I L-yr jf,
5
CCopyrlght, 1920, John J. Leary Jr.)
DEVIL-FISHING.
( ( OOD sport, but not exactly the
I thing to recommend to a
J weakling or one at all nerv
ous of a little danger," was Colonel
Koosevelt's opinion of devil-fishing.
He had one try at this. In the spring
of 1917, when the declaration of war
against Germany made It seem ad
visable to call off a visit to the West
Indies for which he had made all of
his plans.
He thought so well of the sport that
Just before he died he wrote to his
friends, Russell J. Coles of Danville.
Va accepting an Invitation to join
him in an expedition on March 1, and
thanking him for having Included
Captain Archie, then practically re
covered from his wounds, in the in
vitation. "The devilfish." said the colonel de
scribing the sport in his library at
Oyster Bay, "is the big game of the
sea. There is nothing else quite like
it that I know of, though I doubt if
it will ever become a very popular
port. It Is good sport, but not ex
actly the kind to recommend to a
weakling, or one at all nervous of a
little danger. I do not know that
careful physicians will agree in rec
ommending it to gentlemen of ad
vanced years for, as you may imagine,
it is hard work.
"I became Interested In devllfish
tng through Russell Coles of Dan
ville, Va. Coles is rather an extraor
dinary sort of person, the unusual
combination of good business man
and high-class scientist. Most of his
year he devotes to his tobacco busi
ness in Virginia. The rest of it he
puts in Minting devilfish and sharks,
and by way of diversion at odd mo
ments writes scientific articles, or
prepares papers to be read before
scientific societies. He takes a very
practical Interest in public affairs,
and is in every stjnse of the word a
mighty fine citizen.
"I became interested in him through
something he did for the American
Museum of Natural History. That
was some years ago. Since then
have had much correspondence with
him, and when I found that I could
not go south as I had arranged,
decided to accept one of his many
invitations to go fishing. His pro
posal was that I should spend i
month. We compromised on about a
week.
"In devil-fishing you camp in
house built on a scow that is
anchored off a Florida key. Your
fishing you do from a launch. Coles,
who is a whale of a man himself, has
a crew that is as good as he is. His
captain, Charley Willis, is a powerful,
two-handed aort of a, man, who has
been with him many years. Another
of his outfit is Captain Jack McCann,
He unusual, too, a goou seaman and
a naturalist, who habitually describes
plants by their scientific names. The
pr:r-v - v'ViJr,r - r '-2:4 4-i V-v s, "HAH
" - - V y RSCSSi r- .5 .- -
' . - ' V ffc f,.1 i ' s - Ff Z " "'V Vfc He'd retire but one thrashing.
I t 'X f V ' 1 PMl fr j N. f"V f "The clB. ol course, Ib on of th
I r-XQ r:Sc'&A P .tX . ' 'U -V f o.dest form, of orsanUation-it 1. a
-s-. Wt y --l -rfS . - " tils x
others of his crew he usually has
four men are of the same high type
of intelligence. "
"It is some considerable journey
to the "camp." "There you get up at
sunrise, get into rough clothes, and
after you've made sure that the gear I
is all right, make off in a launch for i
the fishing grounds. The weapons
used are harpoons, which the real
fishermen call 'irons,' just as I have
heard some whalers call their weap
ons, and a' lance. Sometimes the old-
fashioned whaling lance, is used.
Coles has had some made on designs
of his own. New Bedford, by the way.
is the best place to get these things
if you ever wish them.
The iron is a business-like weapon.
It has a head of the finest tempered
steel, on a shaft of soft iron. There
is one there, minus the wooden han
dle. When you see the way that is
bent, you will see why it is necessary
to make the shaft of comparatively
soft metal."
The instrument, somewhat rusted.
was bent to an angle of almost 45
degrees and occupied a place of honor
on the mantel on which rested the
bronze presented to him by the fa
mous "tennis cabinet.1
"That's one I used on the big fish
got' with Coles' assistance. You
see it . is so built that once in,
the struggles of the beast re
lease the barb and - usually,
though not always, - prevents your
prey escaping. The" iron is attached
to a rope which is either run out of
the boat or made fast to what they
call a drogue a sort of sea anchor,
or drag. This is a powerful brake,
but one of these creatures will pull
heavy launch almost unbelievable dis
tances with one of these drogues fas
tened to, it with another harpoon.
