Evening star., 1897-05-15
PRESIDENTS RIGHT HAND
Secretary Porter is a Man Of Many
Duties
Not Least Among Them IL the Recep-
His Busy Day.

| The hardest worked man under the new
! administration, unless 1t be the President
| himself. is Secretary Porter. There is little
realization of the enormous amount of work
| he does, of the physical and mental strain
| under which he Iabors. He is holding up
under 1t WELL but his friends continually
warn him that he will not be long able to
keep up at the present rate. He smiles and
! says he is doing all right. His solicitude is
| for the President for whose relief from
| the pressure Of work he is continually
planning. The President oftens accepts the
| advice of his secretary. and IL he did 50
| more frequently would probably feel much
better when Congress gets through with
the tariff bill and most of the appointments
are out of the way.
To attempt to narrate in detail days
work Of the secretary would be difficult;
| In fact almost impossible His days Iabors
begin at and end anywhere from IL p.m
until the next morning at o'clock. He Is
at the White House practically all that
time. the only relaxation and escape from
pursuit of office seekers or official business
of some kind being at the dinner hour.
After the rush of office seekers. politicians
and callers In the day, and previous to the
beginning of that rush. the secretary is
making appointments. and q hundred other
things. 1t is his handling of office seekers
during the busy hours OF the day that
the position to have been a remarkable hap
py one. Star reporter spent two busy
hours In the secretary's room during a
recent record-breaking day at the White
House. A fair estimate is that during the
hours from 10 to IL O'Clock there were 400
visitors In the rooms Of the President and
secretary. which adjoin. They all go
through the secretary's room and more
than half have business with him.
Meeting Many Men.
During the two houro r,optiopod NJ por
ter was IN constant consultation with men
Of every description. from United States
senators down to the man who wants to be
consul at Patagonia. There were during
that time. by actual count, eighty seven
requests of tie secretary. These were of
many kinds. Fl.
The most easily attended to are those
which aim at an appointment with the
PRESIDENT. 1t Is easy to answer the request
at the time being. but litter tnat the Sec
retary must think of a suitable hour and
OF a suitable answer to make by letter
Some Of the appointments are verbally
made. but the majority are by letter after
the person has gone. Frequently the secre-
tary has to consult the President before
making an appointment. or he has to refer
! to his book to see If there are appoint
ments ahead for the hour he may have
picked out: This gives faint idea of the
duties OF the secretary in one line
Another line of requests is from those
VINO want to know how their applications
stand, whether their cases have been taken
up. ana what the prospects are. The secre-
tary mas TO give answers to all these re-
quests. He has 10 keep in good humor
while he Is doing so. He has to show some
Know edge OF everything. He has to be
tactful and to adapt himself to MANY sitn-
atiOns.
When Delegation. Call.
frequently. while some man has him in
corner asking him something. and dozen
others are standing around awaiting their
chance. delegation of prominent men IL
ushered in The probability is that they
are notables from some large city in
hurry to get through and catch a train 70
return Ihey may be business men with
lutte time to spare. These facts are hur-
rfediy communicated to the secretary by
some or the attendants or by some member
| or the delegation. If Mr.. Porter considers
tEe matter worth interrupting the con-
fereHces of ithesPresident he has to do so
Ihis Is done while a. cnowd7fs is SURROUNDING
the President awaiting their turn ..at the
Dat. IN base ball language. Secretary Por-
ter OFTEN has to do this. He returns to his
room to be poEnced upon by many Of those
~ waiting. This is one of the days when
The President and Secretary anxiously
watch the big clock In the Presidents room
to see when II gets to the hour for shutting
off further visitors.
The siege which Mr.. Porter goes through
In his room Is not much worse than that
which, he uadergoes il he ever puts his
head out of his room into the hallway
where the visitors congregate before they
enter the Presidents and secretarys rooms.
number OF these visitors patiently watch
fer every creak of the door to see il the
secretary is coming out. Then they pounce
upon him for Information and for the
granting of request. The secretary often
has business in the rooms of Secretary
Pruden. aci oss the hallway from his own
If he starts over there he Is sure to have
his way blocked by several anxious citi-
zens. When he goes to his lunch they walt
Tor his return. Some of them fhayp-
selves at the front door Of the White
House. feeling certain that he has no other
means OF entrance and cannot escape them.
The habit of lying in wait In the hallway
became so extensive that to transact i'm
portant business and avoid the waiting
throng the secretary had to resort to sew
eral innocent schemes.
Calls for n Level Head.
At all times during these busy hours the
secretary is subject to the call Of the Presi-
dent for a conference or to look up papers
relating to an appointment. 1t Is needless
to say that the secretary must know where
these papers are and be able to find ex-
actly what the President wants
Secretary Porter tries to see everybody
who calls and wants a word with him 1t
Is seldom that the doorkeeper announces
that the secretary is too busy to see callers,
When this announcement Is made 1t is
literally correct. and whatever Mr. Porter
is doing at the time will have to be of the
utmost Importance to prevent him from
seeing callers.
The foregoing imperfectly describes the
busy hours of the man who is the chief
executives right hand. conf1dant. To fill
a position with much attached to 1t. a
man with a cool head, gentle disposition
and physical strength Is required. Any
other kind of a man would not fill the bill.
Above all the other qualifications executive
ability is also required.