"Gentlemen well acquainted with the subject, and with the individual, recommend the appointment of Mr. C. H. Woodman in the vacancy which you are about to fill.
"I am satisfied of his competency and integrity; and join my entreaty with those of the public, that you will rescue that imperilled work by his selection. After the mischief is done to the Park, and the people realize it, there will be a storm of indignation. All this can be averted by you now.
"Very truly yours,
"S. J. Tilden."
D. MANNING TO TILDEN
"Washington, D. C., June 4, 1886.
"Dear Governor,—I send you herewith a printed slip of correspondence that has recently occurred between two of your acquaintances. You will learn from it that I want to leave Washington and go home, and that the President is loath to have me go. He prefers to give me leave of absence, and at the outset named the 1st of August as the limit. To this I demurred, because the 1st of August marks the middle of every sensible person's vacation, and brings to us extreme hot weather. I could not bring myself to think it would be right for me to return here at that early day, and in the mean time my mind would be worried by thoughts of returning to the old tread-mill, in the hottest part of Washington's hot season. So the President changed it to the 1st of Oct., which certainly is a more proper date.
"I trust that what I have done, or rather what I have let be done, will have your approval.
"We are making arrangements for me to go to the Hot Springs of West Virginia within the next two or three days. I think we shall remain there about a month. After that, I hope I may be permitted by my physician to go North, in which event I want to visit you at Greystone, if only for an hour. That, I know, will do me great good.
"Your sincere friend,
"D. Manning."