Evening Star Newspaper, January 18, 1925, Page 73

MAGAZINE SECTION ILLUSTRATED FICTION AND FEATURES The Sundiy Stae HUMOR Part 5—8 Pages WASHIN GTON, D. ( SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 18, 1 “Nearly 100,000 Call at White House in Year to Greet President BY HAROLD K. PHILIPS. HEN the clerk of that eter nal tribunal which we are told s to be convened one fair somewhere b yond ds carefull adjusts a pair of imitation t shell-rimmed noss, and be h roll of heroes whe 1 unsung h 3 planet, tw pages ba & brace of Washington cop: Up in_ths polist mbers of the Etate Department tl careful ured and gentlemen who they have bee art of dipl srtoise- spe. ) his angell of he will ere ar dlately rightly ad schooled acy. B al technique lest sense of N have the polite of You want to tact applied § eaning, 3 I t wiil aln its owne ou for the Sergt. Dalrsn ice are exp *wo Officials in ( || Tact—Sergts. Morning™ and Expa Dalrymple ‘harg and Seaman nsive sion Have Special Form of Reception. Hav > of Line of Visitors to National Capital Are 1 e Been Guardin © guard th Preside you astor perhaps, nto your are able ady determining your busi- t diplomats w sident by definite 1y by ial tha » should have ho call appointment \inderstood: Natlon's at the e one's with, or ful this vast be all le rowd, wera 1pan and that ard for an | what you President | caller of being noth- man; but some- | where in his p, the two ex- | erts had detected something wrong knew he had come on a peculiar ssion, and they did not intend te let him get away until they found out what it was; it might have been a dangerous state of mind "I, sir,” replied the old man with A superior air, “have a message for Calvin Coolidg \ God! Ab, I see,” replied the now gravely | “Just Seaman In a few minutes the old gentlen was seated in a nice, safe room found himself being introduced to a serfous yYoung man as one of the undersecretaries. He was, in truth, a Secret man. Thera the old man was thoroughly questioned| without ever realizing that he was Delng cross-examined, and the Secret Sorvies man learned enough to know that the caller was harmless. He had no intention of harming the President. He probably thought he really had a message from God to give to the Nation's chief executive. | But had he gotten into the Presi- | dent’s office, he might have attempt- | €d to hold a revival service and caused some embarrassing moments. He was | Rimply persuaded that the President | was too busy to see him, his relatives wers notified of the incident, and nothing more was heard of it or the sary from Deity ** o ing but step way, sir,” echoed an and | 'OT all such callers fare so well. 4N 0ne put in his appearance within the memory of this administration and insisted upon seeing the Presi dent. Politely pr ed for an explana- tion of h busi s, he persistently refused to divulge it On his third visit, he finally confided to the officers | at the door that he from a South- western State and wanted the Presi- nt to help him get hold of some property It seemed that he laboring under the delusion that he had in- herited one of the richest counties < State, and that all of the people lived In that county were squat- | White House, so tha Sergdt. Seaman, loft, S ters, who refused point-blank to pa him’ for the privilege. Once more the courteous, “Ah see,” from Dalrymple and the next minute the stranger was being led off to the little anteroom, “fto see the President’s secre There a tall, smooth Ser man waited from the start that this case not be handled so easily, and that careful diplomacy must be used to prevent a “scene,’” sibly serfous trouble For the sake of convenience, call the visitor “Mr. June Bug." conversation that followed something like this. “Mr. Secretary, this is Mr. June Bug, who wishes 'to see the President about some property he owns down in the State of Arkansas,” sald the officer. “Mr. June Bug, I meet vou,” replied the ice man, stepping forward to hands most cordially. “Ah, Mr. rymple, will you please tell the dent that Mr. June Bug is here Immediately Dalrymple disappe: and when he decides the Secret Serv- man has had sufficient to question his man, he returns with a message something like this “Mr. Secretary, the President wishes me to tell you that he is busy with séme of the members of h cabinet now, but would like to have you show Mr. June Bug around the he might be en- waiting for his in- slim Secret him a evident fce cordial give least, let's The nt delighted cret am to ry- Presi- tertained while terview.” It is an old, well rehearsed Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean act to those master artists on the stage of real life, and it never has failed to work They simply smother the bewildered Mr. June Bug, or whoever he hap- pens to be, under a blanket of effer- vescing attention, and soon, all un- consciously, he finds himself his own part with them, trying to decelve them into believing that was just the way he had expected to be received. And so it is the gentleman from the wide, open spaces of the great Soutjwest begins his tramp around the White House grounds on the ‘arm of “the President's secre- tary With delicate care he shown all of the points of interest and details are explained with minute precision—all to give one of the versatile sergeants at the door time to call up police headquarters