The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-08-15

Washington Start
On Tuesdays and Fridays there are
Cabinet meetings. The members oi
the Cabinet drop in one by one, but
they are all on hand by IL o'clock.
Each member brings his portfolio.
The President sits at the head of. the
table and Secretary Shurz at the foot
on the right, next to the President is
the Secretary OF War, and beyond
him the Postmaster General.
On the left, next to the President
sits the Secretary of the Treasury,
and next to him the Secretary of the
Navy, and next to the Secretary of the
Interior on that side the Attorney
General. After
THE CABINET MEETS
it is ten or fifteen minutes before the
members get to wor Then ten min.
ute is taken up in greetiogs aua OF
hand talk, in which the spirit of fun
and humor crops out good deal. The
Cabinet are all men with sunny, fun
loving side when out of the official
harness. Judge Key is perhaps the
jolliest, though the AttorneysGeneral
pushes him hard for that distinction.
Secretary Thompson is a proven bal
lover of good joke, while Secretary
Shurz is hardly equalled in telling
one. Secretary McCrary Is a good
story teller. Secretary Sherman does
not indulge in humor much, but when
he does it is, on account of its uuex
pected character, the more enjoyable
Secretary Evarts is one of those of the
quietly humorous sort. His fund of
dry humor and wit is inexhaustable.
THE PRESIDENT
has probably the heartiest Cabinet
any President ever had assembled
around him, The old bores who
keep at them day by day are unmer-
cifully dealt with by the heads of the
departments when they assemble. The
Attorney General seems to take a pc
culiar delight in joking Secretary
Thompson. At recent Cabinet meet.
ing the naval secretary took with him
q list of midshipmen who had passed
their examinations. The Secretary
called attention to them. and said he
would ike - have their nominations
for promotion to ensigns sent to the
Senate as soon as possible, "a5 they
are worthy young men who have thor
onghly earned their spurs" "Mr.
Thompson" interrupted Mr.. Devens,
"how long since they have been wear
ing spurs in the navy ?" At a later
meeting the Attorney General an
nounced that thsre was a story afoat
Of character so derogatory to the in
land marine secretary that it ought to
be met Judge Key called out Lets
have it !" at was when he was first
made Secretary of the Navy" proceed
ed Judge Devens willingly" "a com
mittee from the yard invited him TO go
down on visit of inspection. He was
taken through the different shops and
works, and finally on board a man-o.
ward, which was lying at the wharf |
After being shown over the different
parts of the ship; the captain stopped |
by the hatchway and asked the Secre-
.ary to look down. Thompson took a |
ook of some length, and finally ex-
claimed: my goodness the burned |
Did things hollow" The naval secre-
AIRY stood the bantering with equanity
Ind remarked that the joke was a good
'ne 10 its prime, but now had an an.
,ient and 6sh.lik smell.
After this ten minutes of boys play
before school, the President calls the
Meeting to order. The regular bust
'ess is taken up, the Secretary of State
eading off with his budget. The dis,
ussion conducted in conversational.
Vay. The meetings generally last
bout two hours.