16
THE PITTSBTJUG DISPATCH, SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 1890.
UNCLE SI'S HOTEL
It is the White House and Ben
Harrison Keeps It.
A NEW OXE BADLY NEEDED.
Hrs. Harrison Has Four Bedrooms and
a Hall for a Parlor.
abreast
elbows.
through it without touching their
PEEPS INTO ALL THE APARTMENTS
icokbspomk;ck or the dispatch.)
Washington, March 29.
The "White House to-day is like a big
hotel and President Harrison is the land
lord. Every man and woman who comes to
"Washington thinks he has a right to enter
hii house without knocking. They tramp
over hiB carpets with their muddy boots,
suk all sorts of impudent questions of his
errants, and the chances are that tbey carry
way a bit ot the furniture. Every now
and then a piece as big as your hand is
clipped out of one of the lace curtains by a
relic hunter, and during President Lincoln's
time r mmsn was caueht in the verv act of
it cutting the cosily curtains of the Est
room. She cried when she was found out
und she was taken up weeping to the Presi
dent's room. Mr. Lincoln looked at her
aorrowfnlly and told her the best thing she
could do was to leave the city. It is the
tame with the cushions ot the furniture, and
by no means safe to let sightseers move about
gave nnder the eye ot a guide. These
guides are the President's servants, and
they have all they can do to keep the crowds
out of the most private parts of the house.
Xot infrequently visitors want to see the
kitchen and all the home life that Mrs.
Harrison gets must come from a little space
on the second floor.
The President's grounds cover many
acres, and the White House covers a third
of an acre It is a long rectangular almost
iqnatty two-story structure with a wide
porte cochere having a floor as big as that
of the average two-story house. The porte
cochere is upheld by ionic columns as big
around as the largest oaks of the lorest, and
its roof supported by these is of the Grecian
order. Around the roof of the White House
there is
A MARBLE FENCE
about as high as a table, and made of round
marble pillars the size of a baseball club.
The building has a basement under it and
two rows of big rectangular windows look
lis
n i I
M 'a 5fijV.p
The While Bmut Laundry.
out of the stories above this. The basement
windows are square and the most of them
look as though they needed washing. "Wide
walks lead np in the shape of a half-moon
from Pennsylvania avenue to the White
House, and you walk half the length of the
House before you get to the front door. As
you do so you can look right down into the
basement, aud if your eyes are sharp, about
very other day yon" will see a num
ber of colored girls here with irons in their
hands polishing the President's shirts and
putting the finishing touches on babyMc
Eee's unmentionables.
If, on leaving the mansion, you walk over
toward the State, War and Saw Depart
ments, your nostrils may be saluted with the
hog and hominy which is being cooked in
the Presideut's kitchen, and you may see
the President's colored lady chef producing
those exquisite dishes which are making the
state dinners so famous. It is not halt big
enough for an establishment of our Presi
de -t, and it has none of the modern con
veniences for keeping dinners warm which
the best restaurants of the conntrv contain.
There is a big lange at one side of the room,
and there is another little range in the
scullery beyond. The cooking utensils are
of copper, and the walls are plastered and
not tiled. The entire front of the basement
of the White House is taken up with
kitchens and laundry. The back has a
storeroom, a furnace, and whisper it low in
the ear of our Methodist brother a billiard
room.
MLLIAEDS IS THE -WHITE HOUSE.
Billiards have been played in the White
House ever since the day of John Quincy
Adams, and President Arthur could handle
a billiard cue equal to Slosson. John
Quincy Adams bought the first billiard
table that was ever used in the White
House, and his extravagance in this respect
was made a campaign issue, and he eventu
ally paid for the table outot his own pocket.
I don't know that President Harrison plays,
but tbetable is there in the basement, and
he can if he will.
