Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-20
NEW WHITE HOUSE RULES.
Shortening the Hours for the Reception
of Visitors to the President.

cerulean dome itself He is an unreasonable
being, this seeker after preferment; an IRA
tional person in many respects. Ever since the
4th OF March he has been appealing to
the President in all the modern languages and
several intricate dialects to hurry up the ap-
pointments Latterly the appeals have be-
come demands, and the President has heard
them. No one is more anxious than he to dis
pose OF the appointments. and the only reason
why there has been delay is due to
the great waste Of time which the offce-seekers
themselves have caused. Day after day, week
after week, more than two months, the great
| mob OF hungry and thirsty ones has tramped
| up and down the Office stairs at the White
| House, blocked the doorways, choked up the
cabinet room. talked to the President until his
tympanum was Jared. worried Secretary Hal
ford, and tried the patience of the angelically-
| disposed Loeff1er.
SHORTENING THE HOURS FOR VISITORS.
Heretofore there have been from two hours
and half to three hours of opportunity on
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and
on Tuesdays and Fridays (Which are cabinet
days. the doors of the library have been open
from 10 am. to IL. The President has come to
the conclusion that he has thrown away too
much valuable time
SO, commencing tomorrow, the hours of re-
! ception will be changed Instead of commence
ing at II O'Clock the President will remain in
executive session until IL and on cabinet days
will close PROMPTLY at II. On Wednesdays
Thursdays, and Saturdays the time for hearings
VIII be extended to 1890. On Mondays
there will be no reception at all, except
the regular public affair, which will,
as IN the past, take place at O'Clock. The re-
suit of this change, which was announced to-
day by Secretary Halford will be saving to
the President of at least six or seven working
hours in a week and a corresponding degree of
increase in the number of appointments made.
The dlmlnutlon of the reception hours will
not, therefore, be as the ofice-seeker will at
hrst imagine 1t to bean unmixed evil.
ONLY THREE RUN THE BLOCKADE TO-DAY.
The only visitors who saw the President to-
day made the trip into the library through Sec
rotary Halford's room. They were but few,
only three succeeding in running the blockade
Senator Farwell, First Controller Asa Mat
thcws and the venerable Paul Selby, who was
for so long the editor of the Illinois State Jour
nal. The Senator was especially interested in
Capt Meredith and wanted to know why his
commission as chief of the bureau of engrav.
ing and printing had not been signed. 1t is
believed now that the appointment of Mere
dith will be announced on Wednesday.
Not less than hundred people, about equally
divided as to sex, but rather above the average
as to personal beauty and apparent intelligence,
shook hands with the President in the east
room at o'clock.
One of the changes which President Harri-
son insugurated was the stoppage of Sunday
callers. Under past administrations it was
customary for leading politicians to call
at the White House ON that day and discuss
matters political with the President. Some
of them would bring a little party of friends
along, and many candidate has been rushed
into position or had his hopes dashed to the
ground as the result of Sabbatic confer ence
ESnnp1allV W. ha xyhn
Cleveland was in power, but there is none of it
now No one has ever tried to disturb the
calm which envelopes the White House on the
first day of the week. Every politician
who knew the President was satisfied
that breach of the Sabbath would
not be a recommendation for anyone, and those
who did not know him did not care to make an
| attempt which looked like futility itself. The
White House is as quiet as a tomb on Sundays.
In the afternoon Secretary Blaine had
lengthy consultation with the President, and
Adjt.-Gen. Drum was also granted an audience;
only brief one. however. and said to be moth
ing more than social in its nature.
THE PRESIDENTS NEWSPAPER MAIL.
"Does the President subscribe for all these
papers?" asked a gentleman who saw the huge
pile of newspapers which arrived at the White
House to-day. The question was a
natural one and not difficult to
answer. Some few of the more important
| dailies-ar1ong them The EVENING SrAR-are
subscribed for, but the great mass of informa-
ton comes free of charge. All of the papers
| do not come from the proprietors or pub
| fishers; quite number are sent by private in
| divduals, who apparently anxious that the
President be kept well informed on the
condition of affairs in the neighbOrhood
| in which they dwell. Pebple of this description
| exist far beyond the geographical limits of the
| United States. The Liverpool Daily Post comes
with commendable regularity from that great
city on the River Mersey and if the Presi-
dent was so inclined he could find
out at once who sends it to him,
for, written in ink. immediately beneath the
big text" headline is From James Henshaw.
4, Westbourne road. West Kirby, Cheshire
England" In the line below following i'm
mediately after the date and preceding
the legend price One Penny" is the
donors autograph, "James Henshaw" Mr.
Henshaw's chirography is plain but not artistic.
The addresses on the newspapers is as varied as
their editorial opinions or the size of their
type. "Gen'l Harrison, President" is the way
one paper marks the copy which is intended
for the republican leader. Executive man.
sion" is the favorite with two or three. and
Benz. Harrison, President United States" has
half dozen followers. "Hon. BENZ.
Harrison. White House." belongs to one of the
big western dailies, while a little sheet from
very far west indeed simply stamps on the
margin two words-''the president" and leaves
eral Wanamaker's employees.
One or two graceless journals abruptly desig-
nate the chief executive as "B. Harrison, Wash
ington." but the little yellow slip on which that
curt address is printed generally carries the
papers to their destination.
A NEW DooRKEEPER.
A. NJ. Sprague has been appointed a door
keeper at the White House in place
of F. L. French, resigned. Mr..
Sprague is Grand Army veteran
and an ex-member of the city police force
Mr. French was appointed by President Cleve-
land; he has been sick ever since March 4,
having caught severe cold on that day.
SPIDERS AND FLIES.
Unless some bold house-cleaner comes along
with broom and destroys the geometric
beauty of large spider-web which beauties the
front door of the White House the opportunities
for flies to alight near the entrance to the
classic structure will not be many during the
present summer. The pretty, fimsy
trap has been in its present position
for more than month, and its
builder has been rewarded by the capture
of number of fine fat bluebottles, to say
nothing of minor flies. People have wondered
why the web should be allowed to remain SO
long in such conspicuous position
of the problem until Col. Tom Ochiltree ven
tured to suggest to-day that the spider was
allowed to ply his vocation, in order that it
the White House."