The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1886-04-21
THE HEALTH AND HABITS
OF Cabinet Ministers and How They
Exercise and Work,

OF Cabinet Ministers and How They
Exercise and Work
Special correspondence
WASHINGTON, April 12.-Secretary Man
ning's illness Is undoubtedly due to over
work. He came here from Albany the per-
sonification of health His eye was bright,
his step steady and the joints of his ponder
GUS frame We're well oiled He had been ac-
customed TO wal.ing good deal in Albany,
and his work was such as TO Ike p him NOV
ing about. Here he took 10 exercise what
| ever, and he worked harder than even Folger
had done before him He lived at first at
the Arlington hotel, which is about two
| blocks from the tcmb-like treasury. His
carriage was called to carry him this
| short distance, and ON cabinet days
he rode to the White House, which
| is situated Just around the corner and
| whose front door is not 300 feet away from
the side door of the treasury. When his
| wife came here, and he moved out to Dupont
circle he took, for time, short drive after
| be left the department, and Mrs Manning
came down in the carriage foRs him almost
daily During the winter these drives were
often omitted, and not long ago Mr. Manning,
| feeling the need of more exercise, determined
to walk down to the treasury every morning.
He did this fer day or So The distance is
about mile, and had he continued it might
| have saved HIM But he found that the
office seekers laid in wait for him and that
he could not get to work on time. He then
went back to his carriage and worked ON
until he dropped.
The treasury building is the darkest and
| gloomiest structure in Washington 1t is a
great oblong stone building with big, dirty
Ionic columns running along its sides, and it
looks for all the world like the gigantic sar-
cophagus of some antediluvian giant Its
massiveness is oppressive, and the only bright
spots IN 1t are the south rooms, which look
out toward the Washington monument and
across the Potomac to Arlington and the Vir-
ginia hills. Three of these rooms, on the sec
ond floor, constitute the offices of the secre-
tary of the treasury, and it is in these that
Manning has spent the greater part of the
past year.
Let me give you his daily life. He rose
from his led at O'Clock and by or little
later his carriage brought him to the de-
partment. Entering by the basement door,
he would ride to his floor in the elevator, and
Immediately begin at his mail, with his
stenographie secretary sitting on the opposite
side of his big fat desk, and ready to take
them over. This first mail would perhaps
contain 300 letters, and most of these would
require much thought He would be answer
ing them when 10 or II O'Clock came, and
with this hour a throng of callers, business
men and office seekers. AT first he receives
these, as the president does now admitting
them to his office and going around the ring
talking to each and shaking hands with
every one This was also brain work, and
later on he found it took up too much of his
time He then took refuge in his ante-room
and admitted only such callers as had i'm
portant business About 2 o'clock the
callers would he shut off and the
secretary would take his lunch This
he would cat at his desk, ard it was
brought down by his 10y from his home to
him. 1t genel ally consisted of some fruit
and a sandwich of chicken. turkey or tongue.
Manning would not even rest while he was
eating it, but would have the department
officials admitted and would discuss ques-
tions of finance and would look over the
papers which they presented to him. He
would then 90 back to answering letters.
Besides the 800 of the first mail, he would
now find, perhaps, that 100 or 200 additional
had come in later. About o'cloc! a
number of letters and papers would be
brought to him to sign, and doubt not that
these often ran into the hundreds 1t would
take thought TO look over them, and when
he was through he would again dictate letters
until about O'Clock Then his carriage and
Mrs Manning would come, and he would go
out home He did not come to the treasury
at night, but he always took work home
with him, and he often sat up as late as 1 or
2 o'clock in the morning. He worked more
hours than the street car driver, and his
brain had less rest than the pendulum of a
400-day cock He raid little attention to
society, gave not more than one or two din
ners during the whole season, and went to
none except those of the cabinet ministers
and the president
1t is a mistake to say that Secretary Man
ming has had these attacks before He has
been in good health up to his coming to
Washington, and has had no sickness to
speak Of since he was about 10 years old. AT
this time / think he was connected with the
printing department of The Argus. He had
a hemoTrhaee of the lungs one day, and tNe
doctors tod his father that he would have to
get out Of Albany or die. His father was a
poor lal orer, and he was for time in despair
as to how to raise the money. He finally
fixed it By sending the boy off sailing
vessel to Cuba, and l am told that young
Manning worked his passage He stayed
away year or so, and came back to Albany
with his luncs as sound as those of lion and
his health like that of young satyr. He
wen3 back to The Argus and after making
Grover Cleveland governor and president
came here to Washington worth about $780,
000 He is a good business man and is q
great politician. He can judge man at a
glance, and he has teen Eere the .fdwS
dchdtes of the president He seems to be
the only one of the cabinet in whom Presi-
dent Cleveland has trusted, and he has been
to a certain extent the power behind the
throne.
While Secretary Manning WIS on The
Argus he did some newspaper writing. He |
was good writer but his 20 te y rs more
that of business manager. He ii t9ted a |
great part of his messages to congress, and |
he talked off his CORE spondence az lie treas
ury department without break HIS chief |
trouble in the treasury department vas the
newness of the work and that ha 5iid rot nn- |
derstand how to get other men 10 ao his work
for him. Division of labor is he cret of |
the workings of a great government depart |
ment and novice in one Of them Who tries to
do everything for himself is sure 20 uccuntb !
10 SIckneSS OF uetbu DeIOfe long.
The great men of this adn1ii.istia. ON take I
too little exercise. This is President Cleve-
lands danger. He takes none whatever. He |
gets up early, eats his fruit, oatmeal, beef |
steak and coffee and sits down to write and |
study while it digests he works all day and |
far into the night and only occa ion;lly takes |
a drive into the country. He has .. own fat |
ter since be has Been in the White House, but
gets along with very little sleep End appears
TO be healthy. At Albany h used 20 walk
great deal, and always walked from the exc
cutive mansion to the Capitol Here he does
not walk at all, and his only exercise is in |
the shaking of the hands of about $50 men
daily.
Secretary Lamar has been sick number
of times since he came into Tic Interior de-
paTtment After he solf the government
carriage he rode about Wash neton on horse
back for time, and he row walks occa-
sionally But he is a dreamy fellow with
every appearance Of apoplectic temper ament,
and his complexion and eyes are those OF
man in poor health Lamar. is q uidower,
and he lives here at hotel, eating HI, meals
alone and half the time not noticing what he
is doing at the table He is q II All Of great
brains, but remarkably absent minded. and
if he IS riding IN the street cars Il IS not
uncommon for him to pay his fare TaOre than
once Secretary Lamar dresses plainly and 1