Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-18

Secretary Thurber.
upper lip Is adorned with bushy, flowing
mustache, much longer and much less
scrubby than Dan Lamont's and much
more luxuriant than 'Lige Halford's, and
the color of which would be red IL it were
not gray. Mr.. Thurber is as dapper in his
dress as in his manner. and always looks
quite proper. At his desk in the warm
weather of last summer he generally wore
gray business suit. usually with white
vest; now he wears darker clothing, more
suit able to the weather. and on state occa-
sions long-skirted frock coat and high
hat. which make him look taller than he
really is. He has an impressive and rather
serious manner of talking, especially with
strangers. and is apt to use language a lit
tie more high-flown and stilted than is GUS
tomary In this free and easy age of Ameri!
can democracy. Mr.. Thurber, however is
very smart young man and quite enter
tanning and companionable when in the
company of those with whom he is well
acquainted. and when he feels confident
that his conversations will not reach the
newspapers. Like his predecessor, Mr..
Halford, he seems to possess a wholesome
fear of betraying some of the secrets con-
fided to him by his illustrious chieftain. the
President.
Buffer for the President.
The private secretary's Importance has
been very much increased lately by the
President himself, who has adopted new
rule for conducting White House business.
what an awful bore the office hunting bust
ness is, and how it took away large part
of his day for the consideration of more
legitimate business Therefore he resolved
sometime ago to make a change. and he
has been waiting ever since for a good OPP
portunity to put his plan of reformation
into practice Soon after Inauguration he
determined that he would be able to do 1t
about this time of the year without en-
countering too great opposition, but of
onr had mr. having Congress
on his hands so after the statesmen came
he thought he would bear up under his
burdens a little longer out of Difference TO
the courtesy due to congressman, but as
they gave promise of remaining forever he
could not wait for them, and a few weeks
ago he quietly inaugurated his new pro-
is made a vertable buffer and the door
keeper at the cabinet room door now steers
all undesirable callers up the little steps
and into the presence of the private secre-
tary.
MIR. Thurber's plan is thi$ The Con-
gresham or other great man, who had in
tended to see the President personally,
is steered into his room and Mr. Thurber
says: "Ah! Good morning; did you want
to see the President-yeS, certalnly-yes-
well, he is very busy today and perhaps l
could attend to the matter for you. You
are probably interested in that marshall
ship for the eastern district of your state?
Now, if you will just state all the facts to
Mr.. Olney, the Attorney General, he Will
examine them and make recommendation
that will be entirely satisfactory to the
President Just convince Mr.. Olney that
your man is the man that ought to have
the place and it will be all right. The
President is sorry that he could not see
you personally, but he is extremely busy
and then you know the Attorney General
is really the man who should be seem
Good day. Call again when there is any
thing new in the case"
1t may not always be flattering to the
pride of the Senators and Representatives
who have full-sized idea of their own
Importance, to be sidetracked at the en-
trance of the presidential room but there
is very little doubt that this policy is much
more effective in dispCsing of the public
business, ard it is in the end equally salts
factory to the applicants for office. Dur
ing President Harrison'S term the cabinet
officials were held responsible for appoint
ments in their departments and many dem
ocrats have regretted that this practice has
not always been observed under Mr.. Cleve-
land.
Busy Man.
The new method of doing business has
added very largely to Private Secretary
Thurbers duties, and as they were very
onerous and exacting before, it can readily
be imagined what they are now. For the
first few weeks after his appointment he
literally had no time to eat or sleep. Cor
respondence piled into the White House
during Inauguration time in a confused
mass, and could not be attended to because
there was a perfect swarm of visitors that
tramped through the corridors night and
day, and thousand things that required
his personal attention as a private secre
tary popped up, at all hours of the day and
night. AS Mr.. Thurber looks back at that
period, il seems to him that he was living
in a dream. He came to Washington from
Detroit quite unexpectedly, having had only
a few days notice of his appointment. ard
was dropped at once into the excitement of
an Inauguration crowd, and when he
emerged he knew more and weighed less
than when he left home. Finally, after the
confusion caused by the descent of the vic
torious democracy upon the White House
had partially subsidized, Mr.. ThUrber and
his corps of assistants plunged manfully
into the task of bringing order out of chaos,
and had only partially succeeded when the
financial situation made necessary the eX
ira session of Con greSS, and again tho work
and confusion piled up, until the private
secretary was again almost lost in the
midst Of 1t. He has had but two brief