Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-05-28

~ Emplo ycs.-lI0w Bnttlc-.cnrrcd Vctcrnn,
S. Earn 2 I'ittnncc-licr0ic Women Toilimp
Is for Tread.
7sas8z Special Correspondence Of the 1ntcr-Ocean.
WASHINGTON, MAY 1, 1874.
= CIVIL SERVICE IN THHlH DEPARTMENTS.
Since the much discussed civil ser.
vice rules have governed admission to
the departments, the pressure for posi-.
tions OF minor importance available
without the ordeal Of competitive OK.
animation has been immense. Women
OF good social standing apply for mes.
sengers' places; men Of equal respecta.
bility ask to be watchmen, and conse.
:quently the incumbents of those dcsir.
able Of situations feel that they hold
them by a somewhat precarious tenure.
Especially solicited by men who are the
doorkeepers' or, as4sthcy are called,
watchmcns' places. The salaries range
from 900 to 500, and thcdutics enjoir
surveillance of the several doors, day
and night, and men alternately relicv.
ing each other. In the daytime thei,
principal work is to exclude visitors
before and after Office hours, direct
strangers to any part of tho building
and open and shut the heavy doors
that swing to and fro hundreds of times
every day. Accordingly, to silence tho
clalnor Of applicants who fancy them.
selves entitled to these places, the Sec
rotary of the Treasury has caused each
of the tifty-eight watchmen in his de.
partment to write little sketch Of the
circumstances that led to his appoint.
ment, and no stranger shall turn out an
old servant unless he can show a better
record. Poor fellows, most. of them
have earned government patronage
dearly! Easy their place may be now,
though even to healthy people, such
hours Of constant politoness and vigi.
lance would be trying. They haye reach.
ed them shattered in health, and disa.
bled by the cruel accidents of war from
any more laborious persuits.
BATTLE-sCARRED VETERANS.
Forty-three of tho fifty-eight men
under Secretary Richardson served
br;svcly in the war and bear marks OF
hard service. Eleven have lost one
arm four have lost one leg one has lost
his right arm and part of his left
another lost both hands; while those
without right hands nave learned t.
write with the left, one. has done still
more, he has learned to write with =
pen screwed into a plate fastened
around his wrist. Another was shot il,
the arm ut Gettysburg, and faintct
from loss Of blood. The first ol,iec
that met his eyes when he opened then
WAS a rebel six foot distant aiming de-
liberately at him. Too weak to defent
himself, and not caring much whethe
his enemy hit or missed, he shut hi
eyes again. Two balls struck him. on,
in the throat, and the other in the eve
neither killed him, and he lives to-day
poor wreck of a strong, hearty man
One whose sufferings is extreme IN,
incessant. was horribly mangled in til,
Wilderness, and another victim of thes
ghastly days has lost his right leg an,
arm. He is one of the twelve instance
that occurred during the whole war
where both those limbs were successful
ly amputated. One man minus arms
is special protege of the President
General Grant was quite close to hin
when he was wounded, and had taken
great interest in him ever since. III,
his appointment is one of the very fe,
appointments requested by the Presi
dent.
One touching case is that of an oil,
soldier totally blind from wounds, whom
his little tcn-year old boy guides an
helps. The child is very bright and at
tends the door promptly. His father
account Of himself is in q stiff, childis]
hand, with juvenile spelling and strang
expressions. At the end Is, "Writtcl
by Willie" Among these men is
ONE QUITE REMARKABLE CHARACTER.
He entered the service in 1871, vcr
young, necessarily, as he is in the prim
ii life now, and he has had finger il
every w;,rlike pie that has been bake
since. His memory is perfectly won
dcrf;l. He can begin with the day II
enlisted and tell you every thing tina
happened to the day he was discharged
the names of battles, the numbers en-
gagged, the roads they marched by, tn
officers who led them, the details Q
each combat-cvcrything seems to b
impressed on his mind with astonislin
vividncss and minutcncss. H., wnll
he invaluable to II historian. \ it'll
narrative that he has written, partl
for his own amusement, partly at til
request of others, brings in man
names that have since grown from cor
parative obscurity to everlasting fame
Franklin Pierce and Winfield Scot
were Generals fighting side by sid