Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 31, Number 272, 29 October 1906 — Page 3

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PKESTOENT ROOSEVELT has a penchant for .doing the unique and unusual, but nothing that he has done since entering: the White House will be bo wholly without precedent In the annals of the presidency as his forthcoming trip to the Isthmus of Panama. When It was first announced that the strenuous Chief Magistrate Intended to Tlslt the Isthmus in order to see Uncle ftnm's big lnteroceanlc canal In the making, a large portion of the public gasped with astonishment, for there prevailed a general impression that such a jaunt would be contrary to law. HoweTer, it is on Iy! an' unwritten law and not a legal statute that our youngest President is going to smash by his scheme for gaining at first hand Information as to the nation's biggest engineering undertaking. Moreover, this is not the first time President Roosevelt has disregarded the tradition that Miss Columbia's best paid employe must remain a virtual prisoner within the confines of the United States. At the conclusion of his Southern trip some months since the President came North from New Orleans on an armored cruiser and this ressel was, during a considerable portion of the voyage, outside the three-mile limit that imag-" Inary offshore line that is supposed to constitute the boundary of the republic's Jurisdiction. , Other presidents, at least a couple of them,, have disregarded this three-mile limit, though to be sure they never ventured so far from home as President Roosevelt now proposes to do. In Octo ber. 1883, President Arthur visited Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, and some of his political enemies declared that In the enthusiasm of a fishing trip he not only ventured beyond Yankee territory, but actually went beyond the middle of the St. Lawrence River and into Canadian territory. President Cleveland was similarly criticised when on one of bis hunting and fishing trips to North Carolina the vessel that carried him in rounding Cape Hatteras passed beyond the three-mile limit fixed by international law. There is, however, one Important fact to be taken Into consideration in connection with President Roosevelt's long ocean journey to the Isthmus, and that is that he will travel on a United States warship. Authorities all agree that the deck of an American naval vessel Is United States territory, and the Chief Executive might consistently travel to the farthest end of the earth so long as he remained on a floating fortress flying the Stars and Stripes. Similarly It Is decreed that the Canal Zone at Panama, the strip of territory that this government has acquired as a right of way for the canal, is Uncle Sam's j11. and that the nation's ruler has a icrf.xt right to reside temporarily thereon. President Roosevelt will needs have a care, however, that he does not, by any raUstep, get over the boundary line into the Republic of Panama proper, for that would constitute an entry iuto foreign territory. Of course, the American President will want to greet President Amador and the other leading men of the world's newest republic, but they will bave to either make a journey into the Canal Zone for such greeting, or else the great champion of the canal prelect will be compelled to stand on the edge of United States territory and shake bands across the border. An incident somewhat similar to this occurred when the late President Harrison visited Texas and walked half way across the international bridge at EI Paso to a line beyond which wai Mexican territory. When President McKlnley visited this same point some years later it was proposed to have President Dlaa f Mexico meet the visitor from TVaetit!ton la the middle of the , br.dice and. shake hands across' the dividing liue. but -the plan was not carried but, and so one Chairs are sometimes (like the rare and beautiful old specimens of Sheraton and Chippendale celebrated for the beauty of their work nans hi p. The following chairs owe their interest to the associations connected with them rather than to any particular merit of their own. Two of them are connected with the fortunes of the ud lucky Stuart kings of England. Here Is the story of a high-backed old oak chair. The night preceding the fatal Battle of Naseby was pent by the unfortunate Charles I. at Lnbenham. a village two miles from the Market liarborough. He endeavored to snatch a few hoars rest at the manor house, the ruins of which are still to be seen, but was awakened at 2 in the morning to Join the main army at Market Harborough. In t ue church of Lubenham Is preserved the chair used by Charles I. during his hurried visit to the village, and this is most highly prized In historical circles. The table at which the royalist cavaliers were caronsing the night before the battle Is still preserved bv the British Mu

