The Brookhaven leader., 1889-05-30
WHITE HOUSE CLOCKS.
The Executive Mansion IL Furnished with
Twenty-Two TImepIeces.


Twenty-Two TImepieces.
The people at the White House take
note OF time. They do it with twenty
two fine eight-day clocks, not count
ing the few ephemeral and cheap al
fairs whose active life with one wind
ing is for a day only. Every Thurs
day skillful clockmas from store
on Pennsylvania avenue goes up to
the White House and into every room,
and in nearly every one he winds
clock. He and the President are tho
only men who have the undisputed
entree to every apartment OF the
Executive Mansion.
Nobody knows how much the clocks
cost, and one or two of them have
historical associations which make
! them priceless. The skillful clock man
who takes care of them thinks the
| twenty-five clocks could not be duph-
| Gated for less than 81, 600.
/ The most expensive of the time
pieces 10 also the most ancient and has
the prettie.t story connected with It,
1t rests on the mantel in the blue par
lor, and is in form female figure
resting on couch arch. The female
figure has nothing to do with keeping
| the time The clock face is in the
| front of the couch. The figure and the
couch are of bronze and are gilded-
| The story is that the first Napoleon
gave this clock to Lafayette, who in
turn presented it to George Washing
ton. history is silent as to how 1t
came to be in the White House, where
Washington never lived. Indeed,
there is no affidavit accompanying any
part of the story, and possibly it IS
not true. But certainly it is a good
clock. keeps good time, and serves to
warn the people who call upon Mrs.
! Harrison and her beautiful daughters
and daughter-in-law when they have
staid long enough.
Whoever arranged the clocks in their
present positions appreciated the fact
that time was more precious to the
President than to the other members
of the farlily. The French clock in
his bedroom is handsome black mar
Bile and gilt time piece. and its cathe-
dral gong sounds the quarter-hours.
None of the other clocks do that.
Hours and half-hours are frequent
enough for Them
Every bedroom has a French clock.
That in Mrs. Harrison's room is Of gilt
and has gil. candlesticks to match. In
Mrs. Russell Harrison's bedroom there
is another gilt clock with glass case
over it.
In the Presidents office there is a
large black marble clock with bronze
figure above it. The clock in the Cabi-
net-room is more comprehensive and
includes calendar and barometer.
Private Secretary Halford has iu his
room the clock which is dearest to the
hearts of the old employees in the White
House 1t Is of black marble and gilt,
and originally had a glass case over it.
but that was broken long ago. What
appeals to the sentiment in this time
piece is that it is the only article in
the White House. certainly the only
one in the room where it now is, which
stands exactly as it did when Abraham
Lincoln was President. Lincoln's Office
room was the one now occupied by
Mr.. Halford, and the clock stood on
the mantle then just as it does row.
but it has not always been there. Mr..
Arthur fancied the clock because of its
associations and had it taken to his
own room. Mr.. Henley, chief of the
Executive Office during Mr.. Cleveland's
administration, asked to have it
brought back to the room which he
then occupied, and about two years
ago it was done.
There is another very expensive
clock in the green parlor. 1t Is of
white marble and gilt In the red
parlor there is a glass-casGd gilt clock,
and in the blue-room there is also Il
gilt clock, besides the Napoleon time
piece.
A tall clock of comparatively modern
construction, but of the old fashion,
stands in the lower hall near the en-
trance to the conservatory, and in the
upper hall there is genuine old
fashioned, wooden-cased clock big
enough for girl to hide in. 1t was
made in Boston.
In the private dining-room there is
large rblack marble clock, with a
bronze figure of Diana on the top of it.
The state dining-room contains no
clock, delicate consideration for the
feelings of guests, preventing any re-
minder of the fight of time, or of the
unconsionable length of their time at
the table.
The basement, stewards room.
kitchen and other rooms devoted to
domestic purposes are supplied with
what the German clock-man who takes
care of them calls Yankee clocks"
There is nothing remarkable about
them. There is not an alarm-clock in
the house. e.-Washington Post.
|