Let us look at the first floor of the White
House. Guards stand at the doors aud a
giant Apollo in the shape ot Colonel Dins
more inspects every man who comes in. The
doors are of mahogany and the knobs are as
big, almost, as the head of a babv. You
turn them and on brass hinges the great doors
turn inward and you are in the tiled vesti
bule, at the back of which there is a wall of
mosaic of beautiful stones and colored irlass
which reminds one ot the jeweled palace of
xreaencc me ureat, at .fottsdam. This
BELONG TO THE PEOPLE.
Just next to this, at the left, is a hall
with stairs leading to the President's office,
and on the other side of this hall is the
mighty East Room. You never see Mrs.
Harrison or any of the family upon these
stairs. They are the property of the pnblic,
and the ceaseless tread of the countless
crowd which besieges the President goes its
muffled way np and down them. The East
Boom belongs to the people. It is always
open to visitors, and the only use that Pres
ident Harrison gets from it is in crowding
his C3llers into it at a big Presidental recep
tion. It is one of the most beautiful rooms
in the world. Its walls are painted in silver
and gold, and its ceiling is three times as
high as that of an ordinary room. It takes
442 yards of brussels carpet to cover it, and
the velvet into which your feet kink is of
the color of Etruscan gold.
The most wonderful thing to me in this
room is the chandeliers. Each one of these
is made of 6,000 pieces of Bohemian glass
and they cost ?5,000 a piece. There are
eight massive mirrors, each as big as two
billiard tables, set into the walls about the
room and when these chandeliers are lighted
these pendants are reflected like diamonds
in these mirrors and the scene is indescrib
ably brilliant Still you might as well
lurnish a barn or a bowling alley and call it
a parlor as to think of using this big room
ior me living room tor me Home life of a
private family, and if President Harrison
wanted it he couldn't get it, for the people
have monopolized it by the precedent of
generations.
HOT PAETS OF THE HOME.
It is the same with the Green Boom, the
Blue Boom and the Bed Boom. They are full
of beauties in furniture and hangings, but
they are as much shut out from the every
day life of the President as the parlor of a
.hew England farmer s wife, which is dusted
every day but never used except for com
pany. It is in the Blue Boom that President
Harrison, with his wife standing beside him,
shakes the hands of the multitnde at a big
reception. The room is oval in shape, fin
ished in blue satin fresco, ana its diameter
is about that of a oountry church. Still it
is hardly large enough io"r this purpose, and
when the crowd is out of it it is too big for
common use.
There are many dining rooms in Wash
ington larger than the State dining room,
and I can count on my fingers a dozen which
are more beautifully furnished. There are
no ie of the conveniences for serving a great
dinner, and these 51,000 feasts which the
President gives have to be largely gotten up
outside of the house and hired waiters have
to be brought in to pass the victuals. The
dining room used by the family, or the pri
vate diningroom, is at the right of the ves
tibule. This have to be tnrned inside out at
every big reception for the table must be
removed and shelves be put around the
room to hold the hats and coats of the
guests. At such receptions the state dining
room becomes a ladies' dressing room, and
more fuss is made in the Executive Mansion
every time the President receives than you
make in your own home when your daugh
ters are married.
A SECOND-CLASS BOARDING HOUSE.
2sot long ago there was a mantel bed in
the reception room opposite Elijah Hai
ford's office on the second floor. I passed
through this room yesterday and noticed
that it was still there but whether it is used
or not I do not know. Think of the Presi
dent of the United States being compelled
to nave a wardrobe bed in one of his par
lors. It is true no one knows what it is.
but it makes one think of the occupant of a
second-class boarding house who is trying
to keep up appearances and pretending to
have a suit of rooms when he gets along
with only one.
The liTing rooms of the President are at
the west end of the second floor, and Mrs.
Harrison has only four good-sized bed
rooms. It takes about a hundred yards of
carpet to cover each one of them, and she
has turned the lower end of the hall into a
sitting room, and the children are using the
little private office at the northwest corner
of the building where President Arthur
used to receive his most intimate friends.
