The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-10

the higher his position, the more careful
are the watches placed around him. Presi-
dent Harrison is guarded by messengers
and secretaries at every point, and every
cabinet minister has messenger sitting
before the 'front.' door of his Office and a
secretary or two through whose hands the
visitors have to pass before they get to the
great 81 Am" within. 1t is the same with
regard to letters as it is with persons.
These men receive thousands of letters a
month, and these all have to pass the ar
gus eye of the private secretary. If they
are important they reach him. If they
are foolish, cranky or impudent they are
consigned to the waste basket. President
Harrison's mail contains at least 800 let
tiers every day, or more than 1000 a week
and over 100 600 year. If he answered
these letters himself it would take all his
time merely to read them and to dictate
replies, and the result is the mail is weeded
out again and again before it reaches him,
and only the really important matters are
called to his attention. These letters are
brought to the White House by a special
messenger. They are first given into the
hands of the executive clerk, Mr.. Z. +.
1lbbott, who opens them with a steel
paper cutter and rapidly reads their con-
tents. As he goes over letter he passes
upon its Importance and decides its fate as
far as its probable future is concerned. If
it is request to President Harrison to
look up pension case he marks the word
pensions" on it and it goes to the pension
office. II 1t affects a treasury claim, it
goes TO the treasury department., and if it
is request for an autograph or money it
is dropped into the waste basket.
The important letters are LAID aside
and are carried in to Mr.. Halford,
the presidents private secretary, who uses
his hoe on the epistolary garden, and cuts
out all letters but those which the president
must see. By the time the mail gets to
the president it has been cut down a half
or two-hirds, and he rapidly disposes of
the balance by dictation. Mr.. Tibbott is
his confidential stenographer, and he goes
to the presidents room from time to time
during the day, whenever Mr.. Harrison is
at leisure. and takes his answers to his
mail, He tells me the president dictates
very rapidly, rarely changing word or a
sentence, and that he rapidly looks over
his Letters after they are presented to him
n typewriting. and signs them himsslE
Tia besging letters which come 10 the
White House are numbered By hundreds
every week They come from all paris Of
the country, aud e number are received
every day from foreign lands. The ma
jority of the begging letters from the
different states are from foreigners, and
the only ones of any account that come
from native Americans are appeals for aid
from churches and charity organizations.
Some of these begging letters are full of
pathos, and the majority of them are from
poor and ignorant people. The president is
addressed in all sorts of ways. His cor
respondents call him Ellis Highness,"
His Excellency," "Mr. Ben Harrison"
"The Hon. Ben Harrison" Ellis God
head, the President" and the letters are
full of the rudest of spellin and writing.
About half of the envelopes are marked
Private. Personal" or For the Presi-
dent Only" and some of them are sent in
care of Private Secretary Halford. A large
number are sent in care of Mrs. Harrison,
or are enclosed in envelopes addressed 10
Mrs. Harrison with a note that she pre-
sent them to the president, and all sorts of
plous lodges are resorted to to get the
presidents eye. The worst of all are the
autograph fiends. Boys and girls, men
and women all over the country when
they start collection write telling the
president they want his name first in their
book, and they send cards for him on
which they ask him to put his autograph.
They want presents of his photograph,
locks Of his hair and samples of Mrs Har-
rison's dresses for crazy quilts. There is
one Ohio man who has written regularly
for something of this kind every week
since the president was nominated. The
day alter the convention he wrote for two
photographs, pretending they were for a
Harrison club in his town. They were
sent and a week or so later the man wrote
that they must have gotten lost in the
mails, and asking for more. Other
lodges were attempted as to other
things. and the man is probably
an autograph peddler as well as an
autograph collector. None of these auto
graph letters are responded TO, though
some begging letters and letters on bust
ness of various kinds receive an answer
signed by one of the presidents secre-
taries, stating what has been done with
hem.
Some of the letters received by the pres
ident are very funny, and some are so
witty that they command an answer in
spite of the demon of the waste-basket
This was the case with a letter from
young Western girl last week, who wrote
her screed in poetry and asked for some
thing that the president had worn, for q
patch in q cTaZy-quilt to be sold at a church
fair. Her letter fell into the hands af one
of the young ladies connected with the
w
amused by it that she got a necktie of the
presidents and sent it to the girl. The let
ter is 50 clever that give it verbatim. 1t
reads:
Ny dear Mr.. Harrison,
know il is Il shame
To bother you now
But am not TO blamsg
At least not so much,
For Jack is the ono
Who first put mo up
To the thing have dona
He told me last night
II I'd make for the fair
craZy-patch quil-,
And put it in a square
OF something that Harrison
Had worn, he would buy
The thing Tor himself,
No matter how high
The price might ait
Ani so. don't you see,
If / manage this plan,
How uice il viii be-
Jack gives 4 neat sum
| Toward our fair for the pooA
Receiving instead
What ne values much mora
Aud then when marry
Dear Jack, 1t is pain
iii own both thcqGl:
and meulen.o again.
Now, 2aear Mr. HARRISON
Please wou't you Just axk
Your wife TO send me-
It's not much OF a task
An old silken ueoktie
Or hand kerchIef, say,
Some fragment Of what