The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-02-07

PRODUCED to Mrs. Hayes, as we'll as the
President. There is sort of levee
at the White House almost every even
ing. Mrs. Hayes likes to see her
parlors full of callers, and seems thor
oughly to enjoy social duties which most
ladies would soon find too arduous to be
thus constantly performed. Mrs Hayes
has quite number of guests with her
all the time, who come to make visits,
and, as there are usually three or four
children at home, the household is
large one.
The President interrupts the stream of
callers at 2 O'Clock to go to lunch. Cen
orally, somebody who has dropped in
during the day is asked to remain to
lunch, and there are nearly always
guests at dinner time. Before each
meal the family assemblies in the libra
Try, adjoining the Cabinet room, and all
7 20 down together to the dining-room,
which is at the front of the building on
the first floor. helibrary is the room
where the official life of the President
joins on, SO to speak, to his family life.
1t is noteworthy that the Hayes family
seeks very little diversion outside of the
White House. -, Neither Mr. nor Mrs.
| Hayes have ever attended regular dra-
matte performance, so far as know,
since they have resided in the Executive
Mansion. They attended Mr.. w. w.
Story's lecture on cart" but | don't
remember of their being present on any
other occasion of this sort, or at any
public entertainment of the lighter sort.
In the summer, and throughout the
warmer season, the President rode or
walked goodsdeal for exercise He is
not seen on Pennsy lvania Avenue, how
ever, NEARLY SO often as President Grant
used to be.
The Presidents management of his
correspondence is efficient and bust
ness-ike. From so to 100 letters are re-
ceived at the White House every day,
and they come from every part. of the
country and relate to every imaginable
feature of the public business. A ma
jority of these letters, of course, come
from people who want something or 9TH
or from the Government, and who don't
know any other way to get what they
want than to write to the President
about it. Soldiers write to ask for
bounties, soldiers widows ask for pen
sions, and inquiries relating to every de-
partment of the Government are daily
received. These letters are all opened
by a trustworthy clerk, whose duty it is
to make a record of every letter receiv-
ed. Each morning the letter clerk
makes an abstract of all the letters re-
ceived. This abstract is recorded on
specially printed blank pages about ten
| hn Of hn
is given in one column, the place of his
residence in the next, the subject mat
ter of the communication in the third
column and the disposition made of the
letter in a fourth column. When all
the letters of the day have been thus
treated, the several pages of the alb
stracts are put together with eyelets,
and at four O'Clock each day this docu-
ment is laid before the President, who
runs his eye over the whole, sees about
what he has been written to and from
whom the letters have come and what
answers have been returned. If the
subject is one of any Importance to him
or one to which formal answer can
not be given, of course no answer is
sent until he has seen the letter, and, if
|
seems to him to have any special inter-
est, he sends for it and reads the
whole. These abstracts are, of
course, preserved, and, at the end
of his term, will constitute perfect
record of all the correspondence that
has occurred. In many cases the an
swers returned to correspondents are
merely formal acknowledgements. There
are multitude of cases where the letter
is turned over to some one of the de-
apartments, and in all such cases the
writer is informed where the matter has
been referred, and what officer he should
write to for further information. All
this makes great deal of work. and in
wolves an increased expenditure for sta
tionery and clerical assistance, but it
must be admitted to be a very praise
worthy thing in the President thus to
recognize the claims of the people upon
the Office which he holds. AS has al
ready been stated, the President usually
writes a number of private letters when
he is alone in the morning. The re-
mainder of his own letter-writing is done
through stenographer, who is usually
called in at O'Clock in the afternoon,
and is often kept by the President until
6 O'Clock. These letters, unless of I'M
usual Importance, are written out by the
stenographer on the following day after
they are dictated.
The making of appointments absorbs
the principal part of the Presidents
time, and during a session of Congress
several clerks are kept busy in the rou-
tine work connected with the exercise
OF the appointing power. Applications
for Office are mourning in all the Tina