St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-10

White house itself as it is now arranged
is almost crank proof. 1t is, you know,
surrounded by acres of green grass aud
trees. 1t is fully 800 feet back from
the street, and the grounds in
the rear and at the sides cover
acres. The trees are large. and there
is no dense shrubbery anywhere. The
burglar who would attempt to pass
through 1t, either in day or night, could
be easily seen, and it has practically no
hiding places. An iron fence about five
feet high runs around the grounds.
This fence is set firmly in sandstone
basement, and the bars which compose
1t are tipped with sharp points, so that
1t would be impossible to climb over
Them without injury, and each bar is
about an inch in diameter. They are
so closely placed together that il would
require the breaking Of two or three of
them IN order for mans body to be
gotten through the fence. and the
only access TO the grounds is by the
gates. There are eight gates to the
park of the executive mansion, two on
the side next the treasury and two fac.
ing the state department. There are
also four gates at the front facing
pennsylvania avenue. The gates at
the sides are for foot passengers only,
and they are locked every evening with
great iron chains and padlocks. The
front gates are larger. Two of them
are for carriages and two for foot pas
sengers. They are of the strongest of
wrought iron, and they are locked
every night i'll the same way as the
gates at the side.
THE POLICE ON GUARD.
The police of the city are constantly
on guard on the streets outside of the
grounds. They patrol Pennsylvania
avenue in front of the White house, and
they move up and down between it and
the treasury and the state department.
They also keep their eyes ON the white
lot. which extends behind the White
House park, and any one paying special
carefully watched. In addition to this
force there is the White house
police proper. and it will sur
prise some to know that it re-
QUlreS the service OF thirteen
policemen to guard the grounds and the
house itself. This is in addition to the
messengers and servants of the eXecu-
tive mansion, and these policemen have
their regular watches and are on guard
night and day. During the day the
gates are open and certain parts of the
grounds are practically free to visitors,
but no one can move through them and
be for a. moment out of sight of one of
these policemen, and this corps of
police. though it comes from the city, is
under the charge of Private Secretary
Thurber, or more Immediately of Capt.
Decker, who may be called the chief
watch dog of President Cleveland.
Within the past few years a wire fence
has been built around part of the
ground nearest the White house. Com
ing into the great half moon drive
through the gate above the treasury you
walk up tlagStone sidewalk until you
get near the mansion, and you reach
this wire fence at about twenty feet
from the White house itself. Running
parallel with the White house from the
corner to the front steps this fence is of
great bars of iron about two inches
thick, tipped with glided arrow heads
There is an area way between
the wall upon which the fence is
built and the White house it
self, and looking down this at the
corner you see one of the doors which
lead into the basement. This door is
guarded by the policeman at the back
of the house, and also by the guard who
always stands in the long central CORR
dor of the basement. The gate leading
from the drive down to this door is kept
locked, and the wire fence which ex-
tends from this gate down to the treas
ury entrance begins again at the back
of the White house and shuts off this
side yard and this door from visitors.
1t runs around to the back of the White
house to the back steps. and on the
other side of these steps shuts off visit
ors from access to the house.
THE REAR GUARD.
A policeman stands at the back steps
night and day, and the basement and
the first floor entrances are guarded by
him. His position gives him view of
the grounds in rear of the mansion, and
he is one of the most important guards
of the force. Should he go to sleep or
be removed 70 one of the main entrances
OF the White house, supposing the
crank could pass the guards on the out
size, 1t would be By the back steps and
the blue room, which are less carefully
guarded than the basement. Even in