Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-01-21
Star Laundry, s.Ss'''s'. s.ii rs.
Ten Presidents Of One Mind.

Washington, d. c., Jan. 21.-Of all
the employees of the White House, the
oldest Is Captain Pendel, chief door
keeper and usher. He was appointed
1864, and has held his place through
all administrations since the Civil
war. For more than n generation,
therefore, he Shas been showing visit
ors into the east room, nearly two mil
lion persons in all. nso
One day Mr.. Mckinley advised Pen
del to write his "reminiscences. The
chief usher acted upon the suggestion
and Il volume setting forth his expe-
rlences during 81 years Of service in
the White House, has just been is
sued. In its pages the author tells
how it was he who went to Boston
and posed for the figure of Lincoln
in the famous Hunt portrait of the
great and good President, and how
the portrait was later destroyed in
the great Boston fire. Pendel it was
who accompanied Johnson on one of
the rare occasions on which that Pres
ident attended services at the Metho-
dist church; for, while Johnson was
a Christian believer, he was not reg
ular church member. Then 1t was the
chief usher who, through Grants two
terms In office, often protected the
President from the wiles of unworthy
ofiice-seekers, who resorted to all sorts
of tricks, to get the ear Of the General.
Again he ate Thanksgiving dinner
with Hayes--the only President who
has ever invited the employees of the
White House to share with him the
Thanksgiving turkey. When Garfield
was shot, the usher helped carry the
wounded President upstairs when the
ident Arthur liked certain modest
brand of cigars, and 1t was Pendel
who was commissioned to stop at a
little Pennsylvania ave. shop and
buy Smoke" for the First Gentle.
man of America. Pendel 1t was who
packed the duck shooting kits for
Cleveland. He was reader-in- ordinary
to Harrison, keeping the President
posted daily OH events as summed up
In the newspapers, President McKin-
ley was his friend, And finally, the
chief usher was the first employe of
the White House to grasp the hand
of Theodore Roosevelt as President of
the United States
Among the usher's interesting col
lections of tales out of school. Is one
citing IA singular coincidence in which
all the ten Presidents whose habits
he knew so well, were of one mind.
This Is a story of the one thing be-
sides soap and water, which all the
Presidents used In common. 1t was
little thing-but It is just such trlfes
that impress upon us the fact that
great men are but human. 1t was
toilet article. There always have
been many rivals Of. this particular
article, but curiously enough, all the
Presidents from Lincoln to Roose-
yelt have had an Identical idea con-
cerning the brand of their choice. The
Presidents of thirty years ago and
their successors used It, as did all
persons Of refinement in their time.
Reference is made to DIR. Lyons Per
feet Tooth Powder. Today, as though
the habit were Presidentially inherited d,
one of the familiar blue enameled
boxes containing the powder, stands
beside every toothbrush in the bed
chamber Of the Roosevelt family. As
the package is metal 1t will not break,
and as 1t has n patent telescope
measuring tube, II is always corked
and Is, therefore, u convenience in
toilet bags of travellers as well as a
luxury In the boudQirs OF stay-at-home.
General Grant carried II with him on
his tour around the world. From New
York Press. ------'- +. -