National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-03-04
A RACY RETROSPECT.
SALARIES OF THE oLDEH TIMES.
Department Life Forty Years Ago-Ths Era Of
Sperm OIL and Penay Dips-A Panic In
the Senate Chamber - How
Gas Was introduced.

among some public documents cast away as worth
less. Although not worthless. it might well bt
buried to share the fate of nearly all whose names
records as the faithful elamarers for the old fal
and salary. All but few Of the officials therein
named are and have long been under the sod
Many of the family names still hnger Throughout
the District, and in many cases the descendants
have, either by the Yicisstudes Of politics or the
Promptings of an ambitious nature, sought mort
| eongenial fields for making living and achieving
fame and reputation. Some representatives Of
long departed ones yet held office in 1861 and eas
their fortunes with the fruitless effort which cul-
minated in disaster at Appomattox.
! IN THESE oLDEN TINRs
the thirteen original States seemed to maintain
pre- emption claim on the public crib as they
largely predominant among the names then promi-
nent. Virginia, from being the mother of Presi-
dents. probably presumed also on the maternal re-
fatonShp to the holders of the public teat as she
leads the van, Maryland closely following with
Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
| York, Connecticut, and. occasionally Rhode Is
land, Massachusetts,, and North Carolina in the
rear. Tennessee preserves herself in official his
tory by one representative, and Ohio" Ye gods
| and little fishesP'-was then content with three
Government clerkships. Verify must those three
Buckeyes have been prolific of posterity, or had o
contagious fever wonderfully hereditary for three
appointments TO increase in forty years to &c. the
present number of 0hioans employed in this city
| alone.
THE POLITICAL AFFINTrIEs
| of Office holders were necessarily mixed as the
| presidential election was then in progress
| under peculiar circumstances. Tyler was in the
White House, disowned by his own Wing party
for the veto of the national bank BILL and scorned
by the Democrats general principles for lack OF
/ party fealty while Polk and Dallas were compel
for Ix,itn IN md
There was then an uncertain tenure of Office, as
now, and the war against useful officials (as will
forever be- to make room for worthless applicants
| in payment for political services. People were
| content with more moderate salaries than now,
which served as WELL though, in view of the mod
| crate cost of living. Cabinet officers then drew
| 5000, chief clerks of Departments 5000 and the
clerkship grades ranged from sl,6OO to sl,O0a the
| lower figures predominating. Army and navy pay
was likewise small, as a major general lived
sumptuously on s., 2225, when the present yearly
pay of SlO,000or Whereabouts is not unfrequently
| attended with CRY for more.
ONE WOULD SCARCELY BELIEVE
! that departmental work, clerical and otherwise,
| was formerly monOpolized by males and that the
employment of female clerks, counters cOpyists,
! &c, was an innovation of the last two decades
Prior to the Rebellion females were scarcely ever
| seen in public buildings except on sight-seeing
errands but the gigantic struggle for the mainten
ance of the Union brought about this, as well as
many other beneficial changes. The drain upon
| the male population for military service tempo
rarily paralyzed the resources of many families,
and the presence of fathers, sons, and brothers,
standing to their guns under the walls of the Capt.
tai, brought hundreds of female relatives here to
look out for their comfort and welfare while the
natural increase of public business opened up &C.
cupation for the worthy of both sexes The enter
| ing wedge was the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing. which, from a small beginning, has
grown into the present large and systematic
| branch ofthe public service. Since then females
have been employed in all the Departments, with
| results gratifying to all interested
ABOUT THE CAPITOL
there were no open grounds, as ROW. the enclosure
being surrounded by high iron fence, only re-
moved a few years since and placed ON the B
street front of the Smithsonian and Agricultural
grounds Huge gateways opened on the north
| and south sides of the roadway on the main 'front.'
and smaller ones on East Capitol street and Mary
| land ard Pennsylvania avenues west. At ten
O'Clock every night strong lunged watchmen (then
only five, D. NJ. Wilson, James ii. Waller Isaac IT.
Wales, John Writ, and Thomas Scrivener, the
latter still living sang out clear and loud CLOSE
the gates when no passage could be had through
the grounds till sunrise following. Parties going
through at the closing hour and couples whisper
ing love in the cosy summer-houses were often
caught, and escaped without scaling the fence
only through the friendly offices of the watchman
on his rounds. No statuary adorned the grounds
(Greenoughs Washington, now facing the east por
ticO being then in the rotunda). The east park
contained fsh-p0nd and the west two small
fountains. The features of happy memory
were the fower-beds of various designs, teeming
with roses, tulips, dahlias, hyaeinths, and the
choicest flowers in season. to enjoy the fragrance
of which the statesmen Of the day came fire.
quently. There the graceful blackbird, robin red
breast, oriOle and chipping wren, since exiled by
the pugnaciouS English sparrow, mated, hourished,
and increased their families.
WHAT WOULD PEOPLE THINK NOW
to be turned away from the gates leading by the
semi circular drive to the White House door?
True, there no guards there for that purpose
but the building was regarded strictly as the pri
vate residence of the President, and but few ven
tured beyond the sidewalk, save social calls or
for attendance at receptions. The comparatively
small amount of business entailed directly on the
Executive was nearly always transacted through
Cabinet officials. Republican success, however,
and the development of Republican theories upset
this as well as other Democratic customs and now
the Chief of the Nation can be approached by card
or otherwise by the humblest in the land.
single private secretary then suficed for work
which has so increased as to require small force
of clerks, contracting somewhat the quarters of the
presidential household and rendering necessary
what will be provided at no distant day. an Execu-
tive Mansion commensurate with the dignity of
the Office and the growth of the Republic
GAS WAS NOT KNOWN THEN
as an Illuminating power, and the necessary light
in public buildings, as everywhere else, was sup
piled by sperm oil lamps or the dull and not in
odOrous penny dip" which was needed only by
the nightly custodians of the public archives rem
dering the oil room one of the important adiuuets
of public furniture. There were gorgeous chan
deliers of crystal though as many yet remember in
the White House and the Capitol, with their hun
dreds ofwax candles. When congressional sessions
were prolonged beyond the twilight, a short re-
cess afforded time for lighting the countless tapers
ADORE, which fickered with every current of air,
and frequently dripped molten mementoes on the
garments of cOnVersing groups beneath.
QUITE a PANIC RESULTED ONCE
in the Senate chamber by the sudden parting of
the moorings of the huge chandelier there and its
crash in innumerable fragments on the floor. In
184S or Whereabouts gas was first introduced into
the Capitol by James Crutchett, whose manufae-
turing apparatus was in the court under the west
front of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate
and the descent by ladder from the skylight above
of a man to light the chandelier in the Hall of
Representatives was the signal for general ner-
vous tremor for fear that giddiness or a misstep
might precipitate him among the chairs and desks
uneeremoniously. monster pole, sixty feet high,
through which ran gas pipe, was erected on the
top of the dome, and from the light of an immense
lantern which crowned it ordinary print could be
read within short distance of the Capitol TWAS
deemed unsafe, and removed after few months
use.
Tpr pTA
then included the Land ONCE and employed there
were McClintock, Young. James n. Barker, Rich
ard Ella, J. F. Hartley. J. Madison Cuts John NJ.
Brodhead, Thomas J. Cathcart, David W. Ma
hon. since First Auditor. and Charles w. For |