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much discussion was engendered as to the proprieties of the matter that President McKlnley did not even set foot upon the bridge, but contented himself with gazing upon the peakas of the Sierra Madre from the American shore. The ship that will carry President Roosevelt and his party to Panama will be in every respect worthy of such an honor and also qualified for so grave a responsibility. The fortunate ship will be either the U. S. S. Louisiana or the U. S. S. Connecticut. The choice of which of these, twins will be employed rests with the President, and In all probability a definite selection will not be made until shortly before the date of departure. Uowever, ' there can be but little choice between the Louisiana and Connecticut. Both are first-class battleships, sister craft and exact duplicates In every particular. One was built in a private shipyard at Newport News, Va., whereas the other Is the proauct of the United States Navy Yard at Brooklyn, N. X., and the reading public will re-j member the spirited race In the construction of the hulls, a contest that was won by the private shipyard, but by so small a margin that there was scant glory in the victory. The Louisiana and Connecticut are the largest, heaviest and most powerful fighting ships In the American navy, and with the exception of the new British battleship Dreadnaught. are probably the most formidable sea warriors afloat. Each ship is 450 feet in length, 77 feet In breadth, and has a displacement of weight of 16,000 tons. Engines of 16,500 horsepower give each of the ships a speed of more than 20 miles per hour, and the coal bunkers have a capacity of more than 2,200 tons, or sufficient to permit of the trip to Panama and back at .top speed without any replenishment of Jhe fuel supply. Of course, it is next to Impossible that any harm should threaten the person of the President of the United States on his peaceful mission to Panama, but if the, unexpected should happen, there is no ship In Uncle Sam's fleets better qualified to protect those aboard than a vessel of the Louisiana-Connecticut class. The hull Is sheathed in the heaviest armor a protective coating of steel that In some places is a dozen inches In thickness and the armament consists of four of the big 12-lnch guns and eight S-inch guns In turrets, and a dozen of the 7-lnch breechloading rifles In broadside, to say nothing of the 50 quick-firing guns, mostly 3inch and 3-pounder weapons, that are scattered over the big fighter in the various localities where they can "speak" most effectively. In planning the interior arrangement of warships no provision Is made for visitors, and President Roosevelt and his party will occupy staterooms provided for officers of the ship, while the wearers of gold braid will "double up" in the matter of sleeping accommodations for the time being. Inasmuch, however, as this brand of battleship carries 41 officers. It can be appreciated that the living quarters are quite spacious. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the ship's crew numbers 840 enlisted men, a contingent numerous enough to keep everything in shipshape without toiling over hours. For all that, the Navy Department is assigning for use as a presidential conveyance one of the newest, finest and presumably one of the safest of pur battleships; It is not proposed to run any chances In the matter, and, accordingly, the ship that carries the President and Mrs. Roosevelt, In case the first lady of the land carries out her present intention to accompany her husband will be accompanied b another up-to-date naval vessel. Thus in the event of any mishap to the vesset carrying the nation's most distinguished citizen, the escort craft would be ready to stand by and render seum of History. Another chair which shows so plainly its ancient manufacture is a relic associated with the romantic career of the younger Stuart prince, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie." During the wanderings of this unlucky prince through the Island of Skye he took refuge ha a cave. A farmer called Samuel Martin owned the land thereabouts, and a son of this Martin was tending his father's cows, when by chance or design he approached the Prince's lurking place. Charles, knowing the fidelity of the Scotsmen, showed himself, and the boy led him to the farm, where he was fed well on oatcakes and cream and sat In this special chair. It is now the property of Martin's descendants in Glasgow. In the Mayer Free Libraryat Chester, England, stands the chair In which Robert Burns, the great poet, sat when he wrote "The Cotter's Saturday Night. The chair was presented to the library by Joseph Mayer, F. S. A., who founded the library at Chester., one of the finest In England. v

