The winter of 1903 brought many interesting events. “Princess Alice” received an invitation brought by Prince Henry of Prussia from the German Emperor to christen his yacht, then under construction in this country. She accepted, and on February 25th, at Shooter’s Island, performed the little ceremony. Some time later, she received a handsome bracelet from Germany with a miniature of the Emperor surrounded by diamonds. In order to keep himself evenly balanced in his strenuous days of constructive and routine work, the President sent for the director of the New York Athletic Club, Mike Donovan, to come down, test him out, and make a survey of his physical condition. Donovan came as to any of his pupils; and as his coming was the establishment of a brand-new precedent, there was a great furore. The President decided to have Donovan repeat the visit at least twice a year. Donovan gave a little account of the “interview” with the President of the United States, which appeared in the New York _World_ and other publications at the time: “Had President Roosevelt come to the prize ring instead of the political arena, it is my conviction he would have been successful. The man is a born fighter. It’s in his blood. “It is no exaggeration when I say that in some mix-ups with him I have been compelled to resort to all the arts and devices that have come to me from years of serious fighting, often to slug right and left to save myself. “I have a vivid recollection of my first fistic encounter with President Roosevelt. The Governor left me in the old billiard room of the executive mansion, at Albany, which he had fitted up as a gymnasium for his boys in order that they might begin their physical education under his eyes. He then went downstairs to don his boxing clothes. In a few minutes he returned. “It was the Governor of the State of New York who had left me. It was the fighting man who entered the room. He wore a sleeveless flannel shirt, his khaki rough-rider uniform trousers and light canvas shoes without heels. First I was struck by the expression of his eyes, which are large, light blue, placed well apart--aggressive, fearless, persistent. “He is about 5 feet 8 inches in height, but his great breadth of shoulders and bulk of body made him seem shorter. His arms are short, but heavy and well muscled. His head is that of the typical fighter. It is broad and symmetrical, poised on a powerful neck. A plumb-line could be dropped from the back of his head to his waist. That formation shows not only the fighting spirit, but the physical vigour to sustain it. His short, thick body, with its high arched chest, is certainly set on unusually strong, sinewy legs. “After pulling on his gloves he stepped forward on the mat. Most men on coming for the first time to box with a champion, present or retired, show some trepidation. There was none of that here.