"ALONE I DID IT."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1932, 15 December 1913, Page 5

"ALONE I DID IT."

■—' —' —v ■ —■ — MR. ROOSEVELT'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, A CHARACTERISTIC BOOK. By Telegraph—Press AiGoeiation-CopvrisKi "Times"—Sydney "Sun" Special Cables. New York, December 12. Mr. Roosovelt's autobiography has been published by JtaemTllan's. Mr. Roosevelt modestly states that he was not endowed with airy special aptitudes or excellences, and that whatever ominenco he attained has been duo to conscious effort and deliberate, determination. As a child ho was sickly, delicate, nervous, , timid, and shortsighted. Ho deliberately set himself to overcome these disabilities. He developed a passionate lbro.for natural 'history, and an adoration of figHing men. Ho forced himself to speak in public, and trained himself in courage and self-control.

Tho book furnishes an interesting study of tho_ gradual growth uf. his political convictions. His public lifo was always tempestuous. Onco he got his way w.'th a comniitteo regarding a T?ill before the New York Legislature by swreting a chair leg where he could easily reach it, and producing it when the comuiiUui became unruly. The book paints a terrible picture of corruption in public life in the United States, bribery; coercion, cowardice, falsehood, and inefficiency being prevalent. A vivid chapter deals with the Spanish War, and is accompanied by documentary evidence. The book proves that Mr. Roosevelt's heroism at San Juan Hill was not ft fabrication. There aro many brilliant stories in the book', giving a perfect idea of the extraordinary range of the writer's versatility.