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Mm 5 assistance, or if the circumstances demanded, the presidential party could be transferred to this substitute boat. And who will run the government while the President Is away? is a question which naturally suggests itself. The law of the land prescribes that the President cannot formally delegate his powers to anyone, not even to the Vice President, but such matters as may be delegated to a proxy and are likely to require the attention of someone personally present at the national capital will be left In the hands of Hon. Elihu Root, the secretary of state, who Is very thoroughly conversant with all the President's governmental policies. Strictly speaking, however, no person is needed to direct the machinery of state while the President is absent from "Washington, for the reason that, thanks to modern inventions, the nomadic Chief Magistrate can keep almost momentarily in touch with our national affairs, no matter where he may be. If our forefathers could have anticipated what fast railroad trains, telephones and telegraphs would accomplish in the way of annihilating distances, they need not have worried themselves over the possible consequences of absence from the country by tfc president of the United States. For some years'past our presidents have been enabled to keep their fingers on the pulse of governmental affairs while traveling by rail, even though the journeys have extended, in some instances, to the Pacific Coast. The president's special train has been constituted a virtual White House on wheels, with secretaries, clerks and stenographers at work in this portable business establishment jrtst as they would be in the executive offices at Washington. By means of special direct telephone and telegraph wires, reserved exclusively for the presidential messages, business has been carried on at long range almost, if not quite, as expeditiously as It would be with the Chief Magistrate seated in bis private office at the nation's headquarters. Lately the invention of wireless teles

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3 i & raphy has made It possible to extend these wonderful facilities to presidential voyages on the ocean. On the occasion of President Roosevelt's Journey to Panama the warship conveying him will be provided with a powerful wireless telegraphy equipment, and will be constantly in communication with one or another of the chain of wireless telegraphy stations maintained by the Navy Department at Intervals along the coast as far south as Key West. Messages received at any of the shore stations will be immediately transmitted by land lines to the Telegraph and Cipher Bureau at the White House, and thence distributed to the various government departments or other official destinations. The telephone and telegraph bureau at the White House will not only act as a clearing-house for the messages re ceived from the President, but will also constitute the channel through which ail official messages destined for the tourist President will be transmitted. Thus It will once again Justify its designation as "the President's intelligence office." In order to save time as well as to Insure secrecy, most of the messages to and from the President will probably be sent in cipher. One of the President's secretaries will accompany him. while another will remain on duty at the White House, so there is little chance of any hitch In handling the public business. Looking after the comfort and welfare of the President during his stay in the Canal Zone is likely to be rather more of a responsibility than the entertainment of a Chief Magistrate under normal conditions In a well-regulated American city, and the officials at Panama will probably be on pins and needles until the visit is safely over. Of course, there will be 'no difficulty In protecting the President from personal molestation, for there will be on guard plenty of blue jackets from the warships and marines, and the officious native policemen on the Isthmus, In their grotesque and fantastic costumes, can be counted upon to bave a hand in an under

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taking that lves such promises of glory. A different phase of the matter Is presented, however, by the necessity of safeguarding the President against an attack of yellow fever. Uncle Sam's sanitary experts, under the direction of Col. W. C. Gorgas, of the United States Army famous for his work In Havana after the Spanish-American War have performed wonders in the way of cleaning up the isthmus and have made It as healthy as any tropical country can be under the best circumstances, but for all that there is still some danger of yellow fever, and the medical officials don't propose to have President Roosevelt become one of the rare victims if they can help it. All buildings where he is entertained will be carefully screened to keep out the deadly mosquitoes who do all the mischief, but If by any III luck the President Is bitten by one of the Insects carrying the fever germ the physicians at band will Immediately employ heroic measures to eradicate all trace of the infection. However, the proverbial Roosevelt lack and the President's splendid physique are counted upon to constitute the best preventatives. : Easily one of the most Interesting features of President Roosevelt's vtsit to Panama will be the trip over the Panama Railroad, a line about 47 miles in length, extending from the port of Colon, on the Atlantic, to the harbor of Panama, on the Pacific This rail Journey will be made in th special ear which has been provided for the use of the members of the Panama Canal Commission in making their inspection tours, and whereas it Is somewhat in contrast to the palaces on wheels in which the President Is wont to travel in the United States, it is comfortable and altogether adequate. The trip over the Panama Railroad will not only give the President an idea of the present status of the various engineering works embraced In the big project, but will also afford hi m an Insight Into the life on the Isthmus, with its cosmopolitan population cl natives.

