Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-04-21
PRESIDENT RoosgvsLr's MAIL

,
States were obliged to pay postage OF
every piece of mail matter sent ou
from the White House the expens,
would amount to one-sixth of his sal
airy. Since President Roosevelt has
been in office the mail addressed to the
chief magistrate has been the heaviest
in history. and 1t is steadily growing
rather than diminishing In proper
tions. Probably no other one man In
the world receives every day in the
year so many personal letters as are
sent to the president of the United
States, and certainly no other man
receives communications of such va
ried character. At the present time
anywhere from 500 to 900 letters are
received at the White House every
day. In addition to this. hundreds OF
pieces of printed matter are received
every day.
To consider and answer the half a
million communications which come
to the presidential mansion each year
requires the almost continuous SER
vices of upwards of a dozen men
This, too, without taking into consid-
GRAFTON the employees of the general
postoflice at Washington who are de-
tailed to distribute the presidents
mail
The first step in the handling of
the White House mail at its destina-
tion is taken by the trusted employe
of the White House. who makes three
or four trips daily to the post office to
secure the mail Upon the arrival of
the letters at the White House they
are turned over to a clerk whose sole
duty is to open the envelopes and un-
fold the letters. The communications
then next pass to a clerk who asserts
he missives Many of the letters per-
tain to what might be termed routine
governmental affairs and are turned
over to one or another of the executive
departments The great bulk of the
presidents mail goes to his secretar-
les, and most of 1t they answer over
their own signatures. without ever
troubling the busy chief magistrate
with the matter.
The president does not peruse per
sonally one-tenth of the letters which
are addressed to him. Indeed. fifty
communications n day is liberal es-
innate of the number which comes
under his eye The letters. which by
reason of their seeming Importance,
or the doubt of the secretaries as to
their proper disposition. do finally
pass the gauntlet and come into the
hands of the president himself are
| disposed OF in one of three ways. In
the cases of many of them he turns
the letters over to the secretaries with
an indication of the character of the
reply to be sent To few of the let
ters the president dictates replies
which he signs personally, and to a
very limited number of personal
friends he pens confidential letters
Naturally such inscriptions as per
sonar and private" cannot be re-
garded in opening the White House
mail, but there are ways In which the
initiated may insure their communlca-
tions reaching the president person
ally. The approved plan is for the
writer to place his initials or name in
autograph in the lower left hand cor
ner of the envelope. For instance a
confidential note from the Presidents
personal friend Senator Lodge. bears
| in the corner the initials H. c. l.. In
a majority of cases the provision of
these safeguards is superfuous, for
the clerk who opens the mail has
come by experience to recognize in
stantly the handwriting of the init
mates of the chief executive, and
their letters go through without mo-
| lestation. Sometimes individuals not
| personally known to the president, but
who have learned Of the plan in vogue,
seek to reach his ear by placing their
Initials on n missive. or occasionally
even resort to the ruse of affixing the
initials of someone known to be close
to the chief magistrate. Such efforts
never avail, however, for II the de
ccption Is not detected by the assort-
ing clerk, the schemer's letter Is turn
ed back into the proper channel by the
President when he detects its char
acter.
The work OF answering the presi-
Dental mail is a task of herculean
proportions, An effort is made to ac-
| knowledge In some manner every
communication sent TO tne Wnlle
House. Five or six stenographers are
constantly employed typewritine the
letters dictated by the president and
his secretaries. Naturally great mum.
bers of letters can be answered by
what are known as "forms''-that Is
phraseology arranged to cover any
and all Inquiries on n certain subject
For instance. the hundreds OF people
who. after the president has delivered
an important address or sent n mes
sage to congress. send congratulatory
letters and kilograms to the White
house all receive letters of acknowl
edgment and thanks which are prac
tically identical
The general public, and particular
ly the feminine portion of it. appears
to cherish the belief that, whereas
there is no possibility that letter
can ever reach the president inyiolate
there is reasonable surety that a mis-
sive to member of his immediate
family will reach Its destination un
molested This Is utter fallacy. foi
every letter addressed to Mrs. Roose
welt or any of the children passes
through exactly the same channel ai
a.. 10 he