Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-03-08
FROM WASHINGTON.
CORRESPONDENCE OF the Alexandria Gazette.
WASHINGTON. March S.

Place hunting began in real earnest
at the White House to-day. Most OF
the sightseers have left town and the
strangers remaining are after the plums
that the President has it in his power
to distribute. Friday and Saturday
few eager applicants for positions
said anything to Major Mckinley about
their desires. These two days were
given up to congratulations and com
ailments. This morning, however,
the place seekers came to the Execu-
tive Mansion prepared to talk business.
They came in force, o constant stream
of them. Some carried big bundles of
official looking papers in their hands;
others, more modest, looked suspicious.
ly large about the pockets. But there
W, re a number in the line who were
there at the request of the President or
who came to pay their respects and o
to request favors. In q few urgent cases
only did the President discuss appoint
ments. He will not be hurried and the
word has gone out that applicants can
do lust as we'll by going home for a
couple of months before pressing their
claims. In effect this was the idea car
ried away by a number OF those who pre-
sented their applications in person.
Those who bad been invited to the
White House alone managed to be
heard and to hear with patience. Nine
o'clock found the upstairs corridor in
the public part of the mansion pretty
we'll filled with men and not a few
women. A few minutes later, when
the President entered his office, he
found q score of visitors waiting his
appearance. He saw many people in
the ensuing hour, but not fast enough
to make any difference in their contin-
ually increasing numbers. Right in
the midst of the reception Secretary
John Sherman appeared and carried oil
the President to the cabinet room.
When the President returned to his
office the crowd there, in the reception
corridor and i'll Secretary Porter's
room had increased largely. Mr.. Por-
ter %endeavored to relieve the con
g~estion by personal talks with those
seeking admission to the inner apart
| ment and succeeded fairly we'll in this
process of fltering in the face Of over
| whelming odds. Senators and Repre-
| sentatives and those who came with
| them were more fortunate in getting
| the ear of the President than those
| who brought written credentials and
endorsements. The republican mem
| bers of the Pennsylvania delegation in
| Congress came in q body to present
| the name of w. II. Elliott for Assistant
| Secretary OF the Navy. Ex-Congress'
| mar Guenther, of Wisconsin, was
among a long line of "ex's." Mr..
Guenther wants to be consul general
! to Mexico. C. H. Conger, who was a
| member of Congress from Iowa and
later Minister to Brazil, put in an APP
plication for his former diplomatic post
| A candidate for the commissionship Of
| pensions presented himself in the per
| son of ex Congressman Picker of South
| Dakota, whose term expired March i,
One of the few cases of appointment
considered by the President was that O.
the mission to Greece, Roumania and
| Seryia. The term of Mr.. Alexander
| the present minister at Athens, will ex
| pire April 9TH and it is the intention to
| nominate his successor without delay,
| George A. Flooding of West Virginia
|! who is a candidate for the position
| called on the President this morning al
the request Of the latter and his chances
| for getting what he wants are con
| sidered excellent. Another gentleman
| anxious for diplomatic preferment, who
| saw the President. was General w. w
| Thomas, of Portland. Maine. He came
| with Senator Hale. General Thomas was
| twice the diplomatic representative o.
| the United States at Stockholm and is
| said to have been assured that he will
| be sent back to Sweden. Colonel John
| Hay was an early caller but the Presi
| dent was engaged and the reputed am.
bassador to England concluded not tc
wait.
The two troops of the Third Cavalry
from Fort Ethan Allan, VT, which par
ticipated in the Inauguration ofPres
ident Mckinley. left here for their post
| this morning. They were escorted to
the depot by the Sixth Cavalry station
ed at Fort Myer, Va. Most ot the in
! auguration visitors have left Washing
! ton for their homes, as the limit on ex-
cursion tickets expires to-day. This
+! morning workmen were busy replacing
the cases in the Pension Hall where the
ball was held so that the routine
work of the Pension Bureau may
be resumed to morrow morning. The
inaugural committee estimate the
total receipts will foot up about five
thousand dollars over and above eX-
penses. The surplus will probably be
turned over to local charities as has
heretofore been done and the guaran-
tee fund will be returned to the sub
scribers. The hotels are still filed
with politicians and Office seekers, and
President Mckinley and the new Cabi
net will have a busy week Of it. Many
Congressman who were reelected re
main in the city and the new members
will undoubtedly be mere in full force
early in the week, preparatory for the
meeting of the 55th Congress in extra
session on Monday next.
The President to-day sent to the
Senate the nomination of Oscar A..
James to be pension agent at Detroit,
Mich, which was confirmed in the ex-
ecutive session.
The final formality in connection
with the induction into office of Attor.
ney General McKenna was observed in
the Supreme Court of the United States
to day. After the decisions and orders
of the court had been announced, eX.
ATTORNEY General Harmon. who was