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Jamaica negroes, Chinese and whites of half a dozen different nationalities. Our energetic President Is going to Panama In order to get a clear and exact knowledge of the present condition as well as the future needs and prospects of the big undertaking, for the prosecution of which he is charged with the duty of spending, so many millions of the people's money, and he has made it clear to his guides and couriers that he wants to get a peep at every phase of the enterprise. To that end he will not content himself with a mere Inspection of the excavations where the dirt is flying, but will also have a look at the homos which have been provided for the American employes of the Canal Commission; at the hospitals, where the sick are cared for, and at the amusements which are being supplied as an antidote for homesickness. The hospitals, by the way, are some of the American creations at the Isthmus that are bound to prove a source of genuine pride to President Roosevelt and his patriotic fellow-travelers. More than BOO patients can be , accommodated in .' the two principal hospitals, one located at Colon and the other at A neon, a pleasant and healthful place where most of the prominent officials engaged in canal construction have their homes. In addition to these institutions there are scattered along the line of the canal half a dozen emergency hospitals, each fitted with 30 beds and, furthermore, a screened hospital car makes the round trip daily over the Panama Railroad in order to pick up and hustle to a base hospital any laborer who shows signs of illness. The necessity for this elaborate hospital equipment has decreased greatly in the face of the sanitary campaign that has been pushed so vigorously, but It is an immense satisfaction to know that such utilities are on hand in case of need. President Roosevelt enjoys seeing big things done in a big way. He has been eager to have the "dirt fly" on the Isthmus. Given these conditions, It is a safe prediction that one of the chief delights of his forthcoming excursion will be found in watching the monster 95ton steam shovels at work mechanically furrowing the big ditch after a fashion that would have made the French contractors of former days open their eyes In astonishment. The Canal Commission has provided scores of these gigantic machines, and the ceaseless, tireless manner In which they pursue the task of eating away the earth and rock Is inspiring and thoroughly emblematic of Yankee determination to dig the canal. These machines are the most powerful steam shovels ever built, as they must needs be, for naught but the most

Stray Birds at Sea.

Nothing lsf on the face of It more curious than the fact that tiny birds of comparatively feeble power of flight often Eight on the decks or in the rigging of ships hundreds of miles out from the shore In the heart of the stormy Atlantic or Pacific. "Why, they are migrants, of course, many will no doubt say. But this supposition will not at ail account for many such instances. Birds are often picked up quite off the lines of migration. They generally appear one at a time and in unsettled weather. Fourteen have been seen on a ship in one day, representing five different specie. An extraordinary fact one notices fs that these birds seem, when no cat or dog Is aboard, absolutely fearless. I bave myself picked up In my band a irmall bird .of the warbler tribe on the deck of a steamer when 200 miles from the coast of Newfoundland. And it is not that they are tired out. Most of the birds that come aboard are fairly fresh and can fly well, yet of their own accord they will stay about a ship till In sight of land. Then suddenly their Id timidity assails them and they become as wild as ever. .-" .- Altogether the matter has been very puzzling to naturalists," and it Is only lately that anything like a satisfactory explanation ha been offered. We all know that tome of the lower creature possess tenses which we human being

