. In view of Howison's statement I have written to Howison to see if there is not an explanation. If Howison will stand up to his107 Lodge--2. guns and say that he is not competent, a fact of which I am absolutely certain, I will recommend that the Secretary reduce him forthwith and put Ripley in his place. Word has just come over the telegraph that George died this morning of apoplexy. This greatly complicates the New York fight. I believe the bulk of his vote will go to Van Wyck and Low. As you say, the conduct of the Low people and of Low in not insisting upon some kind of union with the republicans was not merely stupid, but from the civic standpoint almost criminal. The explanation they all give me is that they have been betrayed so often and lied to so often when they have tried to go in with Platt, Quigg, Lauterbach & Co., that they were afraid to have any dealings with them. There is a great deal of truth in this, but the fact remains that they unquestionably ought to have taken the risk. It was the only thing to do. Some of the machine men might have knifed them, but they would have gotten the great bulk of the vote that will now go for Tracy; and though they would have alienated some tens of thousand of men they would have more than made up the difference. What a grim comedy the whole canvass is! The Low men hand in glove with Henry George, and making deals with him alone, refuse even to confer with the republicans on the ground that deals are immoral. The republicans are running a straight ticket because only straight tickets are proper, and putting upon it in the108 Lodge--3. second highest place a democrat who is a renegade republican and a man of exceedingly bad character; and Henry George has with him on the ticket for comptroller a gold democrat, Dayton, who last year refused to support his party on the silver issue, and now runs on the ticket which is largely gotten up as a rebuke to Tammany because it didn't come out flatfooted for silver. Did I tell you that Amos Cummings the other day told me he thought Low had an even chance of election, as Van Wyck was weak, and Tracy had no show whatever? On the other hand the regular republicans I think are sinners in their belief that though Tracy may be beaten by Van Wyck, he will beat Low. P.S. Word has just come of George's death. What this will result in I don't know. I start today to make my speech at Columbus for Hanna. They are evidently suffering from apathy out in Ohio. They have made a foolish campaign. Instead of trying to get speakers of national importance in New York, where their presence arouses animosity, they should have put them into Ohio where they would have aroused enthusiasm. Well, I guess you can understand more than ever now why I feel a bit lonely in the politics of New York, and why I welcomed such a glimpse as I got of you at Nahant. Tell Nannie I had a long and very nice letter from Mrs. Chandler. Of course she has heard from her too. Always yours, Theodore Roosevelt P.S. There is one phase of this New York matter that has not attracted general attention. Platt's attitude has[*109*] Lodge--4. done more than anything else to jeopardize republican success in Maryland. This I was told by various Maryland republicans. Our chance of carrying Maryland depends upon having the sound money democrats vote with us. Platt's position in New York (in spite of his alliance with Fitch!) is that we must have a mere straight ticket, and must absolutely decline joining with the independent element. In consequence, I am informed on every side that the people in Maryland and in Kentucky who would have been with us are feeling reluctant to come with us. I very firmly believe that if Platt had endorsed Low and gone in for him from the beginning, there wouldn't have been a question of our ousting Gorman and gaining a United States Senator. P. S. Your telegram has just come. I forgot to tell you that I proposed to Maj. Mead to extend the time until January, and he told me that it ought not to be done; that there was no reason why it should be delayed later than November 1st. I asked him again and again, and he insisted that he did not wish there to be any delay in the matter. I have now in the absence of the Secretary today taken the responsibility of making the delay for one month, and I shall beg him as soon as he comes back to extend it until January 1st. Whether he will or not I don't know.110 October 29, 1897. My dear Davis: The enclosed letter from Bigelow explains itself. I thought you might like to see it. Send it back to me after you have read it. I think a good deal of what he says about target practice is worth while heeding. I am going to try to get Crowninshield at work on the subject. By the way, I asked Crowninshield about those regulations and general orders, and he told me they were in the printer's hands. Give my warm regards to Mrs. Davis. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C. H. Davis, U.S.N., U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington. (Enclosure)[*111*] October 29, 1897. My dear Bigelow: First let me tell you how much I enjoyed the evening at your house. It was the greatest pleasure. Next, on to the subject of your letter. I referred it to the Bureau of Ordnance. Captain O'Neil seemed to think it was what is technically called "a horse on Davis." I have not viewed it before in this light, but I now hope that it is, and so I have promptly sent it to Davis, and shall await his explanation, which will, I trust, show considerable feeling and possibly some little temper. I like to ingratiate myself with my friends! I think what O'Neil says answers your question pretty fully. I would add, furthermore, that in the days of the old smooth-bore guns the ships were very close and in reality hardly any aim was taken. But as they wallowed through the water, fifty yards or so apart, it was found that the shots were more apt to strike the adversary's hull if they were fired when the gun was pointing down than if it was pointing up. Now the whole truth is exactly as you say, that it is a matter of that kind of skill which we call "knack." In each ship's crew there is a limited number of men who can become first-class gun-pointers, and only a limited number. We have tried the experiment of making the petty officers captains of[*112*] 2 the guns, and it does not work well; and now we are trying to develop gun-pointers pure and simple. I myself have no natural skill with firearms, and indeed very little with any form of pursuit needing physical and manual dexterity and accuracy of eye. I never learned to shoot quick, and the rifle is the only weapon with which I became even fairly skillful. I have been moderately successful with game simply because I got to fire as well at game as at a target; and though this was not very well, yet it was better than what most first-class target shots would do if unused to game shooting. I did not do any sub-calibre practice myself, but I had great sport on the DOLPHIN with a rapid-fire six-pounder gun; and I found that personally I could do best by shooting when the ship's side was rising, getting the gun in position, and then, just as the front sight touched the target on the way up, pulling trigger. But in trying to fire rapidly it is, of course, impossible to pay heed to the rising or falling of the ship. I think myself that altogether too much is sacrificed to rapidity of fire. The number of hits is what counts. I am going to use your letter as a basis for trying to get some reforms in our target practice, so you see you have done good work by writing. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Dr. Sturgess Bigelow, 60 Beacon Street, Boston. (Enclosures)113 COPY. Navy Department, Bureau of Ordnance, Washington D.C., October 28, 1897. Memorandum for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy: With the old smooth bore guns it was the rule to fire as you rolled toward the target, it being much better to have the shot fall short than go over, since in falling short it would ricochet and still have a good chance of hitting. With modern rifled guns the ricochet is so irregular that a shot which falls short is practically wasted. Consequently it is considered better to shoot high rather than low, and the rule should therefore now be to fire when rolling away rather than towards. However, but little attention is paid to this particular point, as it is comparatively unimportant. With electric firing and the high velocities now attained, the only very important thing is to fire the gun when the sights are on. It is, of course, better to fire near the end of the roll when the movement of a ship is slowest, but in practice this is so difficult of attainment that it is customary to make no other rule than to fire when the sights are on. As regards instructions with rifles and revolvers, as well as with great guns, I think it would be well to issue rules to be followed, but everything in regard to drill and instruction now comes under the cognizance of the Bureau of Navigation. (Signed) Charles O'Neil Chief of Bureau of Ordnance.Firing with revolvers from boats in motion or from a vessel, at a target in motion, is a most difficult feat to perform with accuracy; practice alone or natural aptitude will make a man a good snap shot. I presume the aim referred to had not had sufficient practice with the revolver to enable then to "fire fast and aim well." I think men should first learn to sheet well--and then fast. The double action revolver, when so used rather than by cocking for each round, is very unreliable as it requires so much effort; it is only intended to be used without cocking when in very close quarters when there is not time to cock it.115 November 1, 1897. Dear Sir: You are of course no relation to Mr. Theodore Roosevelt. Very respectfully, William S. Howell Private Secretary. Mr. Edward Roosevelt, Camden Co. Jail, Camden, N. J. November 1, 1897 My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of the "McKinley Memorial" which you sent him. Very truly yours, William S. Howell Private Secretary. Mr. W. F. Cogswell, 285 1/2 First Street, Portland, Oregon. 116 November 1, 1897. Mr. Arthur J. Wood, Railroad Gazette, 32 Park Pl., N. Y. My dear Sir: Referring to your letter to Mr. Roosevelt of the 27th ultimo, I find in the letter-press book the following letter addressed to you under date of September 16th, and signed by the Assistant Secretary: "If you will communicate with the Chief of the Bureau of Equipment, Capt. R. B. Bradford, I believe you could get full information in the matter. There is no one at the Brooklyn Navy Yard who knows about the electrically worked turrets." Very sincerely yours, William Howell Private Secretary 117 Nobemver 1, 1897. Sir: As the enclosed letter is an official communication, it should be forwarded through your Commanding Officer, in accordance with Article 1609, Navy Regulations. Very respectfully, T. Roosevelt Assistant Secretary. Gunner Henry B. Souli, U.S.N., Rose Villa, 96th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Enclosure)[*118*] Private November 1, 1897. Dear [Hayden] Haden: First- a moment about politics. I am very glad that you approved of my course in the New York campaign. Indeed I had no other to follow, as the President particularly desired me to keep out, and emphatically requested that I should do so. I have made not the slightest secret of my own preference. I have sent money to our local Citizens' Union, and have told Low himself, Carl Schurz, Godkin, John Kennedy Todd, and yourself how I felt, and have refused every request from the republicans either for money or to have my named used as a vice-president at their meetings,etc. I can't say how earnestly I hope for Low's victory tomorrow. I was more than pleased with the way you got up the American Ideals. I want to say further that the President assured me personally that he had not expressed to any one the slightest preference in the campaign, and that Bliss acted on his own responsibility (and I may add, very unwisely). The President's Private Secretary, John Addison Porter, and my chief, Secretary Long, are both for Low; and the President declined positively Platt's request to make certain appointments before the election in order to influence the election.[*119*] 2 Now, about Paul Jones. He hardly seems to me to size up big enough for a "Hero of the Nations." He did have a dramatic and spectacular career; but if the series should include any [other] American naval man it should be Farragut, as far as mark is concerned. I myself would not have time to write about Paul Jones, and I think you will not only appreciate, but will approve, my decision when I tell you that it is because I don't wish to be diverted from going on at the earliest possible opportunity with the "Winning of the West." Both Longman's and Macmillan have just requested me to write certain volumes for them. I have refused in each case because I don't want to undertake any work that will cost me too much labor until I have made headway with the "Winning of the West." For some little time to come I can't work even at that, and I shall try to jot down various chapters of reminiscences of my police work in New York; but as soon as I get things running in a groove in this office, as I will in six months or so more, I want to begin to get the materials together for my next volumes of the "Winning of the West". As you know, there are to be four of them. If I could get four, or even two (but by preference all four) done shortly after I leave this office-- on the supposition that I shall be left here until the end of President McKinley's term--I should very much like it. With great regard, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. George Hayden Putnam, 27 West 23d Street, New York.120 November 1, 1897. My dear sir: I have just promised to give something to the Rev. Josiah Strong, and I am sorry to say that I can't make more than one or two of such messages. I should simply repeat myself. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Edwin D. Wheelock, President, Nat'l Christian Citizenship League, 153 La Salle Street, Chicago. November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: I regret very much to say that I haven't got any copies of that charter. In the little book which I have just published, called "American Ideals", I devote two or three chapters to municipal questions bearing upon the points you mention but I think that if you write directly to Mayor Strong, or to Hon. A. D. Andrews, Police Commission, New York, using my name, that you could get the charter. Pray let me know if you fail. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt John C. Hessian, Esq., Duluth, Minnesota.121 November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: Few things can give me more pleasure than to enclose this letter of introduction for the daughter and son-in-law of a man who "proved his truth by his endeavor" in the days that tried men's souls. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Commander Eliot Callender, Bryner Post No. 67, G.A.R., Peoria, Illinois. (Enclosure) November 1, 1897. To the Officers of the U.S. Naval Squadron, Honolulu, Hawaii: I commend to your courtesy Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Burdick, who wish to visit the United States vessels at Honolulu. Mrs. Eliot is the daughter of Mr. Eliot Callender, who fought all through the war as an officer in the Mississippi Squadron. Very respectfully, Theodore Roosevelt Assistant Secretary.122 November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: Nicholas was, I think, my direct ancestor, but I haven't got the genealogy [binding] at hand and I have forgotten for the moment, I am ashamed to say, whether it was he or his brother John. Of course both Mrs. Cowles and I would be only too delighted if you would send me a transcript of the documents; but, my dear Sir, I must beg of you not to put yourself to any inconvenience. You are more than kind to have thought of us, and I thank you very heartily. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt B. F. Stevens, Esq., U.S. Despatch Agency, 4 Trafalgar Square, W.C., London, England. November 1, 1897. My dear Dr. Wall: On Friday, the 12th, I shall be in New York, and if it will be more convenient for you and Dr. Connolly at 689 Madison Avenue, at 10 o'clock of that day, I shall be very glad to see you there. If not, could you call here on the morning of Wednesday, the 10th. It will always be a pleasure to see you. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. F. H. Wall, Holy Rosary Rectory, 444 East 119th Street, New York.123 November 1, 1897. Dear Mr. Wellman: I shall read that pamphlet carefully, but I don't have to read it to say that I will at once send it to two or three gentlemen whom I know, and to whom I will be only too glad to give you letters of introduction, because if there is any way that I can assist you I most certainly will; and I only wish that I had the means to go into the fund myself, for I appreciate what you are doing, and I earnestly wish you all possible success as an American. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Walter Wellman, Chicago TIMES-HERALD, 1503 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington. November 1, 1897. My dear Madam: I thank you very much for your kindness, but I regret to say that I do not care to purchase the very interesting book of which you speak. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Miss Gertrude Strohm, Box 919, Dayton, Ohio.124 November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: I have written to your father saying that of course I would be glad to do what I could for you, but you must remember that in all probability I shall not be allowed to say anything. I don't recall a case where a man from another State has been permitted to make any suggestions about the offices, especially those of a purely local character, in some different State. I wish there were more chance of my doing something. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Cornelius R. Duffie, Jr., Esq., Litchfield, Conn. November 1, 1897. My dear Andrews: I am awfully sorry I can't be with you on election day. Things are looking brighter for us. I have some hope that Low will get there. It is a great pity that poor Sullivan failed. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Avery D. Andrews, Police Commission, 300 Mulberry Street, New York.[*125*] November 1, 1897. My dear Mr. Peary: Nansen spoke to me about the Sverdrup matter. Of course he can't be quoted, but he expressed his bitter and extreme disapproval, and said that he regretted to the last point what Sverdrup was doing. Let me know if there is any way I can help you, in this Department or otherwise. I believe matters are now in far better shape to do anything for you. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Civil Engineer R. E. Peary, U.S.N., 177 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn, N. Y. November 1,1897. My dear Mr. Thompson: I must see you to talk over Medora. I wish you could have gotten out with old Massingale's wolf-hounds. I shall stop in and see you in a week or two. Have you any new pictures out? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Ernest Seton Thompson, 144 Fifth Avenue, New York.[*126*] November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: Your very kind letter has just come. I thank you cordially for your courtesy. I am glad you like that piece. I quite agree with your views as to New York politics. I am very sorry to hear the news about your sister. Of course you must stay with her. With great regard, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. W. E. Mantius, Consulate of the United States, Turin, Italy.127November 1, 1897. My dear Mr. Cushing: I would most gladly prepare you that list, but I really don't think I could do any good by it. For instance, I would not know more than three or four people who are not in the Century Club who I think would be apt to care to have your literature. If you recollect, I spoke in my last letter to you of the advisability of going over the Century Club list of names, and marking off those to whom I think it would be well to try the experiment of sending the literature. I have been in very active political life, but I am afraid I don't meet the people who would be apt to read and be swayed by Gunton's [*128*] Magazine. The men I meet either already read it, or else don't read such things at all; and the people among whom we ought to do missionary work are men with whom I don't even come in contact. You see it is out of my line. However, if you wish I will take the list of the Century Club and go through it, marking off the names of those who ought to receive it. I got the Secretary to [?]. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Marshall Cushing, Gunton Institute, 41 Union Square, New York.[*129*] November 1, 1897. Captain W. W. Kimball, U.S.N., U.S.T.B. DUPONT, [Savannah, Georgia] My dear Captain Kimball: Many thanks for your letter. I have just sent up for Wainwright to go over that Havana defense business. I entirely agree with you, and disagree with Evans, that in the event of trouble we should [smother?], and not [attack?], Havana. If we blockade the ports of Cuba, and keep the passage clear for the transport ships, the army can speedily [reduce?] the island, especially as we could cut off the food supply; and meantime the Flying Squadron ought to keep the [?] at home until we are ready. I am very much interested in all you say about the the boats. You are quite right not to take needless chances, just exactly as you were right to take the chances when it was necessary. Now, about my going to Savannah. It will be a good deal more convenient for me to get down there some time in December. I don't want you to "scan" the work about Charleston at all. It will be particularly important for you to get the thorough knowledge you intend to about the waterways in the neighborhood. Even if you [?] down towards [?] when I get to Savannah. I can perfectly well stop at Savannah[*130*] 2 on the way home, after being on board your flotilla. I think I shall go down in my capacity of Assistant Secretary! With great regard, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt131 November 1, 1897. My dear Sir: I wish to thank you for your very courteous letter. I wish it were the good fortune of this Department often to encounter gentlemen as reasonable as yourself. It is a pleasure to do business with you. If at any time in this Koerner case, or in any other case, you wish information, I shall esteem it my honor if you will call in person at the Department; and I will lay every paper about any case before you, or if you wish to go down to Norfolk or to any other yard I shall be only too glad to direct that you yourself use the superior officers who are responsible for any discharge ad examine into the matter for yourself. I should really like to show you some of the cases that we have had up and upon which we have received severe criticism by those ignorant of the facts. With great regard, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Commander J. V. Davis, Thomas P. Davis Post, G. A. R., Alexandria, Va.November 3, 1897. George Bird Grinnell, Esq., 346 Broadway, New York. My dear Grinnell: I'll get that information from Harper Brothers at once, but I know it is not necessary. With all of the articles I send magazines I have it distinctly understood that the copyright lies in me, and that I can publish the articles thereafter, a and they cannot. Thus, in my "WINNING OF THE WEST," I published two chapters in Harpers' Magazine; but I never made any acknowledgment of this in the preface of my book, nor asked their permission. However, [*132*] I'll get the permission now. How soon do you think the volume will be out? Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt P. S. On second thoughts I won't write to Harper Brothers at all, because I now recollect that I made the stipulation that these articles should appear during the summer on the express ground that I was going to publish them in our volume of the Boone and Crockett Club this fall, so you needn't have any fear.November 3, 1897. Senator Timothy D. Sullivan, 37 East 4th Street, New York. My dear Senator: I not only wrote to Moss, Andrews and Smith, but saw Andrews, the only one of the three Commissioners with whom I am on at all close terms, in reference to both Farrell and Jerry. Farrell I find they did not think had shown himself as big a man in the place as I had hoped. Of course I had no facts to go on, and had to accept their judgment. Jerry I knew all about, and I put it as strongly as I possibly could; and Andrews [*133*] told me that he was one of the men for whom he should work hardest. I am more sorry than I can say that he failed in the civil service examination. If these examinations had been such as they were when I was in the Department he would have gone through all right, but this new change in the law of course works badly. Well, you were quite right about Van- Wyck, and I expected as much; but Low made a tremendous run. The republican machine showed great weakness. Faithfully yours, Theodore RooseveltNovember 3, 1897. Roundsman Jeremiah D. Sullivan, 205 Mulberry Street, New York. My dear Roundsman: Last Monday Commissioner Andrews, who has taken a great interest in your case, wrote me how greatly he regretted your failure to pass. Of course the whole trouble comes from this infernal change in the civil service laws. If the law had been left as it was when I was in office, where the merit mark counted for 65, you would have passed and been appointed. I believe in a proper civil service examination, and for entrance to the service it is the only way by which [*134*] a man can be well trusted; but in promotion overwhelming weight should be given to the man's record and capacity. Your letter pleased me very much. You were one of the men whom I got to feel that I could tie to. I knew you to be honest, manly and efficient. It was a pleasure to have been associated with you, and it is a matter of very real regret to me that you should not now be a sergeant. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt135 November 3, 1897. Union League Club, New York City. Please send me a statement of how much the telegrams and registered letters were. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 3, 1897. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 27 West 23rd Street, New York. Gentlemen: Please send me both Baker's Livy, and Shuckburgh's Polybius, to the Navy Department here. Yours truly, Theodore RooseveltNovember 3, 1897. Mr. A. T. Parker, Jersey Shore, Pa. Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you for calling my attention to the feat in question; although you should certainly have given me the name of the officer. There was no possible object in omitting it. I will explain also that I didn't pretend to put in one- hundredth part of the tales we could have put in. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt [*136*] November 3, 1897. Captain C. H. Davis, Naval Observatory. My dear Davis: Just a line to ask you and Mrs. Davis not to forget to have the two boys lunch with us at one o'clock on Sunday. Then we will have a scramble up Rock Creek; and I think I know one or two places where they and my elder children can come sufficiently near breaking their necks to insure their enjoyment, and yet not near enough to warrant over-anxiety on [from] the parental side. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt137 November 3, 1897. Dr. Alex. Lambert, 125 East 36th Street, New York City. Dear Alex: Could you breakfast at my sister's--689--on Friday the 12th instant. I want to see you to hear about those caribou, and this will be my only chance. If you accept will you gently hint to her that you have been asked? It will be a pleasant surprise. With love to Mrs. Lambert, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Nov. 3, 1897. C. W. Lewis, Esq., 110 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: I haven't got a copy of my Naval War at hand. The index was not prepared by me, and I think was done badly. Doubtless there is a confusion of references as you point out. Sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltNovember 3, 1897. Captain P. H. Cooper, U. S. N., Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. My dear Captain Cooper: You are very good, and I shall certainly accept. Would you wait a short time, however, before I decide what night to make the address? What I should like to do would be to come down on Friday night and stay over Saturday to witness one of your games of football. How about my coming down on say the day before they play the Squadron? Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt [*138*] November 3, 1897. Naval Constructor, F. T. Bowles, U.S.N., Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y. My dear Sir: Many thanks for your letter. The Bureau of Navigation has already changed that about Mr. Watt. I shall see you at dinner on Friday the 12th. I wish we could be put together, as there are many thinks I want to talk to you about. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt139 November 3, 1897. Hon. Thomas H. Ball, Huntsville, Texas. My dear Sir: I have known of Mr. Wilson very well. A number of Congressmen have written me about him, notably from Texas. I looked up the case and found that the Department had stopped for the present promoting these Mates. I asked that Mr. Wilson's name should be given full consideration when the next promotions were made. I don't know when this will be. The candidates are then examined competitively, the chief mark being given upon their records as established by the reports of their superior officers. There isn't any way I could get Mr. Wilson up unless these reports are first-class, and I earnestly hope they will be. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Assistant Secretary.[*140*] November 3, 1897. To the Head of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery: On Saturday next, at 10 o'clock, there will convene a board in reference to the personnel of the Navy. This board is assembled for the purpose of dealing with the engineer and line officers merely; but I should be pleased to have you present at the meeting, and to have you lay before the board anything in reference to your corps concerning which you think action should be taken; or, if you desire, state why you think your corps should be included in any reorganization. Yours truly, T. Roosevelt Assistant Secretary.[*141*] [*NAVY DEPARTMENT,*] [*WASHINGTON,*] Nov. 3, 1897. My dear Mr. Thrasher: It seems to me that interview of mine about the Canteen ought to come out pretty soon. If the Journal doesn't care to publish it, I should like to give it to some other Boston paper. At present, as the attacks are left unanswered, certain opponents of the scheme believe that it is still unsettled and try to bring pressure to bear and have the conclusion of the Department altered so that, on that account, it seems to me desirable that there should not be any unnecessary delay. I need hardly say that I know the delay is not of your making. It was a very great pleasure to have met you at Boston, and I am, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Max F. Thrasher, Care of the Boston Journal, 262 Washington Street, Boston, Mass.142 November 3, 1897. Mr. S. M. Ferris, Medora, N. K. Dear Sylvane: I am very much obliged to you for sending me the accounts. What an extraordinary thing it is that we should continue to brand calves, and yet that the steers do not show up as we had hoped. I don't understand it. I have sent on the accounts to Douglas Robinson with a request to have you forwarded the money. I need not say that I am more than satisfied with all you have done. By the way, I have sent out, or rather will send out this month, five books as Christmas presents for the ladies and children. If they don't come let me know. If possible I shall be out next June; it may be a little later. I have been an exceedingly busy man this summer. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt143 November 3, 1897. Prof. Ira N. Hollis, Harvard College. My dear Professor Hollis: The Secretary has nominated the following board: Assistant Secretary, president. Captain Sampson. Captain Evans. Captain Crowninshield. Lt. Com. Wainwright. Lieut. (jr, gr,) A. L. Key. Chief Engineer Melville. Chief Engineer Rae. P. A. Engineer McFarland. It will meet Saturday, and then from time to time until we get some bill in shape. Personally I want that bill to be as nearly as possible on the line of yours. I put[*144*] Melville on instead of Carney, whom you recommended, but if Melville can't serve I will put Carney in his place. (P.S. [?] has. I [?] for any reason). They both represent the same ideas. I am sorry to say that these ideas are fundamentally different from yours as set forth in the bill, and in the proposals at the end of your ATLANTIC MONTHLY article. At bottom they don't wish any change in the present system, except that they want to be given a title. As you know, this title business seems to me a little foolish. If "Engineer" is not regarded as an honorable title I should be only too glad to substitute any other for it, but the title substituted ought not to be the same as that of a man who does different work. I wish myselfthat even the Army and Navy titles were different, as they are in the higher ranks, and were in the lower until we unfortunately dropped the term "Midshipman." Can you come on here to consult with the board, and advise us generally? If so I earnesly hope you will. What time would be most convenient for you? By george. Harvard ought to beat Yale football this year! Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt146 November 4, 1897. Mr. James Jeffrey Roache, The Pilot Editorial Rooms, Boston, Mass. My dear Mr. Roache: It will give me the greatest pleasure to do all I can for Mr. Carmody, subject to a prior lien for the son of another naval officer to whom I am already pledged, and have been for some months. I entirely agree with what you say that these places should go to the sons of old naval officers, and especially to the son of a man with a record like that of Paymaster Carmody. The last successful applicant in whom I was interested is a son of Admiral Ammen. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt [*The President usually makes the appointments [in????] [co??el] & day [?] the [?]*]147 November 4, 1897. Mr. George H. Lyman, 89 State St., Boston, Mass. Dear George: I am very sorry to say that you have caught me on a matter of which I am entirely ignorant. I don't know anything about either duck or chicken shooting, except a little which I picked up incidentally in North Dakota, where everything is now frozen tight. It has been ten years since I even fired a shotgun. All of my shooting has been with the rifle just around my ranch, except when I have gone to the Rocky Mountains. I am awfully sorry to be of such small use. I agree with everything you say about New York. Platt's folly has been literally criminal; but then from his standpoint he much prefers to see the republican party divided unless he can get his own particular set of scoundrels in. I want to talk it all over with you the first chance I get. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltNovember 4, 1897. Mr. Thomas A. Janvier, 14 Winchester Road, South Hemstead, London, N.W. My dear Mr. Janvier: I really don't think you know how pleased I was to get a glimpse of your writing again. Mrs. Roosevelt and I have regretted very much of late years that you both seem to have separated from us, for you two people were among the few friends for whom we really cared a great deal. She is very well, and would send both of you her love did she know I was writing; and I shall take her home your [*148*] letter to read today. Of course I will get you that letter, unless the Secretary objects, and I can't conceive that he should. At any rate I will make a vigorous effort. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt P. S. I have found that the way to get what you desire is to do it through our Naval Attache, Lieut. J. C. Colwell. I have written to him enclosing the request from the Secretary of the Navy to Sir Evan Macgregor, K. C. B., asking that the permission you request be granted you. I have told Lieut. Colwell to communicate with you, but I think it would be well for you on your own hook to at once communicate with him at the Embassy.[*149*] Nov. 4, 1897 R. C. Ballard Thruston, Esq., Big Stone Gap Improvement Co., Louisville, KY My dear Sir: It is with the greatest pleasure that I find myself able to return to you the journal and letters that you so kindly loaned me. I deeply appreciate your courtesy in the matter, and I apologize for my delay. You must excuse it on the ground that I am a very, very busy man. It is a matter of the greatest regret to me that I didn't get hold of this journal before writing my fourth volume of the WINNING OF THE WEST. Again expressing to you my great obligations for your courtesy, I am, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*149*] Nov. 4, 1897. R. C. Ballard Thruston, Esq., Big Stone Gap Improvement Co., Louisville, Ky. My dear Sir: It is with the greatest pleasure that I find myself able to return to you the journal and letters that you so kindly loaned me. I deeply appreciate your courtesy in the matter, and I apologize for my delay. You must excuse it on the ground that I am a very, very busy man. It is a matter of the greatest regret to me that I didn't get hold of this journal before writing my fourth volume of the WINNING OF THE WEST. Again expressing to you my great obligations for your courtesy, I am, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*150*] November 4, 1897. My dear Captain Chadwick: Your letter was very welcome. I earnestly trust that Mrs. Chadwick's health will soon be restored. I only wish I yet knew whether the Secretary would, or would not favor the three battleships. I have made them my "delenda est Carthago" in speaking to him until I feel he fairly loathes to hear me utter the word. I was very much interested in your account of the draft in Spain. I haven't the slightest doubt that it is just as you say, namely, that the Jew money-lenders in Paris, plus one or two big commercial companies in Spain are trying to keep up the war. I more than agree with you as to the iniquity of our country allowing these people a hold on Cuban finances, but I don't believe that my words will be listened to. We ought to go to war with Spain, unless she [would] gets out peaceably, within the next month. Apparently we have saved Hanna. I hope we have beaten Gorman. The result in New York was precisely what we had every reason to expect. With great regard, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*151*] November 4, 1897. Dear Brander: I was very much pleased with your article, and I was glad of the company I was in. Perhaps the thing that pleased me most was the quotation with which you closed. Of course I knew it, but it has been a long time since I had seen it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Brander Matthews, Esq., 831 West End Ave., New York. November 4, 1897. Commodore H. L. Howison, U. S. N., Navy Yard, Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: I thank you very much for your letter; it was just what I wanted. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*152*] November 4, 1897 Dear Brander: I was very much pleased with your article, and I was glad of the company I was in. Perhaps the thing that pleased me most was the quotation with which you closed. Of course I knew it, but it has been a long time since I had seen it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Brander Matthews, Esq., 831 West E nd Ave., New York. November 4, 1897. Commodore H. L. Howison, U. S. N., Navy Yard, Boston, Mass. My dear Sir: I thank you very much for your letter; it was just what I wanted. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltNovember 4, 1897. To the Paymaster General: Would you kindly return to me with your comments the enclosed personal letter from Commodore Howison? Pray, treat this as private and unofficial. T. Roosevelt [*153*] November 4, 1897. Hon. Elias Goodman: New York City. My dear Mr. Goodman: At any rate you have been elected; that's one comfort. I can say quite con- scientiously that I know no man whom I met during the last three years in New- York who better deserved re-election than you did, and it is a comfort to see that the citizens have appreciated this fact at least. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*154*] November 4, 1897. W. Astor Chandler, Esq., Knickerbocker Club, New York. Dear Willie: Accept my heartiest congratulations on your election. I am afraid I am not a good enough partisan to allow my partisanship to interfere with personal friendship. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 4, 1897. Committee on Admissions, Union League Club, New York. Gentlemen: I have been acquainted with Mr. John Parson of Chicago, a member of the Board of Directors of the Union League Club of that city. I wish to vouch for him very heartily on political and social grounds as a member of the Club. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*155*] November 4, 1897. Mr. John Parson, Chicago, Ill. My dear Mr. Parson: I am sure it is needless for me to say that I will take great pleasure in writing on your behalf to the Union League Club. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*156*] November 4, 1897. Hon. H. C. Lodge, Nahant, Mass. Dear Cabot: If, as seems certain, Hanna is elected, and if, as seems probable, Gorman is defeated, it seems to me that we have won what it was most essential from the national standpoint to win this fall. That there should be some reaction was to be expected. Ohio and Maryland on the popular vote went as they did last fall, although of course by greatly reduced pluralities; but in proportion not much more reduced than in New Jersey and Massachusetts. In New York the conditions were singular. We should have seen a reduced majority anyhow; but New York would have been still very [?], say over 100,000 without doubt, if it had not been for the criminal folly with which Platt and the machine have been behaving for the last two years, and I [am] almost tempted to say for the last three years. The first year of victory stunned them so that they permitted the mass of decent [the] republican voters to have their say in a good many things. We got a first-class constitutional convention, a good man for Governor, and another good man for Mayor; and in the first and second Legislatures there were many representatives of decency; but after the first shock was over Platt followed his invariable principle of[*157*] 2 seeing that republican success meant the success only of men who were venal or weak enough to be his tools, and every possible step was taken to alienate the decent elements. New York will be all right again in 1890, even if Platt keeps in power, provided we have to fight Bryanism (although the hatred of the Platt machine inspired among decent people is so intense that the State will offer some pretty hard fighting under any conditions if it retains power). If Bryanism is thrown over by the democracy, New York will be more than doubtful, but in that case we should get the West; so that from the national standpoint I see nothing discouraging in what has happened. From the standpoint of civic decency there is of course now very much to be regretted. The figures make it clear that no possible alliance in which Platt was allowed any particular hand could have won. If a compromise ticket or any very agreeable to Pratt had been put up, it would have been beaten overwhelmingly, for Platt's machine people would have probably been disloyal to it, as they were in '95, while tens of thousands of gold democrats and independents, and even of republicans, would not have touched anything with which Platt was connected; for, as always happens in a fight like this, the hostility aroused finally passed the bounds of common sense. Platt could have saved his State ticket and gained twenty Assemblymen in Greater New York by [] directly, and without reservation, and without exacting stipulations of any kind, approving[*158*] 3 the Citizens' Union ticket. It was of course impossible to expect him to do this for if he had done it he would have undoubtedly received full recognition from Low in the improbable event of Low's being elected; and, as I said, he would without doubt have carried the republican judge on the State ticket, and have gained from fifteen to twenty Assemblymen. Half of the republicans in Greater New York voted for Low, and the Tracy republican vote came from democratic districts. The native American republicans were almost exclusively for Low. Tracy did not carry a single assembly district. Low carried 13. In my own district Low polled three times as many votes as Tracy, who did not poll in the district much more than half as many as Van Wyck; yet, by absolute shameless fraud, this is one of the districts where the organization does not allow a single delegate to the anti-machine people. I don't see much hope in the situation in New York. The Citizen's Union people are very foolish, and the unspeakable scoundrelism as well as folly of the machine has alienated decent republicans more deeply than you could imagine. As soon as I got back from my visit to Nahant I found that the tide among all decent republicans was setting very strongly in favor of Low against Tracy; and one of the most potent causes was the attitude of the SUN, which has been not merely mischievous, but, what is unusual with the SUN, wholly ineffective with regard to gaining its ends. Platt will doubtless keep159 4 the machine in his control, and unless he chooses to exercise some self-restraint we shall run serious risks of being beaten outright in New York until we again come to a national campaign where the national issues swamp the local. As it has turned out, the Citizens' Union were quite right in nominating Assemblymen; and in the three best republican districts in New York they carried their men through; while had they been out of the field the republican machine men would have unquestionably been beaten by the Tammany men, who were not one whit worse. The two republicans elected were candidates who had been endorsed by the Citizens' Union. There! All this you either will not care for or will know as well as I do; but I have to blow off steam. My two speeches in Ohio were very successful. Give my best love to Nannie. Yours ever, Theodore Roosevelt160 TELEGRAM Navy Department. Washington, D.C. Nov. 5, 1897 Captain P. H. Cooper, Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. Could I come twentieth? May have engagement on the twenty-sixth. Very sorry. Theodore Roosevelt161 November 5, 1897. Edward G. Buckland, Esq., New Haven, Conn. My dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for your courtesy, and I wish I could accept, particularly as I would like to meet socially not only you, but the other officers of the battalion of Naval Militia which is reflecting such credit upon Connecticut, so that I might talk over various matters with you, but it simply isn't possible for me to do as I would like. My hands are more full than you can imagine; and the only invitation I have accepted for this month is one to attend the banquet of the Naval Architects' Society, doing so for official reasons. I am very sorry. I thank you most heartily for your kindness. I hope you can get on here to Washington sometime. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt162 November 5, 1897. Curtis Guild, Jr., Esq., 262 Washington St., Boston. Dear Curtis: Your letter amused me greatly, and it take [sic] a good deal to amuse me nowadays. Oh, what fools the reformers are everywhere, and what fools and knaves combined the machine men are in New York! I wish I did slander Garland; but unfortunately I don't. The good Brander Matthews is a trump, and I am very fond of him; but he gets away off on all kinds of matters. He is one of the men who mixes with "our best circles," where they look down on patriotism, and the plain everyday duties of decent American citizens; and in trying to justify himself for his own rightmindedness he now and then appeals to the false gods of the men by whom he is surrounded. Now about the navy yard. No man can get on out of his turn. Not one man has been put on out of his place, or because of any political pull since I have been in office. If any one of your informants thinks this, let him through you, and without giving his own name, furnish me the name of any man whom he thinks has been discriminated for or against, and I will not only have the matter looked up, but I will get you to go over and verify the facts yourself. Isn't this about square? I wish I could have had a little glimpse of you as well as of your brother, but I shall hope to see you in Washington anyhow. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt163 November 5, 1897. Mr. Albert C. Spann, 298 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y. My dear Sir: I did not write any magazine article of the kind you refer to. Possibly you mean my address at the War College, or you may refer to one or two of my pieces on Americanism. If so, they are contained in a little volume of essays which I have just published, called "American Ideals," published by P.T. Putnam's Sons, 27 W. 23d St., New York. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 5, 1897. S. S. McClure, Esq., 141 E. 25th Street, New York. My dear Mr. McClure: I would like to write that article but I simply haven't got the time now. I have engagements ahead for more than I can go into even as it is. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt164 Nov. 5, 1897. Rev. Kemper Bocoek, Grace Church Rectory, Burlington, Md. My dear Sir: There is no need of your recalling yourself to me. Of course I remember you very well. I wish I could accept, but it simply is impossible. I have more engagements to write now than I can well keep, and I cannot undertake anything new. I am asked to write scores of places for the very best objects; and I wish it were in my power to accept, but it is not. With regret, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Nov. 5, 1897. President George H. Ford, Chamber of Commerce, New Haven, Conn. My dear Sir: It is with the greatest regret that I am obliged to refuse your very courteous invitation for November 17th. If it were possible for me to come I most certainly would, but it simply is out of the question. I cannot leave Washington at that time. With very deep regret, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt165 November 5, 1897. President J. G. Halaplian, Naval Academy of the Great Lakes, Toledo, Ohio. My dear Sir: I have just received your very interesting letter. I wish I could be out at the opening of the Academy, but I am sorry to say that it will be an impossibility. I have had to refuse request after request of a similar nature. I find that I am simply unable to accept one-twentieth of the invitations I receive, and even of those I am most interested in. I have brought your letter to the Secretary calling his personal attention to it. Whatever the Department properly can do it of course will do, but I am not certain of our powers in the way of aiding any private institution. I will have to look the matter up first. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*166*] Nov. 6, 1897. A. P. Montant, Esq., P. O. Box, 2271, New York. Dear Gussy: Of course I will do my best about the ST. MARY'S, as it isn't necessary for me to say. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt P. S. Orders have this day been issued to the Bureau of Construction and Repair to have the necessary examination made, as to what repairs are necessary to make the ST. MARY'S seaworthy; it was [canceled?] in [?] October 6, 1897. Roundsman Frank Rathgeber, Police Headquarters, New York. My dear Roundsman: Will you send me the address of the firm where I used to get my razors sharpened. I want to get them sharpened again. Well, I am sorry that Low isn't elected, for it would have meant the continuance in power of our friends in the Police Force. You'll be all right; but I suppose Miss Kelly will not be kept much after the first of the year as private secretary. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt167 My dear Mr. Bowles: I bought your letter in to the Secretary at once, advising that your recommendations be followed out. The Secretary hesitated a little, and said he should want to look into the thing pretty carefully before committing himself. I have left it with him. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Naval Constructor Francis T. Bowles, U.S.N., Navy Yard, New York. November 6, 1897. Mr. George Bird Grinnell, 346 Broadway, New York. My dear Grinnell: Don't bother about letting me know anything more about the book. I will receive a copy when it comes out, and that's enough. If not before, then at the time of our annual dinner, I would like to go over in full with you about the Indians. I am very sorry to hear what you say. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt168 November 6, 1897. Lieut. J. C. Freemont, U. S. N., U. S. T. B. PORTER, Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va. My dear Captain Freemont: I saw the Judge Advocate General, and I saw the Secretary, about the court- martial on the PORTER. I enclose you the Judge Advocate General's memorandum which he sent me. I have no power in the matter, excepting to advise, and this I have done very earnestly. I do hope the boat can speedily be sent on. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt169 November 6, 1897. Prof. Ira N. Hollis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. My dear Mr. Hollis: I don't know whether it will be necessary to have you come on here or not. At present it seems as though I could get the most progressive line and engineer officers to agree on a bill; and, if so, even though it is not quite to my liking, I shall back it. The engineer officers here are really opposed to your bill. The older ones don't want anything done except that they be given line titles. The younger ones, however, want to see an amalgamation of the two bodies. The best sentiment of the line officers is in this direction also. If we come to a halt I will let you know at once. I'll get your bill on time or near it as possible, if I can. In great haste, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*170*] November 5, 1897a My dear Senator Foraker: Mr. Procter just showed me your letter to him about Hawaii; and I can't deny myself the pleasure of writing to you to say how glad I am you wrote him. It was a very kind and generous thing to do; and I don't think I have ever seen a man more pleased than Procter was. It seemed to me his article was one of the best there has been on the subject. In fact he is a jingo! and it is rather a relief to see a man who can't be touched by the timid people of wealth, or the unscrupulous ones either. I am very anxious to see you and have a chat over foreign affairs. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Joseph B. Foraker, United States Senate.171 November 6, 1897. Madison Grant, Esq., 11 Wall Street, New York. My dear Grant: You are entirely right to write me about the Fish Commission, but I am afraid I won't be able to be of the least use. Here in Washington a man is confined pretty strictly to his own business. The Fish Commission does not, and indeed ought not to, interfere in naval affairs; and the President will be apt to resent as an intrusion any unasked advice of mine about the Fish Commission. If I get any chance I will speak to him, but if I can get the chance I don't know. Indeed the vote [made] for Low was splendid, and, though bitterly disappointed, yet I had not expected anything else than the election of Van Wyck. What become of Selous? Is he back in England? I haven't heard from him. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*172*] November 6, 1897. To the Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair: On Monday next, at 10 o'clock, there will convene a board in reference to the personnel of the Navy. This board is assembled for the purpose of dealing with the engineer and line officers merely; but I should be pleased to have you present at the meeting, and to have you before the Board anything in reference to your corps concerning which you think action should be taken; or, if you desire, state why you think your corps should be included in any reorganization. Yours truly, T. Roosevelt Assistant Secretary.173 November 6, 1897. To the Paymaster General: On Monday next, at 10 o'clock, there will convene a board in reference to the personnel of the Navy. This board is assembled for the purpose of dealing with the engineer and line officers merely: but I should be pleased to have you present at the meeting, and to have you lay before the board anything in reference to your corps concerning which you think action should be taken; or, if you desire, state why you think your corps should be included in any reorganization. Yours truly, T. Roosevelt Assistant Secretary.174 November 8, 1897. My dear Procter: I am very sorry you couldn't come. I asked Captain Evans in your place. Now, old man, I am going to ask you to let me know by tomorrow morning, before noon, whether or not you are coming to dinner on Wednesday evening. You see I'll have to prepare, and I must know who are coming. If you can't come don't mind, for I shall simply defer it, so far as you are concerned, until a little later. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John R. Procter, Civil Service Commission. November 5,1897. The Warwick Bicycle Co., Washington. Gentlemen: You are now repairing Mr. John R. Procter's bicycle for an accident that happened last Saturday. Will you please send the bill to me? Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt172 November 8, 1897 Mr. G.H. Putnam, 27 West 23d Street, New York Dear Haven: No- I Have already written you my opossum article, under the head of Raccoon. I think it was called "Raccoon and Opossum Hunting." I quite agree with all you say. Faithfully yours. Theodore Roosevelt November 8, 1897 Mr. James S. Pennefather, Riggs House, Washington My dear Sir: If you will come up here at half past nine tomorrow (Wednesday), I will take pleasure in bringing you to the head of the proper bureau. It would be of no use for me myself to look at your invention, because I am not an inventor; but the proper bureau head shall see it. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt 176 November 8, 1897 George S. Dorwin, 32 Nassau Street, New York My dear Sir: I should like to be present at that test, but I fear it will be out of the question. You have no idea how many requests of this character I receive. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 8, 1897 Henry H. Boyce, Esq. 29 W. 26th Street, New York My dear Sir: Of course I am very gad to hear from you. I fear, however, that the President will not let the Assistant Secretary of the Navy interfere in matters coming under the head of the Department of State. Either some outside man of influence should write him, or some man in the Department of State itself. One department is never consulted in the affairs of another. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt 177 November 8, 1897. Mr. James B. Reynolds, 39 East 23rd Street, New York. My dear Mr. Reynolds: I don't know whether I will be able to be of service or not, but I shall certainly try to be. I shall put myself in communication with Secretary Gage at once, and I hope Mr. McSweeney can be kept. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 8, 1897. Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury. My dear Mr. Gage: The enclosed letter explains itself. I believe it would be a very good move to keep Mr. McSweeney, if possible. We ought to show the gold democrats who stood with us last year all the appreciation we can; and there was an enormous vote for Low which should be taken into account. I would not venture to advise in this matter beyond saying that I earnestly hope you will take it into consideration and do what your own best judgment dictates. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt (Enclosure)178 November 8, 1897. Captain Frederick C. Miller, Care The Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del. My dear Sir: Most certainly if there is any trouble I shall remember your kind offer; I believe it would be of great use. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 8, 1897. My dear Senator: I take pleasure in sending you by this mail the pamphlets requested. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. P. M. Cockrell, United States Senate.179 November 8, 1897. Hon. H. C. Loge, Nahant, Mass. Dear Cabot: I was awfully glad to get your letter. I enclose you a letter from an extremely good fellow in New York--one of the only two aldermen we elected. He is a regular republican, and was elected over the Citizens' Union as well as over the Tammany candidates. It was one of the cases where I, and other decent men, felt the Citizens' Union had no business not to endorse, and we helped him all we could. He had advocated the nomination of Low by the republicans, but stood by the organization when the split came. I send you his letter just so that you may see how the decent men in the organization feel over the matter. Did I tell that Joe Murray finally came out for Low, as indeed did every other machine man in my district with whom I have ever acted in the past. It is a horrid muddle and I am very glad you kept out of it. Of course our hindsight is better than our foresight, but as things have turned out it is a real misfortune that Bliss should have have [sic] got mixed up in it, and very lucky that I should have so ostentatiously kept aloof. Of course, as always happens,[*180*] Mr. Lodge-2. the wrath that was visited on Platt, and therefore on the Republican Party, represented the stored up revolt against innumerable injuries and insults, and not merely anger at the misdeeds of this year. The Presidential election drowned everything last year; but in 1897 the men felt that there was really no one over-mastering issue, and the vengeful memories of a hundred insolent injuries were uppermost. One feature which I very sincerely lament is that the anger at the machine, which the machine has so richly deserved, is so great that there will be, even among rational and [] practical men, a strong tendency to pardon even the worst vagaries of the so-called independents; and this in turn means trouble of another kind in the future. I am very anxious to see you and to talk over the thing at length. Outside of New York, as you say, I regard the result as on the whole encouraging, and if Van Wyck puts into office the same old gang, it will in its turn [his term] produce a reaction which cannot but help us. But oh, how I wish I thought Platt would be willing to learn even a little. It is worse than useless to try to regain power by driving out of the party, or keeping out of the party, that half of the party, including the great bulk of its intelligence and morality, which is against Platt, and which in New York supported Low. Ever yours, Theodore Roosevelt Your volume of essays drew blood and tears from the Evening Post- to the extent of a column and a half.181 November 8, 1897. Hon. George K. Nash, 40 South Third St., Columbus, Ohio My dear Sir: I am very much obliged for the check. I feel some reluctance in taking it, for I had not expected to have my expenses paid; and the matter came up simply through Mr. Sharp happening to see me purchase my ticket. It was the greatest pleasure to take part in the campaign, and I cannot say how pleased I am that we won. The election of Mr. Hanna and the defeat of Mr. Gorman are two big offsets to the New York result. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt182 November 8, 1897. William S. Booth, Esq., The Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Avenue, New York. My dear Sir: I wouldn't write a review at present unless it was something with which I was familiar; but I will review "The Old Santa Fe trail", with just two stipulations. The first is that in addition to the forty dollars you send me a copy of the book when it is out, besides the proofs; and the second is that before you send it on you realize that of course I must review it exactly as I find it. You needn't take the review if you don't wish, but as I know nothing of the book I mustn't be expected to make a mere eulogy of it. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt183 November 8, 1897. Arthur Cloud, Esq., and Dennie Myers, Esq., S.O. Home, Davenport, Iowa. Gentlemen: I am very glad to hear, but I am very sorry to say that I can't give you the information you wish. However, I think I can suggest a man through whom you can get it, and he would, I know, be very glad to hear from you, especially if you mentioned that I told you to write him. He is Mr. Jacob A. Riis, Care New York SUN Office, 301 Mulberry Street, New York. He knows more about these schools than any one I know, and would doubtless know about the one to which you refer. Wishing you every success, I am, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt184 November 9, 1897. My dear Mr. Evans: This will be handed to you by Mr. Holmes E. Offley, who has been certified by the Civil Service Commission for reinstatement in your Department. He was formerly Chief Clerk of the Navy Department, and is now anxious to come back here; but before being eligible he must be appointed to some position in the Pension Bureau. I have told Mr. Offley that I cannot promise him the next vacancy (for this this isn't the Secretary) but it is my purpose to do all possible for him here, so his temporary employment in the Pension Office may go on for some little time before we can find an opening for him in this Department. I shall be greatly obliged if you can do anything for Mr. Offley, consistently with your obligations in your own department. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. H. Clay Evans, Commissioner of Pensions.185 November 8, 1897. I have today placed on file in the Department the following letter: "Hon. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy. "Sir: "As the term of service of Lieutenant-Commander Richard Wainwright as Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence is now drawing to a close, and as that office has been brought into particularly close relations with the office of the Assistant Secretary during the past six months, including my term of service as Assistant Secretary, I desire to place on file the following statement: "Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, while in charge of the Office of Naval Intelligence, has established a standard of faithful and intelligent work which I can say quite sincerely I do not believe can be surpassed by any incumbent who may hereafter hold the position, no matter what his zeal and ability. It would be impossible to overestimate the efficiency with which Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright has performed his duties. All of the heads of bureaus and heads of offices in the Department should be more than merely heads of such bureaus or offices; they should form in a sense a cabinet or board of admiralty for the assistance and advice of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary, both of whom are necessarily civilians. Not only has Mr. Wainwright fulfilled all the duties proper to his position in a way that left nothing to be required of the most exacting, but he has also shown a grasp and borad knowledge of the needs of the service and of the country, affecting the larger policies of the Department. "Very respectfully, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT, "Assistant Secretary." The above expresses my sense of our official relations. As for our personal relations, they have been such that I can only say that nothing causes me such keen regret as your leaving.186 2 With earnest hopes for your happiness, and that your professional advancement may be as rapid as it deserves to be, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieutenant-Commander Richard Wainwright, U.S.N., Navy Department, Washington.187 November 9, 1897. Dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt directs me to say that as he has not been in Philadelphia this fall, the enclosed bill must have been contracted by some one else. Very truly yours, Wm. S. Howell Private Secretary. Mr. George C. Boldt, Proprietor, THE BELLEVUE, Cor. Broad and Walnut Sts., Philadelphia. (Enclosure)188 November 9, 1897. My dear Mr. Botkins: I am awfully sorry you cannot dine with me tomorrow. The Naval Intelligence Report was sent you yesterday, with some other publications. I hope they are what you wanted. Let me know if the are not. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. P. Botkins, The SHOREMAN, Washington. November 9, 1897. My dear Sir: That is an exceeding interesting account of James Lawrence Parker. I wish that we had in proper form the lives of such naval officers as he was. It is, as you say, indeed a remarkable record, and one of which every man bearing his name should be proud, no less than every officer wearing the uniform of the United States. It is a great pity that we have not a larger number of lives of our naval heroes. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. A. T. Parker, Box 200, Jersey Shore, Pa.189 November 9, 1897. My dear Senator Quay: I shall bring your letter personally to the attention of the Secretary, and shall on my own hook have an investigation started, and I will let you know the results at once. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. M. S. Quay, United States Senate. November 9, 1897. Dear Mr. McClure: I am extremely sorry, but it will not be possible for me to promise to write that, with the engagements I have already made. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. S. S. McClure, 141 East 25th Street, New York.190 November 8, 1897. Henry White, Esq., American Embassy, London, England. My dear White: We are settled in our home here very comfortably. It is on N Street, just opposite the British Legation, and among the two or three photographs in our drawing room is that exceedingly pretty one of Mrs. White and Miss Muriel. Yesterday I took the children for a tramp up Rock Creek, and we were saying how we wished you and yours were along. Well, the result in New York has been an overwhelming disaster, partly because the reform or Citizens' Union element behaved with much perversity, but infinitely more because the Platt machine people were equally stupid, and a great deal more immoral. It is a great disaster to the city; and from a national standpoint, though less serious, it is a disaster also. Aside from this the elections were unusually favorable to the administration for an off year. The election of Hanna, which now seems assured, although by an unpleasantly narrow majority, was very important,191 2 and the defeat of Gorman, with the consequent gain of a republican sound money senator from Maryland, was perhaps even more desirable from the national standpoint. I have very greatly enjoyed this work and continue on as good a footing as ever with my chief. He is not quite as radical as I am in favor of the Navy, but he will definitely take the position that we should go on with its upbuilding, even in battleships and torpedo-boats, but especially as regards the dry docks and the number of men needed to man the ships we have, and the projectiles and powder, of which we also stand most urgently in need. How very well John Hay is handling himself! Heavens, what an agreeable contrast it is to the conduct of his predecessor! He seems to have struck precisely the right middle between effusiveness and self-assertion. In other words he has behaved as was to be expected; as a gentleman and an American representative should behave. Lodge is well, of which I am very glad, as last spring I was really alarmed by the way his work told to him. I know of no man who does so much work. Have you seen his little volume of Essays? They are really worth reading. Nothing but my friendship for you prevents my sending you a volume by myself, recently published. Give my warm regards to Mrs. White, and remember me to Miss Muriel as well as to Jack. I wish there were some192 3 chance of seeing you all; and the fact that you and the Hays are over in London really makes me wish that I could go over there. I don't think I shall be able to put the wish into execution, however. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt193 November 10, 1897. Messrs. Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware. Gentlemen: On Saturday, at about quarter past one, I shall stop at your works. I should much like to look over them, in view of our need for torpedo boats, etc. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 10, 1897. Captain J. C. Fremont, U.S.N., U.S.T.B. PORTER, Norfolk, Va. My dear Captain Fremont: I am very much pleased that we were able to start things along. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt194 November 10, 1897. Brooks Brothers, Broadway, New York. Gentlemen: Please make me a light overcoat out of the enclosed. I presume it will not be necessary for me to try it on or be measured for it, but if you send me a line at once to 689 Madison Avenue, where I shall be on Friday, I can come in on Friday morning. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt November 10, 1897. My dear Sir: I return the proof. I am being rushed almost to death at present, or I would have made considerable additions and other alterations. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Ryerson Ritchie, Esq., Secretary, Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland.195 November 10, 1897. My dear Mr. Roche: I am very much obliged to you for that clipping. I had not seen it, and really it entertained me a great deal, because the writer must be some one who knew me out in the West; otherwise he would not have gotten the name of the horse, Ben Butler, right, for instance. Again thanking you, I am Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt James Jeffrey Roche, Esq., Editor Pilot, Boston, Massachusetts. November 10, 1897. Hon. J. L. Davenport, Acting Commissioner of Pensions. My dear Sir: You are extremely kind, and I deeply appreciate your courtesy. As I wrote in my letter the appointments lie with the Secretary. What I can do to get Mr. Offley transferred to a position here I certainly will so just as soon as a vacancy arises. Again thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt196 November 10, 1897. William B. Sharp, Esq., San Francisco, Cal. My dear Sir: I am very glad to hear from you, but I am sorry to say that that is a matter in which I could not interfere. It would not do for me to go out of my own Department. