Show ROOSEVELT AS A HUMORIST The President Hns an Amusing Way of Doing Things OIL Occasion President Roosevelt possesses a characteristic char-acteristic sense of humor It Is vigorous vig-orous and somcllmqs almost grotesque says the Baltimore Sun When he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the preparation for the Spanish war the Government was buying number of yachts tp be converted con-verted Into torpedo bocls dispatch boats scouts etc Considerable Intimacy Inti-macy existed between the family of President Roosevelt and that of one of the ofllcers of the navy In the department de-partment The wife of this omcer got a fancy she would like to have one of these beautiful little boats bear her name There Is a prejudice In the navy against giving a omans name to a warvessel of any type It Is believed be-lieved to be unlucky But the ofllcer who found It easier td face ofllclal prejudice than to resist the Importunities Importuni-ties of his better i half made the request re-quest of Mr Roosevelt The Assistant Secretary of the Navy hesitated It wont do ho said I would like to gratify your wife but a wo mans name wont do Then a thought occurred to him and JIC relented I ylll fix It he said Tell your wife It will be all right 1 The next day tho boat was named The Vixen r am going to put you In command of her an lei Mr Roosevelt when he announced the name The sun was over the foyard and every old olllcer was licking his lips The squadron had been out for two days at target practice and on that day the chief officers of the several ships had been invited on board the flagship where they were to be entertained en-tertained by Theodore Roosevelt Assistant As-sistant Secretary of the Navy The guests and Mr Roosevelt talked about the feats of gunnery and speculated upon how such and such a shot would have counted had the target been a Spanish ship All save Mr Roosevelt had begun to weary of thin topic They found It dry and conversation conver-sation had begun lo lag by the time luncheon was announced Men who had been long on salt water were conscious of something lacking In the entertainment For some time there had been a clearing of throats and slg nlficantl exchanges of glances Mr Roosevelts OyeSHoIg those of his guests caught the angle ot the sun to the foyard Will you tcp Into the cabin and have some tea 1 he said with an expression ex-pression whch might be significant of most anything but which received but ono Interpretation by those who felt the salt spray In their throats The movement toward the cabin was spon taneous There In th center of a great table rested a punchbowl of magnificent proportions filled nearly to the brim with a liquid a shade deeper than amber of the richest hue In Its center floated an Island of Ice sprays ot mint were scattered ha base and extended their slender leaves over Its brim while pieces of lemon and other fruit floated on the surface of the cool and tempting flood A generous ladle was dipped into Its myatcrlous depths and glasses were marshaled around lhe old Commodore with the color of the sun upon his faco And the dry ness of the desert In his throat turned eagerly toward this oaelu He stirred the ladle lovingly l In the bowl while others gathered about him He held his glass nilcd to the brim l between his eye and the sunlight that came with a burning glow thrpugh the cabin win dow and the clatter and clink glasses Bounded through the cabin as each of fleer lilted to the occasion With an air of contentment and anticipated joy he brought the glass to his lips Then as he lifted their glasses to follow his example a look qf horror passed over hits face his hand trembled and the glass almost fell to the table BI d lf I It nlnlt tea he gasped Shortly after JIn Hoasevelt entered the White House a politician called upon him with reference to appointments appoint-ments After the preliminary expressions expres-sions of high esteem unbounded admiration ad-miration and eternal loyalty I the poli tician began to disclose his business I > I want to speak to you about Mr Blank who holds a small office down In my district What exclaimed Roosevelt interrupting Inter-rupting him Is that infernal scoun drel still in that place l hind seine Knowledge of him when I wit a Civil Service commissioner r The politician acknowledged that Mr Blank was still there and then i turned the subject |