Evening star., 1909-05-19

Is clear ana concise, as usual, ana - dS
follows:
Il have consulted several eminent au-
thorities on this important subject and.
OF course, my answer Is based accord
ingly. When what is now the state OF
Tennessee was ceded to the government
comprised five or six counties. and In the
constitution of the state OF Tennessee II
provided that in the creation OF new
counties the county line should not ap-
proach nearer than twelve miles to the
county seats. When the state began TO
fill up with population the demand for
nearer county seats was so insistent that
ii was necessary to create new counties.
New counties were also made that distin-
guished names might be honored. and in
making these new counties IL became
necessary to make the boundaries circu-
lar. SO as TO keep these lines twelve miles
which tended to make the shapes of the
counties irregular was the custom to tol-
low the courses OF streams"
Presidents Taft's Daily Mail.
DR.. ]. Villars OF New Lenox. ILL.,. for
merly president Of McKendree COLLEGE.
asks whether the correspondence Of the
President of the United States exceeds
his personal ability to read it. and how
the letters are disposed of.
lis the President so far removed from
the people that a citizen writing on i'm
portant business cannot reach him?" he
asks. rs his correspondence limited
purely to matters Of state and OF an
administrative character only? Is there
a department to which presidential cor
respondence is referred. and is II true
that he never sees the greater part OF
the thousands Of letters which are writ
ten him?"
The daily mail of the President Of
the United. States today averages about
four hundred and fifty letters. and It has
been falling Off gradually since the in
auguration. During the month OF March
he received as high as two thousand let
ters day, but the greater part OF
them were purely formal. conveying con-
gratulations, applications and recommen.
dations for Office. suggestions and COM
ments upon his inaugural address. and
newspaper reports of his policy. Pres
1dent Roosevelt used to receive an aver
age of five hundred letters a day. prob
ably more than any other President. and
since Clevelands time the mail at the
White House has more than doubled.
Probably President Roosevelt received
more letters than any other man who
variety of subjects. Many Of them were
crank letters" as they were called.
written by people with queer ideas; many
of them were incoherent. many OF them
were abusive, and some were threaten
ing. The President of the United States
always receives threatening letters. and
they are referred promptly to the chief
OF the secret service, who frequently
investigates the writer's.
If the President tried to read all Of
the letters he receives he would have
very little time for anything else, but
before he sees IL his mail is opened, read,
assorte04And classified, according to the
subjects referred to.
This is done by confidential clerks OF
experience who have specific instructions.
All letters referring to routine matters
are sent direct to the various bureaus
and departments of the government, hav-
ing jurisdiction over the subject matter
of their contents: all purely formal let
ters are answered by a corps of secre-
taries under the direction of Mr.. Fred
Carpenter, secretary to the President.
who signs them: communications OF
personal, political or official interest are
placed in basket for the president, and
he reads as many and as much Of them
as his time will allow. Mr.. Latta, his
stenographer. or Mr.. Foster. the assistant
secretary, sits at his side. and usually
makes brief notes upon the backs Of the
letters as instructed by the President to
guide them in framing answers for the
Presidents signature. Very often the
Presidetn dictates an entire letter, and his
secretary redictates It to stenographer
who writes 1t out upon White House
paper.
It is probable that the President reads
one-fourth of the letters that are address,
ed to him. It depends entirely upon their
contents. He never sees any OF the abu-
sive or threatening letters. His secre-
taries endeavor to protect him from any
waste of time upon those which are OF
no consequence. But he never falls to
see any national criticism or suggestion
that is received from any citizen OF the
United States.
Few rulers read as many or dictate as
many letters as the President Of the
United States. President Taft dictates
readily. His long experience has taught
him to dispose Of business very rapidly.
and he can go through q tall pile Of let
ters with as little delay as a railway
manager.
PEN Picture Of Sam Houston.
Mr.. M. ]. Hawley of Cairo. Ill. sends
me a pen picture OF Gen. Sam Houston
as he appeared to Editor Add H. Sanders
of the Cairo Delta. a weekly newspaper
published in that city March %. 1S49:
'Gen. Sam Houston. United States SEN
ator, called at the Delta Office one day
last week. on his way home from WASH
ington. He is a heavy-built gentleman.
full six feet high, reveling In q drab
suit Of peculiar cut. dark crimson vest.
ruffled shirt and white cravat. He has
f1orid complexion, good features, light
colored and thin hair falling back from
high but receding forehead and pleas
ant, good-humored expression Of face, by
no means illustrative of the generally
conceived idea Of Sam Houston. The
general has been so frequently called a
blackguard and rufiian for the coarse
ness Of his language on occasions that
we were not prepared to find him the
gentleman his conversation and his man.
ners on the alluded-to visit declared him."
The Lafittes Of New Orleans.
At the corner of Bourbon and Phillip
streets in New Orleans once stood the
blacksmith shop Of the Lafitte brothers.
who were known as 1.-The Pirates Of Bara-
taria," and their exploits furnish one Of
the most exciting chapters In the history
smugglers in the days when heavy duty
was imposed upon wine and other lux
uries imported from France. shortly after
the Louisiana Purchase. Before that date
such things were free, and the French
and Spanish residents of the Louisiana
territory were naturally indignant when
the American government imposed taxes
upon them. They not only encouraged
the violation of the law. but did every
thing in their power to protect the SNUG
glers
The Lafitte brothers pretended to be
blacksmiths. and carried on a lively busi-
ness at their shop, which was located
on one of the most prominent corners
in the city. This enabled them to con-
duct their smuggling without suspicion.
and they made enormous sums Of money
handling wines and brandies from Paris,
sherry from Spain and cigars from Cuba.
They had a fleet of vessels running
regularly between Europe and obscure
docks upon the bayous OF Louisiana. AS
soon as a United States revenue cutter
was Spied i'm the distance coming up