The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-06-17


The women do the bulk of the dead letter
office business, and it is wonderful how |
much this business amounts to. During the |
past year l. 800 900 letters were received at
the dead letter office, making an average OF
$1,000 for every working day. Nearly
1900, 600 of these letters were never callel
for at the rostoffices to which they were
directed, and IL, 900 of them were sent to
hotels and reached there after the guests for
whom they were intended had left The
ladies of the lead letter office look over these
1900 letters which come Ia daily. One set
does nothing but open the letters, another
reads and sort them. and another examines
and redirects them to the proper places
A great many of the letters are mis-
directed, 1000 of this kind come to
the office every day. These misdirected
letters are ciphered, If possible, without
opening, and sent to the persons for
whom they were intended. Women who UNI
derstand foreign languages are engaged in
this business, as many OF the letters are
written by foreigners. Many of the letters
contain money, and last year there was
S3S, 900 in cash among them and more than
| 1900 900 worth of drafts and money orders.
Eighty-four thousand letters contained post
age stamps, $4,000 photographs and 25,OOo
| articles of merchandise All Of this matter
must b. returned to the owner, or, If that is
not possible, the money is covered into the
treasury end the merchandise is sold at auc-
ton
In 1884 there were 81 male clerks in the
dead letter office, and rs female clerks. The
annual pay roll of the mael clerks was
$37, AGO. an average of 81 Al per day. The
annual pay roll of the 7S female clerks was
| A~o % ha
men did practically the same work as the
women, but they received 81 more day
for it, and had the mems work been done
by women, the government would have
saved 1881. Had the men done all the
work at the above rate the pay roll would
have had to be increased $24 1856. 1t would
seem that an equalization board ought to be
appointed, and that Uncle Sam at least
should give his nieces the same pay as his
nephews when they do the same work.
Is the civil service Of the government a
good place for womeni
1t seems to me that it Is. The hours OF
labor are short, the work is not such that it
overtaxes the system, 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 used to be an
idea that women in the departments were as
rule questionable characters; that they
were indebted to politicians solely for their
appointment, and that the appointments
were often given in the way of u bar
gain for questionable relations with such
congressman. There may have been in
stances of this character, but they are by
no means common, and ninety-nine hun
dredths of the women in the departments to-
day are as pure as 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 insulted
without cause while working for the govern
ment.
The government clerks stand well in
Washington city. They are far above the
average of the Intelligence Of men d ding the
same character of work which they dc
throughout tho country, and association
with them can hardly be detrimental t.
women. Washington is a pleasant place il
which to live 1t Is expensive or cheap, a,
one wishes to make it, and it is to be in tn,
future the great educational, social and Lit
erary center of the country. There Is no rea
son why women should not undergo thu
civil service examination and partake Of it
advantages FRANK GEORGE.