real democrat; and to his great soul there was nothing either
incongruous or undesirable in having--and in admitting that he
had--close friends in an East Side Jewish family just over from
Russia. He believed, too, in "the strenuous life," in boxing and
in prize fighting when it was clean. He could meet a subordinate
as man to man on the basis of such a personal matter as their
respective judgment of two prize fighters, without relaxing in
the slightest degree their official relations. He was a man of
realities, who knew how to preserve the real distinctions of life
without insisting on the artificial ones.

One of the best allies that Roosevelt had was Jacob A. Riis, that
extraordinary man with the heart of a child, the courage of a
lion, and the spirit of a crusader, who came from Denmark as an
immigrant, tramped the streets of New York and the country roads
without a place to lay his head, became one of the best police
reporters New York ever knew, and grew to be a flaming force for
righteousness in the city of his adoption. His book, "How the
Other Half Lives", did more to clean up the worst slums of the
city than any other single thing. When the book appeared,
Roosevelt went to Mr. Riis's office, found him out, and left a
card which said simply, "I have read your book. I have come down
to help." When Roosevelt became Police Commissioner, Riis was in
the Tribune Police Bureau in Mulberry Street, opposite Police
Headquarters, already a well valued friend. Roosevelt took him
for guide, and together they tramped about the dark spots of the
city in the night hours when the underworld slips its mask and
bares its arm to strike. Roosevelt had to know for himself. He
considered that he had two duties as Police Commissioner: one to
make the police force an honest and effective public servant; the