Evening star., 1899-03-25
go into the store room of the Executive

| The men who knew how to run the war
| with Spain were in a majority in this coun-
try for long time. They suggested all
| kinds of devices for wiping the Spaniard
| completely of the earth and leaving no
| trace of the race. Before any of the Span
| ish ships had been destroyed a man wrote
to the President advising that the navy use
| shells filled with red pepper. He entered
| into minute details of how this could be
| done. declaring that the explosion of such
shells on the Spanish ships would result in
| binding all the men aboard. Our sailors
! would have nothing to do then but climb
| on board and take the ship and it's naviga-
| tors into captivity.
Could Manage a War.
Another man had a similar scheme ex-
| cept that he proposed the use of chioro-
| form. He thought that if shells loaded with
| this drug We're used, the crews of Spanish
| ships would be put to sleep and the cap
ture of the ships would be easy. The last
| scheme came from a man who said that he
| believed in being humane and in capturing
| spanish ships without doing them any
damage. All these communications were
| referred to the board of strategy of the
| Navy Department.
The other class who wanted to aid their
| country were those who had remedies for
yellow fever malarial fever and other dis
| orders peculiar to tropical climates. They
dld not nave the least doubt of being able
| to cure these diseases. Most of these COM
| munications came from country people who
] had discovered great medicinal qualities in
| government to utilize their discoveries
| Surgeon General Sternberg received these
communications from the White House.
Letters abusing the administration for it's
conduct of the war were plentiful. The ad-
| ministration was charged with the slaugh-
| ter of soldiers, with improper feeding and
| care, and all sorts of crimes. Some of the
letters were insulting, and harsh names
| were applied to officials.
With the Best Intentions
Another class of people who give the
| White House officials lots of work are
| school teachers, who instruct their small
pupils to write compositions on certain sub
| jects and send them to President Mckinley
Ihe children obey, and the compositions
roll In accordingly. The teachers expect
autographic letters from the President ex-
pressing his genuine surprise at such Spen-
did compositions from children so young
Such letters would be wonderful advertise
| ments for the teachers, but they are never
written. Not long ago 200 school children
IN Massachusetts town sent their COM
positions to the White House
Just before every Christmas the Pres
| ldent, If he had time to go the letters
received from children, would be interested
and touched Many little ones believe thar
santa Claus resides at the White House.
ana send little scrawlng missiles. full of
ehildiike simplicity, asking that Santa
tldus send them certain presents. Dear
Sanity Claws" writes one little fellow
Won't you pleas to give me q police patrol
and bag of candy. if you possibly can. /
give you happy Christmas"
Ignorant white and colcred people address
Uncle Sam at the White House They he
ueFe that suck a man really exists and
that ne presldes at the White House and
over the destinies of the nation. The let
@ lers do not often refer to the White House
Inc envelopes frequently read '.JJnkil
fsaim, Washington, D. c." The postai
f GIerks forward these letters to the White
house. Sometimes the letters contain bus
mess of some Importance and are sept 70
tne proper department. They are likely fo
l IeIate TO pensions or to army or navy mat
80 Ihey sometimes appeal for the re-
navy. s VI
Appeals for Aid
REQUESTS Tor money and aid of all kinds
are daily occurrences. A large part of the
letters are outright appeals for aid no
doubt from deserving cases Lonely wild
ows With children to support appeal for
money and for places. Boys supporting
mothers brothers and sisters ask for
something to keep the wolf from the door
ana 10 AID them in the strife for life. A
sample Is: Il write to ask if you know A
way IN which L could make 5000 or s6 ooo
in short while. With this I could hpv a
mouse and lot, in which my mother could
spehu the last years of her life in happi-
ness me appeal is earnest and from a
,bs s prns;a %ao hopes that SO great a person as
~ON-tN
go abopt quick money-making
Some of the most pitiful of the spnaaI-
LOT ald come from people who have arpli-
cations for pension before the government
ana VINO are waiting the disposition of tho
cases. VI llie
PEOPLE belonging to churches and Sunday
Schools engaged in trying to raise nonay-
send appeals for assistance They incIoEa
cards with holes in them of the size of
dollars, halves and quarters suited to thn
transmission of the money AS numerous
as these are letters from young people Civ
ing Sociablcs, baZaars fairs and otbar
fcTms of entertainment. They want a fin
letter from the President commending tbeir
enterprise for publication in the local paner
or Tor distribution as a circular on The
streets. va "
On All Sorts of Subjects,
II the President were a presiding Judge
he could find his hands full of work Peo-
pie often write to the President asking him
to grant them a divorce. In these tales of
family infelicity are unfolded in great de-
tail. Others ask that the President force
the courts to give them justice in cases
pending in the courts, to pardon them from
penitentiaries and jails: literally to settle
cases as complicated as the famous Iowa
calf case. An example of the appeals to
the President to settle questions and TO as
sumo arbitrary power is found in the fol-
lowing from old soldier of the con-
federacy living in the south:
Please grant me permission to exhibit
my calf and rooster in this town. l am an
otu eX-confederate soldier disabled to work
| served all through the late war between
the states. I have no money and no friends
to do anything for me- l have a dead calf:
with two heads and rooster with long
horns. l want to show with them. charg-
ing dime admission. but the cruel people
of this town will not let me show my calf
and rooster without paying a license tax
of SO. 1 have no money This is the state
L fought for that are doing me this way
If you cannot give me permission to show
my calf and rooster here, tell me where
you will let me show them. / will take
$500 for the calf and s25 for the rooster
Let me hear from you at once by return
mall The writer goes on to ask for
money, giving his exact address, and winds
up by saying, Send money by express or
post office ORDER
From Small Roy.
The small boys of the country evinced