On the trip up Mr. Taft had ridden a magnificent saddle horse which had been given to him by General Chaffee.  At the time he left, Manila had been burning hot.  When he was at last seated on the porch of the little house which was to be his home for weeks, with a cool breeze sighing through the needles of a spreading pine tree close at hand, his satisfaction knew no bounds.  Already his magnificent constitution had begun to respond to the stimulation of the wonderful mountain air, and filled with enthusiasm he summoned a stenographer and dictated the following cablegram to the secretary of war:—­

“April 15, 1903.

“Secwar,

“Washington.

“Stood trip well, rode horseback 25 miles to 5000 feet altitude.  Hope amoebic dysentery cured.  Great province this, only 150 miles from Manila with air as bracing as Adirondacks or Murray Bay.  Only pines and grass lands.  Temperature this hottest month in the Philippines in my cottage porch at three in the afternoon 68.  Fires are necessary night and morning.

“Taft.”

As quick as the wires could bring it, he received the following reply: 

“Washington, D.C., April 16, 1903.

“Taft,

“Manila.

“Referring to telegram from your office of 15th inst., how is horse?

“Root.”

When he read it his shouts of laughter, rolling over the hills of Baguio, must have been audible half a mile away!

Mr. Taft’s sojourn in the hills put him again in fine condition and made it possible for him to return to Manila and resume the heavy burden of work which there awaited him.  The other members of the commission also greatly benefited by their stay in the hills.

While there we heard disquieting rumours as to the practicability of completing the road.  There was a difference of opinion between the engineer in charge and one of his immediate subordinates as to the route which should be followed.  The consulting engineer of the commission was accordingly requested to make a survey to determine a practicable route for the unfinished portion of the road and estimate the cost of completing it.  In due time he advised us that it was practicable to complete it, but that the cost would be at least $1,000,000.  Warned by our experience with Meade, we wished additional expert advice, so summoned to Baguio Colonel L. W. V. Kennon, a man of great energy and executive ability, who had had large experience in engineering work in mountainous country, and requested him to go down the Bued River valley and report on the progress of the work, and the practicability of completing the road on the route which had been determined upon.