The intimate papers of Colonel House arranged as a narrative by Charles Seymour.

NEWSPAPER NOTORIETY

149

troubles immediately begin anew and I receive communications from unheard-of quarters as well as from friends who
have been lost for many years....'
And later:
'... I am suffering from the after-effects of the President's
visit. All the latent cranks in the country are at me. Some
to kill,1 some to amuse, but most of them to instruct concerning what is best to be done in every phase of government....'
House also asked himself what would be the effect of his
growing reputation upon the mind of the President and
others in official positions. The role of eminence grise was one
that demanded a never-failing tact. It may have been flattering to be so placed that every one should regard his consent to a proposal as equivalent to success, but it was politically perilous as well as physically tiring.
Colonel House to Dr. S. E. Mezes
NEW YORK, April 24, 1913
DEAR SIDNEY:... I was in Washington ten days, and when I returned I
literally had to wade through mail to get to my desk. Every
office-seeker and every crank in the United States is on my
trail, and I get photographs from all sorts and conditions of
people who think in this way they can impress their identity
more securely upon me. ^. in; r /
It all comes from the newspaper notoriety, and the end is
not yet. The next edition of Collier's, I believe, is to do the
The following, although belonging to a later period, is typical of the
threatening letters House received: 'Sorry I missed the President when
he left your home. I had a nice bullet for him for a wedding present
I get him yet and you to, because you are a facker. A friend of Justice.'