ome that I had received from home. He
answered that he had not seen any and really didn't want to see any.

"I don't believe in clinging to the tattered shreds of former
greatness," he said, laughing.

He had not heard that Governor Johnson, of Minnesota, had died, and when
we told him he said that Johnson would undoubtedly have been the
strongest presidential candidate the Democrats could have nominated the
next time. He wanted to know where he could address a note of sympathy
to Mrs. Johnson.

Later, in speaking of a prominent public man who loudly disclaimed
responsibility for an act committed by a subordinate, he said:

"It would have been far better to have said nothing about it, but let
people think he himself had given the order. Very often subordinates say
and do things that are credited to their superiors, and it is never good
policy to try to shift the blame. Do you remember the time Root was in
South America? Well, some president down there sent me a congratulatory
telegram which reached Washington when I was away. Mr. ---- of the state
department answered it in my name and said that I and 'my people' were
pleased with the reception they were giving Mr. Root. Well, the New York
_Sun_ took the matter up and when the fleet went around the world they
referred to it as 'my fleet,' and that 'my fleet' had crossed 'my
equator' four times and 'my ocean' a couple of times. It was very
cleverly done and some people began to call for a Brutus to curb my
imperialistic tendencies."

[Drawing: _Writing His Adventures While They're Hot_]

He told a funny story about John L. Sullivan, who came to the White
House to intercede for a nephew who had got into trouble in the navy.
John L. told what a nice woman the boy's mother was and what a terrible
disgrace it would be for himself and his family if the boy was dropped
from the navy. "Why, if he hadn't gone into the navy he might have
turned out very bad," said John L.; "taken up music or something like
that."

We also told him that some of the American papers were keeping score on
the game he had killed, and that whenever the cable reported a new
victim the score up to date would be published like a base-ball
percentage table. In the last report he was quoted as having killed
seven lions, while Kermit had killed ten. This seemed to amuse him very
much, although the figures were not strictly accurate. His score was
nine and Kermit's eight up to date. He was also amused