The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-04-26
TASBROOK'S TESTIMONIAL.
By JAMES PAWN.

When n man had been ct IN English pub
He Office for forty years, his friends, and
especially his 1uLiJrs in the same depart
ment, used to think it was nearIy tune he
should retire. But nowadays " move a
god deal Qui, .ker. A measure was brought
In and care ried Dy Q truly Liberal Govern
ment that all clerks of u certnin standing
might leave their situations before the time
arrived for experimentation, each receiving
q certain bonus, that varied, of course, with
his length OF service, and which was, IN
fact, the discount value OF his iuiure pen-
sion. 1t was impudlnty said that this
scheme was devised to get rid OF The
Queens Hard Bargains" Gs they were
termed-the indolent, the incapable, and
generally those who never do q stroke of
work tLey ar not compelled to DO, and who
leave the oti-s as the clock strikes Eve,
though they are by no means so punctual
in arriving OF the proper hour In the
morning.
This scandal, 1, Thomas Tasbrook, hurl
back with indignation IN the teeth OF those
who utter it for, though had been but si1
years q clerk in the Wax and Wafer ONCE,
/ had done my duty during that period in
a manner with which my conscience is per
fectly satisfied. 1t is true that l nevei
hurried myself about anything, for does not
the poet tell us that ''baw Haste" is half
sister TO Delay - and, If / was sometimes
a Little late In the morning, | thought abow
the work to be done as / drove leisurely
down to the Office in a cab, and arrived
there, as it were, with my Judgment ina
tured. 1t was said that l spent more tins
than was usual over e~wspapc which is
an accusation that l frankly admit Tut
that agaIn, / MAINTAIN, was to the advantage
of the public service. Every clerk rsaii
one paper, to improve his miLd, and & SOC
what the world Is saying about the Govern
mens ne has tie honor to serve: but &c
connre oneself to q single journal i to mar.
row the intellect, and incapacitate it from
taking larger views Of things. The charge
alv avs brought against tle Wax and Wafer
Cfi Q was that at wanted Grasp :" and i
endeavorud to supply that deficiency by nc
curing the most varied information, to be
applied, of course, when opportunity OF.
fered, for the benefit OF my employers. i
have an uncle in Japan from whom | have
no expectations whatever, and OF whom J
may therefore express myself quite freely,
who makes a positive fool OF himself ovei
the 1imeJ newspaper When q hle OF them
arrives, he reads ons at a time, every morn.
ing at breakfast, with the idea OF persuRdine
himself that he is still in England. Hi
last paper is finished when the next mai
GENES in SO that he hatters himself that he
gets his news fresh and fresh, instead Of
being a month behind tvsrybody else in the
place. he believes inthe Times in a man-
ner that is only attributed TO Englshmen in
q farce. He cured d horse Of Jibbing by
reading the whole sheet Of it from first to
Last upon his back, and not allowing him to
move SO that he hRs now only 10 rustic u
BIT of paper, and of the creature goes at
a hand-gallop, for fear he should be in for
another reading" But, Of course, the
same result would have Ueen effected by
any other journal, if it was only zig enough.
For my own part, l used 10 %patronize al
the papers at the Office, and never pad one
SO iii a compliment as to leave q leading
article or even a police report unfinished,
lust becausesome contractor or other COM
monplace individual happened to wish to
see me on business.
Learn to labor and TO wai'.' says Long
Fellow; and of course. what is cool .o- ~
to learn onesalf is good to teach others.
Then, again, / used to be accused Of play
Ing practical Jokes with the s~peaking-tubes
In the office; but all work and NO play"
II must be remembered, makes Jack q
ann boy" and the opportunities to give
absurd orders in ones chefs voice, when he
happened to be out of the room, or to throw
water down the pipe when we knew our
friends mouth was at the other end of It,
we're sometimes irresistible. There were
exceptional temptations, too, connected
6ith the conveyance Of parcels from top
10 bottom Of the establishment by the me-
aium of an endless chain aud il is true that
once, when a poor woman Cnl dwIth her
baby about some school Boaru case, / did
put the baby in the basket, and sent him
ap to the Comptroler-General instead of
sertain official ~returns; but, after all, that
Sas but once and away, and the amusing
experiment. was never repeated.
Many clerks used to waste theirtime, and,
chat xas worse that of the Gny.ruu,ent hv
going out to lunch between one end two-a
practice against which l always set my face
sn principle. used always to have a good
wholesome lunch sent up to me in my own
room, where it was understood that privacy
was established for the full hour and if l
shose to take q cigar afterwards to assist di-
~restion, ! don't see even now, a. d in spite OF
Ihe censure passed upon me by the authori-
DIES, that there was anything but good in
he practice. Smoke kills the moth, which,
- everybody knows, is the bane of ourpublic
departments, ind is generally allowed to be
, ranedy against infection-by no means o
~superhuous precaution to persons who nre
rHcessar ly brought into constant connection
With strangers If 1 hive ever been found
tleep during business hours, it was with the
hope OF being invigorated by That refresh
nent for more strenuous exertions: it is
what may happen TO anybody after meals,
$500 "NAN4iA AIN i LluN III lltl I
there is such an expression as always wide
awake, which. whatever compliment it may
imply as regards the intellect, is by no means
\ tributs 10 q mans merits with respect to
coral feeling. No: taking the whole six
fears, during which / filed a not whollyir-
responsible Office in the Civil Service of my
sountry, ! think / did-well, rs much as
everybody who knew me could fairly expect
ot me. and how few of us can saymore!
There were nothing brilliant-nothinG hashy
in the performance of my duties but /
may say that / hit the golden mean. Now
Crammer. who lived in the next apartment,
.ook too much out of himself he was first to
ZONE in the morning las ! UNDERSTOOD and
me last las / was told. for | never saw him
80 IT. to go away. at night. He went at his
Sork, as it was graphically described by n
contractor OF my acquaintance, like a navy
II q barrow" aud what was worse than all,
.nd disgracefal in q servant of the Crown,
se took his work home with him. If such con-
tuct as this had been followed by others,
tue whole Office would have been demora-
iZed, and the establishment might have
been reduced by three-fourths; aud aver as
u was, some OF the authorities used to say,
Look at Mr.. CramIner; see how he puts
lis shoulders TO the wheel" in q way that
persons conscious of shortcoming wouldhays
pronounced extensively personal.
For my part, I did look at him with a
great deal Of pity. Tn wheel they spoke Of
seemed to be too heavy for him to push, and
sven to be going over him with crushing
effect. He grew thinner and thinner every.
where except his head, which swelled and
gwelled like that Of an infant with HYDRO
ephalus. He was one Of those fungoid
1T " .-l