He called on the President of the Panama Republic, who gave a reception in his honor. President Roosevelt was very gracious to all, but before he had finished his speech, which was translated for his audience, he took occasion to show the Panamans the "big stick." With flashing eyes, clinched jaws, and doubled fist, he warned them against the revolutionary habit, and plainly told them that unless their government could preserve the peace it would not last. For three days the President, drenched and besplashed with mud, was ceaseless in his investigations. At every point he was saying, "Yes, yes, but what I wish to know is " He fired every man on the work with his own enthusiasm, and when a group of American machinists cried out at him, "Teddy's all right!" he replied, "You are all right, and I wish there were enough of me to say it with all the force I feel. Every man who does his part well in this work leaves a record worthy of being made by an American citizen. You are a straight out lot of Americans and I am proud of you." When the President sailed away, he left behind him a new feeling of loyalty and determination. throughout the canal zone. The Americans there were no longer working for a mere wage, but for the glory of their country as well. Their patriotism had been aroused and their task lifted to a higher plane. They had seen an example of the "strenuous life,' and had caught its spirit. THE PRESIDENT AT WORK How callers get to him in the executive offices and how he greets them. Rushing times at a reception. Mr. Roosevelt's welcome to men from his old Wild West and to the Carlisle Indian football team. - His weakness for his Rough Rider comrades amuses those around him. - How one member of his regiment lost favor. - Bill Sewall, the guest of the President. - The record of a busy day. — Five hundred to one thousand letters daily. Mr. Roosevelt's story of the best meal he ever ate. His interest in the birds in the White House grounds. Squirrels that have no fear of "the big stick." No man of affairs in the country is more accessible than President Roosevelt. There are many presidents of little banks, there are obscure storekeepers, whom it is more difficult to see than it is to gain an audience with this President of eighty million people, this chief of a great world power. No lackeys in livery surround him, no divinity hedges him in from his countrymen. Two policemen stand at the door of the executive building in the White House grounds, but only to preserve order. Any one may enter and apply to a secretary for permission to speak to the President. |