Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-11-28
TIN pRIYATE sECRETARY.


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and Cushing gvomcn. m
I had i short talk, says tho Man.
About-Town IN the. Brooklyn Eagle.
with the priYats secretary ok one of the
notable men who came to the Grant
funeral. The secFetary was q sallok
young Chicago man. and undergoing
his first experience asa private secre-
tary for famous man. So 81
q de chatted about his epositionswith
great huency. Il have not vet become
accustomed to my work. be said.
'.and the Illusion which formed re-
garding the duties OF q confidential
secretary died hard. had always had
m idea when ! took up my duties as
secretary ] would lead = life OF elegance
and luxury interrupted by q certain
amount of work. Instead OF that /
lind an amazing amount pf work, not
the slightest indication OF eiegance or
luxury, and nearly my whole time is
taken up with dealing with cranks.
The number of people who write to
men who are at all known isapparent@
ly limitless. We arrived this morning
at 10 o'clock and 1 have within two
hours. received three letters. One is
an invitation to dinner to my principal
from q man whom he never saw or
heard of. This is another Of the LETT
ters." He pulled crumpled sheet OF
paper from his pocket and chowed it to
me. At the head was q photograph
pasted on the sheet of an English actor
who is at present stopping in New
York. The date Of his birth and few
biographical details were under the
photograph, then followed several
lines, announcing that tho English
actor would star ION Henfy AlryiDg,s
route next season, and under this in
turn were one or two extracts from
English papers Of which had never
heard. All of this took up nearly one
half of the sheet, under it was scrawled
in bold hand, ssMy Very Dear Sir
/ have but now learned that you, are in,
town; hasten to welcomc you, extend
the hospitaIities oflhe oitg and hope
that you will have a pleasant, stay. If
| can do anything in my power to
tighten the tedium of your visit COM
mand me. have the honor to remain,
very truly yours, = etc., etc. This is,
man OF whom the secretary has never
heard. i happen to know that he was
an English actor, who had certainly
not been Ia this country more than six
weeks. His effrontery in offering the
hospitality Of the city to one Of the
most prominent Americans in public
was amusing.
The other letter, which the secretary
showed me, had mourning band q
quarter OF an inch deep and was gclcserE
ly writtenin a, feminine hand. After
giving the man to. whom the letter was
addressed the beheiit of all his titles,
the letter began aifily: nMcthinks that
YOU. may not be adverse to descend from
the pedestal upon which all truly great
men. habitualIy dwell despite All re-
ports to the contrary, and engage ia
pleasant converse and cheerful recfe6-
tion with one who has been an ardent
admircrl of yours for more than forty
years. No one can understand more
thoroughly than. the manifold temp
tations which besetsthe path of the tru-
ly great, and hence ! have thought
that you might nnjpy bucolic trip .tol
my humble home in Wcstchester
county, etc. This crank has also
never met the man to whom she
wrote.
They are fair samples said the sec
retary, tearing the two letters up ia
small pieces as he spoke, '.of the sort
of mail my principal gets. He is man
of exemplary and rigid habits, and his
life has been always fully ppon to
public Investigation and opinion. l
open all of his mail unreservedly, and
If did not know the man so thoronghE
IL am bound TO confess that at times
the letters would excite suspicion. WO-
men arc the chief criminals; the slush
they write is simply amazing. AS D
rule | pay no attention whatever to
crank letters, but once ina while one
comes along that must DO answered.,
and the answer requires more care on
our part than the preparation of q.
great state paper. Private secretaries
a-e luxuries which very MANY men al
low themselves nowadays. Most 6f
them are young men Of snave manners
and considerable knowledge OF the
world. In nine cases onf. oil ten they
arc much better takers than the men
BY whom they are employed. a good
many Of them are not private secreta-
resin the strict sense of the word, but
moro like gconIidentials business men.
although there IS goodly number who
maintain close and intimate relations
with the families Of the men who en-
ploy them as well IS with the employ
ers themselves. ts4a 81
when Fred Got up late the other