Evening star., 1900-09-29

The documents ana letters are taken IN
charge by a private secretary and by him
classified He also informs himself of the
nature of each. Then the signing begins.
The private secretary sits beside the cabf-
net officer indicating to him the nature Of
each letter Or document A messenger also
stands beside him and each signature is
appended the messenger lifts letter or sheet
and with pad carefully dries the ink. With
this assistance 1t Is surprising the number
of signatures that can be appended in an
hour There are few days when a cabinet
officer spends less than that time at the
task. The work becomes more or less me-
chanical, and that is why the cabinet off,
Ger will talk to you while engaged in it.
Swift SiEners.
The Secretary of State has a signature
which his messenger and secretary declare
Is made always with single nervous dash
of the pen. That is a way Mr.. Hay has Of
doing things. If he wants to see the Sec
retary OF War or Secretary of the Navy
with both Of whom he has to consult fire.
quently, he does not send his messenger
for them, but with sudden energy pushes
back his chair and darts down the broad
halls Of the State, War and Navy building
with short. quick, nervous steps that push
the ordinary individual to a dog trot' to
keep pace with him. He never loops over
the bottom of his 81 and the final ~" of
his signature ends in straight line with
a little hook adjusted at the end.
AT the Treasury Department the clerks
say that Mr. Gage has the ''sassiest" sig
nature in the cabinet Just what they
mean by that only the clerks know Mr.
Gage uses a blunt pen and always rolls his
hand over SO its weight rests on his little
finger. He gets firm grasp on his pen
holder by thrusting 1t between his first and
second fingers and closing his thumb firm
~ over it. Although Mr.. Cages signature
is perhaps the most ornate in the cabinet.
few of his colleagues can beat him for
speedy signing. 1t is claimed by his private
secretary that the size of the loops his
'Y" and "J'' and ''G'' indicates the degree
of good humor he enjoys on given day
When matters in his department are NOV
Ing smoothly and to his satisfaction and
the same thing is true of his digestive ap-
paratus. he uses big and generous loops in
his signature. When matters are in an un-
satisfactory state he is Stngy with the
loops and makes them shortened, lean
things, that his messenger hardly has to
blot.
Paper Snow Storm.
Mr.. Root, the Secretary Of War; comes
nearer adopting the new style of vertical
writing now being taught in the public
schools than any of the cabinet members.
He always joins his first name to the last,
and IL there is room on the letter, commits
sion or communication he is fond of MAX
ing single-looped flourish under his name.
He never accepts the initials or private mark
of clerk assistant a guarantee of
the contents of a letter. On the contrary,
unless its full import Is known to him he
suspends further work. he sets the cleo
trio call bells attached to his desk to go
ing and summons the heads of divisions to
him until he has satisfied himself on the
point in doubt. Mr.. Roots method Of sign
ing the thick parchment commissions for
army officials Is odd and original. he al
ways uses a special ink which leaves a
fine gloss. Piling the commissions on his
desk he banishes every one else from his
private Office and starts to sign. Knowing
that the use of the blotter would deprive
the ink Of it's gloss. he lifts each COM
mission by one corner and toSses II up In
the air. allowing it to float gently to the
floor. When he gets done the floor is
literally carpeted with these commissions
strewn about with only such care as pre-
vents one from falling on top of the other,
and blurring the signature of the under
commission. On completing his work the
Secretary carefully picks his way across
the commission-strewn floor to the door
of his office. Then. as he goes away to
luncheon. he directs his private secretary
to pick up the commissions after the sigma
lures have been allowed to dry for fifteen
minutes.
Perhaps the most particular OF any OF the
members Of the cabinet as regards the mode
of expression of his official correspondence
is Attorney General Griggs. He Is stick
Ter for exactness of style and is prone to
alter adjectives and adverbs. substituting
carefully and with consideration other
words which suit him better. The mail and
vouchers which require his signature are
never brought to him until he touches
certain button in his desk which sets gong
to ringing in the Office of the chief clerk
1t is called the mail bell. and immediate
ly the clerks from the different divisions
hasten to the Office of the chief clerk with
everything requiring the signature OF the
Attorney General. Mr.. Griggs has the
peculiar faculty of being able to sign his
mail very rapidly, all the time talking on
any topic desired. but never missing the
contents Of the letter. His ONCE displays
on It's walls an unusually extensive