Evening star., 1901-04-27
The Presidents Journey to the Pacific
Coast.
MANY DETAILS TO Be CONSIDERED
Wheels of Government Will Con-
tinue to RevoIve.
THE CULINARY PROBLEM
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
For months past number of the clerks
In the executive offices at Washington
have been devoting a considerable portion
of their time to making the preliminary
arrangements for the longest trip ever ar
ranged for President of the United
States.
With this journey to the Pacific coast,
to be present at the launching of the bat
tie ship Ohio, President Mckinley may vir-
tually be said to complete an inspection of
the vast domain whose destinies he di-
rects. just as railroad officials periodically
make visits to the various branches of the
system under their control The tour of
the President to Chicago and the north
west In the autumn of 1899 carried him
across the states of Pennsylvania Ohio.
Indiana and Illinois and into Iowa, Wis
consin, Minnesota and the Dakotas. An
other journey took him through New Eng
land, and a third embraced the greater
portion of the southern states along the
Atlantic Seaboard.
Now comes the most extensive journey
of all. Proceeding first to New Orleans
the special presidential train will traverse
the Southern Pacific route skirting the
Mexican border and cutting across Arizona
and New Mexico to California. After the
stop at San Francisco the tourists will go
north. through Yellowstone Park. and into
the Puget Sound country, visiting Seattle.
Tacoma, Portland and other cities. Re-
turning stops will be made at Salt Lake
City, and possibly at Denver. and from
Duluth to Chicago the party will proceed
down the Great Lakes by steamer to Buff
falo, where the visit to the Pan-American
exposition will conclude the tour proper.
Preliminary Arrangements.
The preparation for a presidential jour
ney Of any length begins as soon as the
announcement is made that such a trip is
in contemplation. Invitations and re-
quests of every imaginable sort begin to
pour in by the bushel from almost every
city. village and hamlet through which the
train Is to pass. These are all carefully
tabulated and filed. as is also every scrap
Of information bearing in any way upon
the prospective journey. Some Of the in
vitations which come to the President take
the form OF exceptionally handsome SOU
yenrs as, for instance. the gold mounted
ballot box and the large engraved plate of
solid gold sent to President Mckinley some
time since by California organizations who
thus besought him to be their guest.
Some weeks before the time set for the
journey the secretary to the President sets
about the preparation of an itinerary for
the trip. He does this by Sketching out a
chart of the route to be followed. noting
the different lines of railroad that will have
to be traversed, the cities at which 1t is de-
sired to stop, and what intervals will be oc-
cupl6Q Dy lue various llylIS NlSllS Alter
weeks of arranging and rearranging the
secretary and his assistants get their
schedule down to the point where they can
take into consideration the distance be-
tween successive stopping places and fin-
ally they actually figure out what speed
the train will have to, make during every
minute of the journey in order to arrive
home on time.
Arranging the Itinerary.
All this done. the plans and specifications.
as they might be called, are turned over to
the officials of some one railroad system
whose duty it is to pass upon their feasi-
bnity. This revision is no sinecure. for the
people at the White House might inadvert-
entity have planned to journey where rail-
road communication is lacking. Officials
of innumerable other roads must be con-
suited personally and by correspondence. 1t
must be determined whether the desired
connections can be made at the various
junction points, and finally, investigation
must be instituted to ascertain whether the
condition Of the different stretches OF road
bed will permit the making Of the rates Of
speed contemplated.
That the Presidents secretary. Mr.. Geo.
B. Cortelyou, who also serves as his tourist
manager. is an adept at the work, Is attest
ed by the fact that he arranged the sched-
ule OF the northwestern trip, embracing If
teen days, covering more than 5000 miles
and traversing nearly thirty different rail-
railroad officials came to revise the pre-
liminary draft made. the only change they
found necessary was twenty minute in
crease in the running time.
When the itinerary has been definitely
arranged the information which might be
of use to the members of the presidential
party is presented in handsome little cr-
namental booklet which gives the names of
the members of the party, the population
of each city to be visited. together with the
time Of arrival and departure, the running
time between stops. the program to be fol-
lowed where the party is to leave the train
temporarily, and a map Of the United
States with the route outlined in red.
No Deviation Possible.
It may be noticed in this connection that
every minute OF the time is accounted for
before the party leaves Washington and
only the most unexpected circumstances
will induce a depression. In other words,
the prominent citizen" In any of the cities
visited who desires to entertain the Presi-
dent at dinner during the stop in his city
must secure an acceptance Of the invita-