Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-28

wrote to ask for nine specimens of his Gig
nature-one for each Of her children.
Mr.. Cleveland's autograph just after he
was first inaugurated was worth from 81 to
y. 1t will still fetch 81, written on a card.
while his signature and that Of mis- wife
on the same card represent a value of IS
IN the market for this sort of curios Gen
ana Mrs. Harrison gave their signs manual
generously to petitioners. Most Of the
Presidents have done the same
Much Of the Presidents business consists
IN signing his name. which must be attach
ed to all appointments. commissions. pro-
motions. and a thousand and one other
documents. So exacting is this part of bis
DUTY that he cannot perform the whole Of
| 1t. One employee of the government gets
$500 year for writing Mr.. Clevelanis
name on land warrants He does nothing
/ else but that
There are other officials in Uncle Sans
employ. by the way, who do nothing else
practically. but sign their own names. This
Is almost the sole duty Of the register of
/ the treasury, who Is kept hard at work
signing documents from am. to pm.
every day. The assistant treasurer of the
United States Is another slave to his own
signature which he Is perpetually engaged
In ahixing to warrants for money.
| Messages to Congress.
MT. Cieveiands messages to Congress are
all written in autograph originally He does
all his writing with his own hand Sich
documents he produces on foolscap with pen
and ink, turning of sheet after sheet with
scarcely correction. An Interpolation is
rare In his manuscript. In this fashion his
| most finished speeches are evolved
The literary method pursued by President
Harrison was wholly different. He found
1t very hard to write with a pen, and so he
would keep by him q pad Of paper and a
soft lead pencil With these he would lot
down notes from time to time during leisure
moments, and from the memoranda thus
made he would afterward dictate to a
stenographer. The messages sent to Con-
gress are careful copies from the the orig
inals.
| senator Edmunds, while presiding officer
pro TEN. or the upper house, refused to re-
| celVe typewriter message from the Pres
iaeht. he claimed that the law required a
| message In writing" and that typescript
was not writing In q proper sense This
ruling established a precedent which has
been followed ever since. Nevertheless the
famous Cnliean message was sent to Con-
| gress in typescript by President Harrison.
This was done because IL was desirable To
save time, the document being anxiousiy
awaited by the nation. Subsequently a
|
| The same thing has been done on a few
otner occasions. OF course the point in
VOWED is purely one of red tape. A mes
sage from the President goes to the public
printer before 1t reaches Congress and the
| CLERK OF the Senate reads II to that body NOT
from the original. but from a certified print.
| ed copy. HA
Gen. Harrison's signature was ALWAYS
actiy the same, as IL II We're printed from
copper plate. Mr. Cleveland's autogranh
.., smaii ana cramped. as II the work OF
Mt was dihicuit Mrs. Cieveiands, on
the other hand, is large open and clear
Dan l.amonts handwriting is beautiful
the best In the cabinet. Secretary j. Ster
ing Morton does not take his pen of the
| name. The signature of Attorney General
Olney Is large and heavy: that of Mr. Hey
bert Is dainty and old-fashioned. while
| like.
Pages Do n Good Business,
Inc pages Of the Senate add largely tn
their incomes by collecting autographs FOR
all sorts of people who are victims IN that
| hobby. The business is a well recognized
industry at the Capitol. Persons with the
mania furnish blank albums to the bovs
VINO gather the statesmen's signatures by
contract. The prices obtained for these
memorabilia are surprisingly low. Five
cents a name has been the quotation b,t,-
efto, but, perhaps on account of the hard
times only 8 cents name Is asked now
For rs one can procure an album with the
autographs OF the entire Senate promi-
| nent man from New York paid $40 the other
DAY Tor the signatures of thirty members
| or the upper house, but that was a fancy
price The Senate and Supreme Court 10
| gether may be purchased for e DoubI,
price Is obtained for a book OF photogranhs
with the autographs written on the mar
gins Of the portraits. OF course the hm.,ar
supplies the book and the lkenesses
complete album of the House OF Renra
sentatives has never been secured because
some OF the members are always absent
Collectors usually content themselves With
the signatures Of the best known men on
both sides. "
Nearly all Of the legislators for the nat,o,
are nperal with their autographs. Even the
most dignifed Senators are amiabie enonyh
IN this respect. The pages say that the most
dlffcuit signature to get is that of Senator
Soke OF Texas His name they can orii-
Marty secure only by means Of some sub-
terfuge. One method Of theirs is TO ner
suade the sergeant-at-arms to offer The
album to him with statement to the effect
that the request Is made by some very i'm,
portant parsonage. Senators German ana
Hill, on the other hand will write their
names for anybody. Mr.. Allison alwayc
IN on knowing for whom the autograph
Is intended before he will sign
Queer Fads of Senator'S
Some Of the Senators are queer about s,ch
things. Cockrell always writes his suto
graph In blue indelible ink. as IL he did no,
want his name to fade. Conger would
never put his signature on the ieft-hand
page Of an album. Apparently he had some
superstition on the subject. John Sherman
Invariably puts a dot In front of his mama
when 1t is intended for an autogranb pr
haps he does 1t for a reason somewhat civil
lar to that on account of which George ~
Mississippi insists upon signing at the tor
or the page. Senator Georges notion 10 ~
prevent any dishonest person from us,ns
the signature fraudulentiy by writing a5
order for money over it. Leland Stan,ora
employed the same precaution.
The sort of fraud against which .. g.,
aimed has been practtced by seryants a, az
house one Senate page was caught staai
ing while ago. though In a different man
ner' out tnat was unique instance Mr.
Reed ana Mr.. Crisp are always ready 70
give their autographs. John A. Logan nseS
TO De very reluctant, but could usuaIlv he
ca1oied into granting the favor. Mr. Ed
munds autograph sold better on cara
than that Of any other member of the ssna
torial body. In that shape 1t was worth So
In one respect 1t is most remarkable ina.
much as when looked at upside down II re-
sembles a skeleton. - N
one OF the finest collections of auto-
graphs OF American statesmen is owned
by Arthur Simmons. who is doorkeeper for
MT Thurber at the White House He was
a slave before the war. After being Iibera
ted he wrote to Mr. Lincoln Offering his
services. He was employed in the Union
army and afterward in the Fxecuttya
Mansion under President johnson He has