"I missed my first fish through In
experience in gauging the speed at
which it was moving. The second
one I got square in the middle of the
body. When we came to take my iron
out we found I bad driven it through
bone, muscle, and hide more than two
feet two feet four inches to- be ex
act and the thing had gone through
the beast a heart. After I got my
iron into it. Coles also put one in.
With these two in its body .the thing
dragged the boat a full half-mile be
fere it became exhausted, enough for
us to get it alongside . Then It was
necessary to use the lance on It twice.
- l snouia say that before I went to
Florida. Coles had coached me a great
deal so that I Knew how I was ex
pected to handle myself, where to
aim for with the harpoon, and bow
to use the lance. He. drilled and
drilled me so that while it was my
first 'appearance on any stage' as a
devil-fisher, I was by no means ig
norant of the art.
"On the second fish we struck
Coles' iron pulled out. He got it
second time. This one towed us two
miles.
"One ot our specimens when we
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, .NOVEMBER 21, 1920
With T 19
came to measure it proved to be the
second largest of which there is any
record of being killed. Coles has the
record fish.
"We did not have such good luck
on the second day, the one fish we
struck being lost. In this respect it
is like every other kind of sport; you
must figure on having good luck and
bad. and on days when you will get
nothing as well as the rare days when
you will get a big bag."
"You call this fish the 'big game of
the sea. How does killing it com
pare with 'big-game' killing ashore,"
1 1 asked.
"It is difficult of comparison be
cause all of the circumstances are so
different. Both are good, but I think
prefer the land game. I am too
much of a landlubber not to have a
preference for solid earth under my
feet. But it Is great sport, and I am
going back when I have .more time
to spare, Just as I hope to get another
chance at lions in Africa. . I have no
desire for the bigger game, elephants
and that sort of thing, but I would
like a few more lions.
'Like all big-game hunting, in
devil-fishing you have to depend very
much on your guides and you must
expect some considerable danger of
being hurt. The fish will not attack
any one, but when attacked they will
fight back. At the risk of being
called a nature fakir, I'll add that the
male of the species has been known
to attack a boat which had made fast
to a female. At least, that is what
veterans at the sport tell. Like every
thing else of this sort, this is some
thing one would like to verify. How
ever, Coles, who like most scientists
is skeptical of many things, is in
clined to, credit these stories.
"Coles, by the way, got into this
thing in a rather unusual way. He
had. the groundwork of a good educa
tion when he went into devil-f ishlng
and shark-hunting because he had
become wearied of other fishing. The
scientific side of the thing appealed
to him, and when he began to look
things up, he found that very little
work had been done. Now he is prob
ably the world's best authority in this
line. He has also gone to the point
where he has made shark-fishing at
tractive from - a commercial stand
point. He has no Interest in the com
mercial side of the thing he has
passed that up to others after spend
ing quite a lot of money in pioneer
work. That, of course, is the scientist
of it."
Colonel Roosevelt's last college de
gree that of doctor of science was
awarded him by Trinity college, at
the same time Coles received a simi
lar honor. To be invested in the de.
gree they Journeyed together to Hart
ford. On their return the colonel said
he had had a "bu)ly" time. V
"Jack Morgan was there to get
deftree too." he said, "and be was very
much interested in Coles. Coles in
vited him to go fishing. It would not
surprise me if he went,- for Morgan,
you know. Is a husky chap who knows
a thing or two on handling a boat
himself much more than I do.
A VARIED READING DIET.
IN HIS travels Colonel Roosevelt's
reading was catholic in scope. It
ranged from a volume of "Plutarch's
Lives," he may have taken from his
library, a, bulletin of some learned.
society picked up from a desk as' he
as about to leave home, or a popu
lar magazine filled wi.th detective
stories or tales of adventure.
