St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-05-18
Life in the White House.
UNCLE SAM DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR ALL
OF THE PRESIDENTS HOUSE,
HOLD EXPENSES

| OE IHE PRESIDENT HUUSE'.
t HOLD EXPENSES.
Perhaps lady readers might like to know
something of the experiences which Mrs
Harrison will have when she reaches Wash
ington as the wife of the President. Will
| she pack simply her trunks with wearing
! apparel and move into house completely
| furnished and filled with beds and bed
ding, silver and tableware, servants and
cooking utensils, or will all or any OF
these have to be brought along or pro-
| vided after she gets there That is a ques-
ton very often asked, and with it good
many others, as to horses and carriages,
coachman and waiting maids, cost of and
payment for the necessaries of the kitchen
and dining room etc. 1t is a curious fact
that all the cabinet officers are furnished
with horses and carriages at the govern
ment expense, but that the President is
not. The cabinet officers are furnished
horses, carriages and coachmen, and the
horses are kept at government expense.
If the President wants any of these
things he must su oply them himself. Thele
is stable near the White House, built
during Grants time with plenty of room
for horses, every President who comes
finds it empty, and, of course, it costs him
lot of money to fill it, Whoever sells a
horse or carriage to the President of the
United States expects to get about twenty
five per cent more for it than he would if
he sold it elsewhere. Of course, the Presi-
dent must have three or four carriages and
several horses. Whether General Harri-
son will bring any with him or buy them
is not known. Probably he will buy new
carriages, and, of course, Presidents
horses must be thoroughbreds. And he
need not expect much of them after he
gets through his term in the White House
either, for Washington pavements are
hard on horses, as President Clevelands
big seal browns show. The President is
also obliged to furnish his own driver.
Albert Hawkins, big colored man whom
Grant brought here before he became
President, is still driving at the White
House, as he las done ever since Grants
term, and will probably be re engaged by
Mr.. Harrison ; out if he does it will he at
his own expense, for the government does
not pay AlberJs salary.
Inside the White House Mrs. Harrison
will find employees waiting to be re engaged
I'd paid for their services. The steward,
who has charge of the kitchen and dining
room, the various subordinates who sweep
and dust and cook and attend to the table
and tableware-they are all private en-
'ployes. Down in the basement, if you
pass at the proper time you see the laun-
dry work of the White House going on.
'All these employees are, however, paid pri-
vately. Of course there is yearly appro-
priation for the contingent expenses of the
White House, but this is intended more to
keep up the furniture and furnishings gen
orally than to pay the cost of the Presi-
dents living or the hire of his servants.
One thing that Mrs. Harrison will find
is completely furnished house-solid
silver, the finest of China, linen for the
table and bed chambers, elegant furnishings
in the parlors and fairly good in the pri-
vate parts of the house. The private
dining room is on the first floor, just across
the hall from the state dining room. This
is the only room on the first floor used by
the family of the President. The parlors
are used for callers, and the entire family
or Giving" rooms are on the second floor.
There are, perhaps, half dozen of these,
scarcel y more; sitting room near to the
circular library room,' where the Presi-
dent sits during his business and working
hours, and several handsomely furnished
bed rooms and dressing rooms. An eleva
tor carries the family down stairs at meal
time, and when they go down for other
purposes, if they desire it; but as rule
they walk up and down the broad, easy
and luxuriously carpeted stairs, and
through the handsome and always attrac-
tive corridors, whieh lead the way to the
dining rooms and Taflors on the first floor.
There they find everyvsing ready, for the
experienced steward is able to relieve the
mistress of the White House of all the
cares of housekeeping-if he is we'll paid
for it.-KIuaukee Sentinel.