There is an elevator leading to this floor,
and there are two or three bathrooms hud
dled together right over the big entrance
hall. -r Tc,
The business offices of the White House
take up the whole of the eastern portion of
the second floor. Entering the big front
This room is a big oval, requiring 141 yards
of velvet brussels to cover its floor. It has
windows looking out upon the Potomac -and
it is 69 feet wide and 28 feet long. The
President's callers are seated on chairs
about the room and he usually stands with
head bent over as he talks with them. He '
receives nearly every pne who has business
with him and he is besieged by a host of
Congressmen nearly every day. It is this
room which forms his home and his busi
ness is always with him. His bedroom is
next to it and the ghost of work undone
must hover over him as he sleeps.
NO BUSINESS MAN "WOULD STAND IT.
The President of the United States never
gets through with his work and there ought
to be some arrangement by which he could
get away for a certain time during the day
from the care of his office. He ought not to
have to eat and to sleep bathed in the per
spiration of office-seeking applications and
there is no other business man in the United
States who would endure the environments
of our President.
The attic of the White House might be
supposed to furnish some room. It does not.
The roof is so low in most places that you
cannot stand upright under it. All the
light comes from the skylights, and the
place is fit for nothing but a lumber room.
In it are stored President Harrison's trunks,
baby Mclvce's cast-off clothes and the old
furniture of the Executive Mansion. Bats
and spiders are about the only inhabitants,
and the top of the White House is more like
a country garret than the attic of a two-story
Douse covering a quarter of an acre and situ
ated iu one of the great cities of the United
States.
FOR ONE OB THE OTHER.
The trnth about the matter is that the Ex
ecutive Mansion would do very well for the
private residence of the President or for his
offices. It will not do for both, and the
statesmen appreciate it. In 1882 Senator
Morrill had a bill which passed tbe Senate
appropriating $300,000 to build an extension
to the White House, and Mrs. Harrison has
said that there ought to be two wings added
to it. She would remodel the conservatory,
add a hall of painting and statuary, and
wonld leave the present building as it is,
sandwiched between tbe ends of these two
wings. In this war the historical associa
tions of the building would be preserved,
and Mrs. Harrison's ideas are much better
tjhau that of Senator Iugalis, who was in fa
vor of adding a story to me building.
The White House has cost already about
$2,000,000. It took $JOO,000 to build it
nearly 100 years ago, and more than 51,700,
000 have since been spent upon it. It is
full of beauties in the way of furniture and
pictures, but it costs us more than $125,000
a year to pay the President's salary and
keep up his establishment
Feank G. Caepenteb.
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS
JOU
-3TH EATERS
Under the Direction of R. M. GULICK & CO.
WEEK BEGINNING MONDAY. MARCH 31,
MATINEES WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY.
The Romantic Military Melo-Drama,
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
THE DRUMMER BOY;
OR, THE BATTLEFIELD OF SfflLOH.
Benefit of Charity Fund General Alex. Hays Post 3, G. A. R.
BEAUTIFUL TABLEAUX. STARTLING BATTLE SCENES,
ENTIRELY NEW SCENERY.
100--Peop!e on the Stage 100
BLE2P: 75, 50 and 25c.
Tbe Aceof Clnbs.
announcement in advertisement on
April 7 Leavitt's Spectacular Attraction, "Spider and Fly.'
mhSO-27-su
coming again:
THURSDAYEVENING, APRIL 3.
, OTTO HEGNER,
AT
OLD CITY HALL.
Ticket? at H. Kleber & Bro.. Wood St.
Reserved seats SI eacb. Admission 75 cents.
mh30-83
G
HAND OPERA HODSE
See
Page 15 of this issue.
Benefit
FIRST REGIMENT SELECT KNIGHTS,
A. O. U. V
WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 2, 189tt
Tickets for sale at Hamilton's, 93 Fifth ave.,
and Central Hotel, c.ty, and Young fc Smith,
Federal street, Allegheny. mh30-23
MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 31.
