NATION GREETS COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 



come within their field of vision, and when he did the noise broke 

 loose. Bands blared, cannon roared, and sirens screamed, but 

 above their din rose the steady continuous thunder of human wel- 

 come. 



" Oh, you Roosevelt," " Good Old Teddy !" rang the five mile 

 chorus, and through it all he rode bareheaded, flushed with the 

 pride of hero-worship, bowing to right and left, picking out here 

 and there some enthusiast for special notice, a wave of the hand or 



a wide smile. 



Theodore Roosevelt is little changed from the man who sailed 

 for Africa fifteen months ago. A little more grizzled perhaps, as 

 to the framing of his upper lip, a trifle heavier in the shoulders from 

 the muscle forming strenuousness of big game hunting. 



HE'S THE SAME OLD ROOSEVELT. 



But the flat topped head was flung back as defiantly as when of 

 old he faced an audience, the glistening teeth flashed as brightly 

 under the gold rimmed glasses, the blue gray eyes smiled out with the 

 same magnetic brilliancy and the stubby sun-scorched fingers gripped 

 in handshake with all the tensity of yore. 



Ideal weather marked the passing of the show. '' Roosevelt 

 luck," his admirers called it, and not until the parade had disbanded 

 and Rough Riders and Spanish War Veterans had dispersed did the 

 sky open its flood gates and drench the streets with a furious down- 

 pour. But Roosevelt Day was over then to all intents and purposes, 

 and the crash of thunder and blaze of lightning were deemed by 

 many to be only the closing salute of the clouds. 



Mr. Roosevelt may well have felt a deep inward satisfaction 

 at the quality of his welcome home. There were the parades on 

 land and sea, there were the crowds, the shouting and the bands, 

 there was, moreover, that sincere heartiness of greeting without 

 which all these ceremonies would have been but a hollow formaHty. 

 No circumstance appropriate to a triumphal re-entry was wanting. 

 Mr. Roosevelt's city and Mr. Roosevelt's country rejoice that he has 



