Evening star., 1899-03-25

4 yt~l lho L iCoiuChl po"
| ~ ers, the patience of
! ofhci,... VINO have to handle these misslves
makes an interesting chapter. That a
| large force of clerks, who are constantly
| overworked, Is needed to transact the
| business of the White House would not
| be doubted for moment by those dis
| posed to look upon government clerk as
| having something easy If the daily rou-
| tine of the officials could be seen.
| 1t Is generally known that the formal ap-
| plfcation of nearly every office seeker in
| the United States goes through the White
House before reaching the department to
which it properly. belongs. This, together
| with the other legitimate business which
goes there, is sufficient to keep a good
force of officials busy. But when this
| work is increased by the daily receipt of
| hundreds of letters on every conceivable
| subject a better idea is obtained of how
| the business at the Executive Mansion is
| conducted The simple receipt of the let
| tefs would be nothing if the policy of the
President did not require an answer to
| every communication, no matter how hum
Bile the author or Insignificant the subject.
| Thts policy has been in force since Pres-
| dent Mckinley was fnducted into Office
lhe correspondence is under Secretary Por-
ter, and is an undertaking which requires
| ms constant attention. Under former ad-
| never answered, but a contributor now is
certain to get an answer. Not only is care
| ful attention given to the letters but thay
are filed away, the system of filing being
one OF the most perfect in the United
| States. Some of the letters from cranks
| and criminals may be needed at some time
| In trial or in"nvestigations If they are
ever needed they can easily be found on
| file, Notwithstanding the aggregate runs
into the hundreds of thousands.
Sent Where They ReInur
| Sending mail direct to the White House
| does the interested parson no good An an
plicant for postmaster in small town, for
| instance, sends his application and indorse-
| ments to the White House, under the i'm
| preston that the President has time to
r2view all the papers in the case The
President never sees the papers They
are promptly forwarded to the Post Office
department. Where, in the course of time
they are looked oyer by an assistant, pos
slbly by the Postmaster General. At the
same time the W hite House writes q letter
to the office zseeker explaining what has
become of his papers. Frequently he de-
EnghtS IN the, receipt of this letter, which
IS SO dlplomatically worded that it gener-
ally conveyssth idea that the7 President
has personally examined the papers and
forwarded them himself The applicant
Tor an army position, for a clerkship in
the treasury any other department does
the same as the man seeking a post office
His papers are at once forwarded to
7 the proper department Appeals for
pensions, which almost numberless
and frequently touching, go p, to the
| pension office WITHOUT the President
ayer seeing them 1t is doubtful if the
President himself has any idea of the mass
Eof letters which are handled by his clerks
The President sees the letters from n
certain class of contributors. Either this
or ne sees "a brief of the contents Letters
which go to him from officials in high
lie or from personal friends who make
requests for appointments or for other
matters. While the President, is away on
his present trip no letters are sent him
and few will be shown him on his return
secretary Porter will prepare brief memo
randa of whatever letters he thinks the
President would like to know something
! and VIII present these on the return of the
chief executive. If the President desires
to see letter he can call for it and it will
be dug up from the files.
Flooded With Poetry.
Poets are the most voluminous of the
contributors 10 the White House They
break loose without much provocation and
| Hood the Executive Mansion with their ef-
fusions. The sinking of the Maine was a
favorite theme with the sentimental. The
battle of Sar Juan hill: the sinking of Ger
vera's fleet, Dewey's achievements in the
Philippines in fact, nearly every incident
OF the waf with Spain and the events which
nave followed have supplied subjects for
barrels of rhyme. The newspaper offices
cannot be induced to publish these supposed
gems, and they are promptly worked off on
the White House, the would-be poet receiv-
ing formal note saying that his produc-
tlon mas been received. The note reads
something like this: THE President directs
me to say that your poem has been re-
ceiVed, etc" This is fuel to the fire as the
| poet supposes the President has really seen
| ms "onderfuf masterpiece. He exhibits the
frtn de
appreciation felt in high quarters for his
work and Immediately composes more
poetry for White House edification.
Unless man becomes nuisance his let
ters, poetry, ETC., receive answers for a
number of times. This liberality prompts a
great deal of additional work at the White
House. In Cleveland's administration the
poets received little consideration. In fact,
all contributors, unless writing on business,
did not receive answers. This so dis
couraged them that they went out of bus
| mess for some time. 49,
Next to the poets comes the crankS: then
| the inportuner for money or recognition.
| then school children whose teachers sug-
gest that they write compositions on GER
tain subjects.andtsend them to the White
House. Included in the crank list are the
men and womef-who knew exactly how
| Spain could ,kez fxhipped all about the
| proper medical attention for our troops;
what our f0ysigRr policy should be, etc. ;
! those who have boons which will benefit ali
| the President IS isaek and sends decoction
| which he guarantees will bring about
| speedy. cure. 9sst
Fer tho Presidents Welfare.
| Every item which appears in paper to
| the effect that the President is worn out or
| indisposed results in many medicines being
sent, copious qsnpPfies of mineral waters,
numerous Prescriptions and still more
| numerous Suggestions. These are meant
well and are aatbbpratiated accordingly
Several weSeernG papers some time ago
published a story that the President would
| have to give up smoking cigars and turn to
the pipe. In consequence a total of four or
| five hundred different kinds of pipes were
! sent to the White House. The corn cob
to the President to- enjoy. A man in Eu-
| rope who heard the story sent a box of
| curious clay pipes. The variety of pipes
| orf,s ~