Matinees, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Tn&zmkia!
if & T'sSsifBi
itVTjOT '
CranU Get in Sometime.
wall was made hy Tiffany. It cost many
thousands of dollars, but one old lad v who
looked at it last week told the guard she
was "glad to see President Harmon had
become economical, and that he had saved
the country money by making a glass wall
ot old broken bottles, and it's real purtv,
too," the old woman said, "and you
wouldn't think it home made."
It is here that the Marine Band plays at
tae President's receptions, but there is
nothing home-like about the vestibule. It
Is so big tbat you could build an eight-room
house inside of it, and 30 men could march
7W
'Sryy
Around the Globe in the Cabinet.
door, you turn to tbe left and march up a
pair ot steps about five feet wide. Ton note
that though the carpet is new the tread of
the office seeker has worn off its nap, and at
any hour of the morning vou pas; the most
noted men of the country on the stairs.
They stamp along as though they owned the
building and most of them think they do.
WHEBE THE BUSINESS IS DONE.
"When you reach the second floor vou find
that your surroundings are those ot a busi
ness establishment rather than those of a
private residence. Two colored rontlpm
stand at guard at the door,and a gray-haired
German, short and squatty, sits before a lit
tle desk as you enter the hall. He is in the
corner made by the partition which has
been run across the hall to give the Presi
dent's wife a sitting room, and as he looks
at you his back is turned toward the door of
the room in which the Cabinet meets. This
man is Sergeant Locfller. He is the Presi
dent's messenger, and he has been here for
almost a score of years. He is in a measure
the watchdog of the President, and he car
ries all the cards of noted visitors into Mr.
Harrison. Ho has sometimes to deal with
crants in case these pass by the giant form
and bine eyes of Colonel Dinsmore below.
Sergeant Loefller makes about the sixth
guard you have passed since entering the
White House. You are motioned bv him
iu me icn, aim lurmng your eyes you see a
couple more of colored guards, one of whom
is the watch dog of the private secretary.
You co by there into a big reception room
which is over the end of the East room, and
which is filled with very ordinary furniture.
It is here that office seekers cool their heels
until the President is ready to receive them
and it is here that Colonel Crook, the css"h
ierofthe President, sits. In a little room
beyond this there is a telegraDh office, and
here the President has telephone connec
tions with all of the great departments.
WHERE THK CABINET MEETS.
The Cabinet room lies between the private
secretary's room and the library where
President Harrison sits. This room is
almost entirely filled with a long dining
table, which runs from one end of it
to the otner. Around this table are nine
high-backed chairs, and there are writing
materials placed at different stations upon
it. There is a big globe in one corner of
the room, and it is aronnd this that the
President, Secretary Blaine and the other
Ministers stand while they discuss inter
national questions. The Cabinet meets
here about every other day, and they usual
ly spend several hours at a session. The
room is of such a nature that it cannot be
used for anything else -than the meetings of
the Cabinet, aud it is a business office pure
and simple. In it have been held all the
Cabinet meetings for several administra
tions, though President Lincoln ssed to
hold his Cabinet meetings in the room now
used by Colonel Halford.
The President's office is in the library.
'Paris
Expositions,
1889.
JL CcLTS obtained the only gold medal
awarded solely for toilet SOAP in competi
tion with all the world. Highest possible
distinction?
ELLIOTT'S
JOLLY
VOYAGERS
AND
EUROPEAN
SPECIALTY
COMPANY.
And Elliott's Now Comedy, called
OUT OF SIGHT.
Monday, April 7 THE IRWIN BROS.' BIG
SPECIALTY SHOW. mhSO-29
TheElliottFamily(5).
Miss Belle Emerson.
W. E. Cnlhane.
Johnson & Mack.
Miss Dot Pullman.
Walton & Slavin.
Golden & Qulgg.
