The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-05-30

,here vyeses syen wen favored young clerks
showing them how. The young w Wy IN,
smiled up over their shoulders, anu ,,o o,,e
clerks smiled back ut them, anu a.. .hrno
,rsorr,, GO . wharfage bell. TWO OF Jill
'Inri,s tbot wore reading the f'ewslaI'ci1S
iaorad ~ mo rather hard, but went OH Icau-
Wv, ana ~ nnbody said anything. Howe e,
b,S hcen used to this kind OF aacIl.. III, VII,
fourth-assstantj junior cleras a.. d. W. entered
eve t;,st office orthe Corn-Beef Bureau clear
IN. ~, ,asscd out of the last one in the Dead
pncknninp Division. | had got 40 accom-
nI;shrd bv this time that coslld stana on
ono foot from the moment / entcreu ah VI
t;re iii clerk spoke to me without cnaliS-
inc more than two, or may be three tlmes.
60 T stood there till / had changed iour
different times. Then said to one OF the
clerks who was reading: ra
Illustrious fagrant, where Is inc "ia''o
Turk :" 49,. ,r. .,o ro,,
mc,np If ycu mean the Chief Of the Blu
reau, he Is out" -,
"Will he visit the harem to-day r.
The Young man glared upon me wh,ie,
and then went on reading MS paper. nu :
I knew the WAYS of those clerks. knew
was safe il he got through before announcer
New York mail arrived He only had TWO
more napcrs left. After Il while he finished
them, and then he yawned, and asked me
what wanted.
Renowned and honored Imbecilc On
! or about" <,:..o
"You are the becf-contract man. Give
ME your papers" ,.,,
He took them. and for a long time nc ran,
sacked his odds and ends. Finally ne iouilu
the Northwest Passage, as regarded lt-ne
found the 1onc-lost record OF that pee! COLI
trartNhe found the rock upon which so
many Of INV ancestors had split before they
over cot TO it. was deeply moved. ana
vet I rcioiccd-for / had survived: said
with emotion "Gire 1t TO me. Inc oo-
ycrnmcnt will settle now" He waved me
back, and said there was something YET u
Where is this John Wilson Mackcn'
zie ?" said he.
"Dead."
"When did he die?"
Gle didn't die at all-hc was killed.
"How!"
Tomahawked.'
"Who tomahawked him." 49,
"Why, an Indian, of course. You dldn'
lsuppose it was superintendent OF Il sun
ay-school, did your"
''No. An Indian, was it?'
"The same"
| Maine OIL eIlt a,
"His name! don't know his name,
| "Must have his name. Who saw the
tomahawking done!"
81 don't Know 49,,
"You were not present yourself, thcn!
| (which you can sec by my halr. W"
absent"
"Then how do you know that Mackenzie
; is dead?"
"Becausc he certainly died at that time
and l have every reason to DelleVe tnaC n'
has been dead ever since. kno'o he mas II
fact"
"We must have proofs. Have you So
the indiana
"Ot course mott
"Well, you must get him: Have yor
r got the tomahawk"
, 81 never thought of such thing"
"Tou must get the tonlahaWk. 1ot
f must produce the Indian and the tOma
hawk. If MaGkcnzie's death can be proven
by these, you can then 60 before the com
some show of getting your bill under such
Roadway that your children may possibly
live to receive the money and enjoy it. But
that mans death must be proven. How.
ever, | NAV as well tell you that the Go.
vcrnmcnt will never pay that Transports
ton and those travelling expenses Of the
lamcntcd Mackenzie. 1t may possibly pay
for the barrel of beef that Shcrman'S sol.
ders captured il you can get a relief bll
through Congress making an appropriation
for that purpose but it will not pay. Tor the
twenty-nine barrels the Indians ate"
"Thcn there is only hundred dollars
due me. and that isn't certain After all
Mackcnzic's travels in Europe, Asia, and
America with that beef; after all his trials
and tribllationS and transportation; after
the slaughter of all those innoccntS that tried
to collect that bill Young man. why didn't
the First Comptroller Of the Corn-l6ccl d.
vision tell me this?'
"Hc didn't know anything about the
genuincness of your claim"
"Why didn't the Second tell me? why
didn't the Third? why didn't all these dl-
visions and departments tell me-.
| None of them knew. We do things by
Iroutinc here. You have followed the rou-
tine and found out what you wanted 10
know. II is the best way. 1t is the only
way. 1t is very regular, and very slow,
but it is very certain
"YeS, certain death. 1t has been to the
most of our tribe. begin to feel that l,
too, am called. Young man. you love the
bright creature yondcr with the gentle blue
ewes and the steel pens behind her ears
marry hcr-but YOU are poor. Here, hoiu
out your hand-hcre is the beef contract )
90, take her and he happy! Heaven bless
YOU. my children !"
Thisi is all that | know about the great bcel
contract that has created so much talk In the
community. The clerk to whom bequeath-
| ed it died. [ know nothing further about the
contract or any one connected with it. /
only know that if a man lives long enough
| he can trace thing through the Clrcumlo-
cution Office of Washington, and lind out,
after much labor, and trouble. and delay,
that which he could have found out on the
| first day, if the business of the Circumlocu-
ton Office were as ingeniously systematized
as it would be if it were great private MEL
camille institution.