Wells

Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks as Don Quixote stands with shield and lance next to a well on which stands a suit of armor labeled “Indiana Organization.” To the right of Fairbanks, in the background, is a hobby horse. The full moon above shows the face of President Theodore Roosevelt. Caption: The flower of Indiana knighthood keeping watch over his boiler-plate.

comments and context

Comments and Context

To history, Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks is a largely forgotten figure, both as senator from Indiana and as Theodore Roosevelt’s vice president, 1905-1909.

Photograph of the J. V. Smith house located in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with well visible in foreground.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

Unknown

Paul D. Bowler, President of the Layne & Bowler Company of California, sends Theodore Roosevelt a catalog in which they have used a quote from one of Roosevelt’s speeches. Bowler explains the business of the company–manufacturing wells and water pumps–and offers to lead Roosevelt on a tour of a pump near to Los Angeles, California, when Roosevelt is there, as they know Roosevelt’s interest in reclaiming arid lands.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-21

William Emlen Roosevelt informs President Roosevelt that he has learned that all United States government telegrams sent through the West India and Panama Telegram Company are shown to the British consul at Panama. He advises that American messages be kept in American hands as much as possible. He also writes that he has been to Oyster Bay, New York, and his well is flowing. He will investigate the problems with President Roosevelt’s well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-10

Cartoon shows Republican House Majority Leader Sereno Payne and Republican Congressmen Robert C. Morris, Francis G. Newlands, Henry Allen Cooper, and James A. Tawney pulling on a rope to lift a bucket from a well. Their efforts are hampered by a stick “Dutch Standard” knotted into the rope “Tariff Law 1897” at the pulley. The cartoon refers to efforts by Republican congressmen to aid Cuba while high tariffs on sugar imposed by the Tariff Law 1897 hampers their efforts.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1902

Cartoon shows Republican House Majority Leader Sereno Payne and Republican Congressmen Robert C. Morris, Francis G. Newlands, Henry Allen Cooper, and James A. Tawney pulling on a rope to lift a bucket from a well. Their efforts are hampered by a stick “Dutch Standard” knotted into the rope “Tariff Law 1897” at the pulley. The cartoon refers to efforts by Republican congressmen to aid Cuba while high tariffs on sugar imposed by the Tariff Law 1897 hampers their efforts.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1902

A woman labeled “Progress” stands next to a well constructed from stones labeled “Experiment Station, Library, Vivisectional Laboratory, University, Astronomical Observatory, Surgical Clinic, Social Settlement, [and] School of Geology.” She is lowering a bucket labeled “Scientific Research.” Hanging on the counter-weight are men and a woman labeled “Oldfogyism, Intolernace, Bigamy, Superstition, Podsnappery, Anti-vivisection, Sentimentalism, [and] Ignorance.” Caption: Despite the weight of opposition, the bucket will continue to make trips.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-08-10