THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



while Mrs. Patten was engaged on the other side, and we had 

 a very interesting discussion of Proven9al poetry, a subject that 

 is a great hobby of his. He was greatly interested to know that 

 I had met Mistral, but the chat was necessarily very short. Before 

 he turned from me, he said, "How do you find things on your 

 return to Washington .''" 



"Oh," I said, "I am greatly distressed. My dear friend Pinchot 

 has resigned, and my dear friends North and Newell are under 

 fire." 



"Are they such dear friends of yours.?" said he. "Well, you 

 might as well understand. Dr. Howard, that this administration 

 is going to be a strictly legal administration." That seems to have 

 been at the bottom of the trouble that ensued, and certain follow- 

 ing events swerved my sympathy from the Taft administration, 

 although I still admired the President very warmly. 



I think that it was during the Roosevelt administration that 

 I began receiving invitations to the White House functions, and 

 this continued until I left Washington in 1931. I mention this 

 here since I shall always remember the great pleasure it was to 

 go to the White House while Taft was there. He was such a 

 good fellow, so jolly, so cordial, that it made one feel good for 

 a week to see him and shake his hand. 



In 1911-12 the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science met in Washington. The opening session was held in 

 the large hall of the National Museum. President Taft had con- 

 sented to give an address of welcome. Dr. Charles E. Bessey, a 

 famous botanist, and at that time president of the University of 

 Nebraska, was president of the Association. Dr. Bessey and I 

 met the President at the north door of the museum. He was 

 accompanied by Colonel Archie Butt, his military aide, and by 

 other attendants, whom he dismissed. The four of us took places 

 on the stage, the audience of course rising as we entered. A dozen 



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