Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-01-24

miscellaneous, Gifts Bestowed on the Com
Hag PRESIDE og.
lCor 81 Louis Poe' Dlspateh-l

Tag President
gCor. st Louis poe Dlspateh.l
Tue qaeerest place ia the State Is Gov.
ernor Cfeveland's barn, or store room
Your correspondent Was permitted 70 sisli
these quarters recently, aud a stranger
collection OF old iuak il would be impossi.
ble % fad anywhere. The barn IS sub
stantial structure, luilt just back Of the
Executive mansion. and during the ad-
ministration Of more wealthy Governors II
was ussd for carriages and horses OF those
worthless Governor Cleveland, however
doesn't keep a team. and since bis election
% tie Presidency the vacant harn hui
been used To store the vast collection %
miscellaneous presents that come pouring
in from every part OF the Union formef-
" these packages were delivered at ths
Executive Chamber on the hill, but As they
kept constantly increasing in number and
variety il was found impossible 20 receive
them. and "a kind Of union depot was
opened la the barn. IL keeps one man
busy receiving, arranging and shipping
back the packages al .lressed 20 the
President elect. In spite OF The fact
that the greatest care Is exercised
In fnding out Who SENDS the stuff
and his address many OF the packages re-
main uni lentihed. The Governors orders
are that all presents shall be returned 10
the sender at once. But as about half OF
the gifts come anonymously, IL is nos sc
easy 10 carry out the instructions.
clerk was busy marking and sending a way
packages when your correspondent called
10 take a tour of the place. The coilec-
tiOn OF bald eagles, bicycles. chairs: desks.
brushes and other tric-a- hl. would have
put junk shop 20 blush. is. there was
one marked difference between tine stock
in the Governors barn and the junk-shop.
Here every article was brand nev. The
"a lie tapped his WINS dolefully N his
wooden cage, with an air that told plfin-
ly 1t was the first time he hal ever
been made show, and the two evils
stared in a mournfully know ing way as the
expressman who was taking the thiiSs
away.
Not a speck of dust dimmed the bri hit
ness OF the glittering bicycle that was
promptly going back 10 Boston, and the
red plush of a comfortable arm chair
showed it's newness through the thin COW
ering spread over IL. The only thiag that
bore traces of wear was a barrel covered
with country mud and with number OF
openings cut in the slaves. through which
the red and mellow golden of great New
York apples showed. A second express
man was unloading a half barrel OF c.
der that had just arrived, when the
clerk caught him and told him to wait.
A careful examination showed that 1t
came from Blnghampton, \. Y, and, with
out taking it from the wagon, receipt
and bill of lading was made ont and the
stuff shipped back. SO it went all day. AS
fast one thing was returned another
came in to take its place, and the clerk con-
sidered himself lucky ii. two articles did
not come in place # every one sent back.
II is easy to understand how simple coun-
try folks take pleasure in sending little
tokens OF affection to the man they honor
and respect, and in whose good fortune
they have had part. But why these
tokens so often take the form of animals is
question that sadly perplexes the poor
clerk one man in Brooklyn sends a dog,
another in Maine sends two owls, third
forwards an EAGLE, fourth believes that
nothing less than a Maltese cat viii make
tire President happy, while fifth hopes to
win favor by the presentation OF a fawn.
Ii this sort OF th ng continues, the barn at
tached to the Executive Mansion viii soon
contain rnenagerie which will make our
Barnum hang his head in shame. The
! Presiient-elecs takes It u. good-naturedly
and as q huge joke. Sail be to-day, laugh
I iug over the mot er: ''Sonehoiv out West,
. don. rem menbsr nis name just nov, sent
/ m aa ea ie the other day Wla, am l to
/ d5 vith en- ea-le; [ presume thev viii be
sending me an elephant Dexs.' Then,
musingly: "He would b. jUss - useful as
an eagle, thou h"