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 10, 1897. Henry Johnson, Esq., Anacostia, D. C. My dear Mr. Johnson: I take pleasure in enclosing this letter. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Enclosure.197 November 10, 1897. William Carey, Esq., 33 East 17th Street, New York. My dear Carey: I don't know anything about the pension law in such cases, but I will find out at once and let you know. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 10, 1897. Hon. Garrett A. Hobart, Paterson, N. J. My dear Mr. Hobart: Those appointments lie purely in the hands of the President. He never consults the Assistant Secretary, and I am by no means sure he will even consult the Secretary about it. Now, I believe the President will pay a great deal more heed to you than to me in such a case, and so I return both letters. If, however, you desire me to submit it to the President of course I will do so with the utmost pleasure, & back it too. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt198 November 10, 1897. L. Bedell Grant, Esq., 99 Nassau Street, New York. My dear Sir: I have just received your letter, and I really hardly know how to answer it, because I should like so much to help you, and yet there is absolutely no way in which I can. Neither the President nor the Secretary of State would tolerate a man in another department --and especially a subordinate in another department--interfering in such appointments. The Assistant Secretary of State would never come to the Secretary of the Navy about appointments or promotions, and the Secretary of State would resent my going to him. I very earnestly advise you to get Mr. Crosby to write to Senator Platt, and also to the Department of State, on your behalf. I believe that Mr. Crosby is on good terms with Senator Platt. I wish I could say something more definite in the matter. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt199 November 10, 1897. My dear Mr. Page: I was very much put out to find you gone, but when the Secretary sends for me I have no alternative but to go; and just at present I am as busy as anyone well can be. I am very pleased that you should have see & liked my little book of Essays; and by the way, if I get time I should like to write for the ATLANTIC MONTHLY a historical article on the Mongol Terror, the domination by the Tartar tribes over half of Europe during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. It is curious how little people know about it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Walter H. Page, Esq., The Atlantic Monthly, Boston, Mass.199 November 10, 1897. My dear Mr. Page: I was very much put out to find you gone, but when the Secretary sends for me I have no alternative but to go; and just at present I am as busy as anyone well can be. I am very pleased that you should have see & liked my little book of Essays; and by the way, if I get time I should like to write for the ATLANTIC MONTHLY a historical article on the Mongol Terror, the domination by the Tartar tribes over half of Europe during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries. It is curious how little people know about it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Walter H. Page, Esq., The Atlantic Monthly, Boston, Mass.200 November 10, 1897. My dear Commissioner Ross: I don't ordinarily endorse people for office, but I break through my rule in endorsing Mr. Henry Johnson, who is an applicant for employment under you. He is a man in whom Senator, Lodge, Mr. Henry Adams and myself have been very much interested; and as he lost his place six months ago, purely because it was desired to substitute for him another man who had a greater political pull--and this while Mr. Johnson himself was a republican. He is a very faithful and able man, and I earnestly hope you will be able to give him some appointment. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John R. Ross, Commissioner of the D. C.[*201*] November 10, 1897. P. T. Sherman, Esq., 59 Wall Street, New York. My dear Mr. Sherman: I am very sorry to say that there is nothing whatever I can do. If it were the Navy the President might perhaps listen to me; but he will not listen to me about the Army. What you say of Mr. Hunt would make me work hard for him if it were in my power to do so, but of course we have no [colored?] crews in the Navy. By the way, will you tell me specifically the result as regards yourself? The papers had such widely conflicting accounts that I could not get at the truth. Very sincerely yours, Theodore RooseveltNovember 10, 1897. Judge Wiliard Bartlett, Supreme Court, Brooklyn, N.Y. My dear Judge Bartlett: I very much wish it were in my power to accept, but just at present I dare not make another engagement. I have had to refuse no less than five requests for these New England dinners (pretty good for a Dutchman, isn't it?) and I would rather accept this request than any other of the kind that I have yet had; but I don't quite dare to, and if I have to answer how I will have to decline. I do very much wish to speak to a Greater New York audience, to show that I have not lost my interest in my city; but until I find a little just how the work here develops about the opening of Congress, I dare not make a hard and fast engagement. With great regard, and much regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*204*] November 10, 1897. My dear Davis: As we asked you to go to the theatre with us, and asked Betty to go without us to the matinee on Saturday, it seems to me a little bit rough to make you pay. If I remember aright, when you took us to the theatre two or three months ago we greedily and thankfully accepted, and did not make the slightest effort to reimburse you! [?], went along [?] [?] and [?] [?] [?] [?] [?], so or [?] [?] [?] [?]. I thought it great fun Monday night, and I noticed that you and Mrs. Davis enjoyed it exactly as did Mrs. Roosevelt and I; but of all our party the one who was really in the seventh heaven was Ted. Tell Henry and Daniel I will get them to repeat the experiment of that walk as soon as possible. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C. H. Davis, U. S. N., Naval Observatory, City. Enc.[*205*] November 10, 1897. William S. Booth, Esq., The Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Avenue, New York. My dear Sir: To my regret I feel I ought to send you back the proofs, which I accordingly do. There is much in the book which is admirable, and if it consisted of the reminiscences of the writer and of stories which he deemed well authenticated, it would be just what we wish; but at present it is too much of a combination of what he himself has seen and of the wild stories with which every man on the frontier is familiar. Very naturally, the old fellow hasn't the knowledge how to verify stories, or what stories need verification; and while this leaves a great deal of the book which is really valuable, and while it does not in the least interfere with the popular interest of the book--and indeed rather adds to it--it would yet make it necessary for me to pass certain criticisms and make certain reservations which I would not be willing to do for fear of hurting the old fellows feelings. So I send you back the manuscript with great regret. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*206*] November 10, 1897. Mr. Jacob A. Riis, 301 Mulberry Street, New York. My dear Mr. Riis: I reënclose your boy's letter. It is delightful. Oh, how many of those scenes I have taken part in myself! It seems to me that not only has he got journalistic capacity, but he has also inherited something of his father's talent for describing things as they are. I don't know, of course, how far he will take to literary work; but he has it in him to write of the wilder, freer and yet poorer West as you did of the East and West Sides of New York. What you told me about Hewitt amused me more than it irritated me. It was perfectly characteristic. He is exceedingly jealous, and he and his friends will undoubtedly desire that you should do all the work, and that then Hewitt should calmly step in and appropriate the entire credit. He is one of the most untruthful old fellows I ever met. I must tell you some of the experiences I have had with him when we meet. Unquestionably there is a great deal of Pharisaism with us in the East, and especially with those who go to make up our own set--the set that supported Low. We mustn't blink it, and yet we mustn't forget that in spite of it good work can often be gotten out of these same Pharisees.[*206*] West Sides of New York. What you told me about Hewitt amused me more than it irritated me. It was perfectly characteristic. He is exceedingly jealous, and he and his friends will undoubtedly desire that you should do all the work, and that then Hewitt should calmly step in and appropriate the entire credit. He is one of the most untruthful old fellows I ever met. I must tell you some of the experiences I have had with him when we meet. Unquestionably there is a great deal of Pharisaism with us in the East, and especially with those who go to make up our own set--the set that supported Low. We mustn't blink it, and yet we mustn't forget that in spite of it good work can often be gotten out of these same Pharisees. November 10, 1897. Mr. Jacob A. Riis, 301 Mulberry Street, New York. My dear Mr. Riis: I reenclose your boy's letter. It is delightful. Oh, how many of those scenes I have taken part in myself! It seems to me that not only has he got journalistic capacity, but he has also inherited something of his father's talent for describing things as they are. I don't know, of course, how far he will take to literary work; but he has it in him to write of the wilder, freer and yet poorer West as you did of the East and207 Remember to let me know in advance before you come to Washington. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt (Enclosure)[*208*] November 11, 1897. My dear Senator Quay: On looking up that Bain matter I find that I had already written to you about it on September 16th. I am very sorry to say that I fear we wouldn't have any power to do anything for Mr. Bain. What he wishes is to be allowed now to accept an appointment which he was offered nearly a year and a half ago. He says he didn't get the notification. It appears, however, that it was sent him, and he should have gotten it. Probably he had changed his address without notifying the Board. Or he may not then have intended to accept. The postal authorities hardly ever make any mistakes in a matter of this kind; and by a laborious investigation we found that there was every reason to believe the Board had done its full duty in sending out the notifications. To appoint Mr. Bain now would open an endless vista of similar appointments, and could not be done without changing our rules, and probably not without the approval of the Civil Service Commission. It is the kind of case that not infrequently comes up. The man changes his address or excercies no care about his mail, or does something of the kind, and in consequence is not notified of his appointment; or [loan] else, what is more frequently the case, he is notified and thinks he won't accept, but afterwards alters his mind and then insists that he never was notified. To adopt any other course than the one we[*209*] 2 now pursue would cause very great confusion. I am awfully sorry. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. M. S. Quay, United States Senate.[*210*] November 11, 1897. My dear Sir: I at once made inquiry about the LANCASTER, to see if she could be obtained for the Second Naval Battalion; but I find that the Bureau of Navigation desires that the ship be kept for naval use, and has already issued orders accordingly. I am very sorry. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Thomas C. Platt, United States Senate. November 11, 1897. Dear Dick: You are very good to have sent me that letter, especially in view of your own beliefs; but I am happy to say I already know about Mr. Morgan's yacht, and also about the gun circles on those Canadian steamers. I return the letter to you. This does not lessen, however, my appreciation of your thoughtfulness in sending it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt R.W.G. Welling, Esq., 116 South Clinton Street, Chicago. (Enclosure)[*211*] November 11, 1897. My dear Sir: It would give me pleasure to do as you wish, but here in Washington the custom is imperative that each man must deal only with his own Department. The Supervising Architect would no more wish the Navy Department to interfere with him than we would wish him to interfere with us. I am very sorry that I cannot be of assistance to you. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. John Acton, 79 Washington Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Encl.) November 11, 1897. Rowland Ward, Limited, THE JUNGLE, 166 Piccadilly, London. Dear Sir: I enclose an order form for Mr. Lydekker's Deer of all Lands. Please let me know when I am to pay my subscription. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt 212 November 11, 1897. My dear Colonel Heywood: Will you give me the facts as to the pay of the members of the Marine Band, and as to about how much they make by outside work? I am inclined to think, after considering the matter carefully, that these protests of the labor unions cannot properly be considered. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Colonel Charles Heywood, U.S.M.C., Marine Barracks, Washington. P.S. Mr. Richards has just been in about that November 11, 1897. My dear President Eliot: The Secretary has just shown me your letter about the Cambridge Postoffice. It is irritating that there should be any necessity for protesting against so foolish and defenseless a change. But as there is, I will call on the Postmaster General at once, and protest as strongly as I know how in the matter, and Secretary Long will also write him. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt President Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.[*212*] November 11, 1897. My dear Colonel Heywood: Will you give me the facts as to the pay of the members of the Marine Band, and as to about how much they make by outside work? I am inclined to think, after considering the matter carefully, that these protests of the labor unions cannot properly be considered. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Colonel Charles Heywood, U.S.M.C., Marine Barracks, Washington. P.S. Mr. Richards has just been in about that November 11, 1897. My dear President Eliot: The Secretary has just shown me your letter about the Cambridge Postoffice. It is irritating that there should be any necessity [of] for protesting against so foolish and defenseless a change. But as there is, I will call on the Postmaster General at once, and protest as strongly as I know how in the matter, and Secretary Long will also write him. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt President Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.212/A 2 detail of his brother. He seemed to think that perhaps his brother could be kept upon the YANTIC and then given leave until April, when, according to what Major Reid had told him, he could be sent here. Will you please come up on Monday, at 11 o'clock, and let me know just how these details are made--whether in pursuance of any system or arbitrarily?[*213*] November 11, 1897. My dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for your kindness in thinking of me. I should be only too glad if I could accept, but unfortunately it is out of the question. I have more on my hands now than I can well attend to, and it is impossible for me to make another address beyond those I am already pledged to. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Col. H. P. Bope, Hdqtrs. Third Regiment, Boys' Brigade, Pittsburgh, Pa. November 11, 1897. Hon. W. A. Chandler, Knickerbocker Club, New York. Dear Willie: A friend of mine, and a great friend of von Gotzen's, Baron von Herman of the German Embassy here, is going over to New York for the horse show week. He is a very good fellow, and I wonder if you would be willing to put him up in the Knickerbocker and Rackett Clubs. He is quite an athlete. His address will be at the Cambridge. By the way, I hope you got my line of congratulations. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*214*] November 11, 1897. President Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. My dear President Elliot: Of course I will deliver that lecture. I have declined so far every request to speak this winter, but when a request comes form Harvard that's a different matter, and I will most gladly accept. About what time do you think you would like me to come? Couldn't I combine it with a meeting of the overseers? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 11, 1897. Sen. Henry H. Boyce, 29 West 26th Street, New York. My dear Gen. Boyce: I will at once forward your letter to Mr. Day, and I earnestly hope he will do as you suggest. I am very glad to have you say what you do about the Navy. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt215 November 11, 1897. My dear Remington: No, that was not too much. Marshall's History is a rare book. It was first published in 1812, but the second edition is much fuller. Marshall is the only one of those old State historians who writes at all interestingly. You will, however, find many accounts of the early Indian fighting in Heywood's History of Tennessee, published about the same time. If you haven't got it, or can't get it, next summer I will send you on my copy--which is an instance of my trusting nature. If you happen to come across my volumes called "The Winning of the West," you will find a good many descriptions of the early Indian fighting. Sometimes I have used Marshall as my authority; at other times I have used manuscript diaries and letters of the old fighters themselves. It would not be worth your while to get the "Winning of the West," but if you will order it from the circulating library you might be interested in looking at some of the fights. I don't think I ever thanked you half enough for your book. I look over it again and again, and enjoy every single picture. Dr. Wood was in last night, and in the badger fight was pointing me out himself. By the way, the only [single] criticism in all the pictures which I could make even in the most hypercritical spirit, would be that the badger's legs are too[*216*] long and thin. There were some naval men in too, including Bob Evans and Sampson, the Captain of the IOWA, and we were all wishing that you would do something about the Navy some time. We don't want you to forsake your old love, but just devote a wee but of attention to another also. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Frederick Remington, New Rochelle, N.Y.[*217*] P./E. [*NAVY DEPARTMENT,*] [*Washington,*] Nov. 9, 1897. MEMORANDUM for the ASSISTANT SECRETARY: -10:-- Referring to the matter of the application of Mrs. Mary J. Page, a clerk in the Land Office at a $1000.. who desires to be transferred to the Navy Department at a salary of $1200, there is no vacancy in the Navy Department at this time. However, it has been the policy of the Department to promote these clerks who, by long and faithful service in the Navy Department, have shown by their work that they are entitled to advancement, and visitations of this class, unless they require exceptional or technical qualifications, and there is no person in the class next below possessed of the qualifications required, are filled by transfer or by appointment through the Civil Service Commission of persons possessing the technical or exceptional qualifications required. To make an exception to this rule would cause much discontent among the meritorious clerks in the Navy Department whose records, in accordance with the promotion rules of the Department, entitle them to advancement,[*218*] November 11, 1897. My dear Mr. Gary: First let me congratulate you upon the Maryland victory. Next, let me say that I shall call upon you soon to earnestly ask you, as a Harvard graduate, that the postoffice at Cambridge, Mass., be not changed to "Cambridge A." Secretary Long will write you on the same line, and I shall call and give you my reasons in person. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. James A. Gary, Postmaster General.[*219*] November 11, 1897. My dear Cardinal Gibbons: I got from the Chief Clerk the enclosed memorandum in the case of Mrs. Mary J. Page. I fear that the Secretary would not make the transfer asked for in view of these facts; and indeed it would seem to be very hard upon our own people to deny them the promotion they had earned. I am informed that numerous requests for transfers come from Senators and others, and that the Department has steadfastly refused to make such transfers, because of the reasons set forth in this memorandum. I am very sorry. Faithfully [?] yours, Theodore Roosevelt His Eminence, J. Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore.[*220*] November 13, 1897. Mr. Edward W. Townsend, Brevoort House, New York. My dear Sir: Mr. Roosevelt will not return to the Department before Monday, which will be too late for him to take action on your letter of the 11th instant. I have consulted those in authority here regarding your request; and they say that this being the final trial of the IOWA it is thought best for the interests of the Government not to allow any one on board who is not connected with the official trial. Sorry that the Department regrets its inability to comply with your request, I am, Very sincerely yours, Wm Howell Private Secretary.[*221*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: It would give me the greatest pleasure if I could be present, but I am sorry to say I fear it will be impossible. I have an engagement which I can hardly get out of for the day in question. With many thanks and very sincere regret, believe me, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Alvin R. Morrison, Wilmington, Delaware. November 15, 1897. My dear Admiral: Right after your leaving me the other day I say the President's Private Secretary, and obtained in strict confidence the news that your boy was all right; so though greatly pleased I was not surprised when I saw the announcement of the appointment. I shall hope to see him while he is here in Washington. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rear-Admiral George Brown, U.S.N., retired, 103 Woodruff Place, Indianapolis, Indiana.November 15, 1897. [] Professor F. Fanciulli, Press Club, New York. My dear Sir: I haven't the pleasure of Colonel McCoskry Butt's acquaintance, but I will very gladly write and give him the full information of the incident in question if he will express a wish for me to do so. You know the view I took of the incident from my reversing the court-martial's decision. I believe you would do well in the branch if he took you. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt [*222*] November 15, 1897. Dear [] Billy, I will look up that London Economist at once and read it. I wish I could have a chance to see you here. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. LeGendre, Care Brown Brothers, 59 Wall Street, New York.[*223*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I am in the Navy not the War Department, so I would have nothing to do about that case, and know nothing of it. With regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. H. L. Duhring, 411 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. November 11, 1897. My dear Sir: I am much obliged for your letter. I shall submit it to the Board. I don't think all the changes you advocate are possible, however. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieutenant Armistead Rust, U.S.N., Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Md.November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Ross: I thank you heartily for your letter. You are very good to have taken such trouble in the matter. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John W. Ross, Commissioner, District of Columbia, Washington. [*224*] November 15,1897. My dear Mr. McCloy: I am very much obliged to you for that editorial. I earnestly hope we can carry through the proposed change. In my view it is very important that it should be done. Give my love to Riis when you meet him. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William C. McCloy, Editor, EVENING SUN, New York.