Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-21

j
| him l referred to his health, and told him
| L tho -ght he was looking extremely well.
! AfterWard 1 remarked as to the success
| or his administration, and said I thought
| that the people We're in sympathy with hin,
| ana That they thought he was doing well.
AT this his eyes lighted up md he said:
! L am glad to hear you say that, for I am
| much more anxious to be doing well than
| to be looking WE'LL
Some one called Daniel Webster a steam
| engine in trousers. President Mckinley is
| OF the same character, save that he does
| not puff and blow while he works His
machinery moves like the piston of a great
Corllss engine slowly. steadily and ire
| s,stloiy along. He does the work of a
dozen men, but SO easily and coolly that
| you can hardly realize that h. is working
at all. Of all the party that came here
from the White House. President Mckin-
ley locked the freshest and the least over-
worked. Today he could outwalk outride
and cutwork any of his secretaries. and
yet for the past two years he has under
gone greater strain, perhaps. than any
other man in the United States 1 inter-
viewed him just at the close of his term
as governor of Ohio. He was already q
| leading candidate for the presidency and
ms friends We're pushing him. His work
| increased as the time Of the convention
approached. and from the announcement OF
ms nomination until his coming here he
mas not had one leisure day. You remem-
49, AN" e'S uSiSSdliolS uOCheu 10 n.
Ear to the Ground.
Day and night for five months his ears
were dfnned with brass bands. He often re-
celved a dozen parties from different states
| In day and made as many speeches. At
| the same time he had much to do with
Mark Hanna in managing the campaign
The long distance telephone wire between
MS house in Canton and Mr.. Hanna's Of
nee In Cleveland was kept hot with con-
hdertf1al messages. He had speeches to
write and an enormous corr ,spondence TO
answer. Mrs Mckinley and he looked over
much OF the mail together and to many
OF the letters he dictated answers. Then
the election came and the excitement fol-
lowing 1t. His real presidential work be-
gan Immediately after the election, and it
has steadily continued up to his present
vacation. ! don't believe we have ever
had PRESIDENT who has tried harder to
ind out the right and to do it than has
Mckinley. He has taken advice from
every part of the country. though he has
acted for himself. He has, as he said to
| close to the ground. This was what called
SO many statesmen to Canton after the
election. Then between times his inaugural
nao 10 be written. his cabinet made up and
the hurrah and excitement of taking DOS
session OF the White House undergone.
While sitting with Secretary Porter on
the porch last night overlooking Lake
Champlafn, / asked him to give me some
idea of the amount of work the President
mad done since the Inauguration He re-
pied with list Of figures showing an
amount OF physical labor which would have
broken down the ordinary man. He said
when he took the place of secretary to The
President. Mr.. Mckinley had warned him
not to overwork, and had stated that he
mad never yet gotten private secretary
who could keep pace with him. Mr. Porter
however, has good constitution and he
has so far succeeded fairly we'll His state
ment of presidential labor. which 1 give
questions with which Mckinley has had
TO deal. and which the President himself
says have been the hard word of his ad-
m1nistration. 1t does not include the work
ana worry about Cuba, the coming to a de-
cision that Hawaii should be annexed and
mat Japan should be allowed to kick IL 1t
would. 1t does not include the silver
troubles nor the tariff. the fuss with Eng
land as to our seals, and other like issues
which alone would have been enough for
any common man.
A Wholesale Busfuess.
Here. according to Mr.. Porter, are some
of the things the President did In addition.
He received, talked with and disposed of
forty thousand office seekers in one hun
dred and twenty-one working days. He
shook hands with more than fifty thousand
people who came to his public receptions.
and, In addition to this, handled seventy
thousand callers In the east room. He has
heid nfty public receptions. the average at
tendance upon which has been nearly one
thousand persons. He has talked on bust
ness with fifty thousand congressman, and
has made over nine hundred appointments
to Office. This has all been done in less
than five months and when the physical
and mental wear and tear is considered 1t
VIII be seen that the work is enormous
Forty thousand Office seekers at two min
utes each must have eaten I'D eighty thou
sand minutes of the Presidents time or
enough to have kept him busy for over
Tour months, working ten hours a day. 1
dont believe the Office seekers, however
averaged minute apiece, much less two
though each of the nine hundred who were
appointed must have consumed a great
deai more. But this talking with men was
only part of President McKinley's work.
He had. In addition, an enormous amount
OF executive labor. and today, notwith-
standing 1t all. he Is in a good physical
state.
l asked President Mckinley this question
myself during my call upon him today. He
replied that the work that took the most of
ms strength was the dealing with the great
public questions of his administration and
added that he had a fairly good constitution
and that he ate well and slept well Another
great secret Of the Presidents success as a
worker Is in the fact that he does not Wor-
~. he dismisses question from his mind
am told. as soon as he has settled it, and
never threshes over old straw. He has
within recent years learned to say no and
Stick to 1t, and 1t Is one Of his cardinal
principles never to deceive man and lead
him to imagine he viii do what he knows
he cannot do. This saves a great deal of
friction The President Is wonderfully reg
ular in his habits. At the White House he
Is always in bed by midnight and he sleeps
until every morning. Here, at Lake Cham
plain. he has been retiring earlier, but ris-
ing at about the same time. He has also
simple tastes in eating. 1 doubt whether
he has ever felt what 1t Is to have a poor
stomach. His system Is not overloaded with
indigeshbles. nor does be clog his veins
with wine by drinking 1t with his meals.
Baths and Hymns.
He takes frequent baths, and keeps the
pores of his skin open. man who has
campaigned with him tells me that after
big speech Major Mckinley, on getting
to his room. always stripped and had
good wash and rub before retiring or going
out again. The pores Of the skin are the
sewers of the system. Such bathing keeps
the pores open. and McKiniey's clean. dark
skin shows the effect Of It The President
has added to his staying powers by his
observance OF the Sabbath. He rests one
day In seven. going to church and sinsipe
the hymns as Justify ~ any Methodist dea-
con present He n fond OF Methodist
AyWn1, known ncorU0 Of them nv heart ay,S