Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-12-12
women Clerks IN the House Of Rep

WOmen Clerks an the House Of Rep-
R-esentat1Ves.
Mrs. Jane G. ,Swisshelve writes to the
Chicago Republicans the following de-
scription of the way, at Washington, in
which female clerks transact business:
Some Honorable Senator or Represen-
tative has q female friend without visible
means of support. He gets her a pl'ce,
and she makes her appearance, perhaps
a little piece of painted impertinence,
who might have BEEN slowed away in the
cataeombs, in the days of Pharaoh, for all
anyone can tell of her age, but who
studiously assumes the airs of a miss of
sixteen. Her wrinkles are filed out with
pipe clay, or some other kind of light
eolored mud her eyebrows-aFe made of
black lead or lampblack, or something in
that line her hair is dyed until it is dead
enough to satisfy any respectable under
taker of the propriety of burial; and one
wonders that she does not add a setting
of green leaves to the magneta-colored
roses on her thin cheeks. She comes trip
ping in on the toes of her intinitesimal
CATERS, gets off her things, and displays a
head which reminds one of a drop chan
delier trimmed for q ball and undergoing
the process of dustihg, while her pins,
chains, bracelets, frills, and other FILINGS
would set up a tin-box pedlar in trade.
She establishes herself at her table, opens
her basket, gets out her beads, and goes
to counting and stringing; zone, two,three,
four, and then a larger one; one, two,
three, four, and a knot p for you see, she
is a ph~ilanthropist, aid kindly instructs
the lady at the next table in the mysteries
of this becoming and lady-like employ
ment. The superintendent gets idgety,
and brings this interesting toiler in life's
workshop a piece of Writing to copy. The
lady looks Injured, and as the superinten-
dent is, of course, a Southern gentleman,
who has been selected for that place with
special reference to his ~amiability, he feels
like "a horrid wretch" The dainty little
hands take up the pen and the dainty lit
tie brain keeps on tone, two, three, four,
and a large one-one, two, three, four, and
a loop" "Loop." Yes. Beg pardonl 1
said iknot," but it is IA loop" which comes
after the second four.
The writing finished, it is sent off by a
messenger, and presently a clerk appears
with it in his hand. He looks weary, has
found a mistake, and is directed TO the
little bead-monger, who drops her hands
in her lap and her head on her left shoul-
der, cocks her right eye at him like a Ca
nary making representations about the
weather, says something silly, and the
poor man begins to scratch his head. The
conference lasts some time. The man re-
tires baffled, and swearing " not loud but
deep" the other ladies exchange glances
and smiles, or perhaps see nothing wrong,
while not one begins to comprehend the
"deep damnation" of the whole affair, or
to know that then and there every woman
in the room " felt fiat " and richly deserv-
ed so to fall.
Another, pure as a New England frost,
" bright rs a bntton," active as a bee, does
as much work in a month, and does il as
well as any man in the department, but
her book is wanted for reference. She
wants to surprise some friend with a pair
of socks for a new baby and while her
book is gone, whips out her knitting and
goes nimbly to work. Some clerk comes
into the room, goes out and reports that
the women in that room do nothing but
knit.
Still another comes sailing in about 81
o'clock, gets off her traps sinks into her
chair with the air of a willow wand crack
ed in the middle languidly asks some one
to call a servant; sends said servant, with
her compliments, to the head of the bureau
for the loan of his morning paper reads it
with a running comment, loud enough
to be heard all over that room and in the
one adjoining, on the houss to rent, the
late appointments and removals tells
who built the house for sale on such a
street and who lived in it at such a time;
gives an inventory of their furniture and
history of their family in its lateral and
collateral branches finds who is dead and
who married, and does as much for their
genealogical trees; begins writing at 109,
but keeps up the stream of small talk until
some other lady is through with her morn
ing paper; when she reads that, gets sew
eral new texts, and goes Oh with the COM
mentary until 2 or q o'clock, when, being
quite worn out by her days labor, she
gracefully ~retires. OF course, she is one
of those favored mortals who can trace
some root of their family tree back to
some one of those excellent women who
came to the Old Domion, originally, as
exchange for tobacco, and whose descend
ants wear the title of IF. F. v" with
such proud satisfaction. OF course, she is
one of those Government employees who /
I'll uk D. LnCl III n-oAlOuilbTtu ul3nllN, |
and elevate their aristocratic noses
at the sight of 'Lincoln's rabble," II. e. Union
soldiers, and are shocked at the immoral
tiles introduced by strangers, l.. c.: North
ern people, into Washington, which has
been SO transformed by the vandals, that
a ~native-born gentleman can no longer sell
his own baby, when it gets old enough, in
order to crafty his lady friend with a
drive behind a pair of fast horses. AS she
is "a law unto herself" and her fine lady
make her monarch of all she sur
veys, is it a wonder that other women i'm
itate her, and that a very few such do
much to disorganize the working force of
a department.
There is yet another class of appointees
lady who must SEQ the clerk for
whom she is recording or copying, and
who when he comes, strikes q Saint Ag-
attitude, folds her hands meekly,
draws her lips to a "prunes, prism, and
quicker, turns up her eyes like a
duck in a thunder storm, or a juvenile
bovine in the act of becoming veal, makes
a pun and an impression, or several puns
and as many impressions, grows witty,
the unfortunate man that she dream
last night she was married to him, is
satisfied, subsidies in n shipper, while there
is no ono with the nerve and authority to
her out of the room, and see that she
never returns.
P~aImcrstoR Apologies TO Butter.
The Washington Republican says that
Gen. Butler has a letter of apology written
to him by Lord Palmerston not very long
before the %latter's death. When Gen.
issued his celebrated Order No. %,
in New Orleans, known as the woman or
der" he was denounced by the rebel chief
tain Beauregard as a "beast," which cpl
Lhet was not only echoed all over the
South, but was adopted in spirit by Lord
Palmerston, late Prime Minister of En-
gland. Shortly after the noble Lord him
self had a personal experience of the I'M