Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-24

acquaintance and upon the promise that 1
would be moderate in my expressions.
spent seine time with him in his office at
the state house. He is easier to get at
than any government clerk in Washington.
There is no red tape about his establish
ment. You walk through the rotunda,
down one Eall and up anotber.and pass In
to the ante-room where his private secre-
. taries work. If the governor is disengaged
these direct You to go right In, and you
find Mckinley, who Is now perhaps the
most talked-of man in the United States,
seated at a big, fiat desk in mahogany
chair, with pile of letters and kilograms
before him. His private secretary may be
the opposite side of the desk but as a
usual thing you will find him alone, and If
you have ever met him before he will be
sure to recognize you. He has a phenom-
email memory, and he seldom forgets a
name a face. He puts you at once at
your ease, and evidently does not consider
himself to be any better or greater than
you are. He is democratic In his feelings
and actions and he Is a good, healthy
specimen of commonplace humanity. He
Is a man of the people. and he believes In
the people and can sympathize with them
He Is a god talker and can tell GOOD
story, though he never uses anecdotes up
on the stump. AS you talk with him you
find tina, he has a humorous side to his
nature, and he can laugh like a young
Bacchus. He has religious side also, ana
he never says anything against religion,
even in Jest. He is q member OF the Meth
odist Church, but / do not think he is
doctrinal Methodist, and he has his jokes
now and then at the expense or his 1r1enoS
who belong to other denominations. One
of his stories, for instance, gives the rea-
son Why prominent politician could not
become a Baptist. 1t was because ne could
not bear to undergo I'm sion, as ne cooid
rot stand being out of public view for any
length of time, and another was as TO the
Scotch Presbyterian who was noted for
keeping the Sabbath and everything else
he could ley his hands On.
His Domestic Relations.
Gov. Mckinley has an immense CORE
spondence, and the, electric wires are kept
hot with the business of his position. He
dispatches his work quickly. debating the
answers to his letters rapidly, ard seldom
stopping for a word or an idea. He walks
up and down smoking a cigar as he die
tates Tobacco, in fact, Is his Only vice.
He never drinks, and consequently is free
from that fault which the man excepted
when he spoke of having perfect wife.
You may have heard the story. The man
remarked:
There is only one trouble about my
wife. She will swear when she gets
drunkr'
Well, Mckinley never drinks. and he
never swears His closest friends tell me
they havo never heard him Tell story, nor
utter an expression which could not be re-
peated in the presence OF ladies. He Is
fond of the society of ladies', and there Is
States than he. His wife has been an In
valid for the past twenty years, and he has
devoted all his spare time to her. The re-
lations which the two sustain to each
other are most beautiful Mrs. Mckinley
thinks there Is man in the world equal
to her husband. She has oil painting
of him hung that it will be the first
thing she sees when she awakes in the
morning. and she never tires of talking
about him. She has grown much better
within recent years, and she is now almost
well. She Is beautiful woman, and a
very bright one intellectually. She is very
anxious that the governor should retire
from politics. and she told me that she
hoped she could induce him to do so upon
the anniversary of their silver wedding
live very comfortably at the NELL House
In Columbus, the governor walking back
and forth to his work at the state house.
which is just across the way.
He Does Not Talk for Pay.
The governors life, in fact. Is quiet reg
uar and comparatively uneventful. He Is
attending to the duties of his office, and
now and then going off to make a speech
In different parts of the United States 1t
is wonderful how many demands there are
upon him for speaking. He receives scores
Of requests every week, and many of these
are accompanied with offers of money
Just the other day he received letter
from Boston stating that the writer would
give him $500 IL he would deliver speech
there. He replied that he could not CO.
whereupon the man sent a second letter
stating that il the money offer was not
enough he would make it twice the five
hundred and his expenses. Gov. Mckinley
however, does not believe In speaking for
money. He looks upon his speaking some