The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

1 82 WESTWARD HO!
eral lines of his previous speecli to the legislators. He
referred to his now famous letter on "Race Suicide," stating
that while the letter had attracted much more attention than
he imagined it would, yet he was glad of it; that he reaffirmed
the sentiments he had therein expressed, and believed that
the discussion which had been created Avould have a marked
effect upon the race. We were, he said, by the amalgamation
of foreign nationalities, the intermarriage of the sturdy emi-
grants who had reached our shores, evolving a new race—an
American race.
A FAMILY OF SIXTY-ONE
While in St. Paul, President Roosevelt was presented, by
Mayor R. A. Smith, with a picture of the family of J. P. Rhein,
of Washington County, Minnesota, the picture including Mr.
and Mrs. Rhein, their nine children, forty-eight grandchildren,
and two great-grandchildren. All reside within fifty miles of
the old homestead. When the President arrived at Sioux
F"alls, he wrote the following letter to Mayor Smith:
Win you congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Rhein for me? I am proud of them and
was pleased as possible with the pictures of their children and grandchildren. This
is the stuff out of which we make good American citizens.
Thanking you for your courtesy during my recent visit in St. Paul, I am
Sincerely j'ours.
Theodore Roosevelt.
At the close of his speech the carriages were resumed and
the President's party drove through a small part of the resi-
dence section, after which special electric cars conveyed them
to Minneapolis. Thousands of persons marked the route of
the cars that were bringing the distinguished guest from St.
Paul, and a vast concourse of people assembled in the vicinity
of the Nicollet Hotel to welcome him to Minneapolis. At the
close of a magnificent banquet, the President left the hotel to