The Mena weekly star., 1896-10-14

Benny Mckee? He was no brighter and no better than other little boys, but the newspapers were filled with lauda- tions of Baby Mckee, and his peculiari- ties. One morning President Harrison went aboard the Dispatch for a trip down the Potomac, and took his family with him. Of course Baby Mckee was there, too. In compliance with the request of the employees at the navy yard President Harrison came on deck and began to make little speech to the men, when Baby Mckee inside the yacht began to cry and howl over some baby trouble. He yelled and yowled and howled, until he broke up the speech of his grandfather, who went inside, pacified the kid, and then came back to conclude his speech to the worlSingmen. When he went on his speech-making tour in 1891, President Harrison did not take Baby Mckee with him. He conse- quently did not have his oratory dis turbed by competition with the cratic lungs of his precocious grandchild. | During the present administration the secretary of the navy has made use of | because President Cleveland preferred the Violet and the Oneida.
 If he were disposed to accept them, 1 the president might have many per- quisites in the form of presents from the people. There IS 3 man in Connecti- cut who sends a splendid turkey to the president every Christmas day, and an- other for the New Year dinner at the white house. He has been doing this for score of years. It is generally under stood, however, that presidents will not accept presents, and the practice for merly prevalent is practically discon- tinued. Once upon time there was a Virginian who sent to President An 1 drew Jackson a cheese so large that it would not go through any of the white l house doors or windows: and Gen. Jack son had it cut out on the big front lawn, and invited the citizens of the little vil- lage of Washington to come and help themselves. At that time there were no more than 15,O0O or 20,000 people in all the District of Columbia.
 The president who has a family and who loves his children must have high appreciation of the spacious grounds about the white house, in which the children may play with abandon and in safety. The wide-spreading trees, the velvety lawn, the fountains, the flowers, are all surrounded by high iron fence and every gate is guarded by watch man. There children may play without fear of assault or accident, while the children of tens of thousands of other | dwellers in cities must be cooped up in 1 their houses or play in the shapeless, cramped little yards. The mansion it- self and the surrounding grounds may be regarded as among the presidents best official perquisites.
 | Senators when in Washington have free slaves and shines in the senate bar Der shop at the capitol building; but the president is obliged to hire his own | barber and bootblack. He has no per ousites of an unnecessary or question: able nature. The fish commissioner fur- nishes the white house aquarium with | gold fish and other fancy fishes, while | the horticultural and agricultural de- partments furnish all varieties of flow CTS in addition to those which are grown in the large conservatory of the l white house; but these little decora- 1 lions and ornamentive beauties are real ly the perquisites of the presidents | wife: for fancy fish and flowers are more pleasing to the feminine than the masculine eyes.
 SMITH D. FRY.
 The only knife the average man can