Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-11

ordered to take off his shining silk hat
the barouche with the chief of police and
whenever the crowds in the street
cheered. The device worked like a charm.
The crowd howlcd itself hoarse at the
sight of Murphy's fine Roman nose and
thin hair. little thinking that the man
they greeted was a policeman, who. in
his work of protecting the nations chief,
had been directed to pose for a time as
the chief himself.
Such occurrences are by no means in
frequent. While the president of the
United Statesat any particular time, Who
ever he may be, is doubtless the best
known maj in the country, it is also true
that he is the easiest man to personate.
This is due to the fact that the mental
picture most people have of the president
is a composite of the various likenesses
they have from time to time seen. A
composite is never distinct. This mental
picture is SO blurred that whenever a
man possessing the general physical
characteristics of the president for any
reason gives out the hint that he is the
president, he has no trouble in getting
himself accepted at that face value.
Whenever one person in a crowd makes
up his mind that a certain man is the
president the rest readily accept the con-
clusion, and if there be skeptical ones
NHNS 90 NV tA'N " NoiNC III liolSSl.
A COMMON HAPPENING.
The guides at the White house say tha
1t IS the commonest of all happenings for
groups of leisurely tourists to gather and
watch a man possessed of a smooth face,
a Roman nose and a dark complexion
who happens to so in or out of the White
house. He may be the humblest office
seeker or an every day citizen of Wash
inston: he may be a foot taller or a foot
shorter han the chief magistrate, but
still somebody in the crowd whispers
There goes the president" Those who
hear this remark suppose that its author
knows what he is talking about. A
crowd gathers, and the very fact of it's
gathering is conclusive that there is
something to see. and when the object in
view is a man going up or down the steps,
it is taken for granted by all Corners that
he must certainly be- the president OF the
United States. Whom else would q
crowd stop to look at? In this way thous-
alldS of people so away from Washing
ton to tell for the rest of their lives about
seeing the president when they have real
ly seen the hero of one of these i'm
proInptu gatherings. Any man in the
country bearing the slightest resem-
blance to Mr.. Mckinley, who might be
seen quietly walking on a Sunday after
room in the grounds back of the White
house, would surely be taken for the
president, and SO proclaimed by all pass
| ers-by.
An interesting case in point occurred
abouta year ago. 1t was known that Mr..
Cleveland, then ar ex-president, had ar
rived in the city from a southern fish
ing trip, and that at a later hour the
same day he would take the train to his
! New Jersey home. AS Mr.. Cleveland af-
terWard declared. the interval between
the rriva Of one train and the depart
ule of the other he had passed in the
Pennsylvania railroad station, and had
rot set foot upon the streets of Washing
ton. But the newsgatherers of this city
| were rather looking for Mr.. Cleveland
that day, and it IS not surprising that
several enterprising journals contained
a FtCry the . morning of how the late
chief executive had been seen gazing into
a store window on Est, and how the
people, particularly the children, had
gathered about him, and how silent and
tenure he seemed.
1t was ssumcd that he was looking in
the store window with a view to selecting
presents for Ruth, Esther, etc, when the
OnlOOkers disturbed him, and the news
papers commented philosophically upon
the fact that a man could have been
strolling through Est. who only a year
before held the destinies of the nation in
his hand, and was still a leading figure
in the country's history.
The story of this incident Travelled far
and wide. 1t was copied into THE Tran
script" For purposes of Illustration the
story doubtless found its way into many
sermons and impressive addresses. AS a
matter Of fact, the strange man who
walked through Est, that day, silent in
manner and dcmure in countenance,
about whom the onlookers and particu-
larly the children gathered, was Walter
H. French, of Massachusetts,, the file
clerk Of the house of representatives. He
is a man of about Mr.. Cleveland's size,
age and complexion. Mr.. French's mus
tache and hair are about as abundant and
about as gray as Mr.. CleVeland's. SO
much pleased is Mr.. French by the re-
Samblance that he usually selects his
clothing with Il view to carrying out still
further the illusion. On this particular
day he happened to glance into an Est.
window. and the first thing he knew peo-
pie were looking at him strangely. 'The
Morning POST had spoken of the eX-
pected arrival of Mr.. Cleveland in town,
and Mr.. French was not long in realizing
that he was being stared at on that ac-
count. He accordingly did his best to act
the eX-presidGnt and with the success al
ready noted. He has several facial
pressions which he has acquired by care
fully observing Mr.. Cleveland, and when
ever the occasion demands he exhibits
these little initiated manneriSms with re-
markable skill. For a number of blocks
down Est, as he slowly sauntered, peo-
pie continued to turn back and look at
him as he passed.
The stories, however, of people who
have successfully personated Mr.. Cleve-