The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-30
Routine. Work at the white House,

Q3fk, uttT N dhy3 Jooo0fusSy y
Routine Work at the White House.
The routine, office work of the White
House constantly increases. The early
Presidents were not even allowed pri-
vate secretary by law They had to pay
for all clerical assistance out of their
own salaries. Afterward one secretary
was provided for; then an assistant was
added. From administration to admin
istration the working force grew by the
addition of clerks, or the detail of Army
officers, until what is practically a
Bureau of Appointments has grown up.
Including the private secretary, there
are now seven persons attached to this
bureau, and their places are no sine
cures. Often they are busy until late at
night bringing up the days work. If
they allow it to get behind it is next to
impossible to deal with it satisfactorily.
Perhaps a description of the current
Office duties of the Presidents personal
staff may interest some readers. An
enormous mail is received every day.
The pile of letters is deposited upon tlsr
desk of the private secretary, Mr..
Brown, and he and Mr.. Headley, the
Executive Clerk, open and classify them.
Of course it is impossible for the Presi-
dent to read all the letters addressed to
him. If he should undertake the job he
would have little time for anything
else. But it is important that he should
be able to select from the mass such let
tiers as he wants to read. So there is
system of briefng the correspondence
letter by letter on broad sheets OF paper
and making sort of unbound volume
of the sheets of each day. By glancing
over these abstracts the President can
see in few minutes what letters there
are requiring his attention among the
hundreds that daily arrive. Such of the
letters as are applications for office, and
more than nine-tenths are of this class,
are put each into long envelope which
has a printed form on its back for In
dorsement with name, date, office ap-
piled for and remarks. Most of these
letters are distributed each day to the
several departments and 60 upon their
files. There are, however, several files
in the White HouseAone of official let
tiers, to which the President may wish
to refer, another of applications and
recommendations in cases pending for
his decision, one of personal letters, and
one, which would furnish curious read
ing to students of human nature, called
the eccentric file. An hour spent in
looking over the contents of this file
would make the least misanthropic man
believe that half the world had gone
crazy, or cause him to apply to America
the bitter remark of Carlyle, who said
that England was inhabited by 10000
600 of people, principally fools.
President Hayes carried off to FIRE.
mont the ," eccentric ffle'i of his Admin
istration, thinking it could not be consid-
cred by any stretch of the imagination
valuable public property. Hayes was a
great collector of material of personal
and historical interest, and he had an
active assistant in his son Webb. All
the newspaper criticisms on the policy
and appointments Of his Administration
were carefully preserved by him. He
took with him small library of scrap
books filed with such clippings. Speak
ing of these scrap-books l must not for.
get to mention, in connection with the
office work of the White-house, the fact
that there is post similar to that OF an
exchange reader in daily newspaper
office. This place is filed by Mr.. Nor
ton, who served under President Hayes.
He goes through two or three hundred
papers a. day, cuts out everything he
thinks the President ought to see, ar
ranges his clippings in topical scrap
books and takes the book in twice day
for the Presidents Inspections By this
system President can, if he gives suf-
ficient time to the matter, keep almost
as well posted on public opinion as the
editor of great daily. a"'l ao eh
In length of service the oldest mem
Der of the White House staff is Mr.. w,
L. Crook, the executive agent and dis.
bursting clerk, who dates back to the
end of President Lincoln's administra.
ton; but there.is among the servants Of
the house a man who was appointed by
President Fillmore; he is the fireman
and his name is Herbert; and the prin
cipal doorkeeper, Mr. Loeffier, was put
in his place by President Grant in 1869
D.. Tie exchange reader does his worl
gbOuluo q UlS oClCOl III tu6 ScllcEdl IOCCP
tion-room. The private secretary, Mr.
Brown, and Mr.. Headley have room
to themselves, with two bay windows
looking out on the Potomac and the Vir
ginia hills, and door leading into tn,
Presidents room. Adjoining Isl smaller
room where Mr.. Prudon, the assistan
private secretary, keeps, with the aid o
clerks, the records of appointments ant
removals in formidable leather bount
volumes like the ledgers in counting
house. Hl'"i haIlFl -9fg r-f =
Besides the staff of secretaries an,
clerks there is what might be called al
official staff of servants, who are ap
pointed by the President and whose sal
aries are provided for by Congress in tn
annual appropriations. 1t consists of 4
steward, doorkeeper, four assistant door
keepers, a messenger, four assistant mes
sengers 1.-TWO. of them are mounted),
Waterman and fireman. There is ais
a telegraph operator detailed from tn
; Signal Servicei Corps The other ser
4yants of the household, such as tn
coachman,, the cook, and the walters, ar
paid by the President. TheErepairs an
the general good order of the house, ii
furniture, and its conservatory an
grounds are attended to by the Com
: missioner of Public Buildings an
Grounds. Washington Cor. N. Y. 1Ysb
nle '"f 'A t'fr'ts -iN N9tfi VE