FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



kinds. William J. Bryan, for example, was there; John Mitchell, 

 the leader of the Federation of Labor; J. J. Hill, the great rail- 

 road builder; Andrew Carnegie; the presidents of a number of 

 principal universities, and all of the government experts. 



At the conclusion of the morning session the President arose 

 and said, "We have come together in this opening session before 

 I have had the chance to greet you formally and to welcome 

 you to the White House and to this conference. Therefore, I 

 will take it as a favor if, as you pass out of the room, you will 

 form in line and give me a chance to shake you by the hand 

 and bid you welcome." This we did, and, as chance would 

 have it, I found myself in line immediately behind Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam, the animal and bird man. Immediately in front of 

 him was William J. Bryan. As we reached the President, Mr. 

 Bryan, in a pompous and somewhat condescending way (at least 

 it seemed so to me), said, "Mr. President, I congratulate you, 

 sir, on having started this conservation movement, which, in 

 my opinion, has tremendous possibilities of good for the future 

 of our country. I assure you, sir, that it meets my entire approval 

 and will receive my hearty support." The President, with a trace 

 of a humorous gleam in his eye, as he looked over Mr. Bryan's 

 shoulder and saw Merriam and myself, said simply, "Mr. Bryan, 

 I am pleased. 'Praise from Sir Hubert is praise indeed.' " Then, 

 turning instantly to Merriam, he said, "How are you. Hart? 

 What do you suppose John" (meaning John Burroughs) "and 

 I saw on the twenty-fifth of March at Pine Knot? A Yellow 

 Warbler, by George!" And then, turning to me, said, "Hello, 

 Doctor! How are the bugs?" 



He was hail-fellow-well-met with all sorts of people, but could 

 be quite the reverse, in fact, extremely dignified on occasion. 

 I remember that once during his administration I went with 

 the Pan-American Health Congress delegates to call at the 



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