"I wish." he would say as we were
arriving in a town, "that you would
try and get me a copy of the Red
Book; there's a detecdve story in that
I want to finish"; or, "see if you
cannot pick up a copy of Adventure.
I am somewhat of an adventurer my
self and want to know what the rest
of the tribe may be interested in Just
now.'"
Once I remarked that this .was
'"lather low-brow diet."
"True," he said, ."but -why feed en
tirely on the heavier stuff? I get all
the 'high-brow magazines at home.
Lord! I don't read one-half of them.
This low-brow stuff, as you call it, is
gcod for a . change. I like a good
detective story when I can get it.
These things may not be literature.
but they interest and rest me. They
make up the salads of my reading.
"You remember old Senator Hoar
from your state? Do you remember
that he was addicted to dime novels?
That used to be a shock to some very
good people who imagined the Sen
ator lived on the Transcript and the
Congressional Record when he was
not devouring law books and even
heavier things. Some saw in this evi
dence of total depravity on the old
man's part an evil example to the
young. - It was merely his way of re
laxing and resting up between times.
I was very fond of Hoar, though I
did not know him as well as I would
have liked to. I have often laughed
at that mot of his on 'Ben' Butler's fu
neral. You remember some one asked
the senator if he were going to at
tend it. . '
" 'No,' he is said to have replied.
but I approve of It-'
"TRYING TO KILL, ME."
T SOMETIMES seems , that some of
my admiring friends wish to work
me to death. The idea of most com
mittees seems to be to pass me on to
the next place as nearly dead as pos
sible."
Most considerate of the comfort of
others. Colonel Roosevelt at times
complained of the lack of cdnsldera
tlon for him.
"It Is queer," he said on another
occasion, this time when he was re
ported recovered from a serious ill
ness, "that people should hall my dis
charge from the hospital as the sig
nal to pile invitations to work on me.
Really it seems as though one-half
of the letters congratulating me on
my recovery conclude with an invita
tion to apeak here, there, anywhere.
There are hundreds of them."
Returning from his last extensive
tour of the west, the colonel spoke of
this demand of speeches from him.
He bad been 111 on this trip and as we
neared New York I ventured to ad
vise that he spend the summer quietly
at Oyster Bay.
"I hope." I said, "that if I may say
so. this experience has taught you
something. It is a result of your not
following Dr. James' orders and tak
ing a rest. It Is a warning. You must
take things easy."
"I shall do that; I shall have to do
that. But I shall have to do some
things." -
"Colonel, you simply .will have to
Rrom 1:1i Diaries
of John J. Le atg, Jr.
rest. There are two-hot months ahead.
there's good boating and fishing at
Oyster Bay, you haven't cut your win
ter's wood yet. I am. presuming, I
know, but you must, rest, for there's
hard work ahead and you will be
needed. In saying this I do not mean
to be offensive."
"You are not; you are perfectly
right .and I shall take things easier.
You simply say what all my real
friends say. But I must go to Pas
saic July 4. I must do that."
"You should not accept any more
Invitations. It is asking too much."
"I know it is. The usual committee
idea is to pass me along to the next
town as nearly dead as possible, al
ways taking pains to see that I do not
die on their hands."
And don't yield to any 'just one
speech', appeal." ,
I won't. You are saying what
those who really have my Interest at
heart say. The others say to me.
Save yourself,' and then ask me to
come out and speak for them. Jim
Goodrich wants me to return to Indi
ana for another speech. I'll See him
in hell first."
LOYALTY.
fTtHE longer I live the more I am In-
J. cllned to think of clan loyalty. I
am afraid of those superior persons
who are so good they can long stand
by nobody, not even themselves."
Colonel Roosevelt had In mind some
members of the old progressive party
who did not fully approve of his war
attitude. These were the more re
spectable of what he had been known
to call the "lunatic fringe."
"The spirit of the clan." he .went
on. "is what we as Americans lack.
We need one big American clan, with
its members always for the clan.
must confess that I have never been
able to .get the viewpoint of those
very excellent persons who object to
the old navy toast; 'My country right,
my country wrong; but right or
wrong, my country,' There are other
versions, and I may not have it exact,
but that Is the thought.