[*225*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I thank you heartily for your kind note. I am glad you liked that speech. It represents my feelings, at any rate! Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. George A. Carmichael, Pawtucket, R.I. November 15, 1897. My dear General O'Beirne: I will have that looked up and send it to you at once. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. James R. O'Beirne, 66 Third Avenue, New York.November 15, 1897. My dear Dr. Allen: Let me thank you heartily, and through you the Consistory of the First Reformed Church of Tarrytown. I am sure you don't need to have me say how much I enjoyed my visit. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. John K. Allen, Tarrytown, N.Y. [*226*] November 15, 1897. Dear Madam: It would not be possible for me to ask for Costigan's promotion. I don't know enough of the circumstances of the case. I never asked the promotion of any man unless I had personal knowledge of his fitness. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Emmeline W. Fitch, 47 West 12th Street, New York.227 November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Cohen: It gives me pleasure to enclose the information you request. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William N. Cohen, 22 William Street, New York. (Enclosure) November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Norton: I am very much obliged to you. You are exceedingly kind to have taken so much trouble, and I much appreciate it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. George L. Norton, THE MARINE JOURNAL, 24 State Street, New York.228 November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Carey: The enclosed explains itself. Evidently we shall not be able to answer until we get the definite particulars about Mr. Tiffany. His people ought to apply to the Pension Bureau. I wish I could give you a more definite answer. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William Carey, 33 East 17th Street, New York. (Enclosure) November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Porter: The enclosed explains itself. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John Addison Porter, Secretary to the President. (Enclosure)[*229*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I unfortunately know nothing of the Lyceum League now. I believe if you wrote to the YOUTH'S COMPANION you could get information about it. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. O. McDowell, THE SPIRIT OF '76 18 Rose Street, New York. November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: Vacancies in the assistant paymasterships occur from time to time. There will be a couple soon. They are filled by the President, usually without any consultation with this Department. This Department, if consulted, almost invariably has the son of some naval officer to back for the position. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Paul Van Der Voort, Deming's Bridge P.O., Texas.[*230*] November 15, 1897. My dear Mr. Mayor: I will very gladly do what I can for Mr. McMahon, subject to a prior lien, so to speak, in the case of the son of a naval officer to whom I have already been committed for four or five months. I ought to say, however, that I don't think the President will consult me at all. He never has yet in any of these cases, and he often does not even consult the Secretary. If he will allow me to I will speak to him very warmly for McMahon; but I don't dare to promise for I don't know quite how things will come out. With great regard, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. W. R. Grace, P.O. Box 2866, New York.[*231*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I would most gladly help a fellow-townsman to a government position, but it is a simple impossibility for me to get such a one. There are very few, offers [?] [?] and those mostly in connection with the Army, Navy, or Revenue Service. I don't know of a vacancy now existing, and there are literally thousands of applications on file for every vacancy; and they are pressed by Senators, Cabinet officers, and all the influential men in and out of Congress. There would not be the slightest chance of my getting such a vacancy for any one; and they would not appoint a man who did not have some expert knowledge of life on the frontier, and of the peculiar duties of the position. The rush to the Klondike has brought immense pressure for these places. I am very sorry. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Charles E. Moyses, Oyster Bay, L.I., N.Y.232 November 15, 1897. My dear Colonel Kipp: It is a very great pleasure to me to be of even slight assistance to your son. I enclose what government publications we have on the subject. I wish there were more, but we are rather seeking for information ourselves. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Colonel William F. Kipp, Police Department, 500 Mulberry Street, New York. P.S. The Annual Report of the Bureau of Construction and repair, which will be out in a few days, will contain something on the subject of dry docks, and I have directed that a copy be sent you.[*233*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I would very much like to help you, but I fear the President will not consult a subordinate official in one department about appointments in another department. He has not hitherto shown any desire for advice, excepting from the people of the State concerned, or of the department in which the appointment is to be made. I quite agree with you as to the kind of civil service examination that should be passed. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. C. S. Brodbent, Deputy Collector's Office, Port Lavaca, Texas.234 November 15, 1897. My dear President Eliot: I will tell Secretary Long about the Cambridge postoffice matter at once. Very good; I will speak on the second Wednesday in April, the 13th, and that will enable me to be at the meeting of the Board of Overseers also. It is extremely difficult for me to get away from here, so I am not able to be at the overseers' meetings as often as I should like. As for the subject, I thought you suggested the Police Force. I should treat it, so to speak, as an object lesson in applied civics, and I would either call it by this name, or else simply "Handling the Police Force of a Big City." Mr. Hollis has been of very great assistance to me, and I think he has found me receptive to his ideas. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt President Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.[*235*] November 15, 1897. Mr. H. P. Child, Kansas City, Mo. My dear Sir: I take pleasure in putting my autograph on the book plate, which I reënclose. I am pleased that you should think my little sketch of Benton worth a good binding. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt (Enclosure)[*236*] On the needs of commonplace virtues. What we need in our public life at the present day is not genius, nor indeed any unusual or striking quality. All that we need is the constant, not the intermittent and spasmodic, application of the ordinary humdrum copybook precepts which touch on [our] the moral needs of all times and all countries. Common honesty, common sense, common common courage, both physical and moral, ordinary resolution, energy and disinterestedness--these are what are required. It is not enough to have one of them; we must have all. Very often the people that pride themselves upon the possession of some one virtue lack another which is quite as important. No matter how well developed a man's arms may be, he is not a perfect man if he has lost one leg; and a good digestion, though indispensable, will not atone for weak lungs. The quality urgently237 2 called for in some section of our country or our population may be possessed in superabundance elsewhere. There are parts of the South where thrift, industry and business sense are more needed than anything else. There are parts of the North where all of these qualities are common, but where the people stand in urgent need of being reminded that man shall not live by bread along. The bread is indispensable, and it is probably man's first duty to work for it both for himself and for his family; but if he thinks that this is all of his duty the community in which he lives will possess a most unlovely life, and both politically and socially it will probably come to an unpleasant end. One of the great troubles with reformers is that they are apt to pin their faith to some one patent cure, and incidentally to insist that this medicine must be taken by everybody. Now, as there are a great many different evils it is highly unlikely that any one medicine will reach all, and as a matter of fact, it never does,[*238*] 3 and as this is a free country, it is impossible to force everybody to take the same medicine. Reformers who take an ultra position become at best useless cumberers of the world's surface, and at worst, able [possible] allies of the vicious and disorderly classes. Take the temperance people, for instance. Few things would more benefit the community as a whole than [a] the widespread growth of a healthy temperance movement. Among poorer people especially there is probably no other one evil which is such a curse as excessive drinking. During the two years that I was president of the New York Police Board I grew to understand as I never did before how appallingly large was the percentage of life failures due to intemperance. Of the policemen whom we had to turn off the force, for instance, I should say that nearly half owed their fall directly or indirectly to intemperance. I wasn't very sorry for these policemen themselves, for men have got to pay the penalty for their misdeeds; but it was heartbreaking to see their wives and children suffer for the misdeeds of239 4 the men, for it is one of the sad things of life that on this earth the worst sufferers for wrong-doing may not be the wrong-doers. But while I grew more and more to realize the damage done by intemperance, I also grew more and more to realize the damage done by the intemperate friends of temperance. When temperance people were willing to act wisely, and with appreciation of the limitations of human nature, and therefore of human effort, they could do much good. When they were not willing to act wisely they merely did harm; sometimes only a little harm, and sometimes very much. For instance, when a hard fight is on between the advocates of honesty and the champions of corruption in civic government, to have the political prohibitionists run a separate ticket of their own which there isn't an earthly chance of electing, and which, if elected, would be absolutely powerless for good, is not merely exasperating, but is wicked. It is a sin against two of the virtues of which I have spoken of above--honestly and commonsense. Moreover, the effort to get the impossible[*240*] 5 is always bound to be feeble. We must strive after the very highest good which is possible, and of course we [will] shall sometimes make mistakes in our judgment of possibility; but we must remember that on this earth the usefulness of our efforts is conditioned upon our being practical as well as upright. It [is] would be a very good thing to have New York City temperate, and all good citizens should work together toward that end; but nothing whatever will be gained, and on the contrary much will be lost, by striving not to make New York City as temperate as it can be made, but to make it temperate in a way which everyone knows [won't work] it wo'n't be. No liquor law at all, or the worst liquor law which the wit of a Tammany alderman could devise, would work better in New York than absolute prohibition, for the very excellent reason that nobody would pay the slightest heed to such absolute prohibition, and so, in addition to having free liquor, we should have the demoralizing spectacle of open and contemptuous disregard of the law of the land.[*241*] 6 What is true of temperance is just as true of other things. Every now and then a chance comes in politics to vote for an ideal ticket, or an ideal issue; and of course every honorable man is bound to do what he can for the highest good; but in the long run great damage is done by a constant refusal to accept a possible good law or a possible good administration in the effort to get an impossible better law or better administration. In short, just as a healthy man has got to have both fairly good lungs and a fairly good stomach, so in our politics we have got to try to be both practical and honest. Unfortunately, [there] are a great many man who pay heed merely to being practical, and these men are merely more dangerous and more noxious in proportion to their ability. A man who excuses himself on the score of being "practical" [in] for the fact that he [advocates] connives at bribery and corruption, and stands in with law-breaking liquor-sellers and dishonest contractors, is from the standpoint of the State and of society, simply peculiarly dangerous criminal. He is of course the worst and most open foe of our institutions, and [*242*] 7 it is a lamentable fact that our citizens should show a kind of good-natured baseness in tolerating this individual and his kind in our public life. Unless a man feels a keen indignation at every form of baseness and immorality; unless he tries to hunt down the dishonest; unless he is the foe of the bribe-taker, of the gambler, of the law-breaking liquor-seller, of the corrupt manipulator of primaries; and furthermore, unless he tries to make his indignation take some effective shape in the way of ridding the community of the pests, why, he is a pretty poor citizen himself. He must, if he is an honorable man, show his indignation against the men who are practical at the expense of morality, in his indignation at those who deify smartness even when that smartness means trickery and dishonesty; but he must not forget that he cannot be excused on the score of virtue for failure to be practical himself. Wesley said that he was not willing to leave all the good tunes to the devil; and in the same way a reformer must be careful not to leave all the virile qualities of efficiency, energy, keen intelligence[*243*] 8 intelligence, and applied commonsense to his opponents. [] [] We must try to work to [?] to accomplish results; and in order to do this we will have to make up our minds that the results will be very far short of what we would like to have. Then again, we must not only be practical and decent, but we must n't cultivate merely the softer virtues. A man can't be a good citizen unless he is a good husband, father and friend, and unless he acts disinterestedly and unselfishly by his countrymen. This means, of course, that he must be kindly, loving and loyal; that he must be unselfish and disinterested. Unless he possesses these qualities he is a nuisance both at home and to the body politic; and it is our duty to war against nuisances. But he must also possess the stern fighting qualities which alone are really effective in the actual struggle. He must possess a health intolerance of wrong-doing, and a hearty desire to put down wrong-doers. He must remember[*244*] that weakness, thought not as bad as vice, is in its effect sometimes only a less evil. If the good men of a community are impractical, timid or weak, and the bad men of a community are allowed to monopolize the efficiency, courage, and robust strength, why that community is in a pretty poor way. No amount of cloistered virtue, no amount of the virtue which shrinks from a struggle or which [that] goes into that struggle foolishly, will count for very much in civic life. The really good citizen is the man of well-rounded character who is loyal to a high ideal, but who is never foolish, weak nor impractical. He strives for decency; he does not merely prate about decency. [and] He shows himself in the rough work of the world to possess the necessary nerve and ability fairly to overcome the powerful forces of evil; and this he can only do by showing also the wisdom, [a] the farsightedness, and the temperate self-restraint, which will enable him to combine with the other men who also desire to work for good. Theodore Roosevelt[*245*] November 16, 1897. My dear Mr. Drinker: You are more than kind to have sent me those three letters. I hardly know which I was most interested in. There doesn't seem to be the slightest chance of my getting out for a hunt, even in our own West now; and as for South Africa, I might as well think of a hunt in the Elysian fields. If only my eldest boy were a little older I should certainly take him out under Wells. I [think] thought Selous [is] was extremely foolish not to go out with Wells, but he [has] had an English friend named Moncrief who thought he could fix matters for him. What Nevin says about the Winchester rifle interested me very much. I wonder whether he was using the 30-30 or 30-40? I hardly believe a 30-40 would have failed to send its bullets through anything, unless of course they were soft-nosed. A friend of mine used a 30-40 this year on caribou, but did badly because, as he thought, they had too much penetration. I am very much interested in hearing from Archie Rogers how he did with one of them at elk this year. Again thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Henry S. Drinker, 228 South Third Street, Philadelphia, Pa.[*246*] November 16, 1897. My dear Colonel: I am very sorry to say that it has proved wholly impossible to get the reports of Lieutenant Schwatka and Dr. Allen. The War Department has not a single copy of either for distribution. They have one copy of each, but merely for office file, and I have been wholly unable to find anywhere here a spare copy of either. Allen's report can be found in Executive Document No. 125, of the Second Session of the 49th Congress, in the Senate, and probably some Senator would be able to get it for you. But even of this I am not certain. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Col. George E. Waring, Department of Street Cleaning, New York.[*247*] November 16, 1897. My dear Madam: You must not thank me at all. I wrote to Commissioner Andrews, who was kind enough to take an interest in the matter. I should have felt very badly indeed if your nephew had not been appointed, and I am very glad that he suc- ceeded. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Margaret M. McGarr, W. 170th St. & Kingsbridge Road, New York. November 16, 1897. My dear Sir: You ask me, in effect, to write a very long and elaborate article. I should like to write such an article but I haven't the time at present. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Samuel Armstrong Nelson, 241 Broadway, New York.[*248*] November 15, 1897. My dear Sir: I thank you for calling my attention to that case. I shall have it looked up at once. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Ervin Wardman, THE NEW YORK PRESS, New York. November 16, 1897. My dear Sir: When you are next in Washington I should like to see you for a moment's chat. I greatly enjoyed my visit to the works. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. H. G. Morse, President, Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del.November 16, 1897. My dear Mr. Bissell: Many thanks for your note. Yes, I guess that result was all right. Still, you Yale men have such a wonderful record for the last twenty years that you don't have to be sensitive about a defeat, while we unfortunates of Harvard have begun to regard a draw as on the whole pretty satisfactory. It was a great pleasure to catch a glimpse of you. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. George P. Bissell, The Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del. [*249*] November 16,1897. My dear Dr. Strong: I hope the enclosed will do. I can assure you that nothing but my belief in the good work you are doing makes me write it! Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. Josiah Strong, United Charities Building, Fourth Avenue & 22d Street, New York. (Enclosure)250 November 16, 1897. Mr. Walter H. Page, Atlantic Monthly, Boston, Mass. My dear Mr. Page: If I find I can give you such an article I will very gladly do so, but I am not certain how far the Department would like to have me put out any article that I should think it worth my while to write; so I guess I'd better wait for a little while. I am very sorry I could not see you in Washington. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*251*] November 16, 1897. Mr. Sturgess Bigelow, 60 Beacon Street, Boston. Dear Bigelow: The advent of the Tammany Tiger caused great excitement at the office, and an equal amount at home. Yes, the smile is on the face of the tiger; and unless Mr. Platt sees a great light it will continue to grow broader and stronger for some years to come. Of course there is blame on both sides in the faction fight among the New York republicans; but overwhelmingly the greater share belongs to the Platt people. We promptly utilized the Tiger as an addition to our household furniture. When you come on this year you will see him. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*252*] November 16, 1897. Dear Cabot: Leutze is a first-class man. I have already suggested him to the Secretary as the best appointment. Another man, Commander Swift, is about as good; that is, as a member of the Secretary's cabinet he would be better-- merely as head of the Yards and Docks perhaps not quite up to Leutze. I thought your speech excellent. O, Lord, how I wish we had some man in New York like you! Platt's last letter will of course merely serve to intensify the bitterness of the anti-machine republican leaders. He could not have done anything that would have to more aggravated the situation; but then I am not at all sure that the situation can be bettered. Both sides have gotten to the point when their mutual hostilities surpasses that which either feels for [their] his ordinary opponents. I only hope the Administration can keep out of the muss sufficiently to give us a fair chance to carry the State on national issues. I suppose you will be on here in ten days or so. We are looking forward to your coming. Always yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*253*] November 16, 1897. My dear Mr. McClure: The Secretary's habit is always to leave it to the captain of the ship as to whether or not a man can be allowed to go on a trip with him. I should be very glad to have both Mr. Townsend and Mr. Sonntag go, for I know they would do work that would be valuable to the Navy; and you are welcome to have either of them show this letter to Captain Sampson. But Captain Sampson is himself the sole judge; it is in his hands. I wish you would tell both Mr. Townsend and Mr. Sonntag exactly how it stands. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. S.S. McClure, 141 E. 25th Street, New York.[*254*] November 17, 1897. Dear Sir: I have, with pleasure, directed that a copy of the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1896 be sent to Mr. G. G. Hill, of Wabash, Indiana, as requested by you. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. George W. Steele, Marion, Indiana. November 17, 1897. My dear Sir: My duties here do not bring me much into contact with anything relating to the merchant marine. I think if you will write to Hon. Eu- gene T. Chamberlain, Commissioner of Navigation, Treasury Department, Washington, he will be able to give you much of the information you desire. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Herbert Elliott, Illinois State Normal University, Normal, Illinois.255 November 17, 1897. My dear Mr. Mottet: Mrs. Roosevelt has just handed me your letter. I wish it were in my power to do as you request, but I simply have too many calls on me now. I wish you knew the multitude of applications I receive, and those that I have inherited, so to speak, put a severe enough strain on me as it is. I am very sorry, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. Henry Mottet, Society of St. Johnland, Kings Park, N.Y. November 17, 1897. My dear Sir: I don't need to have Mr. Gage, or anyone else, tell me about the Commercial Club, and I should be only too glad to accept if it were possible; but I regret to say that it will be quite out of the question for me to get away from Washington at the time you mention. I have more engagements than I can well keep now, and I can't go into anything new. I am very sorry. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. John James Janes, 157 La Salle Street, Chicago.256 November 17, 1897. My dear Sir: I think that one of my essays was originally published in the Atlantic, but I have forgotten what number. They are contained in a little volume called "American Ideals," published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, 27 West 23d Street, New York. They are the publishers' and not mine, or I would send you a copy. