THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



although he was not a member of the society; whereupon he 

 and Philhps came to the front, PhiUips sitting in a front seat 

 while Roosevelt took the floor. He made a very forceful argu- 

 ment from his viewpoint and obviously from that of other 

 hunters, and rather staggered some of the scientific men in the 

 audience by the cogency of his reasoning. He talked at length, 

 as was customary with him, and the hour of adjournment (ten 

 o'clock), came before he had finished. But by unanimous vote he 

 was allowed to proceed until he was satisfied. He sat down after 

 having made a distinct impression on his scientific and rather 

 critical audience. Merriam asked for five minutes in which to 

 reply. He completely demolished the Rooseveltian argument, 

 and there was nothing more to be said. It was a memorable 

 meeting, and no one who was there will ever forget it. Most of 

 us saw Roosevelt for the first time and were greatly impressed 

 by him. 



Incidentally, the W. Hallett Phillips who was with him was 

 a member of the Metropolitan Club and also of the Cosmos 

 Club. He had evidently been dining with Roosevelt at the 

 Metropolitan Club before attending the meeting. I knew him 

 simply as a clubman and a society man and rather wondered 

 why he was with Roosevelt and why he was interested in the 

 subject. The meeting was on Saturday night, and on the fol- 

 lowing Monday I saw by the newspapers that Phillips had died 

 on the intervening day. He had gone down the Potomac on 

 a yacht, and the boat had jibbed, a halyard catching him around 

 the neck, breaking it and throwing him into the water. 



I knew nothing of Phillips' real life until some months later, 

 when Rudyard Kipling published a poem, "The Red Gods," 

 describing the tendency of the young man to get close to nature, 

 to leave civilized pursuits, to get out into the woods and 

 trackless wilds, etc. And this poem, to my surprise, was dedi- 



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