"I suppose it is another manlfesta.
tlon of my general bloodthirsty.
swashbuckling frame of mind, my
fondness for the big stick and vio
lence of all kinds. I know it is most
reprehensible for me to talk to
youthof your tender years you aren't
much over 40, are you? and I should
know better, but I don't. I cannot
bring myself to that point wheVe I
can disagree with that sentiment.
"I want my country to be right
hope Bhe always will be right; but
right or wrong, whatever she gets
Into I am going to be with ber until
she gets out. Then if there Is any
correcting to do, I'll try and do my
share. And I am not prepared to con
cede the possibility of error in that
doctrine by agreeing to debate it with
anybody.
"It is said to be bad ethics, just as
it is said to be bad ethics to teach a
boy to defend himself, or his baby
brother or his sister or his mother.
Some good people hold that a boy
who gets into a fight, whether be be
right or wrong; should be punished.
I -do not. If -one of my boys was a
bully, I'd try to thrash it out or him.
If he would not defend himself
against a bully, I'd thrash him until
I had soma degree of manhood In him.
He'd retfulre but one thrashing:.
"The clan, of course, 1b one of the
oldest forma of organization it la a
crude manifestation of the organizing
spirit. At bottom there is no real dif
ference between the spirit that makes
possible gt-eat corporations and that
responsible for our New York gangs.
It is the clan spirit the organizing
spirit. The difference is that in one
instance the organizing spirit . is de
veloped along good lines, is used in a
proper direction, and in the other It
Is not. Organization per se is bad
only when it is used for bad ends.
""The New York street gang is but
a form of clan. The gang leader comes
to the top because of the same gen
eral qualities that makes another.
born into happier surroundings, a so
ciety leader. Both have to fight their
way up through. I do not like gangs,
and I do not admire gang leaders, but
this much Is to be said for them
they do stand for something and you
know where they tand. They have
in them the essence of loyalty."
GERMANS IS AMERICA.
THERE is nothing in sound Ameri
canism that will not be Indorsed
by the preponderating majority of the
men and women of German blood in
America."
This sentiment Colonel Roosevelt
expressed again and again to all who
would listen to him before, during.
and after hostilities. He was most
emphatic in declaring it after leaving
Milwaukee, and again on leaving St.
Louis.
After a meeting in Toledo, largely
made up of Germans, he declared they
esented only "pseudo-Americanism.
"It is." said he, "only the pseudo-
Americanism of Wilson that they ob
ject to." ' -
With this declaration went a call
for fair play for the Germans in this
country and he went out of his way
to practice what he preached.
A notable example of this was In St.
Louis, which in addition to a large
German population also has a Mayor
of German blood Henry Kiel.
When the colonel paid his last
visit to St. Louis, he was very
sick with erysipelas. He was in
sistent on keeping the dates made for
him by the National Security league,
and, by following his physician's
orders to get all possible rest, man
aged to do so. In St. Louis, however.
conditions made it necessary that be
take a hand in arranging the details
of his meeting, lest injustice be done
somebody and a bad matter made
worse.
This condition, partly political and
partly hysterical, arose from the fact
that the local committee was not in
sympathy with Mayor Kiel, who, ac
cording to some of its members, was
pro-German. For this reason - Kiel
had been overlooked to a large ex
tent in making the arrangements for
the colonel's reception and meeting.
To this meeting the colonel insisted
upon being Introduced by the mayor.
The active members of the committee
did not wish anything of the sort, the
mayor was not on hand to speak for
himself and there waa on one to speak
for him.
In this muddle the colonel insisted
that courtesy and fair play demanded
that Kiel be given an opportunity to
decline to take part in the meeting.
and that every other consideration
supported this demand. If the mayor
declined, it would, he said, be another
story.
Then I'll hang his hide on the barn
door." he declared to me, "but I'll not
attack him nor any other man until I
am sure of my grounds for attacking."
After much backing and filling,
Judge Dyer, whom the colonel, as
president, had placed on the federal
bench, called to leave a card.
"I . understand the colonel . Is not
well, so I won't ask to disturb him,'
he said.
