The Morning News

Secretary Proctor and the Guide.

A sedate, elderly gentleman crosses from the state, war and navy buildings to the white house several times a week, writes the Washington correspondent of the New York Sun. He has a tall figure and a kindly face, and any one seeing him once would recognize him again—that is, anybody except a Washington guide. Probably the stupidest sharpers are the guides who infest the neighborhood of the white house. They approach their victim in a most unbusiness-like manner, and begin negotiations with some assertion regarding the granite columns of the department of state, or the interest attaching to the navy department. They have as little memory of faces as respect of position. They have been known to accost the same person twice within a few hours, and will solicit business in their characteristically volunteer style from people who have seen Washington evolve from a bog hole. Admission to the white house grounds is now denied the guides, but they station themselves at sightly localities outside, and when they see a stranger they go for him. One day last week the sedate elderly gentleman was slowly moving in the direction of the white house, when a guide approached. Using a rattan switch as a pointer, he indicated the two story building, glaring white in the hot sun, and said authoritatively, "That's the white house, sir." For a second the elderly gentleman looked pained, then surprised, finally amused. He listened, while the features of the white house were more or less accurately described, and gathered considerable information regarding the life of the president's family. The guide was interrupted in the midst of an animated discussion of the cabinet by a passer-by, who inclined his head respectfully and raised his hat with the murmur: "Mr. Secretary." The guide gave a hesitating glance at his prey, and the latter took advantage of the lull to enter the white house. The guide was aghast, and the detective who generally looks out for the intruders of the executive grounds hustled him out into the avenue. That guide will probably remember the Hon. Redfield Proctor next time.