Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-09

4,
How many letters do they receive each
| day?''
About seven hundred Tn told"
Il can't see how they manage TO read them
all"
The foregoing was a scrap of conversation
| overheard by a STAR reporter who was watch
| ing the little crowd that gathered TO greet the
| President in the east room yesterday. and,
knowing what they we're talking about, he went
| upstairs after awhile to chat with Secretary
| Halford about the immense mail which Is re-
| ceived at the White House every working day.
The correspondence" said Mr.. Halford us
decidedly heavy; little lighter than usual
| during the past three days. but il is heavy
enough. The number of letters received now
| ranges from 500 to 200 day. Three times did
our dally mail come dangerously near TO LOCO,
| each of those times the total exceeding $50. so
We have not Vet reached four figures. Our
| hghtest day was last Tuesday. when something
less than 500 letters arrived. am not referring
now to the family mail: that Is entirely sepa-
| rate and distinct from the official correspond
ence. In addition 10 all these letters that come
| by mall there are a great many delivered in
person by interested parties. How many? L
don't know. There are cords of them. That's
the easiest way to measure them"
us every letter answered." asked the re-
porter
Promptly" was the reply I'VE send an
immediate acknowledgment of each commune
cation. The carrying out of that has kept our
| little force busy bees. but we had never vet
| allowed one weeks work to lap over into the
next one. The eight-hour law has not been in
| force here. We have worked until 10. IL, or II
O'Clock at night every night up 10 that of last
saturday. and on that day We had everything
done by oclock-the first night off since the
Inauguration.
THE MANNER IN WHICH, TINE ,,,r, " u,~n,rr
is interesting to any one who admires method
and industry. 1t is brought from the post
| office in a capacious leather bag by one of the
two mounted messengers-John Welch or Ed
| gar Beckley-three times day. and is taken to
| the room occupied by Major Pruden, Mr. E. F.
| IlDbott and Miss Sanger, where the two latter
proceed at once to investigate the contents II
| Is hard work, but they make rapid progress.
and In couple of hours they have reduced the
| great mass of office-seeking chirographv TO
something like order. Every letter has to be
acknowledged. Rapidly as possible they read
each communication and decide where il ought
| to CO. Those which should be referred to one
| OF the departments are sent into the room which
| Is sacred to Mr. Warren Young and Mr. b. f.
Montgomery. and Mr.. Young makes record of
| their receipt and disposition. Fully three
fourths OF the correspondence is referred to the
various departments.
| ANSWERING THE LETTERS.
Then comes the work of acknowledgment.
| and here the swiftlv-formed hieroglyphics of
Pltman and the incessant rattle of the KEYS of
| typewriter play an important part The reply
| Is written in shorthand by Mr.. Tibbott on a
| corner of the letter which is 10 be answered
| and 1t Is sent in to Col. Crooks Office where
| Mr.. X. V. LaDow and an aggregation of KEYS
and wires can be found at almost anv hour of
| the day or night. Mr.. LaDow reads with great
| facility the shorthand notes made by Mr. lib
! bott, and with the aid of his little typewriter
| IN the management of which he is an expert
| he writes hundreds of replies and addresses
| hundreds of envelopes daily.
great many letters go to Secretary Halford
ana these he puts on one side until the after
| noon rush is over. when he dictates suitable
! but not always satisfactory replies to Miss San
! ger. Some few of the more important letters
| are laid before the President by the Secretary
| and replies dictated at the earliest possible
moment. Then. while the President is out TAX
| ing his afternoon ride,
| MISS SANGER GOES TO WORK
with her notebook and typewriter and taps off
replies by the score. Miss Sanger's presence
has very materially frightened up an other
wise gloomy apartment. She Is somewhat
| sedate yet pleasant in her manner and in her
| quaker-lke gray dress and spotess white apron
Is decidedly attractive parsonage. As an
| operator on the typewriter she is rapid and
| accurate and everyone at the White House ac-
cords her the respect due to fidelity and lady
| like department
CORRESPONDENCE OVER THE WIRES
All the applications and Inducements do not.
however, come through the medium of the
post-office. great many arrive over the
wires, and at times Mr. Montgomery is kept
busy receiving their plants and rafting the
same off ON his typewriter. Most of those
who use this means of communication do il be-
| cause they believe the President will certainly
see telegram where letter might never reach
him. And in the majority OF instances their
idea is the correct one, for kilograms have the
right of way. Mr.. Montgomery is the gentle
man who first took messages off the wire and
wrote them with typewriter. The amount of
| time saved in this operation can hardly be cal
culated. for now every telegl aph Office of any
| importance has adopted his ingenious combi-
nation for all work where the message has TO be
manifolded
Correspondence between the White House
and the various departments is carried on
mainly by telegraph, and there is a good deal
| of 1T in the course of day.
THE WORK OF ISDExING.
The last stage in the disposition of the appli-
cations and Endorsements is the index work
done by Mr.. Warren Young. Volume upon
volume has he filled with the names of Office
| seekers and the nature of the positions they
| are after, and they come rolling in as fast as
even he, with all his experience. can dispose of
| them, and sometimes he has to call for help
| from Mr.. Montgomery.
The general impression among the older en-
| ployes is that the mail which pours in upon
President Harrison Is much heavier than that
! which was received by any previous admins
| tratlon. The increase is a natural one. and the
/ President who follows the present occupant of
| the White House will need larger force of
! clerks, which will from time to time have to be
| increased as the country grows and office
| seekers become more numerous.
BRICKISG Up THE WINDows.-This morning
| in the Court in General Term the case of
Patrick Corcoran against Washington Nailor
was heard, on motion of the complainant. for a
! rule OH defendant to show cause WHY be should
not be attached for contempt In not bricking
| up the windows of his stable overlooking the
complainant's premises. in compliance with the
| order of the court. Mr.. Il. Il. Perry appeared
| for the complainant. and Mr.. d. orc. Callahan
| for the defendant. The latter read his answer
showing that the windows of the lower stories
/ had been closed. and that bricklayer is en-
gagged in bricking up the remainder of the win
| dows and further that he had not intended
| any disrespect to the court, but that his delay
| had been caused because he had anticipated a
rehearing. Further proceedings were ad-
| journed TO Saturday morning, by which time
Mr.. Nailor expects to be able TO certify that the
work has been completed.
| The OLD GUARDS BAzAAR.-The executive
| committee in charge of the Old Guards bazaar
held meeting last evening and reported