I asked him to wait until X could
learn the colonel's wishes in the mat
ter-
"By all means," he exclaimed. "He
is the one man in St. Louis I do want
to see."
'The Judge," he told me after -the
visit, "says Kiel is all right. ; He
knows. I'd rather have that old
hardshell's opinion than that of any
other man here. These young men on
this committee are nice boys, but they
don't know. If they were residents
of New York they would be members
ot the citizens" union and strong for
reform, hut they would not know the
names of their assemblymen."
It was, however, no, easy to locat
Mr Kiel.; he was not, in fact, located
until the colonel reached the barnlike
auditorium where the meeting was to
be held. Just before we left for the
hall I asked w?.at would "bo done
about Kiel.
"We will do nothing until we find
whether or not the mayor shows up."
he said. "If he does, all right. If h
doesn't, well, I'll preside myself if 1
have to."
Mayor Kiel was, however, waltlns
at the hall, a bit nervous, but glad to
do the honors. His brief, clean-cut
speech was satisfactory even to the
colonel, who was mightily pleased
with the way the matter turned out.
"Don't you see," he asked, on the
way back to the hotel, "that It was
far better to do as we did do? Had
we proceeded on the theory that Kiel
was all he was said to be, an injustice
would be done to the man, the cause
for which we all stand would be in
jured and we should have gone far
toward setting -p such another situa- .
tion as exists In Chicago. Kiel is not
another Mayor Thompson; he is en
tirely of another type, and he is mak
ing the best of a condition that at
times must be very difficult for him.
"It is always best to be fair in the
extreme in such matters; best to go
slow until you have all the facts.
Then if the man is wrong hit him,
and hit him hard; show him no mercy.
Had Kiel justified what they had said
about him and not taken part in that
meeting, I'd have pilloried him. I'm
glad I did , not have to.
'Just think how it would have
heartened the enemy abroad and the
enemy at home if it had gone broad
cast: "Roosevelt denounces St. LouIh
mayor as pro-German'; or. 'St. Louis
mayor refuses tc speak at loyalty
meeting.'
Did you notice how well the crowd
took what I had to say about Ger
many and straight Americanism!
That audience was very largely Ger
man It was full of German types
but they all seemed to like it. There
was one chap there I wonder if you
noticed him, he sat well down front
and looked like the German bands
man the funny papers print he en
joyed It every minute. If I had time
and it were possible I'd like to meet
that old fellow and talk with him.
Without knowing a thing about him.
I'll wager that he is one of those
Germans who left Germany to escape
the 'kultur' we are now fighting to
escape."
1 watched Kiel closely during your
speech," I said, "and he seemed as
well pleased as your German down
front did."
"Probably, though he Is in rather
a different position. tsut me oia
judge was all right. Depend upon
men of his type. He's an old hard
shell republican, on the bench and out
ot politics, but he knows more than
all the nice boys on the committee
ever will. Steve Connell, whom you
met today, is another shrewd fellow.
He was with me when I waa in the
White House secret service, you
know. He's a fine fellow and I'm
glad to have you meet him. You'll
find him dependable and straight
forward." This visit to St. Louis was part
of an "Invasion of the enemy
country," including Milwaukee, and
Springfield. Ohio, the latter the
seat of Wittenberg college, one of
the oldest Lutheran institutions in
the country, and Madison, Wis., seat
of the State university, which Dr.
Robert M. McElroy of Princeton had
reported, after rather an unpleasant
experience, "was not 100 per cent
loyal." Proceeding to these places,
the colonel declared It to be his Inten
tion to "give them all that is In me."
"In Milwaukee," said he, "I shall
give them everything I have said any
where else and, If I can think of it,
something more. Being in what Bryan
might call the 'enemy's country will
make no difference with me. I do not
anticipate any bother, but if there is
any, we shall have to make the best
of it."
Anticipating "bother, secret service
men detailed by the management of
the St. Paul road, the colonel's ever
faithful colored valet, James Amos,
to whom his last words, "Please turn
off the light," were spoken, and I
grouped ourselves about him as he
left the train. He broke away from
the group to greet a white-whiskered
iCaacIudeii fin Fage 7 J.