Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1903 — GREAT LOT OF MAIL. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GREAT LOT OF MAIL.

PRESIDENT RECEIVE 3 FROM 800 TO 1,000 LETTERS DAILY. Borne of Them Are Fanny, Some Sad, and Many of Them Are Absurd— Vast Labor and Mnch Time Consumed in Handling Thera.

Washington correspondence:

Gp HE quantity ol v jr mail received at va the White House, in Washington, ,ia enormous. Since President Roosek"' velt has been in office the'mail'ad-. Stji 4ressed to the ||r chief magistrate has been the heavSjj iest in history, and fBBSj it is steadily jap; growing. Probarf'},. bly no other on£ lwl,l ‘*' r man in the world Rl/Va receives every day ][|" in the year so 11 * many personal letters as are sent to

the President of the United States, and very certainly no other man receives communications of such varied character. At the present* time anywhere from 500 to 1,000 letters are received at the White House every day. In addition to this hundreds of pieces of printed matter are received every day. The first step in the handling of the White House mail at its destination Is taken by the trusted employe of the White House who makes three or four trips daily to the postoffice to secure the mail. Upon the arrival of the letters at the White House they are turned over to a clerk whose sole duty is to open the envelopes and unfold the letters. The communications next pass to a clerk who sorts the missives. Many of the letters pertain to what might be termed routine governmental matters, and are turned over to one or another of the executive departments. The great bulk of the President’s mail goes to his secretaries, and most of it they answer over their own signatures without troubling the busy chief magistrate with the matter.

Doesn’t Peruse Many. The President does not peruse personally one-tenth of the letters which are addressed to hint. Indeed, fifty communications a day is a liberal, estimate of the number which comes under his eye. The letters by reason of their seeming importance or the doubt of the secretaries as to their proper disposition do finally pass the gauntlet and come into the hands of the President himself are disposed in one of three ways. In the cases of many of them he turns the letters over to the secretaries with an indication of the character of the reply to be sent. To a few of the letters the President dictates replies which he signs personally, and to a very limited number of personal friends he pens confidential letters.

Naturally such inscriptions as “Personal” and “Private” cannot be regarded in opening the White House mail, hut there are ways in which the initiated may insure their communication reaching the President personally. The approved plan is for the writer to place his initials or name in autograph in the lower left hand corner of the envelope. For instance, a confidential note from the President’s personal friend, Senator Lodge, bears in ’the corner the initials H. C. L. In a majority of cases the provisions of these safeguards is superfluous for the clerk who opens the mail has come by experience to recognize instantly the handwriting of the relatives and intimates of the chief executive, and their letters go through without molestation. Sometimes individuals not personally known to the President, but who have learned of the plan in vogue, seek to reach his ears by placing their initials on a missive or occasionally even to resort to the rue of affixing the initials of some one known to be close to the chief magistrate.

Topics Sad, Funny and Absurd. The topics discussed in the White House mail are varied. Some are sad, some humorous, others absurd. Many writers appeal to the President for aid in securing them government berths. The “begging letters” form a vast proportion, ranging all the way from the importunities of professional beggars to the requests of churches and charitable organizations seeking subscriptions. It may be noted that every appeal for aid which bears the slightest evidence of possible worthiness is turned over to some charitable organization in the community from which it has emanated. Great quantities of anonymous letters are received and a surprisingly large number of appeals'come from persons who seek to enlist the aid of the President in paying off mortgages. Finally there are the threatening and “crank” letters of various kinds nnd the number of communications of this kind received is simply astounding. Many of the letters addressed to the President are induced by newspaper comment. A striking evidence of this was afforded recently when an item went the rounds of the press to the effect that the White House was infested with rats. No sooner had publicity been given the report than there was an avalanche of letters recommending various plans for getting rid of the rodents. Manufacturers of rat poisons and traps donated their wares and another solicitous citizen sent., five cats which were declared to be famous rat catchers. The latter donation still further complicated matters for the correspondence corps, for a report was printed to the effect that the felines were being persecuted by Jack, the White House dog, and this brought s number of indignant protests from sympathetic ladies who denounced as an outrage the supposed cruelty. The general public and particularly the feminine portion of it appears to cherish the belief that, whereas there is no possibility that a letter can reach the President inviolate there is reasonable surety that a missive to a member of his immediate family will reach its destination unmolested. This is ntter fallacy, for every letter addressed to Mrs. Roosevelt or say of the children passes through exactly the same channel as does the Dial] designed for the head of the household and the chances that it will ever cease under the eye of the Intended red pleat ar* quite as remote. ,