Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-05-07

1ow-CitiZen of the
White House, devoted to the official
| cares and duties of the President, In
the course of which he says:
At ten O'Clock a hardly discernioie
sign against the glass of the barrier
| announces to the citizen who has ar
, rived under the grand portal that the
executive mansion is open" to visit
ors; at two o'clock the sign is changed
to closed" The doorkeepers swing
the doors open to everybody. Within
the large vestibule nothing is seen
which indicates the arrangement and
purposes of the different parts OF the
mansion. 1t was not always so, for
originally the now concealed corridor,
| or middle hall, with the staircase on
the right, was a part Of the entrance
hall; now the spaces between the mid
die columns are closed with colored
glass partitions, and the vestibule is
simply large square room pleasant
to get out of. No way appears to open
TO tho state apartments in the center,
or to the west wing, which is devoted
TO the private apartments; yet glass
doors are there, though as impercept-
IDLE to the stranger as a swinging pan
ell. To the left there is a door which
Is always open. 1t admits to small
hall across which a similar door Is the
side entrance to the great East Room.
About this splendid room, comprising
the whole east end of the mansion, the
visitor may wander at will before the
portraits. or enjoy from the windows
the beauty Of the Treasury building to
the east or the impressive landscape to
the south. including the towering shaft
OF the Washington monument, and, be-
yond, the ever-charming Potomac
spreading with charging curves to-
ward Mount Vernon; and in the private
garden under the windows he may
chance to see a merry band of little
ones. two Of them the Presidents old
est daughters, with few playmates
belonging to kindergarten class.
From the small hall between the ves-
tibule and the East Room a stairway
ascends toward the medal line of the
building to wide middle hall, on each
side of which are the offices of the
President. The arrangement is simple,
and in the floor-plan covers the space
occupied below by the East Room and
the Green Room, the latter being the
counterpart of the small hall with the
public stairway, just mentioned. At the
head OF these stairs, over the Green
Room. is the Cabinet Room, which is
the first apartment in the south side
of the hall: 4 jog of two steps, at the
private door into the Presidents room.
marking the raised ceiling of the Eas:
Room below. The President reaches
his Office through the Cabinet Room,
entering the latter from the library,
which CORE spends on the second floor
with the Blue Room of the State apart
ments. President Arthur, indeed, used
the library as his Office and the cabi-
net chamber for an anteroom, while
his private secretary was domiciled in
the traditional Office of the President,
During his first term Mr.. Cleveland
preserved the same arrangement: but
General Harrison went back to the
office hallowed by Lincoln's occupancy.
and Mr.. Cleveland. on his return. found
the arrangement so satisfactory that
he continued 1t. Beyond the Presi-
dents large square Office is the corner
room where Private Secretary Thurber
Is always either wrestling with the de-
tails OF executive business or standing
with bis shoulder braced against the
crowd struggling to see the President.
1t is narrow apartment, and might
be called appropriately the Hall of the
Disappointed" the suggestion being
emphasized by portraits of the greatest
of presidential aspirants, Clay and
Webster. to which Mr.. Thurber has
added, as his private property, an en-.
craving OF the closest contestant for
the office, Governor Tilden. On the
north side of the hall there are two
rooms which correspond to those ON
the south side just described, the small
one being occupied by Mr.. o. l.. Pru-
den, the assistant secretary since Gen.
eral Grants time. and the custodian
of the Office books as we'll as of the
traditions which govern the public So
cial routine of the executive mansion.
In his room sits the telegraph clerk at
his instrument, and by the window is
a telephone. which saves a great
amount Of messenger service between
the President and the departments.
Occasionally a congressman, with less
ceremony than discretion. attempts to
get an appointment with the ear of
the President over the telephone, and
there Is record of a stage earthquake
produced In the private secretary's
room by furious congressman who
found the telephone ineffective, and
his O'ympial style even less so. Not
withstanding that 1t is almost tie sole
modern improvement In the White
House. the President has been seen at
the telephone but once, and then, need