Life — May 9, 1907 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“While there is Life there's Hope.” VOL. XLIX., MAY 9, 1907. No. 1280. 17 West Turety-riest Street, New Yorx. HE Sun came out on April 25 y with an amusing double-leaded con- tion about Secre- tary Taft, saying ‘ what a tip-top _ man he is, how impossible it is that he should ever ~ be “a mere mirror for Mr. Roosevelt,” how de- lighted the Sun would be tosee him President and how dreadful an error President Roosevelt will fall into if he runs Taft for the nomination as an automaton wound up to carry on the “Roosevelt policies.” ‘We do not think he will get the nomination,” says the Sur; “and if it should come to him as it is now planned that it should + come, he will not accept it.” Well, well; these are entertaining re- marks. They remind one of the venerable story of an irrepressibly inquisitive man who asked his neighbor in the street-car what he had in the box. “A mongoose.” “What for?” “To kill snakes.” ‘What snakes?” “TI havea convivial friend who sees snakes.” “But those are not real snakes!” “Neither is this a real mon- goose.” An urgent need of the times seems to be a supply of mongooses sufficiently real to kill the snakes that wriggle before the eyes of our friends who “see things.” The Sun “sees things” in great profusion and so do most of the more impassioned critics of the President. If we may judge from the stories that the papers print as coming from Washington the President also “sees things” at times, and expends good deal of energy in chasing them into holes. The Sun is a good enough mongoose to kill such things as it sees, but its efforts to save Big Bill Taft from being bitten by them is love’s labor lost. Mr. Taft doesn’t need any mongoose, because he doesn’t see anything, and will «LIFE: not see anything, except what is really there. A casual newspaper headline reads: “Taft Will Let Foraker Talk ; Too Bus Himself to Bother About Stumping Ohio; Going Home on Friday.” The Secretary, just back from Panama, Cuba and Porto Rico, was going to Ohio to meet the Western Federation of Yale Clubs on Friday night; to lay a corner- stone at Dayton on Sunday, and to talk again on Monday about the Panama Canal to the Business Men’s Club at Cincinnati. He is not too busy to talk about some real things, but he is too busy to take the stump in Ohio against Senator Foraker. HERE is a great deal of comfort to be had from the contemplation of Secretary Taft. If he shall be our next President we will get a man of remark- able qualifications to fill the place that Mr. Roosevelt will vacate. He is good medicine; a poultice, a tonic and good for the nerves. There is confidence that if he becomes President he will not let go of any improvement or reform that has been gained, nor yet agitate the coun- try by fears of what he may attempt. Folks admire his ability, value his serv- ices, respect his character and like the temper and the friendly nature of him. Old-fashioned people think of him as they do of Roosevelt, and as they are getting to think of Hughes, as a man who probably says his prayers. They like that kind of a man, and always did, and, once they tie up to him, will trust him in the dark, and follow him, if necessary, through a good many indiscretions, just as they follow Roosevelt. ERHAPS the Sun is sincere in fearing that Roosevelt’s support will be fatal to Taft as a Presidential possibility. The sident seems ready to use the power of Federal patronage in New York to back up Governor Hughes, and it is ex- pected that he will want to use the same weapon in Taft's behalf in Ohio, and the current sentiment of all the bug-house prophets is that if he does, he will kill off both Taft and Hughes. But let the Sun's mongoose chase these snakes. The chance of being favorably regarded by President Roosevelt is one of the common risks that every good and likely Republican man has got to take for the next year. Our notion is that any man who does not prove hearty enough to survive it is not of durable enough material for the White House job. TH Jamestown Fair is open, and will presently be ready for business. It promises to be a pretty, pleasant, profita- ble show. The most suitable way to go to it will be in a yacht, and we suppose all the yachts there are around will go to Hampton Roads in the course of the summer, to the loss perhaps of Bar Harbor and the coast of Maine. But there are other ways to go for citizens whose yachts do not happen to be in commission. ‘The most important item about a fair is the food. Nature has lavished food supplies on Chesapeake Bay and its shores, and visitors are not likely to go hungry. There will be naval and mili- tary shows all summer long. ‘The 400 acres of fair grounds are said to be charming, both in their setting and in their buildings and pretty landscape effects. About the exhibits we have not heard very much as yet, but there will be plenty of exhibits. The most interesting one of all will be the people of Virginia, favorable specimens of whom will be visible at all times while the fair con- tinues, and may be compared with se- lected Pittsburgers, who will be shown in cages, It was from Virginia, as is well known, that the American people de- rived most of the liberties and all the manners that they possess. In that State American hospitality was invented and from it emanated our first principles of deportment. Lineage was first appre- ciated and respected there, and continues to be honored there both in man and beast. The best thing about the James- town Fair is that it is in Virginia. It will do us all good to go there, and stay long to get some real conception of the flavor of the Old Dominion. comicbooks.com