Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-05-28
WASHINGTON szSKE1CHEs.
ss'
esponaeqseof the 1nter-ocean.

E"pl tes:-lIow Battie-scarrcd Vetcr1ns
ia fSr s%rnss fgifta"ce-lleEe'c Women Toi'ins
ss.aa 1iescial Correspondence the Inter -ocean.
WASHINGTON, MAY I, 1874.
g c1vnfsERv1cE IN r1s1lllI DEPARTMENTS.
Since the much discussed civil SER
Ylce rules have governed admission to
THE Departments, the pressure for posi-
Etlons OF minor importance available
without the ordeal or competitive ex-
examination has been immense. Women
OF good social standing apply for mes
sengerss places; men Of equal respecta-
sndlity ask to be watchmen, and conse-
|quentlythe incumbonts of those desir-
able Of situations feel that they hold
ehem*by somewhat precarious tenure.
Especially solicited b. ymen who are the
doorkeepers' or, asssthey are called.
watchmens' places. The salaries range
from 900 to l. 500, and the duties enioin
a surveillance of the several doors. dav
and night, and men alternately relicy-
ing each other. In the daytime their
principal work is tossss1exclude visitors
before and after Office hours, direct
strangers to any partaof the building,
and open and shut the heavy doors
that swing to and fro hundreds Of times
every day. Accordingly, to silence the
clamor of applicants Who fancy them
selves entitled to theseplaces, the Sed-
rotary Of the Treasury has caused each
OF the fifty:eight watchmen in his de-
partment to write o little sketch Of the
circrlmstances that led TO his = appoint
ment, and no stranger shall turn out an
old servant unless he can show better
record. Poor afelloys. most Of them
have earned government patronage
dearly! Easy their place may Be now,
though even to healthy people, such
hours Of constant po1iteness and vigi-
lance would be trying. They haye reach
edthem shattered ia health, and disa-
bledby the cruel accidents of war from
any more laborious persuits.
~ BATTIE-scARRED VETERANS,
Forty:three of the fifty-eight men
under Secretary Richardson served
bravely 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 have learned to
write with the left, one. has done still
more, he has learned to write with a
pen screwed into plate fastened
around his wrist. Another was shot in
the arm ut Gettysburg, and tainted
from loss of blood. The first object
that met his eyes when he opened them
was q rebel six foot distant aiming de-
liberately at him.. Too weak to defend
himself, and not caring much whether
his enemy hit or. missed, he shut his
eyes again. Two balls struck him. one
in the throat, and the other in the eve:
neither killed him, and he lives TODAY.
q poor wreck of a strong, hearty man.
one whose safterings is extreme and
lncessant. was horribly mangled in the
Wilderness, and another victim of these
ghastly days has lost his right leg and
arm. He is one of the twelve instances
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 him
when he was wounded, and had taken a
great interest in him ever since. and
his appointment is one of the yerv few
appointments requested by the Presi-
One touching case is that of an old
soldier totally blind from wounds, whom
his little ten-year old boy guides and
helps. The child is very bright and It.
tends the door promptly. His fathers
account OF himself. is in stiff. childish
hand with juvenile spelling and strange
expressions. At tie end Il, "Written
by Willie" Among these men is y
- ONE QUITE RBNfARKABnE CHARACTER.
Ho entered the service in 1871, very
young, necessarily, as he is in the prime
of life now, and lie has had finger in
every w,rlike pie that has been baked
since. His memory is perfectly won.
derful. He can begin with the day he
enlisted and tell you every thing that
happened to the day he was discharged,
the names of battles, the numbers en-
gagged, the roads they marched IS, the
officers who led them, the details of
each combat--everything seems to be
impressed on his mind with astonishing
vlvidncss and minutcness. IIa would
be invaluable to a historian. 4 little
narrative that he has written, partly
for his own amusement, partly ut the
request of others, brings in many
names that have since grown from COM
Parative obscurity to everlasting fame.
Franklin Pierce and Winfield Scott