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Merrell Russell, Elkton, Ky. November 17, 1897. My dear Sir: The names and dates of appointment of the Secretaries of the Navy since Secretary Tracy are: Hilary A. Herbert, of Alabama, March 6, 1893. John D. Long, of Massachusetts, March 5, 1897. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. James P. Taylor, 512 James Street, Montreal, Canada.[257] November 17, 1897. My dear Sir: I am very sorry, but I fear it is going to be out of the question for me to get on to Wilmington. You see I am very apt to have engagements a long way ahead, and as this is the first time I have been asked to attend a celebration of this nature (which of course makes it all the more valuable, and makes me appreciate your kindness all the more), it is something for which I have not made any preparation. [I could come off? ???? ?????? its ???] I am very sorry. [????????] With great regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Alvin R. Morrison, Wilmington, Del.258 November 18, 1897. My dear Mr. Sherman: After writing to you I met Weeks and learned the result. I congratulate you both with all my heart. Now a word as to what you say in reference to the action of the Administration. I am sure that when you think over the matter you will realize that you have not been just. The President is the official head of the republican party. He is elected as such because it is supposed that he is the best man in the party to guide and lead it, and to cooperate with its other representatives in forwarding the great measures to which it is committed. For him to do his work it is necessary that he shall be able to act in which with Congress; and especially with the Senate. Of course it may be necessary for the President to quarrel with the Senate or with a Senator; but the damage done by such a quarrel is invariably deep and lasting, and it is not to be entered into until the necessity is clearly established, until it is evident that it cannot honorably be [awarded.] Such a quarrel last spring would have meant the failure of the effort to get through the tariff, and therefore the continuance of business unrest and the attendant had times. Such a quarrel now would mean endless trouble[259] 2 on such questions as the currency and the civil service, and might mean serious national disaster. It was just such a quarrel with his own party that made President Cleveland lose his pet measure, the arbitration treaty, and which rendered him powerless to control the action of the Senate on either the tariff or the currency. Of course circumstances may arise under which it is the duty of the President to quarrel with the Senate, even at the cost of inviting party disaster; but equally of course, at the present moment not merely national prosperity but national honor depends upon the success of the republican party, and the President would indeed be held to a heavy accounting if he lightly risked a break-up of the republican party, under such circumstances, unless the need was imperative. He could not be expected to attack the regular republican organization in our local contest in New York. A former Cabinet officer was running, backed by the only republican Senator from New York; and against him was the man to whom the President had himself offered the ministership to Spain. He ought not to have taken part in such a contest, and he did not take part in it. He told me explicitly that he had no criticism to make of my being for Low; and I happen to know that Secretary Bliss acted on his own responsibility, and that the President did not see his letter until it was in print. [*260*] 3 Don't you forget also how many appointments from New York the President has given to the extreme anti-machine people? Think of Horace Porter and Andrew D. White as two of the four ambassadors. Think of Wilson as postmaster of Brooklyn--a man who, as Congressman, has always been absolutely independent, who has fought the machine men bitterly, and who is in every way a most admirable appointment. Think of the District Attorney of Buffalo, of the special envoy to the Court of St. James; of others too numerous to mention. Of course he has to appoint some men from the other side; he ought to. The grade of his appointees averages high indeed, as you will see if you run them over. It seems to me that the EVENING POST, and papers of that kind, have shown a scandalous lack of fairness in their failure to acknowledge all that the President has done for the independent element. Permit me to use myself as an example. Surely there was no appointment that could have been more distasteful to the machine leaders whom you and I have opposed than my own, yet the President made it; and in handling the patronage of the Brooklyn Navy Yard all that he and my chief, Secretary Long, have asked was that it be managed strictly under the civil service law, and no favoritism shown to any one. For the first time in the history of the yard, under any President's administration, the machine leaders of the dominant party have had nothing to say about this patronage. The President stands, not merely as the leader of the republican party, but as the leader of the forces which make for national good government. He would be untrue[*261*] 4 to the men who make up that party, and who are the exponents of those forces, throughout the land, if he permitted himself to be drawn into local fights. He took no part in the Chicago campaign last spring, and no part in our campaign last spring, and no part in our campaign this fall. In most of our local matters I feel in very strong sympathy with you and the men who think as you do; but in return I feel that in the name of national honor and national prosperity we have a right to ask that when a national conflict comes up, the fight for local good government shall not be allowed to jeopardize the larger interest. The President has stood firm as a rock on the two great issues of honest money and an honest civil service, and this against very heavy pressure. He is the first President who ever, at the beginning of his administration, has taken a step so pronounced in favor of the civil service law as to challenge the bitter hostility of the spoilsmen. I need not refer to his splendid settlement of the Union Pacific matter. By concluding the treaty of annexation with Hawaii he undid, so far as it could be undone, the worst mischief of Cleveland's administration, and remedied a blunder which, if let stand, would have told against this nation for centuries to come. As for the Spanish business, see how admirably he has treated that. I am myself what the EVENING POST would call a Jingo, and yet I am forced to admit that the President has handled this Spanish question so as to avoid the[*262*] 5 necessity of war, and yet to uphold the honor of our country and to procure for the insurgent Cubans infinitely more than Cleveland was able to procure. In short, in every case where the President has had to act, he has acted with equal wisdom and vigor. I think the country sees this, for remember that outside of New York the elections this year went more favorably to the administration than has been the case for a quarter of a century past, in the first year succeeding the advent of an administration. Considering all these facts; considering the way the President has stood for all the great policies telling for national honor and material well-being; considering the marked way in which he has recognized the elements that stood against the machine in New York; and considering the very great disaster that would be caused by a disruption of the party on national matters (and such disruption would follow any war on the President), it seems to me that you and all of my friends who belong, as I do, to the independent or anti-machine wing of the republican party, will feel that they have no right to desert or oppose the President merely because he has done what he ought to have done in recognizing the official heads of the republican organization in New York in certain of the appointments in that State; especially as, the EVENING POST to the contrary notwithstanding, the duty is imposed on him by the Constitution of consulting and advising with the Senate when he[*263*] 6 makes these appointments. I wish some of you could come here to Washington; and if that is impossible I wish I could meet some of you at dinner in New York on one of my visits. Although I would not like this letter to be made public, I should really be glad to have you show it to any of our various friends--Mayor Strong or Mr. Laimbeer, or Gen. McCook, or Mr. Low. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. P. T. Sherman, 69 Wall Street, New York.[*264*] November 17, 1897. Dear Sir: I am sorry to say that Mrs. Roosevelt has been obliged to make an invariable rule not to allow her name to appear upon these circulars. Should she break through this rule in one case, she would have to break through it in many, and so she is obliged to deny herself the pleasure of granting your request. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Professor Nott, 306 Twelfth Street, n.w., Washington. November 17, 1897. Mr. John Paul Bocock, 591 West End Ave., New York. My dear Mr. Bocock: I am very sorry to say that the enclosed memorandum seems to be final. It is one of the cases where a rule that works well generally, works badly in a particular instance. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Enclosure.[*265*] November 17, 1897. W. G. Hutchinson, Esq., Nashville, Tenn. My dear Sir: It is with very great regret that I have to decline your more than kind invitation; but Monday I have a Board here which I cannot leave. I have just had to refuse a similar request for the WILMINGTON on Tuesday. I particularly regret not being present at the presentation of the service to the NASHVILLE, as I take a peculiar interest in the history of Tennessee, and have always had the greatest admiration for your State. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 17, 1897. Patrolman Patrick T. Reid, 34th Precinct, New York City. Dear Sir: I have written to the Chief about you; but you must remember that I cannot ask any personal favor. All I can ask is that he will look into your case and give it such favorable consideration as he conscientiously can. I hope he will be able to do as you wish. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt[*266*] November 17, 1897. Chief John J. McCullagh, Police Headquarters, New York. My dear Chief: The enclosed letter explains itself. My interest in the matter is purely that I thought Reid did pretty well when he caught the burglar in question; and he certainly risked his life. I wish you would look into the matter, and whatever decision you come to I am sure will be the right one. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt[*268*] November 18, 1897. My dear Dr. Wood: Mrs. Roosevelt feels that if Sunday is cold it would be rather rough on the small children to have them rowed about in a boat. If it is mild, she thinks the plan would be excellent. What do you say, therefore, to our considering that on next Sunday, if the weather is mild and clear, we will take the children off for a row, but otherwise we will take them for a walk in the afternoon? I regret to say that most of mine have colds. I have had one too, but I am getting over it and next week I think I shall be all right on any afternoon you wish for kicking that football around. Tomorrow afternoon I go to Annapolis, returning late Saturday afternoon. I only wish I were to go with you to see the Harvard-Pennsylvania game, but you will see by the enclosed that it would not be possible for me to leave Annapolis. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain Leonard Wood, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A., 1814 G Street, Washington. (Enclosure)[*268*] November 16, 1897. My dear Dr. Wood: Mrs. Roosevelt feels that if Sunday is cold it would be rather rough on the small children to have them rowed about in a boat. If it is mild, she thinks the plan would be excellent. What do you say, therefore, to our considering that on next Sunday, if the weather is mild and clear, we will take the children off for a row, but otherwise we will take them for a walk in the afternoon? I regret to say that most of mine have colds. I have had one too, but I am getting over it and next week I think I shall be all right on any afternoon you wish for kicking that football around. Tomorrow afternoon I go to Annapolis, returning late Saturday afternoon. I only wish I were to go with you to see the Harvard-Pennsylvania game, but you will see by the enclosed that it would not be possible for me to leave Annapolis. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain Leonard Wood, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A., 1814 G Street, Washington. (Enclosure)[*269*] November 18, 1897. My dear Mr. Dodge: Do you take any interest in polar exploration? A friend of mine, Mr. Kohlsaat, of Chicago, is interested in Walter Wellman's proposed trip, and has asked me if there are any New York men who I thought would be interested in such an affair. I believe Mr. Jessup is already concerned with Mr. Peary, as I don't send him anything; but I thought it barely possible that you might take an interest in it, although I know you are interested in so many things that I think it unlikely. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt William E. Dodge, Esq., New York. November 18, 1897. My dear Captain Evans: I am very sorry you are not to go down to Annapolis, and still more sorry for the cause. I hope it won't keep you in long. With very real regret, believe me, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain R. D. Evans, U.S.N., 324 Indiana Avenue, Washington.[*270*] November 18, 1897. My dear Sir: To my regret I have already been obliged to decline the very kind invitation to be present at the ceremonies concerning the Gunboat WILMINGTON. I may mention that I have also had to decline a similar request for the Gunboat NASHVILLE for the day previous. It is extremely difficult for me to get away from the office just at this time, as I am exceedingly busy. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Edgar M. Hoopes, THE MORNING NEWS, Wilmington, Delaware. November 18, 1897. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 16th instant reached me here, after the exhibition test had taken place. I have referred the same, with enclosures, to the Bureau of Ordnance for its opinion. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. Lennard Foote, 1224 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.[*271*] November 18, 1897. My dear Mr. Thrasher: Indeed the Secretary does understand just as well as I do what your attitude has been throughout this whole matter. If at any time I see any place here which I think you would like I will, with a clear conscience, urge you for it very strongly. I wish we could have you in Washington. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. M. B. Thrasher, The BOSTON JOURNAL, Boston. November 18, 1897. My dear Mr. Thompson: Many thanks for your note. Is that a picture of old Tazewell Woody? It is a perfectly typical frontier face, and there are two or three men I have known who have borne it; one of them old Mason, for instance. Yes, I am very anxious to see you and talk about both wolves and Indians. The next time I get on to New York I shall certainly look you up. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Ernest Seton Thompson, 244 Fifth Avenue, New York.272 November 16, 1897. Hon. H. C. Lodge, Care Mrs. W. S. Cowles, 689 Madison Ave., New York City. Dear Cabot: The enclosed letter I send to you only for what I have marked on page 4. You will notice that Kimball is not only a first-class officer, but also has a very good conception of our public men! Foraker has written an awfully nice letter to Proctor about the latter's Hawaiian article, which has also been printed for distribution by Thurston and the Hawaiian crowd. Give my love to Anna--that is, on the supposition that she is present in body as well as in spirit to receive her guests, and is not visiting somebody else, say the Vanderbilts or "dear Kate." Also give my love to Nannie. I am looking forward to seeing you both. Pray return me Kimball's letter. I think he is altogether wrong about the Army. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*273*] November 18, 1897. My dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for your kind letter. There are many points about your idea which I think excellent, but it has already been suggested that if possible Congress should be persuaded to turn the old ship into a training ship, to be used for cruising with apprentices. These apprentices we hope afterwards to make the mainstay of our Navy, and we believe that to take them for their first experience of sea life on board of the old CONSTITUTION will tend to instal into their minds the very qualities which we would most like them to have. With regard, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. F. B. Hawes, Superintendent, Public Schools, Olympia, Washington.274 November 19, 1897. My dear President Eliot: That title will exactly suit me--The police force as an object lesson in applied civics. I think we bid fair to get something out of the line and staff business. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt President Charles W. Eliot, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. November 19, 1897. Dear Mr. Garland: Will the enclosed do? I hope to see you in Washington not very long hence. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Hamlin Garland, 23 Grammercy Park, New York. (Enclosure)[*275*] November 19, 1897. My dear Captain Goodrich: I like your address very much, and I will take it in to the Secretary at once. You may have noticed that I have followed out something the same idea in my speech before the Naval Constructors at New York. I shall get you and Taylor on to see me as soon as possible. I shall not let the question of a general staff come into this bill at all. Yesterday I learned, a good deal to my astonishment, that, by permission, Captain Dickens' letter about the War College was to be made public; So I promptly had your reply made public also. I felt that we could afford to let it go at that! Indeed your son has done well. I have a new small boy just two hours old, whom I have entered for Groton. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C.F. Goodrich, U. S. N., President, War College, Newport, R. I. [*276*] November 19, 1897. My dear Colonel Heywood: Will you please report to me by Monday in the case of Lieutenant Richards? The one of which we spoke. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Colonel Charles Heywood, U.S.M.C., Marine Barracks, Washington.[*277*] [*NAVY DEPARTMENT,*] [*WASHINGTON.*] November 19, 1897. My dear Mr. Kimball: When will you be at Savannah or at Brunswick, Georgia? I am afraid I am not going to be able to make it, but if I can I shall. If I fail, then I shall join you at one of the gulf ports later. I don't think it will be possible for me to get to Charleston. I will sound Captain Crowninshield to find out what the intentions are as to that submarine boat, but I don't want to interfere unless I see a fair opening. Now, about the Spanish war. In the first place it is always a pleasure to hear from you. In the next place to speak with a frankness which our timid friends would call brutal, I would regard a war with Spain from two standpoints: first, the advisability [from] on the grounds both of humanity and self-interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second, the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which isn't material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying both the Navy and Army in actual practice. I should be very sorry not to see us make the experiment of trying to land, and therefore feed and clothe, an expeditionary force, if only for the sake of[*278*] 2 learning from our own blunders. I should hope that the force would have some fighting to do. It would be a great lesson, and we would profit much by it. I expressed myself a little clumsily about the transport question. Of course if we drift into the war butt end foremost, and go at it in higgledy piggledy fashion we shall meet with occasional difficulties. I am not the boss of this Government; (and I want to say that I do think President McKinley, who is naturally desirous of keeping the peace, has combined firmness and temperateness very happily in his treatment of Spain); from my own standpoint, however, and speaking purely privately, I believe that war will have to, or at least ought to, come sooner or later; and I think we should prepare for it well in advance. I should have the Asiatic squadron in shape to move on Manilla at once. I would have our squadron in European waters consist merely of the BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, COLUMBIA and MINNEAPOLIS; and of course I should have this, as well as the Asiatic squadron, under the men whom I thought ought to take it into action. All the other ships in the Atlantic I would gather around Key West before the war broke out. I should expect it would take at least a fortnight before the Army could get at Tampa or Pensacola the thirty or forty thousand men who should land at Matanzas. During that fortnight I should expect that our Navy would have put a stop to the importation of food to Cuba and would have picked up[*279*] 3 most of the Spanish vessels round about. At the end of that time I believe it would be safe to gather an ample number of vessels for the transport of the army. This ought not to take them more than a week or ten days from their legitimate duties. Meanwhile I believe that plenty of arms and a considerable number of men would go over to Cuba on private ventures, and that the Cuban insurrection would be infinitely more formidable than it is now. With thirty or forty thousand men at Matanzas, reënforced from time to time, I believe that the Navy could for the most part resume its duties, and that, while it could be the main factor in producing the downfall of the Spaniards, the result would be much hastened by the Army. I didn't think the Cosmopolitan article worth paying much heed to. A writer who knows so little of naval affairs as to think that the COLUMBIA would be unable to get her men to quarters or fire a gun before she was sunk by Spanish cruisers which she had previously descried, is hardly to be taken seriously. Let me hear from you at any time. It is always a pleasure. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*280*] November 19, 1897. My dear Mr. Lea: You are exceedingly kind, and I wish I could take advantage of your invitation; but unfortunately it won't be possible for me to be away from here on the 23d. I had to refuse a precisely similar invitation for the gunboat NASHVILLE for the 22d. With great regret, and again thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Preston Lea, 909 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware. November 19, 1897. Dear Procter: Tomorrow, Saturday evening, at quarter of eight, Mr . Moneypenny, a representative of the London TIMES who was sent out here to find out about our financial and social questions, is going to dine with me. I very much wish that you would come too. Mrs. Roosevelt will not be down, as I have a small son just two hours old. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John R. Procter, The Grafton, Washington. Hon. Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, Ottawa, Canada.[*281*] November 19, 1897. My dear Sir: It is unusual, as I am well aware, for an official of one Government to write a letter of introduction to an official of another [?] [to be personally acquainted?] but I trust you will pardon it in this instance. I wish to introduce to you the bearer, Mr. Hamlin Garland, a well-known writer and a valued friend of mine, who desires to get some information about the Klondyke. If you would like to learn about me I would beg to refer you to Mr. Edgar, now, I believe, Speaker of the House. With great regard, believe me, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Clifford Sifton Minister of Interior Ottawa Canada November 19, 1897. My dear Sir: I have read your letter, and I very much regret that I am unable to help you. I haven't a single position in my gift, as everything comes under the civil service. I have hundreds of requests like yours, but I have to make the same reply to all of them. The only way to obtain a department position is through the Civil Service Commission, and I suggest that you apply to them. With regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. A.R. Preuster, 171 E. 86th St., New York.282 November 19, 1897. My dear Mr. Williams: I shall do what I can with Senator Lodge, but I know that he is asked to speak at so many banquets that it is very difficult for him to accept. Still I shall do what I can, for I never enjoyed anything more than the chance to make the speech I did to the Union League Club. Very sincerely yours, (Also in A.D.