Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-10
Benz. F. Montgomery.

of the people. With twenty-five wires it is
possible to make direct connection with the
cables. Thus the world is girdled and the
office never closes
Colonel Montgomery has now a staff I'M
der his command, tried and expert opera
tors. Great secrets have been confided to
him. No man can truthfully assert that
he has ever broken faith. Not the least
whisper of scandal has ever brea thed upon
him. No living man would dare suggest to
him the possibility of a corrupt bargain.
Repeatedly he has worked through the
night at the White House key, with
president at one elbow and Secretary of
State at the other, manipulating the nerves
of the world. For twenty-five years he has
been, in. effect, the Presidents eyes and
ears.
Was Lincoln's Bodyguard.
William III. Crook, the executive clerk
and disbursing officer, was detailed from
the Washington police force on January
5, 1865, as a bodyguard to President Lin
coin. He journeyed with Lincoln in the
spring to City Point and Richmond. march
ing by his side with one hand upon a pistol
putt When the party returned to Wash
lngton no one knew of Lees surrender I'M
I'll the bonfires were seen cleaning on the
hills. Mr.. Lincoln himself asked Crook
the meaning of the demonstrations On
the night of the assassination Mr. Crook
was detailed to remain at the White House
He feels that if he had gone to the theater
he would have saved the Presidents life
perhaps at the expense of his own, for he
would have guarded the box door in per-
son.
During President Grants second term
MT. Crook served. for a short time. as his
private secretary in 1876, and was made
dlsbursing officer the next year. One of
the important tasks formerly intrusted to
him was the distribution of the annual
messages of the President. Up to five years
ago these printed copies were sent through
him to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
York, where they were taken by the local
newspapers and the press associations and
thence distributed throughout the country
So intense has been the desire of CONNER
cial interests at times to obtain first ink
lingS of the messages that Mr. Crook has
had many interesting and even exciting
experiences. lodging would-be thieves, re-
bukfng attempts at corruption, and evading
persistent questioners. At present the mes
sages are distributed by mail and wire
from Washington. Now that Mr. Pruden
is dead, Mr. Crook is the medium of COM
munication between the President and
Congress
Remembers Names and Faces.
Outside the Presidents door sits a quiet
sentinel, Capt. Charles d. Loeff1er, L. g. A,
retired. Cabinet officers. senator's repre-
sentatives, political leaders, commercial
giants, titled and distinguished foreigners,
great actors, world-famed authors and
humorists and lecturers. plain. everyday
American citizens-all have gone through
that door under Capt Loeffiers guidance.
He has wonderful memory for names and
faces. Men come and go in the current of
affairs; but. once they have been identified
at that door, they are marked for life In
Loeff1er's mind. For twenty-five years he
has been in sole charge of the entrance to
the Presidents room. For eight years pre-
viously he was on duty there with two
others
While the cabinet sits Captain Loeffier
represents the outer wall of the holy of
holes. No one not entitled to admission
has ever been known to pass into those
sacred precincts Some men might have
tried to exclude newly appointed officers
whose features were unfamiliar But
Loeffler has been too adroit for such
blunder. He seems to sniff greatness by
instinct, and to identify, afar off, the right
to enter the door.
Captain Loeffier is German by birth.
He came to this country while young
man and enlisted in the army When the
civil war opened he was ordered with his
regiment to Washington for guard duty
at the treasury. After some later service
I nthe field he was detailed as doorkeeper
at the War Department and bodyguard to
Secretary Stanton the day after the as
sassination of President Lincoln. Wherever