and have an automoblle waiting at one of the gates to escort him elther to a station house or to St. E Hospital. ¥ the course of his walk with the visitor the Secret Service man has managed to find out whether the ) that * % * 4 could | nd pos- | taking | is | 2 zabeth's ancl £ Dat rample, nghb. erg man is armed |are taken to he weapon reached and he rounded by half tectives. Usually he lifted | the waiting automobile and | his way to his destination, wh | it sre he had time sa Robin." In se of Mr. | was taken to st and declared suffering from gerous form of dementia finally turned over to t of his home State, and, in due course of time, declared by them to be fectly sane. Scarcely h he | released from the sanitarium { he was back in Washington, |ing his insistent demand for terview with the President. That settled the matter for the White House authorities. They knew that he must be put away and kept there, or he would certainly do some damage. Once more he was coaxed into the headquarters automobile— how, only the officers know, on that occasion, and they will not tell—and off to St. Elizabeth's Hos- | pital. Before agreeing to return him o the officers from his State, how- ver, officlals he made certain that he would not be turned loose again. Had not such urance been ob- tain€ed, they would have contrived to keep Mr. June Bug safe and sound out in the Anacostia institution A more recent caller whose m at the White House was of a que tionable nature was a colored man, who, arter polite but insistent ques- tioning, admitted that he was there to collect a bill for $30,000 he said the President owed him. Assured that the President probably did not have that much money in his pocket, the man departed n peace, with a strong suggestion not to return, after the guards had satisfied themselves that he was quite harmless. % % If he is, special pains pr t when the finds himself a_dozen burly is into on June Bug, he Elizabeth’s Hospital a dan- He before renew- an in- | hustled ion | QOME prowlers that might actually { have intended to harm the Pres- ident have been picked up by mem- | bers of the White House staff. Dur- Ing the administration of the late President Harding a Japanese youth was arrested. The police took him to custody when they noticed that apparently he was not walking around merely for sightseeing pur- poses, but acted as though he were bent on another mission. When asked what he wanted, he failed to &lve acceptable explanation 1d was taken to @ room for qu tioning. In his case diplomacy wa useless and he was quietly Informed | that, if he did not submit to search peaceably, force would be resorted to. He submitted, and a loaded auto- matic pistol was taken from a pocket. The Japapese was sent tg detge- erever | > authorities | per- | been | \ While a,skm§ Office of America’s Presidents for Nearly Three Decades—Courteous Smile Hide Keen Study of Character of Person Who Seeks Interview With Chief ‘xecutice ‘xamples of Diplomacy, Revealing Finest Development of Technique of “(GGood Men With Queer Mis- tive headquarters and later to St. Elizabeth's Hospital. His ultimate fate was never followed up, but he probably was found to be insane and was properly incarcerated. It must not be taken for granted from these incidents that the White House is a mecca for wobbly minds. On the contrary, as was pointed out before, they are the exceptions out of perhaps a thousand visitors—men and women, children and babies who come from every nook and cranny of the United States, and even fts insular possessions, and having vis- ited the National Capital feel | trip is not complete without | pald their respects to the President. Every day during the noon hour the President “receives’—and some- times he “receives” & sore right arm L having their | “Stand inline p Said the big red ease -faced policeman . ‘Please 1snt there some way for us Lo see Mrs @oolidge, Ou! pleass’ adozen questions at atime, sightseers even “ take pictures of the Write House police. for his courtesy in attempting to shake the hand of each and every one of the visitors as they file through his office, entering by one door and leaving by another. Not infrequently his visitors {n this line run into the hundreds on a single day. To_ the newspaper men who go to the White House every day In search of “storles” these “respects parties,’ as they are known to the scribes, soon become funny and then bore- some. Every day comes the parade through the lobby in the same way, each person clutching the same kind of a little envelope, and each party looking exactly llke the one of the day before. To study the types as they pass in review, trekking their way back into the very sanctum sanctorum of official life, is to learn with distress- ing suddenness that America is not 8o versatile as we have bean taught to believe. There is a woeful sameness to the President's “respects parties” —they dress much the same, accord- ing to season; look the same, talk about the mame things and act absat the same. There 18 the usual sprinkling of ex> tremes—very tall and skinny Ameri- can® and very short and rotund ones —wlith the bulk hitting about the common average, moderately tall and moderately well covered with flesh. Thelr dress, too, is about that of the average person, except in the warmer months, when “tin-can tour- ists” begin pouring through the