The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-04-23

bus the Practical Results Arc Not En-
couraging.
WASHINGTON. April ga Special. i
Have you ever witnessed tho run around
at the White House?' 1 was asked today
by congressman. l told him did not
Know what he was talking about. "Well. "
said he, if you have not seen the run
around, would advise you to 20 up and
have look mt it, The room in which
President Mckinley does his work is "a
large apartment, about % feet square. 1t
VIII hold 100 persons at once without
any crowding. Here is where the run
around occurs. Let me illustrate by citing
ono OF my recent experiences, which was
as near like other experiences as one pea is
like its mate in the same pod.
had in town two friends from nv
district Both were willing to be pcrsuad.
ca TO accept office under the government
In fact, they had come down here with
that temptation in view. They had
brought with them various letters of in.
dorscmcnt, and showed il surprising famil.
iarity with tho duties and emoluments of
couple of offices of which they constantly
talked to me without at first saying boldly
they were candidates. OF course | under.
STOOD it from tho first, but L am diplo.
mat. urged these men to accept those
very places. | told them they were so en-.
incntly qualified it would no a shame. n
loss to the party and the country, not to
give the president n chance to appoint
them When one of them opened his mouth
as II to dcmrr, though, as matter of fact
could see he was having hard work sup.
pressing tho delight which he felt in his
soul, interrupted him with:
On, you simply must accept Mr.
smith. 1t Is your duty to your country
1t is your duty to me, sir, for if there il
anything that makes n congressman proud
1t Is to be able to place in posts of great
honor and responsibility such gentlemen
as yourselves. I will not take no for an
answer And of course, didn't have to-
In the Big Room.
30 we went over to The White House
my two constituents and l. we were usher.
cd into that big room OF the president
We were not alone. There were Mt least
dozen other congressman there and per.
maps half dozen senators, each accompa.
hlcd by ono, two or three of his constitu.
cnts they wcrc all on tho same GRAND.
Presently the president came out of tho
cabinet room, whore he had been in con.
sultation with Senator Platt. President
Mckinley has II very neat way of handling
his visitors, you must know. They arc
all shown into tho big room.
well, before tho president camo in we
were all sitting about in pairs and twos
and threcs talking When ho appeared,
every man of us rose. We tactly, pcrhaps
unconsciously, formed sort of ring around
the edges of the room, with tho president
III the center 1t reminded mo very much
OF the gamo of ring around tho rosy which
tho children play, except that we stood
still. 1t was the president who did tho
running around. Occasionally an effort
was made by some ambitious gentleman
10 lead tho chief magistrate away from tho
carshot of the other members of the party,
but / noticed that Mr.. Mckinley did not
permit himself to bc taken far, just u step
or two, and still so near that others could.
II they listened u bit, ovcrbcnr all that was
sand. suppose the president has found
safety in this method. Ho knows from
experience u man will not bore him very
long about an Office with other people
standing Ill line awaiting their turn and
hearing everything that is said
Fine Manners.
Beautiful manners tho president hns
lilo charms all of them. OF course the SEN
ators and members get accustomed to il.
10 them it is an old story But the str,.n.
gers within the gates are simply delighted.
They think they never saw such nice
man. Every one of them il so Handsomely
treated, the president smiles at them so
encouragingly, even affcctionately, that
scarce ono gets away without becoming
convinced he is going to get an Office
What took Place as the president approach.
cd each little group was, | suppose, very
similar to TINT which occurred as he came
up to my party.
Mr.. President exclaimed, permit
NO to introduce to you Mr. Smith. He ia
ono OF tho wheel horses of the party in NV