The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-03-23
HARRISON'S CABINET.
HOW THE PRESIDENTS ADVISERS
APPEAR AT THEIR DESKS.

0laine's Pale Face anu HIS MhrSeiouo
Memory-Proctor's Eyes-The Ways Of
Miller and wanamaker-Noble, Tracy,
Window and Rusk.
Especial correspondence
WASHINGTON March lS.-The new cabi-
not has fairly settled down to work, and 1t Is
now possible to call and see the ministers Of
government without cooling your heels for
an hour in the ante-rooms, along with
horde Of place hunters. Not that the place
hunters have all gone away, for many OF
them are still here, but those remaining are
not so numerous as to make life burden in
the public offices. Next to the White House
the Office Of Secretary Blaine is the chief
point of interest for hero worshipers and
that large class of curious persons, who like
to see great men and shake them BY the
hand. Without doubt the secretary Of state
Ia the best hand shaker of the admin
istration. He has more Of the quail
ity Of concentrating himself upon his
caller, of making the guest feel that he is
for the moment in the hosts thoughts, to the
exclusion of all other persons and subjects
Mr.. Blaine's hand is large, warm and firm
He grasps the hand Of his caller warmly,
looks him straight In the eye, smiles, says a
pretty thing and meanwhile holds tight to
the hand, pressing it occasionally by way Of
accentuating his remarks. Mr. Blaines hand
shake is one to be remembered.
called on Mr. Blaine the other day and
found him surrounded by dozen men OF
prominence. He was walking from one to
the other, greeting them and talking briefly
and decisively of their business. The secre-
tary is not as large a man as one
is led to believe from his portraits.
His head is massive and he has the
sort of face you would expect to see
surmounting giant body. As the secretary
stood with his back to me did not recognize
him, because was looking for much larger
man. He appears to be about five feet eight
inches tall, and weighs l should say, no more
than 165 pounds. When he turned his face l
was somewhat disappointed, for it was face
absolutely devoid Of color. He does not look
like well man, he is so pale, and there are
such ominous puffs under his great eyes,
Yet Mr. Blaine says he is well, and that the
suspiciousness of his strength which he felt
for long time while abroad has been sup
planted by perfect self confidence.
had heard so much about Mr.. Blaine's re-
markable memory for faces and names that
was eager to put him to the test II was
nearly ten years since l had met him, and
then but for a quarter hour, on journalistic
errand. When | was introduced to him by
his son Walker he grasped my hand, held it
while he peered curiously into my face, and
at length said: ~ have met you before. Do
you not remember the circumstancesp And
then he described the occasion of our tlrst in
PRODUCTION. To his remarkable memory
Mr.. Blaine joins phenomenal powers OF
observation and generalization. In
brief talk with him | found his old train
ing as a newspaper man still has its
influence upon him, for newspaper is TO hin
a picture, presenting itself with all its color
and perspective very quickly to his eye.
The secretary of state works in large and
beautiful room. From his windows one can
see the historic home of the Lees, the in
Vulnerable headstones at Arlington, the Po-
tomac, the Monument. On the walls are
portraits of all the presidents. Overhead is a
huge chandelier of incandescent lamps. A
touch of button at Mr.. Blaines left floods
the apartment with soft light, in which his
own pale face is the most interesting thing to
be seen-and so pale!
Mr.. Blaine looks older than any other man
in the cabinet, but he is not the Oldest. He is
only 50, while the secretary of the treasury,
who is 62, looks no more than 80. Mr. Win
dom has a round, full face. You would say
he eats well, assimilates perfectly, sleeps
soundly He receives callers with easy grace.
His is not the strong, pervasive individuality
of Blaine, but he is courtly and kindly, His
handshake is rather cold, and he appears to
be thinking of something else He has no
power of concentrating himself on one out of
mere hospitality And yet this lucky man,
called second time, and this last time almost
from obscurity, to one of the greatest posts in
his countrys service, is very thoughtful in
his relationship to the amenities of life Sec
rotary Window saw at dinner in his hotel
one recent night the wife of man who had
applied in vain for one of the prominent po-
sitions in the treasury. The woman had a sad
face, for her husband, long in public life, was
now face to face with the necessity of going
out to gather up the tangled skeins of his pro-
fession, somewhat broken in health and poor
in purse. All this the secretary must have
thought Of, and perhaps it touched him, for
on leaving the dinner table he drove straight
to florists and sent the lady bunch of
beautiful roses, with his compliments. Not
every public man, loaded down with the
cares of a new and great responsibility, would
think of things like this.
Secretary Window is still overrun with
callers. The patronage of his vast depart
ment is not yet all picked, and the pickers are
still plentiful. At his big desk, which has
been used by all the heads Of the treasury de-
partment for half century, he stands two
hours day, receiving callers in squads of
half dozen.
Returning to the war, state and navy build
ing we call on two more secretaries. First
we step into the most sumptuous suiteo Office
rooms in this country and as we enter tall,
dark haired, dark brown whiskered man rises
and holds out his hand All the biographers
have told us the new secretary of war has
gray hair and beard, but the biographers are
mistaken. Mr.. Proctor has but sprinkling
of gray. Though of the same age as Mr.
Blaine he looks ten years younger at the least
He is q man of powerful physique, straight
and sinewy. His eye is bright, and though
he welcomes one warmly you can easily see
that he is rapidly looking you over, sizing
you up His face shines with Yankee shrewd-
ness.
SIS it true, Mr.. Secretary, that you are an
other of the many farmers boys who have
con,a IN tba front in orr fyovprnmentTi 7