known that I was playing cards on Sunday, it would mark the end of my distinguished and glorious career and utterly humiliate me before my constituents in Mississippi." The film was destroyed and the kodak went out of use. On Monday morning, the 21st, the whole party clothed with dusters and mosquito netting about the head, started in two "Concord" coaches, drawn by four horses each, on what to me was a wonderful six day tour. The wonders of that park have been most beautifully described by others and I could not, if I would, add to it. The hotels were splendidly managed, the coaches were excellent and comfortable conveyances, and the distances between resting places were easy. The "roaring mountain," the deep gorges, the snow capped mountains, the playing of "Old Faithful" and other geysers, the beautiful and placid lake lying in a valley seven thousand feet above sea level, the magnificent and unequaled falls of the Yellowstone, the great herds of elk and deer, and the numerous black, cinnamon and grizzly bears made a continuous panorama that was as strange and wonderful as it was varied and entertaining. No one who loves nature in its wildest form, will ever go to the park without wishing on some day, to repeat the visit. Altogether it was an enjoyable trip, for which we were all indebted to that splendid host, George Peck. The remembrance of the pleasure given me by that ten days of delightful association and wonderful sight-seeing, is saddened by the thought that all but two of the party that went in the car with Mr. Peck have passed into that undiscovered country "from whose bourne no traveller returns." Philips, McPherson, Allen, Peck, Rosington, and Carter have gone; Spencer and I remain. Others of that party who have answered the final summons are my wife, Colonel and Mrs. Hunt. The joy and pleasure of that trip will linger in my memory until the final trumpet shall sound the note that will call me to join those who have gone before. The carving out from the country's wonderful domain so many beautiful "play grounds," so many magnificent parks, are splendid monuments erected to the wisdom of the people's representatives in Congress that will not perish from the earth. How significant the remark of General Sherman in San Francisco in 1886: "The American people spend great fortunes in looking for wonders in the old world while they pay no heed to the greater ones in this." XIV THEODORE ROOSEVELT National Republican Convention of 1900-Appointed U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Senator Vest - Senator Burton-The Peonage Case -The White House, 1907-Become U. S. District Judge-Letters from the President and others. I was a delegate-at-large from Missouri to the National Republican Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1900. It was this convention that nominated William McKinley a second time for President. Roosevelt was then the Governor of the State of New York, and it was well known that he did not stand in great favor with the political bosses of that State, especially with Senator Platt. They were anxious to get rid of him and sought to do so by having him nominated for Vice-President on the ticket with McKinley. Roosevelt understood the purpose of his enemies and was reluctant to become a candidate for Vice-President, but the better element of the Republican party also sought his nomination, though for a different reason than that of the disreputable bosses. The bosses disliked him because he was honest, fearless, courageous, and independent, while the people, good, sincere, and patriotic citizens, loved him because of these qualities. During the proceedings of the convention, Colonel Roosevelt delivered a most forceful and eloquent address. This was my first opportunity to see him "in action." The straightforward way in which he declared his principles caught the enthusiastic approval of his hearers and stamped him the leader of patriotic thought and genuine Americanism. The re-election of President McKinley to the presidency and the election of Colonel Roosevelt as Vice-President followed in November. The death of McKinley at the hands of an assassin in 1901 was followed by the elevation to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. What transpired in the course of his successorship to the vacancy, and of his election in 1904, it is not my purpose to particularize; I simply wish to make brief allusions to the personal and official relations that existed between him and myself. I never saw the Colonel after the Philadelphia Convention until I met him in the White House in December, 1901. This visit was brought about at the instance of some friends who were interested in the appointment of a suitable person to the position of Collector of the Port at St. Louis. The appointment of Judge Gallenkamp of Franklin County to that position shortly followed my visit, kindly arranged by Secretary Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Beyond the collectorship no other matter was discussed. My visit was at 9:00 P. M., and upon my arrival at the White House the great friend of the President, General Leonard Wood, was just leaving. A slap on the back and "good-night, old fellow," was what I heard when I entered the Red Room. In January, 1902, without any solicitation on my part nor, so far as I know, on the part of any of my friends, the President announced my appointment as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. My name was sent to the Senate for confirmation. Missouri at that time was represented in the Senate by George Graham Vest and Francis Marion Cockrell. The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee to which my nomination was referred was Judge Hoar of Massachusetts. He, of course, made inquiries of the Missouri senators as to the propriety of my confirmation. It gives me more pleasure than I can express to give here the letters of my old friend Senator Vest in reference to my confirmation: UNITED STATES SENATE Public Health and National Quarantine, My Dear Dyer: Enclosed find correspondence between Senator Hoar, Chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee and myself, which shows the result of our long friendship. Sorry I did not see you when in Washington. Col. D. P. Dyer, St. Louis, Mo. Enclosure: Your friend, Letter to Hoar. |