Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-06

UOOUu OF these letter. were never cane
for at tho o>tpffircs to which they werv
dur, Ct,d. and IL, go Of them wer' sent {"
hotels aud reached there after The guests for
whom thrv were intended had left III"
ladies Of the ,'cad lett Office look over theSr
Is 90 letters which come in dai Y One set
dos nothing but open the lett r.. another
reads and sort them and nuOth r examines
and redircs.t~ them to the proper places
great many of the letters are mis-
directed, lOnH of this kind come to
the Office every day These misdIr"Ct,d
letters nTp Ciph red if pos lhle, without
opening. and sent to tn" persons f"r
whom they were intended Women VINO I'M
d,rstand foreign languages arr engaged in
this business, as many q. the letters ar"
written hy Foreigners Many Of the letters
contain money. AMI last year there was
S:S. unD in cash among then. aud more than
81. .jtn nh worth of drafts and money orders
Eighty four thousand .etter, contained post
age stam,s, $} ~ phOtogr ,phS AMI 25.ooO
articles Of merchandise All Ot this mltter
must b returned TO tn" owner, 1r, If that Is
not possible, the mon is covered into the
treasury and the mercnanliSr Is sold at auc
tIun
In 1884 there were y male clerks in the
dead letter otfic,. and - fem lie clerk& The
annual nay roll of the mlel clerks was
S37. 400, an average OF - IL per day The
annual pay roll of the = female clerks was
S13, 43O, or an average OF sA3l per day. The
men did PRACTICALLY tn same work rs the
women, but they received 81 more day
for it, and hal the mem work been done
bv women. the government would have
saved Sg3ll. Had the IN n done all the
Ill a
have had to be increased S3l, lil 1t would
seem that an equalization board ought to IL
appointed, and that Uncle Sam at least
should give his nicCes the same pay his
nephews when they do the same work,
Is the civil service of the government a
good plac' for wOmen'
1t seems 70 me that it Is The hours of
labor are short. the work is no. such that it
overthxes the sy tim, and the labor IS hon
orable The salaries are better than women
can make in almost any other occupation,
and the associations are what the women
choose to make them There usld TO be an
dea that women in the departments were rs
a rule qnestionabla characters; that they
were indebted to politicians solely Tor their
appointment. and that tn" appointments
we're often given in the way of a bar
congressman There may have been in
stances Of this character, but they are by
no means common. and ninety-nine hun
drrdths of the women in the departments to
day are as pure a any in the country. The
civil service reform has remedIed the
chances for an evil which has always been
exaggerated, and no woman who wishes TO
be honest need fear that she will be insultei
without cause while working for the govern
ment
The government clerks stand well in
Washington city. Thy are far above the
average of the intelligence of men doing the
same character of work which they &c
throu- -hout the country, and association
with them can hardly be detrimental T.
women. Washington is a pleasant place in
which to live. Ii Is expensive or cheap, a
one wishes to make it, and it is 10 he in the
future the great educational, social and lit
erary center of the coun ~. There is no rea-
son why women should not undergo the
civil service examination and partake of it
advantages FRANK GEORGE