Year: 1879

On Tuesdays and Fridays, says the
Washington Sun, there are Cabinet meet
ings. The members of the Cabinet drop
in one by one, but they are all on hand
by IL o'clock. Each member brings his
portfolio. The President sits at the head
of the table, and Secretary Shurz at the
foot; on the right, next to the President,
is the Secretary of State, next to him the
Secretary of War, and beyond him the
Postmaster-General. On the left, next to
the President, sits the Secretary of the
Treasury. and next to him the Secretary
of the Navy, and next to the Secretary of
the Interior on that side the Attorney
General. After the Cabinet meets it is
ten or fifteen minutes before the members
get to work. That ten minutes is taken
up in greetings and off-hand talk, in
which the spirit of fun and humor crops
out good deal. The Cabinet are all
men with sunny, fun-loving side when
out of official harness. Judge Key is
perhaps the jolliest, though the Attorney
General pushes him hard for that dis
tinction. Secretary Thompson is pro-
verbal lover of pleasant joke, while
Secretary Shurz is hardly equalled in
telling one. Secretary McCrary is a good
story teller. Secretary Sherman does not
indulge in humor often, but when he
does, it is, on account of its unexpected
character, the more enjoyable. Secretary
Evarts is one of those of the quietly
humorous sort. His fund of dry 3lumor
and wit is inexhaustible, and though not
uproarious is keenly enjoyable.


The President has probably the hearth
est Cabinet that any President ever
assembled around him. The old bores
who keep at them day by day are unmer-
cifully dealt with by the heads of the de-
partments when they assemble. The
Attorney-General seems to take par
ticular delight in joking Secretary
Thompson. At recent Cabinet meeting
the Naval Secretary took with him list
of midshipmen who had passed their
examinations. The Secretary called at
tention to them, and said he would like
to have their nominations for promotion
to ensigns sent to the Senate as soon as
possible, "as they were worthy young
men who have thoroughly earned their
spurs" "Mr. Thompson" interrupted
Mr.. Devens, show long since have they
been wearing spurs in the navy?" At a
latter meeting the Attorney General an
a character SO derogatory to the inland
marine Secretary that it ought to be met.
Lets have it, "It was when he was
first made Secretary of the Navy pro-
ceeded Judge Devens willingly. "a
committee from the Navy Yard invited
him down on visit of inspection. He
was taken through the different shops
and works, and finally on board a man
of-war, which was lying at the wharf.
After being shown over the different parts
of the ship, the Captain stood by one
hatchway, and asked the Secretary to
look down. Thompson took a look of
some length, and then exclaimed: "My
goodness the burned old things hollow"
The Naval Secretary bore the bantering
with equanimity, and remarked that the
joke was good one in its trime, but now
had an ancient and fsh-like shell.


After this ten minutes of boy play be-
fore school, the President calls the meet
ing to order. The regular business is
taken up, the Secretary of State leading
off with his budget. The discussion is
conducted in a conversational way, the
meetings generally lasting about two
hours.