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222 ROAMIN' IN THE GLOAMIN'
after the Spanish American war. He assures me that without doubt Mr. Taft was the most unpopular man in the islands among his own people but the most popular with the Philippinos — whom he persisted in calling his "Little Brown Brothers. " At that time the Americans in the islands had not much use for the natives on account of certain little traits in their character — since, I am told, happily eradicated— and a song which the former were wont to sing lustily in Manila finished up with these two lines —
They may be brothers of William H. Taft But they ain't no kin to me !
Well, I can't imagine Big Bill being anything else to anybody — with the exception, perhaps, of those whom he has to decide against in his official capacity as judge — but a jolly big brother. Here is a story about the ex-president which I am assured is true and if it's not true it ought to be. It made me smile when I heard it from one of Bill's own old friends. Away back in the early nineties Mr. Roosevelt sent Taft to Rome to confer with the existing Pope regarding some important religious question afTecting the Philippine Islands. He was invited to attend some big function at St. Peter's Cathedral and, to his dismay, found upon arrival that everybody was in evening dress — a strict rule observed for certain Roman ceremonies even at high noon. The American envoy was politely told that he could not enter unless he was suitably attired in orthodox fashion. Mr. Taft realized that he would not have time to go to his hotel and change so he walked into the street and rolled heavily into the nearest restaurant with the idea of borrowing a dress suit from one of the waiters. Finding a waiter of anything like Bill's majestic proportions must have seemed rather a forlorn hope. But the gods of chance were this day stoutly backing the stout one. There was a, monstrous waiter in the restaurant. Out came a fat "wad" and a deal was made on the spot. The waiter and the future President retired for a