Baby Ernia (Julhane.
O'Brien & Alexander.
James A. Baisley.
Honrie fc Lunadi.
Miss Victoria Elliott.
Sam J. Burton.
BASEBALL.
RECREATION" PARK.
ALLEGHENY
VERSUS
EAST END ATHLETICS.
Wednesday and Thursday. April 2 and 3.
ALLEGHENY
VERSUS
McKEESPORT.
Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 6.
mhS(W3
"ITJENTHER'S ORCH; gTRA
Furnishes Music for Concerts, Weddings,
Receptions, etc., etc
Lessons on Flute and Piano given by
PROF. GOENTHER. 410 Wood St
sel5-41-sa
GRAND
OPERA
HOUSE.
MR. E. D. WILT, Lessee anaManager.
One "Week, Commencing
MONDAY, MARCH 31.
Matinees Wednesday and Saturday.
"THE GREATEST FTJNMAKKRS
IN THE WORLD."
JOLLY
Nellie McHenry
AND HER FAMOUS
Farce-Comedy Company,
Under tbe Direction of
Webster and Maeder,
In the Cyclone of Mirth and Music, entitled
GREEN ROOM
IFTTISri
Written by BKONSON HOWARD, Esq.
One Huge Laugh
From Start to
Finish.
REGIME PRICES:
25c, 50c, 75c, $1.
Next Week,
London Gaiety Company, In
FAUST UP TO DATE.
mhSO-80
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS
EXTRA.
BIJOU THEATER
HOLIDAY ATTRACTION,
BEGINNING
MONDAY, APRIL 7,
The Novelty of the Season,
SPIDER anfl FLY.
3 TROUPES IE ONE 3
1. PANTOMIME.
2. BURLESQUE.
3. TAUDEYILLE.
DAZZLING COSTUMES!
GORGEOUS SCENERY!
Sale of Seats Commences Nest
Thursday Morning
at 9 O'Olock.
BIJOU PRICES:
RESERVED SEATS, 75c, 50c, 25c.
mnSO-7
NEW JtDTERTISKanntTB.
HARRIS' JHEATER.
Veti Cone AHHay, laid 31.
Every Afternoon and Evening.
HARRY LA MARR
In the Funniest Flay Ever Written,
WIDOW BED0TT!
As Flayed lor 850 Nights in New Sort City.
"Week April 7-TRUE IRISH HEARTS.
mh30-2i
htyoVii. U&
Cofliijild
jl short time loner.
f., If. & co. .
REMOVAL SALE
Continued
A Short Time Longer.
F K. & CO.
-e-
BEMOVJLL SALE
Continued
A Snort Time Longer
F., K. CO.
CojitijiUed
I short time longer.
Mfcp, ktpbhick
& CO.,
516 Smitlifleld Street,
mb30-C9-Sa
Opposite City HalL
pajgyuiupt
MflEg
B
H H
ELASTER
Q
SALE
OODVCMIErOES TO-MOEEOW.
LIGHT : SPRING : OVERCOATS.
And it is surprising to us that other dealers in the city sell any clothing to speak of
when we offer such advantages to the public in our present gigantic stock. Certainly,
no one has bought of us that fails to come again, for we've always stood at the head
of the clothing trade of Pittsburg, there being an indefinable finish to clothing
you get from us which is lacking in what you get elsewhere. Not only do we control
special designs of our own, but the uniform reliability and incomparable style of
our goods has become a proverbial and established fact.
STYLISH : SPRING : SUITS.
To pin your faith to every tempting assertion made through the
press is simply to grasp at a shadow. So many have the happy
faculty of palming off the most inferior goods on account of their
cheapness. But if you would lay hold of the substance, and test the
virtue of truthful assertions, inspect our present magnificent line of
SPRING OVERCOATS, and your appreciation will be complete.
We have all textures, all sizes and all colors, with unlimited choice,
ranging from $4 to 30, with elegant goods from $10, $12 to $15.
