The qualities of which his first work gave promise had developed to such an extent by the time he became President that he frequently astonished naval Officers by the rapidity with which he grasped the essentials Of a naval problem and made a decision upon it. Fre quently he used to say to his advisers: Prepare me a paper on the subject. In these papers the essence of a highly technical matter had to be condensed both clearly and accurately so that he could study it at his leisure and give a decision on it. These reports he would put in his inside coat-pocket, and often he would say: I will take this home with me; come and see me about it to-morrow. One day when, as his naval aide, I had presented him with such a memorandum upon a matter of vital con cern to the navy, he looked at the paper for a few min utes, slowly turning over the pages and pausing a short time at each as though giving it a preliminary survey. Then, instead of putting it in his pocket, he laid it down and, in place of his usual formula, said abruptly: All right; what have you got to say about it?