The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-19
THE PUBLIC SERVANTS.
The Discipline in Government
Departments.
THE STORY OF A SLUGGING.
Gambling Propsnsiiies of the Resi-
dents OF the CApitaI-BAse Ball
as an Incentive.
THE STORY OF A SLUGGING.

Special correspondence of THE HERALD:
The United States government, as t
as lies in its power, is very particular
in regard to the public character of us
servants, no matter in what depart
ments they may b. employed. With
t1e private life of Individuals, OF course
it cannot and does not interfere. The
character of department clerk, IN
moral sense, may be very unSaVory
among his private friends; but so long
as he commits no public offence, and
attends to his duty, the government,
through its officers, is not likely to IN
terfere. If, however, clerk gets drunk
and disgraces himself in the public
streets, or in some public place, and the
occurrence is reported to the chief OF
his bureau, he stands an excellent
chance of being instantly dismissed as
a man that is nnfit to hold position IN
the public service. And what applies
in this respect to men equally
to women who happen to be in the en-
ploy of the government. When any
scandal is reported in connection with
the latter, an investigation Is made by
the proper authorities, and If the
rumor be proven true instant dismissal
is the result.
In the government departments
where so many people are employed
there are, of course, large number OF
sneaks, tale-bearers, scandal-mongers-
a cIase of people who, in the hope of
lettering themselves, are ever ready to
report to their chief any occurrence OF
a nature detrimental to the character of
their fellow clerks. There are many
instances of this despicable work. One
comes to nay mind at the present
moment. 1t occurred to a friend Of
mine who was for many years in the
public service in Washington. Being OF
3 sporting turn of mind, he and two
fellow clerks took French leave" one
day for the purpose of attending a
prize fight which was to take place some
miles down the Potomac River. They
went to the fight and enjoyed 1t
hugely. The following day they went to
business as usual. They had scarcely got
seated at their desks until they were in
formed that the Secretary Mccullough
desired to see them. Some one had re-
ported to him that without leave OF alb
sence they have attended the afore
mentiond prize fight. instantaneous
dismissal seemed inevitable, but the
music had to be faced. One OF the three,
Mr.. D., was deputed to wait on the
secretary alone, the other two choosing
! to remain outside until the interview
was over. Mr.. D., with consldera
! BILE trepidation, entered the august pres
ence of the secretary and suffered out
that he was there isg obedience 10 his
summons. "Oh, yes" said the secre-
tary, take a seat. l have been in
| formed that yourself and two others
attended that prize fight down the river
yesterday, and l thought Would Ike
to hear particulars. Come into this
other room" and he led the way, fol-
lowed by Mr.. D. The latter by this
time felt greatly relieved in his mind,
and was only too glad to describe the
fight in full detail. The secretary was
an interested listener, and concluded by
stating that he would like to have seen
the contest, but, of course, it would not
do for a person in his position to De
seen at such a meeting. The secre-
tary told Mr.. D. that he and the
other two clerks might go back
to their desks. Mr.. D., when
he got out, made his COM
panions believe that they were dis
charged, but as soon as they struck q
restaurant, he told them the truth over
something stronger than water.
This was an event that turned out
| lucky. No one would be willing to run
the same risk to-day in the expectation
of meeting with the same luck. Indeed
among Republican employees, so great
is the fear of getting discharged, many
| hundreds have considered it absolutely
unsafe to take the months holiday to
which they are entitled for fear their
places might be filled when they re-
turned.
Washington, D. c., is a great sporting
city. The spiritof gambling seems to
! pervade every class of society. And it
| IS by no means confined to the rich. The
poor are carried away with it as well.
| setting on horse races is one of the
great mediums of speculation, and it is
accomplished without let or hindrance,
there being 20 law in the District OF
! Columbia against the establishment of
pool rooms, or other places to be used
| for what is known as backing"
horses. Last session q bill was intro
duced into Congress making this sort of
gambling in Washington illegal, but like
! thousands OF ether bills it never was
reached, and there will likely be a
strong effort on the part of sporting
men to kill the bill outright. One of the
most popular of these pool rooms is
located in the Harris House, a large
hotel, next door to the National Theatre
During the racing season this room Is
packed full the whole of the day, and
betting to very large amounts, l am in
| formed, is transacted. The business is
carried on in very business-like way.
The book-makeTs are well known, re-
sponsible men. They emf 10y staff of
clerks that accurately record, in a set of
BOOKS, every bet that is made. The
names Of the places at which the races
are to take place; the names of each
race; the names of the horses ami
riders; the hour at which each race is
to be run, and the market price offered
against each horse is neatly printed Tin
chalk on black board which covers
the walls of the room. In the room is
a telephone connected with the main
Office in the city, which, in turn, is in
direct communication with operators
on the several race courses that are to
be run over that day. While the
business is going on there is not
q great deal of confusion. The
hackers" studiousIy scan the