Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-08-02
WOMEN IN WAsHINGTON-FEM
DEPARTMENT CLERKS.

The Washington correspondent Of the Ia.
dependent on. c. A. writes as follows to that
paper
Here, with host Of others, came a young
girl--a Treasury clerk. She wears iaunty
hat, oh bright ribbon steamers, a natty
Jacket and a gray frock She receives sixty
dollars per month wages, pays forty pei
month for her board, not including Incl.
dental expenses; therefore, it is perfectly
safe 10 say that, beyond those showy outside
garments, her wardrobe cannot bear investi-
CATION This costly outside gear was pur-
chased at the expense Of many necessary
comforts; and yet, what to her mind is more
necessary than that she should look as
well as any body on the gay thoroughfare
Of T street
The hue and expression Of her face is less
satisfactory than her costume. lt wears the
malarial tint which sedentary habit always
brings in this latitude, while the heavy ewes
and the dark rings under them tell Of gas
light and late hours. IL is young face. in
which the blossom of youth is touched al
ready with the shadow Of age. No wonder.
Her livelihood is uncertain, herlife anxious
There is so little permanency in her situa-
tiOn ihst she is in constant fear Of being
summoned 10 the chief Of her department,
and told that she is one Of the number dis
missed
Then would come another siege upon
the member from her district for another
place, another waiting, another season of
running in debt, and at last, perhaps, dis
appointment She knows nothing here
of tie comforts Of a home. Mere business
boarding-house keepers are unfriendly to
female clerks Their foremost ofense is
that they are Improbable, and too poor 20
pay the most exorbitant prices. Another
aggrayating fault is, they are often very pref
ty they attract gentlemen, perhaps 20 the
neglect OF the landlady or her daughters
they burn gas late, or they stay out late
are deemed universally troubesom, and not
20 be desired
Thus the department girl wanders about
from boarding-house 10 boardiug-house,
from discomfort 20 discomfort, often from
bad 70 worse till she comes 20 the conclu-
sion, at last, that all we women, at least, are
combined against her rs foes Thus she is
left 10 seek society solely from men. ID is a
long step toward ruin when a woman be-
lieyes she has no friend, tried, trusted and
true, among women, when she turns 10 men
only for sympathy and support.
This girl, exposed 10 the promiscuous in
tercourse Of boarding-house parlors, often
finds admirers friends and lovers among
strangers and adventures; among men of du-
bious antecetents perhaps among men noto-
rious for vice. IL she is held back from
contamination by pure temperament, by
stong principle, by hallowed association, we'll
Bot IT, without either, she can turn TO no
mother, to no sister, 10 no strong, loving wo-
man friend, a creature Of ungoverned in
stincts and irresolute will, drifting on with
the tainted tide of circumstance, alas May
the Lord have mercy on her, for the worldly
and wicked viii not
She might have staid al home, and made
bonnets and dresses. She might have tend
ed a store, or have Colored photographs, or
have become a designer, or a teacher or been
a sunny housomaid in some rural home,
where every member of the household is
helpful, and honors labor Better any Of
these employments, near home and friends
than the dangers Of this capital But all
these would be work, YOU know, but very
lady-like 20 cut hank-nojes, orto have a stu
s6on in department
Here, too, from her country home comes
the unprotected girl, suing "her member
for place in the Treasury. all unwittlpg
that She is walking into the very clutches Of
temptation, II not OF vice. NOu may Keep
her-he does many; she may walk through
the fire unscathed, aud she may perish spir-
imally, bodily, as many do, who might be
pure, peaceful and prosperous if they had
stayed at home.
There are sad stories ! could tell YOU Of
the woman-clerk life . Washington, but
don't want TO- ] only want TO say 70 the
Young man, and especially to the young wo-
man, struggling for situation in these de-
partments as the most desirable thing TO be
donc-stav at home; be content 70 live
humbly, 10 work patiently; independence
and competence will come at last; neither
will ever come 10 You here To disabled
soldiers, to elderly and experienced women,
10 young men who use Il as passing help TO
a definite object in life, 70 disappointed men
who have no other hope and no other refuge,
4 department situation may be blessing.
But 70 the young men and the young wo-
men with no defined plan or purpose Of be
ing. drifting into the taintful atmosphere Of
boarding-house lie, into the polluted iniiu-
ence Of men grown gray in corruption, Il Is
the veriesi curse.