The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961 Page: 376
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
satisfy the crowd, but they drowned him with calls for the Pres-
ident, who finally came out, reluctantly it seemed at first. When
he saw the big crowd, his renowned smile appeared and he made
a brief homespun talk which the people loved, and they cheered
him lustily. It is recalled that when he noticed so many children
and babies in arms, President Taft observed, "There does not
seem to be any race suicide around here."
The train was in the station about fifteen minutes before the
track was cleared and Deacon Ramsey climbed back into the
cab, rang the bell and opened the throttle. Everyone had a chance
to see the President but Mr. "X" and he did not seem happy
about it. Perhaps Major Butt deplored his inability to handle the
matter himself; perhaps President Taft was a bit put out at first,
but his final genuine smile more than made things even. The
railroad officials did not seem unduly perturbed. At least no one
was throwing his weight around. This kind of thing could never
happen again. In present days the Secret Service would have spiked
all the switches and demobilized all the semaphores. Too, under
1960 conditions, Bob McLeod and others might have been tried
in Federal Court for interfering with the interstate commerce
of Presidents.
Quite recently Mrs. Ramsey voiced a little sequel to the inci-
dent. She said, "My husband was a very proud man to be at the
throttle of President Taft's special train when he visited Texas in
1909. A prouder man never lived than when the President shook
hands with him at the end of his run and complimented him
on the smooth trip." The fireman, Skinney Cole, said, "The
Deacon handled that throttle with velvet gloves."376
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961, periodical, 1961; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101190/m1/413/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.