Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-24
THE PRESIDENTS DAILY
MAIL.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

The handling of the Presidents mail is
an important task and requires skilled
corps of secretaries and subsecretaries
In President Wilson's administration there
have been few days on which several
hundred letters of every character mag
Unable have not been received. The size
of the executive mail varies greatly from
day to day, and from season to season
There are. of course, a great number of
routine letters from the departments
which maintain fairly steady flow: then
there are the letters brought on by ex-
traordinary events. After the signing OF
the tariff bill, for example, thousands of
letters were received relating to that
alone: besides. there were nearly 600 tele-
grams. Some We're congratulatory, others
critical. the list including requests for in
formation or jobs, predictions of hard
times and observations of varied char
acter.
All of the Presidents mail passes
through the hands of one clerk. who opens
and sorts it. a small number Of the let
ters go directly to the Presidents desk
Those relating to important appointments
and of a political character generally go
to the desk of Private Secretary Tumulty.
Executive Clerk Rudolph Forster gets
those from the executive departments of
the government. and many others of i'm
portance. Chief Clerk Thomas Brahany
gets the requests for interviews with the
President and those which relate to him
in personal or social way. Brahany
gets the freak letters. too. Each letter.
however unmpOrtant is briefed in a few
words and the daily list of briefs sent to
the President.
Mr.. Brahany, perhaps. has the most in
teresting batch of all, for his letters con-
stantly reveal the
Oddities in Mall odd quirks which
Of Every Variety. ton takes as we'll
as all sorts of human interest stories.
from the naming OF little Eskimo baby
Woodrow" to appeals by mothers for
the release of imprisoned sons.
The Presidents mail uncovers at times
impressive evidences of ignorance as to
what the Presidents job really is. Not
long ago there came from cashier of
national bank a large batch of old paper
money he desired the President to take
in exchange for new bills. The clerks
maryeled that a man could have at
tanned cashiership of a national bank
without learning that it was the func-
ton of the Treasury Department and not
the White House to redeem such money.
1t is estimated that 100 young Amerl-
cans have been christened Woodrow VIII
son within the last year. Information
as to the christening of practically every
one of these has been conveyed to the
President in a letter. Mr.. Brahany has
written a nice little note to the parents
in each case. expressing the Presidents
pleasure at the honor which has been con-
ferred on him. Some of the youngsters
We're born on election day, some on the
day of the inauguration. some on the
Presidents birthday. some on the day the
tariff bill was signed. but many of them
had no excuse at all for being named
after the President. The letters which
their parents have received Will be treas
ured UP for them. however and passed
down to their children's children with as
much satisfaction as If they were evil
dence of an intimacy with the President
Of the United States. Young Woodrows
have seen the light Of day in practically
every quarter of the globe. Accounts OF
such christenings have come from Africa.
Europe China and Alaska. An Eskimo
mother wrote not long ago that although
doubtless many babies had been named
Woodrow, her son could lay claim to the
distinction of being farther north than
any other member of the clan.
Along with these accounts of christen-
ings come letters from people who want
prizes for large families or who announce
the birth of triplets. These, doubtless.
are echoes from President Roosevelt's adj
declarations against race suicide started
these letters and they have been pouring