There is no weight, color or shade we cannot supply you with,
and the whole are made with studious care as to style, make-up and
finish. Better values were never before offered to the public.
Confirmation
Suits
IN ENDLESS VARIETY.
As most parents are at this season becoming anxious for the
genteel appearance of their sons in attending the important and im
posing ceremony of confirmation, we would particularly impress
upon you that you will find in our exclusively NEW AND MAM
MOTH STOCK OF EASTER CLOTHING everything that fancy
can covet or heart desire to attire the rising generation in the most
stylish and effective manner. Nor is clothing alone our forte, for we
are also showing
CONFIRMATION HATS,
CONFIRMATION SHOES
AND CONFIRMATION FURNISHINGS,
In precisely the same fashionable styles as found the present
season in all the metropolitan centers, while in point of a variety to
select from,no retail clothing house in America is displaying a more
diversified and larger stock. And, what is still better, we guarantee
on every purchase you make from us you will have the satis
faction of a
SAVING OF AT LEAST 25 PER CENT.
' ' ' ' .1.. - .-1 1 . ., .... 1 1 ii in
You will find our grand and unapproachable bargains in the
latest and most stylish Dress and Business Suits stand unequaled in
the market. Tailor fitting qualities in our styles, extra care in cut
and gentility and fashionable shapes and material are the prevailing
points to which we have given attention. Indeed,of our immense and
incomparable stock of GENTS' DRESS and BUSINESS SUITS, it
is safe to say that we can sell a suit as metropolitan and modern in
style as Paris, London or New York clothiers, for our stock is pur
chased from the same manufacturers. A man who buys his clothing
in our establishment may rest assured of being well dressed, for we
carry no garment that is not of approved style and thoroughly
fashionable in color and texture. Only call and see them and a
moment will convince you.
Dili' Miii m nit
Never was so abundantly stocked. Let your wants may be what
they may, we can rreet them yes, and meet them satisfactorily.
Whether you want a shoe at the lowest price or of the very highest
grade, for Lady, Gentleman or Child, we have anything and every
thing you can call for. You will find all the Newest Spring Styles
known to Society. We are confident that you'll appreciate our efforts
to please you if you only give us a call. We want it to be under
stood that with every pair of shoes we sell goes the guarantee that
the price charged is lower than you can get the same quality of
goods for elsewhere, that they will be perfect fitting, and every pair
is warranted to give satisfactory wear.
BRING ALONG THE CHILDREN.
We have the most durable and natty footwear for them that ever
adorned their understandings, and, what is more, such perfect fit
that they will never limp around nor have deformed feet.
TER FUillTSHIArGJ-S.
We wish it to be distinctly understood that in this department no hand-me-down, old style and shop worn article is to be found, but everything
New, Bright and Charming, pre-eminent for its originality and cuteness. Whether in plain or fancy Shirts, Night Shirts, Flannel Shirts or Under
wear, we can supply your every need at prices no other house in the city can duplicate. In Neckwear we have the prettiest combination of tints,
shades, colors and patterns ever submitted to the fastidious tastes of youth. Gloves and Hosiery in unlimited quantities and at unprecedented prices.
As regards Handkerchiefs, we have them by the thousand dozens in every material and price, while our stock of Umbrellas for Ladies or Gentle
men, no house in Western Pennsylvania can duplicate.
SOWING to the large increase in business, during the past Season, in our Mail Order Department, we have been compelled to largely extend our facilities for its conduct, hence our patrons can send in their
orders by mail just so fast as they please, in the full assurance of experiencing not the least delay or disappointment '
GUSKY
5
The Most Popular and Only Exclusive One-Price
Clothiers in the City.
300 TO 400 HVLAJEIKIET STREET.
J-Bcsure you send for the Easter Number of our ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY. Mailed free to any address sent
GUSKT'S,
300 TO 400
10.1130-29
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