facts out for himself or ran upon them by accident. There was no
practice in the Department of recording the good work done by the
men on the force so that whoever would might read.

Roosevelt enjoyed this part of his task heartily. He believed
vigorously in courage, hardihood, and daring. What is more, he
believed with his whole soul in men. It filled him with pure joy
when he discovered a man of the true stalwart breed who held his
own life as nothing when his duty was at stake.

During his two years' service, he and his fellow Commissioners
singled out more than a hundred men for special mention because
of some feat of heroism. Two cases which he describes in his
"Autobiography" are typical of the rest. One was that of an old
fellow, a veteran of the Civil War, who was a roundsman.
Roosevelt noticed one day that he had saved a woman from drowning
and called him before him to investigate the matter. The veteran
officer was not a little nervous and agitated as he produced his
record. He had grown gray in the service and had performed feat
after feat of heroism; but his complete lack of political backing
had kept him from further promotion. In twenty-two years on the
force he had saved some twenty-five persons from drowning, to say
nothing of rescuing several from burning buildings. Twice
Congress had passed special acts to permit the Secretary of the
Treasury to give him a medal for distinguished gallantry in
saving life. He had received other medals from the Life Saving
Society and from the Police Department itself. The one thing that
he could not achieve was adequate promotion, although his record
was spotless. When Roosevelt's attention was attracted to him, he
received his promotion then and there. "It may be worth