Na- | tional Capital. Then the effect of nee- ing some matronly, plump ladies in knickers, waddling their way back through the carefully kept halls of the executive offices to see their Pres- ident is a sight to make an image weep. It is evidence supporting the truth of the adage, “Fine feathers malke fine birds."” Satin slippers, lace hose and cheap khakl, or even ex- pensive flannel, knickers were never created as a pleasant combination by the modistes of Paris. To be persona grata at these noon- day receptions the visitors must bear some definite means of identification Most of them & rs from rep! sentatives in Congress and some few are accompanied by members of Con- | sress, who personally present them to the President. A letter of introduc- tion from a Senator or Representa- tive, however, is usually sufficient in callers regt. Dal ver. | ana for Sergt. Seamar th callers the through i1 tor awful feelin, ot powerful stated, but must handls itmost cz | is n the presenc “a sce men v . roety 3 @ sergeant has fal her busi R ened o8t gets she becomes da ystarica differ woul sion ess or tha questions least the o t 18 the ze White save the uiet of OF cours: 12 n her voung life the etern He me: she'll tell the ing sergeants fair miss eccassary carne that the world lost— fa | happe; who Of course, not e Pres| presence, ough fouse which public. There Perhaps half and thes others that part of may be viewed b; were thousands of engagements ident but were tabu actual ally s to Washingtor! s what th societies And M idge, too ust do her share o eceiving.” al ough she is not subjected to the awful ordeal of hand-shaking that seems have become a part of her distingulshed husband's duty. I ow and then, however, some woman's soclety or some delegation of chil calls o present her with some trifling thing | Al in all, no oue nead smvy Sergt Dairymple and Sergt. Seaman thelr fobs. | Like the actor, they must have an ever- | ready smils for one and all, yet keep a calm mind behind the sc 8. It wo 1 [be quite fatal should either make 2 mt take that might embarrass one of the | President's callers on state b | Nor is thers any desire to ba le ful with the less distingulshed | But first and foremost comes protection | of the President’s weifare Since the war th. number of mental- |1y unsound persone wiio attempt to get into the executive «ffices has increased astonishingly, Few might be regarded as “dangerous persor Most are poor, broken veterans of the great red mili they went through urope, begging for a chance to e some grievance against the Vete Bureaa to the President. But their minds and nerves are In no condition stand hareh | treatment. Most of them are treated wi the ut- most kindness. When they show dan- gerous tendencles, however, they ars removed to a place of safety for ob- servation, as quietly and courteously as conditions will warrant. But many tim it requires real diplomacy to handie such cases, and to the White House guards must go the credit to protecting the peace of the White House and the life of the President, both at the same time. * * BOTH Serst. Dalrymple and Serst {1 Seaman are graduates of the hard school that Washington knows as the | Metropolitan police force. It was by { the ability and dashing bravery the displayed as _patrolmen, poundi beats in the Capital, thal thes selected as fit men to guard President. Sergt. Dalrymple- obtained on the Metropolitan force In thres years he showed b and was detailed to the White House in 1898. When the Executive Mansion force was shaken up several years ago, relieved from the supervision of the Metropolitan force and placed under United States command, he re- ceived the ranking position of first sergeant in recognition of continued good service. Sergt. Seaman was foot” of the White H police the day William McKinley was shot Sergt. S never says very much & the a post 13 s a the “tender- eaman about himself or his work, but when he can be persuaded even to mention the personal pronoun “I” the one thing he will tell vou is the awful impression that catastrophe made upon him. And his conscientious faithfulness to duty has won for him promotion, too. If you should either of these guards extraordinary to tell you what in all the world they are most afraid they would not even give you a hint that they had heard your ques tion. They have been schopied to keep their mouths shut. But the newspaper men who are with them every day are also schooled to watch, and their guess would be the one thing that will meit even a heart of stone—a WOman's tears Never a tremor or sign of nervous- ness does either Sergt. Dalrymple or | Sergt. Seaman display when standing face to face with men who might shoot them down on the spot. Plstols and bombs hold no terrors to them. But just let a woman come around | and signs of weeping under ne mervous strain and they will literally break their necks trying to stem the Impendine Scod ask show Deer’s Diet. AFTER tramping the hills in an unsuccessful pursuit of a deer, Augustus Cebula of Ware returned to his automobile and decided to take & ittle nap before returning home. In the front seat was a cushion filled with straw, and when Cebula, who took his nap In the back seat, woke up he sald the straw had all been eaten from the cushion and there were numerous deer tracks about the machine. He has decided to give up deer huntin 1