The sun., 1903-07-05

Smith became Postmaster General. One
OF the Department clerks suggested to him
on the first day he took up the Department
mail that II he used his initials instead OF
his full name no would save time and effort
But that good name Of Emory was not
| to be SO slighted, he said.
After three days, when he had signed
his name several hundred times, he thought
II over again and permitted himself to sign
Oh. Emory Smith. That form was in vogue
for just three days more, and then his name
was altered to G. Emory Smith. The Post
masrer-General adhered TO TINS Tor a full
| week. Then he made it plain {. Il. Smith
and piled the G and the + and the 5 &c
close together that they looked like d
| monogram.
| 1t is the man with the full arm swing
who can make u record at signing his name
Lyman j. Gage was one Of the men who
| never tire of writing their signature. Ii
was theory OF his that the flourish he
always added rel eyed his arm Of the ten
sion and rested il for the next attack OF
the pen.
! Ii, A. Taylor has one Of the peculiar
signatures in the Treasury Department
| He is very conscientious about signing
| letters and documents and wants to advise
himself as to the contents Of each before
| he approves them as Assistant Secretary
| He signs as he reads the matter before
him.
| Naturally as he can sign much faster
| than he can read, he signs very slowly
He prints the II and the A out Of straight
| lines, drawing each one very slowly and
| carefully joining ii to another to make
the complete letters. BY the time he has
| done this in mechanical sort OF n way he
has finished reading and he finishes UP
by writing Taylor" at maximum speed.
The poorest writer in the Cabinet to-day
is, perhaps, Mr.. Wilson. Secretary of Agri-
| ns.lt Vhxh ,la rDgt ia. I'M ~
retary of War. Mr.. Wilson smiles at his
own chirography and says that as he is a
farmer anyway, good penmansllip should
not be expected Of him.
| But Mr. Wilson's signature is as plain
as print compared with that Of Mr. Long
| who used to- be Secretary of the Navy.
Mr.. Longs signature was so illegible that
| after he had been I'm the Cabinet short
! time he was obliged to have all his official
| and personal stationery stamped IN one
corner, John ID. Long, Secretary Of the
| Navy so that his correspondents could
| tell by whom their letters were signed.
The record Of Mr.. Armstrong of 5000
signatures in a day OF ten hours has been
doubted by some men who have had ex-
perience in signing their names. Year
| in and year out it is possible that James
| + Meline, Assistant Treasurer Of the United
| States, has to sign his name more than any
one else in Government employ. Being
| in this line he said:
| Il have been timed frequently and
! can sign my name 82O times an hour. That
| is the very top notch,
Il can do that in the first hour of the day,
| but ! cannot keep up that speed for ten
! hours. Each day OF continuous work |
| fall of from that record, and believe that
a man would become q nervous or physical
wreck who persisted in the monotonUus
| task, day in and day out, for comparatively
short period"
1t may be said however, that Mr.. Me-
| lines signature il the plainest in the Treas
| ury Department II looks as though it had
beeh engraved His first signature in the
morning does not differ hairs breadth
| from his last sigma, are at night He is very
careful to dot his and place period
after his initial
Fe does not finish with flour ish, but
makes a short perpendicular mark under
his middle initial every time he signs his
name. II is heavier at the top than at
the bottom as though he was cleaning his
pen.
Lucius Chittenden claims the record for
signing his name as a Government employee
1t was in 1872, while he was Registrar of the
Treasury A bond issue Of SO, ,000. 100 was
made necessary by the efforts of our Minist er
to England. Charles Francis Adams. to
prevent the delivery os two ships, build
ing in England. to the Confederates.
Chittenden was notified at noon Friday
to get the bond issue out. and he did SO in
time to have the bonds taken to New York
by special train at O'Clock on the follow
ing Monday. About three years ago he pre-
pared magazine article in which he said
he signed his name 800 times in seven
hours, at the time OF that bond issue, and
reached speed Of ten signatures IA minute
In all, he signed his name i2.5W times
in the time given, and had TO have the aid
of an army surgeon to care for his arm after
the first twelve hours. He did not stop to
eat. but took his food liquid form, he says,
and slept at his desk