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staunchly built mechanical diggers could make headway against the tough, indurated clay of the Culebra Cut. Each shovel Is mounted upon an all-steel car 40 feet in length, and its huge scope or dipper is capable of picking up five cubic yards of earth r rock at each operation and transferring it to waiting railroad cars. A shovel of thla type has been operated at the rate of 818 yards of material handled per hour, and In a week of six consecutive days of 10 houra each, though subjected to delays of several hours daily owing to shortag of cars, has actually excavated and loaded 32,0K) yards of material. No wonder tha man who can stand on the bill at Empire and look out over a vista of miles of these shovels at work has an abiding confidence that the canal will be put through. At the Culebra cut, above mentioned. President Roosevelt will have an oppor tunity to see the moat spectacular phases of canal digging. Here the rapacious steam shovels have been massed most closely, and, here the greatest army of laborers is at work. Culebra Cut constitutes the highest point on the line of the canal, and here !to the great problems of the many-sided task. Most of the President's nights on shore will probably be spent at the dwellings which have been erected for the Chief Engineer and hia staff at Empire, overlooking the big cut. Here the nights are cool and there la usually a refreshing breeze during the day. The making of the ditch through Culebra pass will not, of course, necessitate as much excavation as was anticipated when It was expected that a aealevel canal would be constructed, but for all that it Involves the removal of millions of cubic yards of earth, and Inasmuch as a cubic yard Is roughly estimated to weigh a ton, It can readily be appreciated that It la proving no slight chore. President Roosevelt's Journey to Panama Is to have a very enjoyable social stde. All the leading officials of the canal organization will be on hand to see to It that he has an opportunity to view everything likely to prove of interest, and the prominent f families of Panama have planned ninny hospitalities for the American Executive. President am! Mrs. Roosevelt will find an, old friend In the person of Senor Don Domingo de Obaldla, recently chosen, vice president of the Republic ofT Panama. Senor Obaldla has been stationed at Washington for several years past as the representative of the new republic, and he and his very attractive young wife made innumerable friends in official circles at the American capital. President Roosevelt Is also personally acquainted with most of the leading officials of the republic at the isthmus, many of these statesmen having visited this country during the past few years. , WALDOS FAWCETT. Gathering Robber. It Is quite wonderful how little the average cyclist knows of how or where the rubber of which bis tires are composed is prepared. A quantity of It now cornea from Africa, where It la cut and prepared by the native of the French Congo. - The plant from which Africa rubber Is procured is a creeper which throw its long tendrils over the tops of lofty forest trees, and is sometime three or four inches thick at the base. Climbing op in the trees the natives cut the vine loose, and then descending chop them off below. Next the stalka are cut in short pieces three or four feet long and hung in bundles over Iron pots, Into which th juice slowly drains. Then the Juice la boiled for nearly two hours, and during the boiling process other Juices In small amounts and a little lime are mixed In to make the juice more sticky and easily formed Into balls. When cool the hardening rubber ia shaped by winding It round a stick. These balls weigh thre pounds each. The best rubber la prepared without any boiling at all. This Is quit clear and transparent. But It takes so long to harden that very little of It la available. Of course, the darkles are paid chiefly in kind ootton, rum and old flintlock guns. March and April, rainy season months, are the best for the work, as then there Is more juice In the Tines. have not. It is suggested that In bird the sense of the instinct of direction, which Is what enable them to find their way during migration, Is so Intimately asaoclated with that of self-preservation that when the former ia lost the latter goes also. Now, these bird that find their way onto the ship far out at sea have, no doubt, lost their aense of direction. Up In the higher regions of the armospher fierce currenta of air constantly stream along, and our little migranta must have flown too high and been caught in the and carried on and on, exerting just sufficient strength to keep themselves up. This explain their sudden appearance vt far from shore, and I the only eeuiIcgly possible suggestion to explain their remarkable tameness. , Darwin fonnd birds on the Gaiapajoa Islands which were extraordinarily tame, but It seems more likely that these were tame from absolute Ignorance of and onfamiliarity with human being. Not only are small bird seen cat at sea, but Insects even come aboard, and this particularly in warm latitudes. These must certainly be carried oat by the wind, for their own feebie power of flight could never serve unaided. The whole subject U a very Interesting one, and the further research, which is now going on lots the curious air current in the higher region of the atmosphere will, doubtles. tend to throw more light on this long-standing puzzle &s naturalist

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