er," but most of the time he was
hailed simply as "Lub." Big, over-grown boys are sure to be awkward,
and "Lub" was no exception. If he started to run across a field with
the other boys, he was sure to fall. When they turned to gather him
up, they would fairly roll with laughter, declaring that he was too
fat to see where he was stepping. The fact that when he fell he was
sure "to land on his head," caused the boys to call him "Lead-Head and
Cotton-Body."

When he entered the Woodward High School, the boys changed his
nickname from "Lub" to "Old Bill" and later to plain "Bill." In high
school he was too fat to run, too slow for baseball, and didn't care
for football.

At seventeen he had graduated from high school and was about to enter
Yale. Can you imagine him as he enters that great University? With
beardless cheeks that were as red as an apple, and able to tip the
scales at two hundred thirty pounds, he seemed indeed a giant. No
longer was he chubby and awkward; he was now broad shouldered, tall
and sure of step. His muscles were so firm that he was a hard
antagonist for anyone.

Hardly had he entered school before he got "mixed up" in one of the
many college rushes of those days. In that particular rush Taft went
crashing through the sophomores like a catapult. One, a man of his own
weight, leaped in front of him. Then Taft let forth a joyous roar and
charged! He grappled with the other Ajax, lifted him bodily, and
heaved him over his head. No wonder he got the nickname of "Bull
Taft."

Of course a chap capable of such a feat must join the football squad,
said the fellows of the University. But Bill's father back in
Cincinnati had entirely different plans for the giant freshman. He was
eager to have his son win his laurels in the classroom rather than on
the gridiron. The father, while in Yale, had won honors, and why
shouldn't his son? Furthermore, Bill had some pride, for already his
brother had carried away from Yale high honors in scholarship, and, if
possible, Bill was not to be outdone by his brother. Accordingly, he
settled down to four years of downright hard work, and "from day to
day, lesson by lesson, he slowly made his way close to the head of the
class."

That he acquired, while in college, a relish for hard work is shown by
the fact that as soon as he had graduated he undertook three jobs at
the same time: he studied law in his father's law office, carried the
regular work of the Cincinnati La