The record-union., 1893-10-24

3
members OF the Senate and the House
I wh ho have charge OF legislation in which
the Treasury must be interested, and
about which the Democratic party need
To be in touch with the head OF the de-
partnent The Office is one in which a
man not strong will easily lose health.
Mr. Carlisle nani1eSts little indication OF
worry. His health has been very good.
He has been irritated more by misleading
newspaper paragraphs than by any OF
the real troubles OF the department, ana
never realized before how much trouble
could be made by the use OF thoughtless
pen or pencil that commands the service
OF a telegraph wire.
over on the west side of the big build
ing Ill which Secretary Gresham looks
alter the affairs of the United States IN
relation with other nations, upon the
same floor, but with a western outlook
up L street, are three rooms allotted TO
the use Of Secretary of War Daniel ).
( Lamont. These rooms are en- suite, and
( attractive as well as commodlous. The
) reception room IS largest, and IL has a
/ fine desk, prodiglOusIy ample, at which
The Secretary seldom sits, and that desk
/ has bells to each Of the heads OF bureaus,
which are seldom rung. Elaborate 1res-
GOES cover the walls, and the frescoes are
! in part covered by flags of the army hung
Z
Sheridan, and by the portraits OF Wash
ington and several OF the Secretaries who
nave preceded Mr.. Lamont. Some of the
generously y-stutted furniture with which
Government offices are supplied stands
about the room, and thick and luXurI-
GUS carpet covers the floor.
Behind a Slated door is a plain room,
with desk in the center, chests of draw
erS at two sides, and a sale III one corner.
I ia ri X
she Secretary OF Vars office, and the
slender young man who sits at one size
of the desk, or who gets up to see who
the latest caller is in the fine room out
side, is j. ohm Seager, the Private Secreta-
~. There are Private Secretaries and
| Private Secretaries. Some of them act as
ii it was the business of a Private Secre-
tary to get in the way, tc know nothing,
to be amiably disagreeable, and TO bring
his employer into disrepute. Others man
age by tact and thoughtfulness, to which
must be added knowledge, to transact,
without pretenSe, the business which the
principal need not carry, and TO send
away those who cannot be satisfied with
the feeling that the caller has been treated
with all possible consideration. Seager
IS one of the sort of Private Secretaries
who are born rather than made.
The Secretary of War has not changed
his business habits since he was Private
Secretary TO the President. He begins
early, and he practically never stops. AS
he continues to grow stout and has not
suffered any loss Of appetite. 1t is fair to
assume that IL agrees with him to work.
He has less strict routine habits than
those of his associates in the Cabinet, and
less need OF them. When he stops sign
ing papers at the desk in the room where
he ana Mr.. Seager face each other, he re-
tires 10 the third room OF his suite, and
this is the room in which he prefers to
listen TO the suggestions Of Adjutant-
General Williams, Chief Engineer Casey,
and other officers who have immediate
relations with the Secretary.
New York callers who come to see the
Secretary OF War tind the same calm man
in the inner room that they used to know
in the headquarters of the State Commit
tee, way back in the Iilden campaigns,
when he was cuItlvatlng new reporters by
writing out lists OF callers for those who
were ignorant, and suggesting points to
those who were incapable of making
points TOR themselves. All the depart
ment officers have come to know that the
Secretary needs but few words of ex-
pianatiOn about any question that he
soon grasps situation, and that he acts
promptly.
What secret is it that the Secretary of
War has learned that enables him to see
or refuse to see men without getting the
reputation Of being exclusive? He is
never hurried. He is alWa Us busy. He
seldom refuses to see men, and when he
does the person rejected does not get the
impression that he was badly treated.
Like the other members OF the Cabinet,
the Secretary of War works at his rooms
in the Arlington Hotel. AS a matter of
fact, some business requiring the closest
study and uninterrupted consideration
must be taken up in his rooms, and at
hours when he is sure to be free from in
terruption.
The member of the Cabinet who suffers
! least from the pressure of visitors is At
torney- General Richard Olney. The
chief reason for that is that he has not so
much patronage to distribute. Still, he
has some, and it is in demand, for moth
ing goes begging in the way OF patronage.
The Attorney Generals room is in the
Department OF Justice Building, ,On Penn
sylvania Avenue, and the windows over
look the avenue and the Treasury. When
Mr, Brewster was Attorney General
chapters were written about the decora-
tions of the room, but recently it has been
remarkable Tor nothing in the way of
statuary or pictures, and Is really moth
ing better than a large and comfortable
law Office for q lawyer who looks out for
The Governments interests for something
less than he could make in private prac-
tice. Mr.. Olney's hours are not so early
as those Of some other Cabinet officers
They do not need TO be. Those who call
upon the Attorney lind a man of
quiet manners, more cheerful than he
has the reputation OF being, and one ca pa
ole of doing q great deal of work without
saying anything about it.
Every morning at about $50 o'clock, or
about the time when the clerks of the
Government offices are getting up from
their breakfast tables. Postmaster-Cfe
eral Wilson 5. Bissell is a his desk in the
Postotfice Department. And be is there
all day, on every day in the week, except
one from an hour and half to two hours
longer than any of the clerks in the same
department. His rooms are three in
number, but each IS small, and in hot
weather stuffy. The first of his suite OF
three rooms is plain enough, with mat
ting on the floor a few chairs and a sofa,
and in the corner partitioned closet for
4. L. Reckards, the Private Secretary. Mr..
BisselPs office adjoins this entrance
room. Just now, while the portraits OF
former tmaSters-General are in Chi
cagO, 1t is bare OF such decoration, and
there is little to attract the attention of
the visitor kept the ample form of the
head OF the department, sitting at desk
covered with a map OF the whole country
under glass.
No one gets into this Office on Tuesdays
and Fridays, both Cabinet days. on
other days Mr.. BiSsell is accessible 10 all,
out private citizens have hours shorter
than those allotted to mem bers of Con-
Congress. Mr.. Bissell has in his desk a
little book, very skiIlfully and nicely pre-
pared, which settles all conversations
opened with the purpose of securing ap-
pointments 20 postohices. This book
contains list OF every Presidential office,
and by looking at it Mr.. Bissell sees at
once whether the incumbent is entitled to
stay or be succeeded. If his time is out,
the qualifications of candidates for place
will be discussed and considered. If his
time is unexpired the book and the case