Telegram-herald., 1889-06-02
Dir. LOVES LETTER
Impressive Memorial Services ~
Washington.
SCHEMES 10 GET APPOINTMENTS
ssnas Of the work CongrsssHlen sTe "a
psctsd 10 Perform History ef the
Leathsrs and other Gold Mines
Near the Capital


tAl-ss.ss st.tss-s stes-s-
WAsHINGroS, June In 10 ether
city ia the country : Memorial Day 30
touchingly observed As in Washington.
The presence OF - many old soldiers
IN the departments and thc large mum
Der or regular officers OF the army and
navy VINO are always 10 be found at
the capita, gives peculiar air 10 every
military occasion. IN addition, the
presence here Of the great military
cemetery OF Arlington, and the Sol
diers' Home, with lis hundreds Of bat
tle-scarred veterans, stamps Il as the
place above all others where reverence
should be paid 10 the dead, and To
those heroes who gave up their lives
for the preservation of the Union.
Washington abOunds with numerous
statues OF the great names Of the war,
and on Memorial Day they are always
deckod with garlands and laurel leaves.
Garfield, and Rawlings, and McPher-
son and Farragut, and Meade are all
here III stone, and their monuments
were covered with flowers last Thurs
day. As long as patriotism lasts II is
safe TO assert that Washington will
always properly honor Memorial Day.
Every man who wants TO secure an
Office proceeds As the first thing in that
direction to rake up all the influence
that he possesses, and the things which
are supposed to be influential in the
procuring of an Office are a. numerous
as they are comlcal at times. For
instance, one man tells the President
that he used to know him when he was
at school, while another bases his
claims for consideration on the fact
that ms father was acquainted with the
grandfather of the President, and that
one of ms children was named after
President William Henry Harrison. But
the funniest claim came from the
South not 50 very long ago. \ man
wrote TO the President to say that his
grandfather knew the Presidents s
grandfather who had promised to help
him If X should ever be 'in his power
He thought, therefore, that the grand
son ought to consider the agreement
binding, and the President should do
what he could for the representative of
the present generation. II is not
likely, however, that the President
will consider that the bargain extends to
the second generation, or that his cor
respondent viii get the Office that he
is after
But the President is not alc.io
bothered in this way. Scores of people
write to Mrs. Harrison every day ask
ing her to use her influence with the
General to secure them appointments,
and they tell her that If she Will only
ask the President to appoint them, they
know that he will not be able To refuse
her request. Many of these letters are
really touching in their appeals and, as
might be expected, the majority of
them are from women or girls, either
widows or orphans. Some of the cor
respondents suggest that the President
has overlooked their letters and they
ask Mrs. Harrison To put them where
they can not help being seen 10y the
President, rs they know that if he has
only an opportunity to act on the ap-
plicatiOns, they feel sure he will
comply with their requests and make
the appointments in short order. All
these letters are duly acknowledged by
one of the White House clerks IN the
name of Mrs. Harrison, but II Is hardly
necessary to observe that they are
never brought to the attention of the
President.
Every Congressman complains that
he Is no more than the errand boy of
ms constituents, and that what with
running round to the departments and
looking after places for the voters in
hs district, he has no time left IN
which 10 attend to public business.
When Congress IS IN session the de
mandS on the time of a member are
something enormous, but it might be-
expected that at this time of the year
members would have little more
leisure to themselves. But il isn't 50.
The constituent who doesn't want an
Office wants q book, or something else
that the Government publishes, and he
does not think that 1t IS ata!l outOf ttc
way to write u his member
about It, and request HIM to
sond It by return mail. Some
OF the members would not care If
they were ashed only a single
volume, but when 1t comes t. getting
books enough 10 stock a good sized
library they kick and think that tire
inc ought to be drawn somewhere.
But books are not the only thing.
Flower seeds are another iavoriie rc-
quest, varied occasionally by demand
for piece of Mrs. H8TrisOn's last silk
dress as It is wanted to be used for
crazy quilt. II Is nothing for q con-
gresham iG the busy season 90 receive
half dozen autograph albums IN his
mail 10 the morning and ho S. expected
t0 ga round to the members of the Cab
mot and the supreme Court to say
nothing Of tho Senators and members
of Cong ss and gct them to wTite their
names u the littlo books These are q
few of the things with which Mr.. Bel
KNAPP may expect t0 Keep himself busy
this winter when he IS rot attending
committees or is 1903 engaged Ia draw
ng up bills OF reports.
IN one ~ mv d.sn7tccs LAST week
mentioned the fact shat the Cite Of
TINS ctv had devoted a good deal o.
space 60 che gold mines near Washing
con n wha fessrs Leathcrs and
BalsuaD arc Interested The ffr
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