[?].) Theodore Roosevelt William P. Williams, Esq., Secretary, Union League Club, Chicago.283 November 22, 1897. My dear Conkling: I am sorry to say that that position is in the classified [civil] service. I wish I could get a glimpse of you some time. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Alfred R. Conkling, 170 Broadway, New York.[*284*] November 22, 1897. My dear Father Doyle: First, a word about what Father Daly said in reference to the non-appointment of Dr. Oswald last year. Under the then rules he could not possibly have been legally appointed, and my understanding is that if he has the same place he had then, he could not now be appointed. We then had the option of choosing one of the first three. We made but two appointments, and had but four names from which we could choose. We chose, as in my opinion we ought to have done, the first two on the list. To have done otherwise would have been unjust to those two. In any event Dr. Oswald's name was not before us, and he could not have been appointed any more than if he had not been on the list at all. We could have exercised favoritism in behalf of the third and fourth men at the expense of the first and second, but the fifth was not a possibility; and I believe you will agree with me that the thing to do was to take the men who had fairly won their places at the head of the list, provided always that they were proper people. Now I think that this is the course that the present board will pursue. Mr. Parker will, of course, not pursue it, so far as he has any say in the matter, and he will choose accordingly as it is his self-interest to choose.[*285*] 2 I would naturally have no influence with him. With the other three men I would be obliged to recommend that they follow the course I would follow; that is, take the man at the head of the list unless there is some real reason for passing him by. Will you explain to Father Daly just how I stand in the matter? I know of Father Daly well, and have a high regard for him. I wish I could see you some time. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Father A. P. Doyle, THE CATHOLIC WORLD MAGAZINE, Box 2, Station G, New York.286 November 22, 1897. My dear Captain Goodrich: I shall see you next Monday. Dickens' letter was given out before I know anything about it. I greatly regretted the fact that it was given out, but as it was I hastily furnished yours as an antidote, and I shall have something myself to say next week. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C. F. Goodrich, U.S.N., Naval War College, Newport, R.I.287 November 19, 1897. My dear Captain Higginson: There are a certain number of naval officers, including yourself, from whom it is always a pleasure to hear, and from whom I feel I can learn much concerning the service; but I think there is a further element of trouble in this proposition, aside from the question of the naval constructor himself. These repairs and alterations come before me, and the Secretary has been particularly insistent upon the fact that I should have them scrutinized with the utmost care, and should cut them down whenever possible. He wishes me, in the event of any question, to refer them back to the bureau concerned, and not only to refrain from authorizing them unless the bureau approves, but to see that the bureau does not approve without careful scrutiny. The Secretary is too goodnatured ever to scold me, but he has come nearer to doing it over my passing without question requests for repairs and alterations from captains and admirals than for anything else. He is very desirous of economy, and the bureau chiefs are continually going to him with just the opposite complaint from yours. Captain Bradford, for instance, feels that I pay altogether too much heed to the requests of individual ship captains, and don't give the Bureau of Equipment a sufficiently free hand in 288 2 Cutting down. I write you all this simply for your private information, and that you may understand some of the difficulties in the way. I shall bring your letter to the Secretary at once; but meanwhile I shall order the particular horse blocks which you desire without delay, for even though a civilian I can myself see how vital it is that the commanding officer should not be cooped up in the conning tower until it is absolutely necessary. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain Francis J. Higginson, U.S.N., U.S.S. MASSACHUSETTS, Navy Yard, New York. P.S. Please write me always when there is anything to say. 289 November 22, 1897. My dear Roundsman: Many thanks for your note of congratulation. Mrs. Roosevelt is well, and so is the small son. Again thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Roundsman Frank Rathgeber, Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street, New York. November 22, 1897. My dear Sir: I wrote a personal letter very strongly and warmly on behalf of Mr. McSweeney. I enclose you the response. Pray treat it as confidential. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. James B. Reynolds, 39 East 23d Street, New York. (Enclosure)290 November 22, 1897. My dear Mr. Sherman: I am more than obliged for your letter. I am going to take the liberty of showing it to the President. I understand your position entirely, and when you show my letter as you suggest, will you show this with it in lieu of the first page, so to speak? I understand that you were writing, not in the least because you wavered in your extreme republicanism and in your devotion to the administration, but because you think, as I think, that the President and the administration people here should understand how the rank and file of the decent republican voters in New York feel; and because you think, as I do, that the machine has by shameless fraud procured a complete effacement of the respectable republican sentiment from the councils of the organization. Is not this what you mean to express? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. P. Tecumseh Sherman, 59 Wall Street, New York.[*291*] November 23, 1897. Editor EVENING POST, 205 Broadway, New York. My dear Sir: Will you please hand this letter to whoever wrote the very able editorial on the line and the engineers in your last Saturday's issue? This letter is personal and not for publication; but whoever wrote the article in question is so entirely sound in his principles that I want to undeceive him as to the present bill. This bill does just exactly what he desires. It abolishes the present engineer corps; it provides for a corps of constructing engineers on shore, and for current machinists to do the engineer work aboard ship. It only outlines the functions of the engineer and the line officer to the extent that it makes the line officer know as much about engineering as a good line officer of the younger grades now knows; as much for instance as will be known by every officer who has served as ensign aboard a torpedo boat; as much as Bradford, Evans, Taylor, Sampson, Wainwright, and indeed our best officers generally now know. The line officer to be a good man will have to know this much. He can't be absolutely ignorant of engineering duties. It would be impossible to pass a bill which should292 2 be headed the "abolition of the engineers;" and the present bill effects every purpose that such a bill could effect, and pays the insignificant cost of according line titles to the elder engineers who cannot perform line work, but who will soon go out of the service. Of course I am not certain as yet that the board will adopt the proposed measure, still less that Congress will adopt it, but I am convinced that every man capable of writing such an article as that in the EVENING POST will approve of this bill when he comes to realize its fundamental provisions. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt293 November 23, 1897. My dear Mr. Hill: I am very much obliged to you. I return the two volumes herewith. Tell Dr. Merriam that I shall be in to see him very shortly. With many thanks, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. George William Hill, Department of Agriculture. November 23, 1897. Lieut. A. S. Stanton, U. S. N., U. S. S. IOWA, Navy Yard, New York. My dear Mr. Stanton: I have read your memorandum with the utmost interest. Substantially it seems to me to be just what we need; I am going to make a hard fight for it. Whether I can get it or not I don't know. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt294 November 23, 1897. My dear Mr. Riis: I enclose the order, as requested, to give to Holger Willumsen. I told them that in this case there had to be an exception made to the general rule; but, for heaven's sake, don't let it get out that I am making this exception. It would cause me an immense amount of trouble. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Jacob A. Riis, 301 Mulberry St., New York. November 23, 1897. My dear Count von Gotzen: As you said you would call [on me] upon your return to Washington, I write to ask you to drop me a line saying when you expect to make the call, so I can arrange to meet you. There are one or two matters upon which I wish to have some conversation with you. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Count A. von Gotzen, Military Attache, German Embassy.295 November 23, 1897. Dear Brander: When would they want that article? By January 1st I can tell whether I can do it or not, but I don't believe it will be possible for me to go into anything before that time at the outside. I am father of another small son--the fourth of his sex and the sixth child. Give my love to Mrs. Matthews and Miss Matthews. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Brander Matthews, Esq., 681 West End Avenue, New York. November 23, 1897. Dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for sending out the editorial. I am going to find out now about the Theiss case. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Ervin Wardman, THE NEW YORK PRESS, New York.[*296*] November 23, 1897. Dear Emlen: I very much fear that if Miss Brown stands 56th on the eligible list her chances of appointment are small; and I also fear that I would not have much weight with the Collector of Customs. But if she will take this letter and go to Mr. Babcock of the civil service board of the Custom House, I am sure that he will for my sake give her all the information she needs. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. Emlen Roosevelt, 33 Wall Street, New York. November 23, 1897. My dear Andrews: First, many thanks for your congratulations. Both Mrs. Roosevelt and the baby are well. Second, about the Quill Club. I would like to go, but it is simply out of the question. I have more of these requests than I can begin to consider now, and I can't go into anything new. By the way, I see that our friend Parker is trying to get in[to] with Tammany Hall now! I wonder if he will make it. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. Avery D. Andrews, Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street, New York.[*297*] November 23, 1897. My dear Sir: Your very kind note pleased me greatly, and especially because you touched me on the point on which I am proudest: that my democracy, in the large and proper sense of the term, is ingrained in me, and I hope will be in my children. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William Rudolf O'Donovan, Southampton, L.I. November 23, 1897. My dear Emlen: Many thanks for your note. Edith and the baby are both very well. My children feel just as yours would, and treat Quentin as a new toy. Even Archie does. I have found out, by the way, that Archie, who is not strong on ancestral probabilities, considered the nurse to be Quentin's mother. Give my love to Christine. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt W. Emlen Roosevelt, Esq., 33 Wall Street, New York.298 November 23, 1897. My dear Mr. Rust: If I gave you any such impression as that I really regret it. I was in an awful hurry, for during the last two or three weeks I have had more than I could well attend to, and I have received dozens of communications and letters like your last, and though I am very glad to have them, yet it is impossible for me to discuss them at length, as I should like to, and you must excuse any seeming hastiness in closing our interview as due, not to any misapprehension of the object of your call, but simply to the fact that I should have liked to talk the whole matter over with you but did not have the opportunity, and was so driven that I had been obliged to limit myself to a few words with everyone all day. With regard, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieutenant Armistead Rust, U.S.N., Leesburg, Virginia.[*299*] November 23, 1897. My dear Sir: In last Saturday's issue of your paper there was a review of Hough's "Story of the Cowboy" so good that I should like this letter to be sent to the writer. I was as much pleased with Hough's book as the writer of this review, and I am rather amused to see the incidental mention of Mr. Lewis's "Wolfville." I was asked to review Wolfville by Lewis himself, who has been very pleasant to me, and whose stories I had originally tried to get in some of the magazines. But I would not review the book for I would have had to write that, though there was so much stuff well outlined in it and so much genuine appreciation of one peculiar side of the roughest cowboy life, yet that this side was given a preposterous importance so as to make the whole picture false. I hope the writer likes some of Owen Wister's sketches as much as I do. "The Pilgrim of the Gila," for instance, and "The Second Missouri Compromise," give certain phases of western life as they have never before been given. The reviewer's criticisms of Mr. Hough's Spanish give me a pang for the simple reason that I think I have committed every fault that Hough did, including the spelling of "Gronk" as if it were in some way connected with lung[*300*] 2 complaint. By the way, I wonder if the reviewer can tell me from what Spanish word [it is that] we get the curious term "Horse-wrangler" from? At least I suppose it is Spanish, for I should not think such a term could have been invented. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt The Editor EVENING POST, New York.[*301*] November 24, 1897 My dear Captain Crowninshield: Can I get from Admiral Sicard a report upon the ramming drill, as practiced on the PURITAN, especially with reference to the advisability of its incorporation in other ships? I am especially interested in the disappearing exercises for the men. It is claimed that this will be valuable in keeping the crew stowed away, somewhat out of the reach of damage, when exposed to a fire they are not yet able to return. I know nothing about either drill, but I wish to learn. I should also like to have a report from Admiral Sicard as to the relative efficiency in gun firing of the vessels, and of its turrets, in the squadron this fall. I should like to get some of the results from the big guns and some from the best practice of the rapid-fire guns. It would seem to be well if we could give prizes for the men who have done best with their guns. That is done now, is it not? Why would it not be well to have prize firing, as in the British Navy, with, instead of the ordinary target, a canvas screen which would make a tolerably good representation of a ship's hull? Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain A. S. Crowninshielf, U.S.N., Bureau of Navigation. November 24, 1897. My dear Mr. Cash: It will give me pleasure to lunch with you on Friday. Shall we say quarter past one, at the Metropolitan Club? I wish I hadn't had to make such a very hurried interview with you the other day. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Walter S. Cash, Care John P. Poe, 1500 Park Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 301 A November 24, 1897. Gentlemen: Will you please get me the "Jan, the Africander", a new novel which I saw noticed the other day, by James Payn, in the London Illustrated News? Also, Bliss Carman's "Ballads of Lost Haven" if, as I think probable, this volume has in it his poem called "Adriana," or some such title. If it is not in that, could you find out for me in which volume that poem is? Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Brentano's, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington.302 November 24, 1897. My dear Mr. Cash: It will give me pleasure to lunch with you on Friday. Shall we say quarter past one, at the Metropolitan Club? I wish I hadn't had to make such a very hurried interview with you the other day. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Walter S. Cash, Care John P. Poe, 1500 Park Avenue, Baltimore, Md. November 24, 1897. Gentlemen: Will you please get me "Jan, the Africander," a new novel which I saw noticed the other day, by James Payn, in the London Illustrated News? Also, Bliss Carman's "Ballads of Lost Haven," if, as I think probably, this volume has in it his poem called "Adriana," or some such title. If it is not in that, could you find out for me in which volume that poem is? Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Brentano's, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington.303 November 24, 1897. My dear Mr. Selfridge: I am very much obliged to you for you note, and I shall adopt your suggestion. I don't know anything about that survey. I will look it up. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lt. Comdr. J.R. Selfridge, U.S.N., U.S.S. PURITAN, Navy Yard, New York November 24, 1897. Hon. Charles Page Bryan, Union League Club, Chicago, Ills. By dear Br. Bryan: First, let me congratulate you very heartily on your appointment. It pleased us all very much. In the next place let me mention the fact that Senator Lodge wants to bring to your attention the name of a young Harvard fellow, a very good man, who would like to be your Second Secretary. I hope you will consider it very carefully with him. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt 304 November 23, 1897. My dear General: I don't believe there is going to be any trouble with Spain. If there is I shall write you well in advance just as soon as I get the least glimmer of a hint myself, if for no other reason than the fact that I want to be part of any expeditionary force sent down to Cuba, and I suppose I should go with the New York troops. With many thanks, Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Gen. C. Whitney Tillinghast, Troy, N.Y. November 23, 1897. My dear Mr. Dashiell: I wish I could get a chance to talk over with you football and various other things. I've got a good deal to say! Do you think it is likely that you will be in Washington soon? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Professor Paul J. Dashiell, U.S.N., Naval Academy Club, Annapolis, Md. 305 November 24, 1897. My dear Mr. Graham: I will very gladly speak to the Secretary and ask him, if I possibly can, to address your society. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Robert Graham, Esq., Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second Street. New York. November 24, 1897. My dear Sir: I regret to say that I have no copy of that report, and don't know where to obtain one; but if you will write to the Civil Service Commission Washington, D.C., if they have a copy I am sure they will let you have it. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt C. S. Devoy, President, 1 Broadway, New York. 306 November 24, 1897. My dear Mr. Nelson: I will see if I can get you that information. If so you shall most certainly have it, for I know just how you would use it. Mrs. Roosevelt is very well, and so is the small boy. With many thanks, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr H. L. Nelson, Harper's Round Table, Franklin Square, New York. November 24, 1897. My dear Captain Crowninshield: Mr. Nelson is a thoroughly safe man, and on our side in the Cuban business. If this information could be given him it would be a good thing. Sincerely, Theodore Roosevelt Captain A. S. Crowninshield, Bureau of Navigation.307 November 24, 1897. My dear Sir: I am genuinely sorry that I cannot be present at your dinner on November 30th. I earnestly wish you all success. It is the greatest pleasure to me to see so earnest a feeling in favor of the Navy among the States of the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes region; but I cannot say that I am surprised for we have long grown accustomed to see every patriotic movement receive the very heartiest suppose from these same States. I wish we could get naval militia organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and then down the Mississippi to the Gulf. In other words, I wish that all the other States would follow Illinois's example, for Illinois has naval militia organizations both on the Lakes and on the Mississippi. I earnestly wish you could persuade Congress to build another gunboat to replace the old U.S.S. MICHIGAN. The MICHIGAN is over half a century old, and as a war vessel she is almost as inadequate, compared to modern types, as if she were a quinquireme of Hamilcar. My own view is that the war vessel on the Lakes should not be employed in surveying at all, and that her chief duty should be the training of the naval militia on the Lakes, subordinating this only to the efficiency of her own crew. Let the MICHIGAN be retained for hydrographic work, and have a new vessel built to be used for the purposes proper for a308 2 man-of-war. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt John McNulta, Esq., President, Naval Reserve Ass'n of Illinois, Room 213, 164 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois.309 November 23, 1897. My dear Captain Cabot: I would like to write to you, and through you to the members of your team, to say that my opinion is that the Harvard team did very well this year. Of course our hindsight is better than our foresight, and I suppose we all feel that with slight changes here and there we could have won against Yale. As for Pennsylvania, I don't think it was on the cards for us to beat her. At any rate, I feel that the team made an entirely creditable showing, and if the men don't get discouraged, and go in just as heartily next year with perhaps a trifle more attention to aggressiveness in attack, we will have good reason to expect a triumphant season. I want to see Harvard play hard, snappy football in attack. Nobody could condemn mean or vicious playing more than I do, I would rather see the game stopped than have it indulged in; but I do want to see the attack made with all the energy and aggressiveness possible. Fight with "Devil", as they say in the boxing ring. The only thing I did not like about this year was taking off the H after the Yale game. Our men had done well; not quite as well as we had hoped, but still well; and I think it as great a mistake to show undue sensitiveness in defeat, or after failure to achieve victory, as it is to be indifferent about it. It is very bad to be over-confident or over-elated, and it is very bad to be too310 2 much cast down. It is exactly as in the great world. One never cares for the nations who, after a defeat, want to sacrifice somebody, to atone for their own mortification and wounded vanity. The French and the Greeks try to depose any government under which they have lost; but our people stood by Lincoln, just as they stood by Washington, through years of defeat, until we came out on top. They never lost their resolution to win, and they never were daunted by temporary disaster. If you get time I wish you would drop me a line as to who of the team will be back next year. I am very sorry that you are going out, but I am glad of the election of Captain Dibblee. Tell him how pleased many of us are to see a Californian again prominent in our athletics. When I was at Harvard our crew beat Yale three out of four times, and the best man our class contributed to the crew was a Californian. Pray give my regards to all the members of the eleven. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Captain Cabot, Harvard Football Team, Cambridge, Mass.311 November 26, 1897. My dear Sir: I remember you very well, and you did very satisfactory work, but I am sorry to say that I don't think there is any chance of a transfer to this Department. We are asked for such transfers all the time, and hitherto it has been impossible to make any. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Robert Edmond, Commandant's Office, Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va. November 26, 1897. Gentlemen: Yes, if necessary, import for me a copy of that book; but it is not by Payn, it was reviewed by him. Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt Brentano's, 1015 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington.312 November 26, 1897. My dear Davis: Before this Board gets too far on, I want you to meet one or two of the members at dinner to talk over matters. Would next Tuesday suit you? If so, telephone me on Saturday morning, that I may ask some of the others. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain C. H. Davis, U.S.N., Naval Obersvatory, Washington. November 26, 1897. My dear Mr. Clarke: I enclose check for $20. I should feel exceedingly badly if I could not join in anything of this kind to Mayor Strong. Do tell me what the date of the dinner is. If you care to have me say a few words at it I should particularly like to, provided I am able to get on, which of course I can't guarantee at the present time. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Hon. John Proctor Clarke, 1 West 81st Street, New York. (Enclosure)313 November 26, 1897. My dear Judge Taft: Civil service or no civil service, I should like to go anywhere where you are going to be; but December is an impossible time for me to get away. If I go anywhere I have got to go to a Greater New York affair at that time; but I doubt if I can make even that. I am exceedingly sorry, for I should like to try to help you in any way. I did boom the civil service business as strongly as I could before the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. I don't suppose there is any hope of seeing you here in Washington, is there? I wish there were. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Judge William H. Taft, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Cincinnati, Ohio.314 November 26, 1897. My dear Sir: You are more than kind to have given me just the information I wished. I remember very well having had the pleasure of meeting Judge Kelly, but I did not know of his being in Washington. I shall call upon him as soon as I get a chance. I shall also put myself in communication with Mrs. Molson. What I am especially anxious to get is, of course, early manuscript authority in the way of letters, diaries, and the like, written at the time of the events in question. I know how treacherous memory is, and contemporary evidence is, of course, all important. It was a great pleasure to catch a glimpse of you the other day, and I sincerely thank you for this very real help that you have given me. With great regard, I am, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. L. B. Cox, 2011 N Street, Washington.315 November 26, 1897. My dear Mr. Laffan: Lodge tells me you are going to be in Washington next week. If so, I must get you to dinner somehow, and will have Lodge and one or two other choice spirits with us. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. W. M. Laffan, THE SUN, New York. November 26, 1897. My dear Sir: I have just received your very valuable letter. I have only had time to glance through it and shall write more at length when I have had an opportunity to go over it with some of my friends here. I have already written abroad to get all the particulars I can about the English practice. Captain Evans I find firmly believes that we load as fast as, and shoot better than, the English. I wish I felt his confidence. It was exceedingly pleasant to have the brief talk I did with you at Annapolis. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieutenant E. F. Leiper, U.S.N., Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.316 November 26, 1897. My dear Dr. Shaffer: Your letter struck woe to the heart of my daughter as well as of myself. However, I shall permit her and Kermit to sit at home in glorious ease for this winter. Will you tell me specifically what you would regard as a long walk? In New York both of them frequently walk over the hard pavements for an hour at a time. Is there any reason why we should not have a decorous three miles' walk over level ground in the country? I would be very much obliged also if you would write me, as soon as convenient, a line about the question Mrs. Roosevelt asked in reference to our coachman's little child. Its leg is not quite straight. It was crooked at birth. A doctor here says that he must either have an operation or put it in an instrument. I am afraid of advising the knife and should prefer to try the instrument. Don't you think this would be just as well? I realize entirely that you can only answer in the most general way, but having been brought up in your school, so to speak, I have gotten to think that in cases of this kind the instrument was always better than the knife. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Dr. Newbold M. Shaffer, 28 East 38th Street, New York.317 November 26, 1897. Dear Sir: I am no longer a police commissioner, but in any event I regret to tell you that have to be a resident of New York for a year before entering the New York Police Force. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. C. E. Stuart, Orchard, Iowa. November 26,1897. My dear Mr. Kay: I shall have that looked up at once. I only hope it will be possible to do as you wish, but you have no idea of the multitude of calls of this kind made upon me. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Joseph W. Kay, Esq., 39 York Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.318 November 26, 1897. My dear Colonel Sanger: I shall be in Washington during the coming week. I wish you could come on here. I should like to have you see one or two of the President's close advisers. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Col. William Cary Sanger, University Club, Madison Square, New York. November 26, 1897. Dear Sam: I think I could undoubtedly get a letter from the Secretary of State for Mr. Livingstone, but I don't well see how I could ask the British Ambassador for such a letter. From any of our own people I have a right to ask it, but not from a foreign diplomat here. Wouldn't the letter from the Secretary of State do? Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. S. M. Roosevelt, 100 William Street, New York.[319] November 26, 1897. My dear Mrs. Minis: Indeed you are most kind, and if I stay at any private house, in the rather problematical event of my visiting Savannah, it will be at yours; but I shall be going on official business, with probably one or two official attendants, and we shall have to stay at a hotel. But I shall most certainly take time enough away from my duties, not only to call upon you, but to get you to show me some of the old houses of which you speak. I fear, however, that Mrs. Roosevelt will not be able to leave her six children, one off whom is but a week old; and indeed my own coming cannot be determined until I find something more about the movements of the squadron and the torpedo-boat flotilla. Again, thanking you most heartily, I am, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Louisa Minis 24 West Gaston Street, Savannah, Georgia.320 November 26, 1897. My dear Mr. McBee: You owe me no thanks, for as soon as I asked the Secretary to do what he could for you, he in his turn thanked me for giving him the opportunity, and said that all he needed was the knowledge that you were [going] coming. Now, I am sorry to say I don't think I can review that History of the Navy (although I feel that I ought to, since you tell me that Professor Trent is to review my book!) You don't know, my dear sir, how busy I am at this moment. I have had to refuse request after request to review books and articles. I simply haven't got a moment to myself. I hope you will understand the regret with which I refuse any request of yours. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. Silas McBee, THE CHURCHMAN, 47 Lafayette Place, New York.321 November 27, 1897. My dear Madam: I regret to say that it would be quite impossible to get you the information you wish. It would be a matter of weeks' work to have the rolls hunted up to find out where the gentlemen named were, if we have no more accurate data on which to go. If you can give me the year, and the ship in which it is said that any man served, I will have it looked up; but more than that the Department finds it out of the question to do. With regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Charlotte Low Lakeman, Ipswich, Mass. November 27, 1897. My dear Sir: It would give me pleasure to write that article for you, but I am afraid it is absolutely out of the question at present. I have already refused somilar requests from the ATLANTIC, SCRIBNER'S and M'CLURE'S. I am very much pressed for time, and more than that I am not quite certain in what shape I should want that article to appear. With regret, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Albert Spies, CASSIER'S MAGAZINE, World Building, New York.322 November 27, 1897. Dear Sir: I will have that matter looked up, and see if a vacancy now exists, but I am not aware that any does exist. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Matthew Watson, 612 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. November 27, 1897. My dear Sir: I am very much obliged to you for your courtesy in writing me, and I much appreciate it. I send you herewith a copy of the Secretary's Report, and copies of a couple of addresses of my own. I will have that other matter looked up, and send you the information if possible. With great regard, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. A. P. Hayden, 104 Duane Street, New York.323 November 27, 1897. Mr dear Sir: I was, of course, much interested in your letter, and I want to write to you just unofficially, because officially I should of course have to hear from you through the captain of your ship. I don't think you ought to take the gloomy view you do of your future. Your experience on shore in Baltimore ought to show you that you had better stick to your own trade. As you know, you cannot be discharged now; the law would not permit it. Now, keep on in the future doing just as you have in the past; and the next time your discharge comes, if you think you can better yourself go out of the Navy. But remember that the majority of the old naval men who go ashore don't manage to do very well. With best wishes, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Charles Silk, Yeoman, U.S.N., U.S.S.BALTIMORE, Honolulu, Hawaii.324 November 27, 1897. My dear Madam: Many thanks for your letter. As to sailors, I appreciate what you say, but I don't see how the change can be other than slow. We are steadily striving, and I think with success, to get a better grade of men into the service; and the condition of the sailor is, I believe, decade by decade being ameliorated a little. It would not be possible in any military service, however, to have the officers and men meet on terms of entire equality, even outside of their professional duties, save on exceptional occasions. I try to encourage football matches and everything of that kind where they are thrown together325 together on terms of comradeship, and on the same footing. Now, as to chaplains, on one point you are mistaken. The rule to which you refer is precisely that which is enforced with reference to sailing masters and engineers, and I don't see how it could be otherwise. If we can prove inefficiency we can courtmartial a man. I appreciate what you say, that some of the chaplains are not what they should be. One, I regret to say, I fear we shall have to turn out right away. But the only way to remedy this is for the President to exercise always the greatest care in making the appointments, and I think religious people should try from time to time to exercise a supervision over the appointments made, being, however, very careful not to mix sectarian prejudices in with it, but as you very properly and wisely say say, treat Catholic and Protestant alike. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Mary E. Metheny, 1640 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland.November 27, 1897. My dear Captain Miller: Yes, I saw that and rather liked it. Was it you who wrote it? If so I have already communicated with you. By the way, did you see in the TRIBUNE what I said about the Naval Militia? I was rather irritated at Dickins' remarks being published. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Captain J.W.Miller, N.M.N.Y., Providence & Stonington Steamship Co., New Pier 36, North River, New York. 326 November 27, 1897. Mr dear Sir: I don't like to interfere with the Commandant of the Marine Corps in these matters unless it is absolutely necessary; and probably I will not be consulted about that at all unless the Secretary chooses to ask me. With regret, Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. M. L. Andrews, The Gladstone, 11th & Pine Sts., Philadelphia.327 November 29, 1897. My dear Sir: Of course I remember you very well, but I am sorry to say that we haven't got any more sets of those Naval War Records. All of ours have been exhausted. It was with the greatest difficulty that we would get one for the White House the other day. With regret, Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. William A. Lawson, Hotel Lafayette, Philadelphia. November 29, 1897. Dear Sir: The Revenue Cutter Service is not under the Navy Department but under the Treasury, and I suggest that you apply there for the information you wish. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. John T. Jones, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.November 29, 1897. Gentlemen: It will give me pleasure to look into the matter of which you write. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Messers. Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. 328 November 29, 1897. Mr. John Uri Lloyd, Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr dear Sir: It will give me pleasure to look into the matter of which you write. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt329 November 29, 1987. My dear Mr. Selfridge: I am very glad to hear from you, as always. I shall look carefully through that clipping, and I am going to consult with Lieut. Sharp about some of the matters contained in your letter. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Lieut. Commander J. R. Selfridge, U. S. N. U. S. S. PURITAN, Navy Yard, Brooklyn N. Y. November 29, 1897. My dear Mr. Bowker: I will very gladly do what I can to [keep] get Mr. Crandall kept in as Superintendent of Documents, I don't know, however, that I will be given a chance to speak on the matter at all. A subordinate in one department is very rarely consulted on matters not connected with his own department. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt R. R. Bowker, Esq., 59 Duane Street, New York.330 November 29, 1897. Dr. H. P. Weidig, 142 Clifford St., Newark, N.J. My dear Sir: I have received your letter enclosing the notes of introduction from Mr. Carl Scharz and Senator Sewall. It will be a great pleasure for me to see you, but I regret to say that I don't know when I shall be in New York. Would it not be possible for you to come to Washington, where I could have the Chief of the Bureau of Ordinance in to talk with you? Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 29, 1897. My dear Mr. Peary: You are most kind to send me that Polar bear skin. Indeed I shall prize it greatly, though it will be a constant regret to me that I did not kill it myself, for most of my trophies represent my own mild prowess. I am glad to hear that you are to address the Royal Geographical and Royal Scottish Societies. When you come back I wish you would give me a chance to see you. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Civil Engineer R. E. Peary, U. S. N., Brooklyn, N. Y. 331 November 29, 1897 My dear Sir: I am sorry to say it is impossible for me to interfere in New York Police matters. I have been requested to do so so may times that I have had to make one invariable rule that I would not meddle. I am very sorry not to be able to grant your request. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Officer William N. Duggan, 34th Precinct, New York. November 29, 1897. My dear Brander: Lodge read me your letter with delight. I shall leave him to make his own apologies. I don’t think I can possibly write that piece for the FORUM. You have no conception how busy I am. I wish you were going to be down here in Washington some time. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Brander Matthews, Esq., 581 West End Avenue, New York.332 November 29, 1897. Mrs. Talcott Williams, 916 Pine Street, Philadelphia. My dear Mrs. Williams: I am very sorry to say that I cannot possibly come on myself, and I hardly know whom to advise you to have come on. If you could ask Admiral Walker or Admiral Franklin, I think you would get a very interesting [result] speech. I wish I could advise you more definitely. How would it do to try our Secretary Herbert? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt November 29,1897. R. C. Lehman, Esq., University Boat Club, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. My dear Mr. Lehman: Some of us down here, including Senator Lodge, Mr. John Addison Porter (the President's Secretary) Senator Walcott, and others, would like to give you a dinner on behalf of the Harvard and Yale men before you return, as I understand you are going to, to England for the Christmas vacation. Is there any chance of getting you down to Washington for such a dinner? Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt333 November 29, 1897. My dear Sir: Permit me to thank you very warmly for your letter about Mr. Fritz. I entirely agree with what you say. In reference to the government armor plant, I shall also bear in mind what you set forth, although as you know I personally do not think that the government should go into this business. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. W. R. Warner, Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland. November 29, 1897. Dear Mr. McClure: If you will look in the Army and Navy Register of November 13th last, you will find a full account of the subject to which you refer. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. S. S. McClure, 141 East 25th St,. New York.334 November 29, 1897. My dear [Sir] Weaver: I will have that looked up at once and see if it can be done. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt H. G. Weaver, Secretary, Public Charities, 66 Third Avenue, New York.335 November 29, 1897. My dear Sir: I have just received your letter, which I have carefully read. I am sorry to say, however, that it is not possible for me to lay before the Board the matter of which you speak. We have had countless requests to take up this, that and the other subject in the Board, and we are obliged to limit our work to the purpose for which we were assembled. With regret, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. George F. Pajme, American Pharmaceutical Association, State Capitol, Atlanta, Ga.[336] November 29, 1897. Gentlemen: It is quite impossible for me to answer your letter until I learn the name of the boy of whom you speak. After consultation with the Bureau of Navigation and the Judge Advocate General I found it would not be proper for me to give you any promise. The boy by giving a fictitious name was certainly guilty of fraudulent enlistment, and he must have known he was doing wrong at the time; but I shall have to know who he is before I can make any statement in the matter. Very truly yours, Theodore Roosevelt Messrs. Esselstyn, Ketcham & Safford, 35 Wall Street, New York.337 November 29, 1897. My dear Mrs. Barnum: Indeed you did not need to translate your name for me, for I have always followed whatever you have done. I was exceedingly sorry not to get to Savannah. It is certainly only a pleasure deferred, so far as I am concerned, for I intend to get there this winter some time, and also, incidentally, to visit my mother's old place at Roswell outside of Atlanta. Pray present my regards to Mr. Barnum. Now, about your brother: I wish that it were possible for me to hold out any hope of my doing anything, but it would be a cruel kindness for me to do so, for I know that the chances of338 my being able to accomplish anything for him are infinitesimal. If the chance comes I will most gladly do it. Many of my own kinsfolk wore the gray, and I am too good an American and too strong a Union man not to be proud of their valor and their devotion to the right as they saw it. But I don't know of an appointment of the kind you would wish in Georgia, and I would not be allowed to have any say in filling it if I did know of it; for every man is, quite properly, limited to the work of his own department, and the pressure upon the President for places is something tremendous. I have often in this office felt like complaining even at my beloved civil service law because it prevented me from giving appointments to certain people whom I would like to push forward; but on second thoughts I have always been profoundly grateful for the limitation when I have realized the hungry horde from whom, if I did have the power, I would probably be forced to make a selection. I am very sorry not to be able to write you more encouragingly. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mrs. Frances C. B. Barnum, 228 East York Street, Savannah, Georgia.339 November 29, 1897. Dear Mr. Riis: Indeed you were not doing anything you ought not to do. It was merely one of these general regulations which have to be adopted because we must draw the line somewhere, and as in all such cases it is right that, in very rare exceptions must be made; and as for you, old man, I make an exception to anything when you are concerned. Yes, we have a dear little new boy, and Mrs. Roosevelt just yesterday said to me that I must certainly write you about it, because she knew you would be interested, and that Mrs. Riis would be interested too. We both send you and her our love. Ted worships the new baby. I shall look up the Century at once. Always yours, Theodore Roosevelt Mr. Jacob A. Riis, 301 Mulberry Street, New York.340 November 29, 1897 Mr. John Paul Bocock, 391 West End Avenue, New York. My dear Mr. Bocock: I would not like to write a letter to Mr. Stillman, merely because it is something I have never done to any editor; but I am only too glad to say to you, and have it used, that I believe your association with the Commercial Advertiser, or any other first class newspaper, would be of great value to that journal and to the Republican Party. I know your work in the Forum and North American, as well as some of your journalistic work proper, and I earnestly hope that you will be given permanent employment on a first class republican paper. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt341 November 29, 1897. H. L. Nelson, Esq., Harper & Brothers' Editorial Rooms, Franklin Square, New York. My dear Mr. Nelson: All I could get for you was the enclosed. I consulted the Chief personally about it. I believe myself that during the last eight months it would be safe to say that we have spent a good deal over three hundred thousand dollars in the effort to prevent filibustering, and I happen to know from personal acquaintance with many of the filibusters how (I am almost tempted to say lamentably) successful those efforts have been. With many thanks for your kind wishes, I am, Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt[*342*] November 29, 1897. My dear Dr. Coit: It would be a very real pleasure to me to go again to St.Paul's School, not only to address the boys, but to meet you. Now, my dear sir, I am going to write you exactly how the facts stand. It is not possible for me to guarantee to come. You see I am under a similar pledge for Groton, and if I do one I must do both, and it is exceedingly difficult to get away--I may say it is almost impossible. Since I saw you I have been forced to decline over a hundred invitations, many of which I should have liked to accept; but early in April I am to speak at Harvard in Sanders Theater, and I hope, although I can't be sure,343 that then if you wish me to speak I can get up and make an address to you. A little bit later I can tell you more definitely. I really cannot say how much I enjoyed my visit last June, and if I can repeat it I most certainly will. Now, about young Rowan: Douglas had already written me, and what I can do I will, but I don't believe it will be very much for I am pledged first to two sons of naval officers now in the service whom I am in honor bound to help, and I doubt very much if the President will listen with patience to my advice even about either one of these. The pressure upon him is very great, and he is not very apt to call upon the Assistant Secretary for advice. If he does I shall most gladly make young Rowan the third man for whom I speak. I wish I could write a little more satisfactorily. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt Rev. J. H. Coit, St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H.