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. Copyright, 1902, by Clinedinst, Washington, D.C. THE PRESIDENT'S DESK IN THE EXECUTIVE BUILDINGS AT WASHINGTON 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 His interest in the birds in the White House grounds. — Squirrels that have no fear of "the big stick." ate. No man of affairs in the than President Roosevelt. country is more accessible There are many presi dents 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. Whoever has a fair reason for this request is admitted to the reception room at the earliest opportunity. When fifteen or twenty callers are gathered there, the door leading from the President's office opens, and the President bounds in, beaming with his genuine good-natured interest in his fellow-men, and, with a "Glad to see you," seizes the first hand. He does not stand or sit, in the usual Presidential state, but bears himself as if he were in his own home and receiving a group of personal friends. He has no time to waste, however, and is so quick to catch the point of each man's mission, that he is able to dispose of it before a long-winded visitor can get half through his introductory remarks. "Yes, yes," he will say; "I know you, and I am delighted to see you. But you must put your application in writing. Yes, put it in writing, and send it to me with your indorsements, and I will see what can be done for you." A whispering caller is put to the blush by the President's outspoken reply: "Oh, I know all about that. Yes, certainly I do. And I have no doubt you would fill the bill. But n't know cy. Don't |