The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1885-08-21
PRESIDENTIAL PECULIARITIEs,
Personal Traits Of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur and
Cleveland

Cleveland.
Tho Presidents mail is very heavy.
Quite a number of tho letters contain
applications for autographs. These
requests arc always complied with
whom it is possible to do so.
'How does President Cleveland sign
his lettersP" asked the Free Press cor
responder of Secretary Henley to-day.
''As a matter of fact the President
has had SO little time to writo letters
since hislnauguration that l can hard
ly say, but believe his usual form is
yours truly"
''How about his predecessors"
mir. Hayes usually wrote Sincere
ly yours;" Garfield, Very truly yours
and Arthur, Faithfully yours.''
"Who of these was tho better pen
man?''
"All wrote we'll, but Arthur proba-
bly, made tho prettiest copy. 1t was
very difficult, however, to get him to
write. l never saw any ono who dis
liked moro to use a pen, yet ho wrote
rapidly and with apparent ease. Gar
field prided himself upon his penman-
ship. You know he taught it in his
younger days, but grow careless after
entering public lifo and his letters lost
some of their symmetry and grace"
Did Garfield write many OF his own
lcttersp"
"He seldom put pen to paper. He
dictated everything to his stenograph-
cr lilo dictated easily and we'll. Mr..
Hayes, on the contrary, seemingly en-
joycd writing. 1t was nothing un-
usual for him to write half dozen
letters before breakfast. President
Arthur never dictated. He would tell
us what hc wanted to say, and we
would put it in our own words. His an.
nual messages, howevcr,hc wrote him
self"
"Who of tho four Presidents you
have served under were tho most pop
ular with the clerical force of tho Ex-
ccutivc Mansion?"
'Mr. Hayes. know the politicians
lid not like him, but to the employees
of the White House he was always
kind and courteous. We were all very
fond of Mrs. Hayes. Every Thanks
giving she gave the clerks and secrc-
tarics here All elegant dinner in tho
State dining-room. After the meal
was concluded she would go down into
the cast room and play 'high-spy'
with tho children, and enter into their
frolics with as much zest as if wc were
all members of the same family"
"H0w were the Garlields?"
"Gen. Garfield was delightful man,
generous, whOlc-sOulcd and affection
ate. Of Mrs. Garfield can't say so
much. She was very reserved and we
met her only at intervals. Gen. Gar
field delighted in a good game of
billiards. IIo liked the contest there
was in 1t. Before he was made Prcsi-
dent he used TO play at tho Riggs
House billiard room with Rockwell,
Swain, CorbiD, and other of his fa-
miliars."
"Did his political troubles bother
him much?'
apparently not. Tho oflicc-scck-
crs worried him tho most. He used
to say he had been struggling with
ideas all his life, and it was very tire
some to have to decide whether A or
Is should be appointed to particular
vacancy. His judgment may have
been faulty at times, but his impulses
were good. The cast of his mind was
essentially literary. He ought never
to have entered into politics. His pcr-
ceptions were wonderfully acute. He
caught on readily, as the boys say"
"Did you like Arthur"
''We respected hm. No one could
be brought into relationship with Gen.
Arthur and not respect him. Ho was
always courteous, but cold and form
al. He transacted his business with lis
through his private secretary, Mr..
Phillips. He had tho rare faculty of
keeping people att distance. There
was something in his manner that
forbade the slightest approach to f:s-
miliarity. We all admired President
Arthur, but he never won our hearts
Us others did by reason of his unap.
proachability." Especial to Detroit
Free Press.