Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1885-10-17
lNTER-OCEAN
THR PRIvATE SECRETARY.
Mew Haunoua Hes are Annoyed BY Crsnla
and Gushing Women.

had a short talk. says the Man.
About.Towns in the Brooklyn Eagle,
With the private secretary of one of the
notable menswho came to the Grant
funeral. The secretary was q sallow
Young Chicago man, and undergoing
his first experience a. q private secre.
tary Tor q famous man.
HA chatted about his position with
great nueney. II have not yet become
accustomed to my work." he said,
.sand the illusion which I formed re-
Rarding the duties of q confidential
secretary diedshard. Ihad always had
An idea when | took up my duties as
secretary | would lead a life Of elegance
and luxury interrupted by a certain
amount Of work. Instead of that I
find an amazing amount of work, not
the slightest indication of elegance 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 is apparent
u limitlcss. We arrived this morning
ct 10 o'clock and l 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 let
ters." He pulled a crumpled sheet Of
paper from his pocket and showed 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 q few
biographical details were under the
photograph. then followed several
lines. announcing that the English
actor would star on Henry lrving's
route next season., and under this in
turn were Que or two extracts from
English papers of which l had never
heard. All OF this took up nearly one
half Of the sheet, under it was scrawled
In a bold hand, '.My Very Dear Sir
I have but now learned that you are in
town; hasten to welcome you, extend
the inequalities of the city, and hope
that you will have q pleasant stay. II
l can do anything in. my power to
tighten the tcdium of your visit, COM
mand me. l have the honor to remain,
very truly yours" etc., etc. This is
man of whom the secretary has never
heard. 1 happen to know that he was
an English actor, who had certainly
not been in this country more than siz
weeks. His etfrontery 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 O mourning band q
quarter of an inch deep and was close.
lyswritten in q feminine hand. After
giving the man to whom the letter was
addressed the benefit of all his titles,
the letter began airily: '.Methinks that
you may not be adverse to descend from
the pedestal upon which all truly great
men habitually dwell, despite all re-
ports to the contrary. and engage ir
pleasant converse and cheerful recrea,
ton with one who has been an ardent
admirer of yours for more than forty
thoroughly than l the manifold temp
tations which beset the path of the tru
" great, aud hence l have though
that you might enjoy q bucolic trip t.
my humble home in Westchestel
county, etc. This crank has oils,
never met the man to whom sh,
wrote.
They are fair samples" said the sec
Rotary, tearing the two letters up il
small pieces as he spoke, ''of the sor
of mail my principal gets. He is a MAJ
of exemplary and rigid habits, and hi
life has been always fully opcn t.
public investigation and opinion.
open oil of his mail unreservedly, an,
81 I tl:l 49, 1~-@,r tl,o 500, III
ly I am bound to confess that ut time
the letters would excite suspicion. We
mon are the chief criminals; the slus
they write is simply amazing. As
rule | pay no attention whatever I
crank letters, but once in u while on
comes along that must bo answered
and the answer requires more care o
our part than the preparation Of
great state paper" Private secrctarie
are luxuries which very many men y
low themselves nowadays. Most {
them are young men of suave manner
and considerable knowledge of tn
world. In nine cases out OF ten the
are much better takers than the me
by whom they are employed. A goo
many of them are not private secret,
ries in the strict sense Of the word, b,
more like confidential business mel
although there is a goodly number VIII
maintain close aud intimate relation
with the families Of the men who en-
ploy them as we'll as with the emplo,
ors themselves.
Fiead Children.
lgE.EHr I'd - H#r
In a letter to the London 1elegra,