The newspaper caricature of Theodore Roosevelt depicts him in his Rough Rider uniform, which he wore in the Spanish American War, which would not begin until 1898, two years after the time setting of this series. (Roosevelt had previously been an officer in the New York National Guard in the 1880s, but the uniform of that era was considerably different, and he was not famous enough at that time to be readily associated with it.)
The type of piton found at the foot of the brick wall would not have been available in the late 1890's.