OCR Text |
Show IAFI TO RESUME JOWlif President's Playtime in the Wonderful Yosemite Park Conies to End. GOOD MOUNTAIN CLIMBER IN SPITE OF HIS SIZE One Result of Visit Has Been to Intensify Interest in Forestry. EL PORTAL, Cal., Oct. 9. After having traveled nearly 100 miles 03 stage and on foot in and around the Yoscmito valle3', President Tnft returned re-turned here tonight and will rcsumo his journe3' to the southwest tomorrow morning. Ho will stop during tho Hay at Morccd, Fresno and Bakcrsficld and roach Los Angeles carhy Monda' morning. morn-ing. The president was wringinc wet with perspiration when ho reached tho foot of tho trail today and had to go to bed in the Sentinel hotel whilo his clothing was hung out in tho sun to dry. Evan tho president's outer garments gar-ments woro wot and as ho had only tho one grn3' Norfolk jacket suit with him in tho nark, he had no alternative than to follow the footsteps of the fabled man who owned but one shirt. Sees Great Surprise. Tho president's Inst da3' in the Yosemite Yo-semite park was probably his most en-jo3'able. en-jo3'able. Ho began tho day by looking look-ing at the sunrise over the eastern granite walls of tho valloj. his vantage point being the veranda of the little Glacier Point hotel, set right at the vary edge of a yoOO foot drop into tho floor of the valley. Tho surroundings were rough and secluded and tho president appeared in scant rfttire. Havinc seen the sun firopcrl.v .up and at its duty, Mr. Taft retired again and slept until S o'clock. The 7400 altitude did not seem to afreet af-reet him in the least. In fact, the president has stood iho long rides and early hours of tho Yosemito trip better than some of the other members of his part3'. After 50 miles of staging vestcrday, he sat until 10:30 o'clock playing a friend' game of bridgo with Governor Gillette of California. Representatives Rep-resentatives McKinlay and Captain A. W. Butt. Is Good Mountaineer. I Today tho president sot such a pace down tlie four miles of the short trail, which brought him from Glacier Point to Yosemite. that he had two of his congressional escort, Representatives McKinlav and Needham, calling for help. The trip down the trail was tilled with interest. At Union Point, one-third one-third of tho wa3 from the top. the president went to tho ver3' edge of the cliff and waved a handkerchief in greeting to some moro spocks of hu-manilv hu-manilv who could be seen moving about tho floor. Jn a while he caught "three cheers" set up in his honor. John Muir, the naturalist, explained over3' view, evcrv tree and flower ou the wav down and dwelt time and again upon tho glacier theor' of tho formation forma-tion of tho valle The president wns told that the short trail, down which ho was passijig, was first "blazed" 03-an 03-an old settler who lived in tho hills. His wife would not let hint have any whiskev in the .house, so he had to walk daih' down into the valley to get a drink. Only Swell Party. In tho presidential party, during the stav iu tho Yosemite, were Governor Gillette. Seuator Flint. Representatives Engelbright. McKinho' and Needhnm, John Muir and Major W. W. Forsythe, the army custodian of tho park. The president has evinced lively interest in-terest in the proposition ou foot in San Francisco to throw a dam across the Hetch-IIetchv vallo- of the Yosemite park, and create a lake there, to give that city a supply of water. Mr.M.uir, who has spent much of bis life in the Yoseruito and knows all the trees and rocks by name, has declared to the president with all of tho enthusiasm of tho real lover of nature, that tho plan is a sacrilege. His frankly expressed opinions have brought about several lively discussions among those in the president's pnrf3', who are inclined to favor tho projo'ct, and Mr. Taft has listened to many of these with amused interest. Onco today, whilo coming down tho trail, Mr. Muir became exasperated, exas-perated, and exclaimod: "Oh I T guess tho rascals will get it in the end. " Not Place for Oommorco. Ho added that tho Yoflomitc was a plnco in which to say one's pnuers and nover should be used for commercial commer-cial purposes. President Taft has boon deopl3- impressed with tho beauty, not only of tho vnllov itself, but tho entire en-tire Yosemite park. Ho declared that the park had been neglcctod, as compared com-pared with the Yellowstone. Mr. Taft is anxious that some definite plan of improvement shall bo agreed upon, in order that progress may bo mado 3ear 1)3' 3'car. Road building is the first groat need, as tho president himself has suggested, nnd ho probabb will mako hoiuo recommendation on the subject in his forthcoming mossage to congress. Arriving at the floor of tho vallc3 to-da3, to-da3, tho president was greeted bv Galen Clark, 9 3'ears old, who was the first whilo man "to mako tho known the existence exist-ence of tho giant sequoia trees of the Mariposa groves. Mr. Clark does not claim to havo been the first man to sco tho mammoth forest, jfor ho found a prospector's outfit, thoro when he wont in. It is tho thcorv that tho prospector was a whito man who had boon slain b3 Indians. Good Result Attained. Ono result of tho president's trip into tho Yosemite has boon to mako him an enthusiast of forestry. The secluded sequoia were not responsible for this, for H103 are in n class In themselves. For three days tho president has trav- Conlinucd on Page Two TAFT TO RESUME - I W JOURNEY SUNDAY ' ) Continued from Page Ohe. H eled through piieceoding forests of vol- - low and sugar pine and fir trees that ; IH has lowered from 200 lo 300 feet above f B the road and thoy have called out eon- j stunt expressions of his admriatioii. To j many the slender, arrow-like grace of the pines and the lir holds more heanv vl than the gnarled, rugged mass of the M scouoias. 11 Hiding in the forests yesterday, tho 4H president heard a ciant pine fall, the 1 result of decay near the roots. The j crash was like the report of distant ar tillery. 1 May Visit Philippines. j'! Members of the California conpres- sional delegation who have been accom- raac panving him through the Yosemile havo $ been urgiug the president io make a l? mi trip to the Philippines in 1011 ilr. X Taft has no deeper interests than thosOjslt"11 of the Philippines, and he has IistcHC(lw.'', to the suggestions of a trip to tho '"! islands with some degree of enthusiasm s M( on his part. It has been pointed out to " h"1 tho president that ho could make a trip i f'M to tnc Philippines well inside of three i.P months by taking u fast cruiser, anil i?1, that ho would actually be awav from Pc Washingon but a little longer than 011 the "journey through the west. J J3 Tf the president should decide to go . , it would be his idea to have a hire r5 congressional delegation precede him on (? i51" a ship, so thoy might go over the ' islands with him. The president is cx- pt 1 tremoly anxious to return there for a 4 . visit . " j With a contemplated visif lo Alaska j; fj11 next year and a stop at Honolulu on v the wav home, followed by a voyage to the Philippines in 1911, with an 01" V . easional visit to Panama, President. Tnft v aP" would easily set a new mark for prcsi- 7 dential travel. - 5 W While the president's clothes were 'S "d drying at the Sentinel hotel, tonight, I10 ? took a two hours' nap and felt groatly Wf refreshed. So much so, in fact, thai t swt when he reached here at 5:15 p. in., after a sixteen miles stage ride, ho do- ; s clared he was ready to begin tbo day 0v all over again. Tho president lunch a coned with Major Forsythc, superiii- 3 ?r tondont of the park. J8t A forty-tou boulder of granite foil j,4 down tho mountain last night nnd land j 1104c ed diroctl3' in the road over which the "a F, president traveled Thursday, eiitoriiij; J WW the Yosemite park, and again today on tttau his way back to El Portal. The rock U, was blastvd off the roadway thisjnorn-ing thisjnorn-ing by a gang of park laborers. " yjW&z. |