WHEN THE BIG STICK WOULDN'T DO.
The following anecdote of President Roosevelt's youth is being told in England:
When Roosevelt was a student at Harvard he was required to recite a poem in public declamation. He got as far as a line which read:
"When Greece her knees in suppliance bent,"
when he stuck there.
Again he repeated,
"When Greece her knees ...," but could get no farther.
The teacher waited patiently, finally remarking:
"Grease her knees again, Roosevelt, then perhaps she'll go."
Woman's Home Companion.