The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-07-02
The Goysrnment,s Female Army

i washington GOVT. UIlca observer.
The government clerks employed in
the departments at Washington mum
/ ber $4,000, making an army half
again as large rs that of Senophon in
the retreat which he writes of in his
"Anabasis." A curious army it is---
old and young men and womea, of all
types, strong ana weak, crippled and
active--its variety is as broad as that
OF human lifel Fifty-eight hundred of
| it's number receive salaries which
range from 5000 to 81, 800 year
and all, from chiefs to privates, are
allotted a vacation of one wholemonth
at almost any time of the year they
choose to take it.
This army OF clerks never strikes.
1t is content with its wages, and it has
no reason to complain OF its hours OF
work. These hours are practically
only six daily. The departments
open at 8 o'clock and the clerks are
expected to be at their desks at that
hour. They work steadily until noon,
and then usually take an hour for
luncheon. At o'clock they are back
at their desks, and at their days
work is done.
The treasury contains between g.
800 and 4,0G0 clerks. 1t is the largest
department OF the government. At
p. NJ. -FOUR human streams pour forth
from It's various exits, and the streets
become crowded in moment. Here
goes q dashing young lady with alunch
basket In her hand, dressed i'm the
latest fashion, and with new spring
bonnet resting jauntily above her
young man in a Derby, who chats with
her almost lovingly as they pass out
together. In front of her is plainly
dressed old woman, who probably
keeps a family out of the $720 year
which she makes by copying papers all
day long, and back Of her is a long
thin dude with collar as big as a
shirt cuff and enormous ears. Further
back there is widow in mourning,
and AS you look at her you wonder
whether her husband was a soldier.
There are a, 600 women In the GOV
eminent department at Washington,
and many of the best-looling and
most intelligent ladies of the capital
are SO employed. They come, as a
rule, from good families. Many of
them aye the widows ofnoted generals,
the daughters of ex-governors and ex-
congressman, and now and then you
will find the relative of president or
cabinet minister. Many of them
have Travelled widely, and the
great majority are educated and re-
fined ladies. They do all kinds of
work, and receive salaries ranging
from $720 to ST, 800 year. AS mon
ey counters they are much more ex-
pert than the men, and the rapiG..ty
with which they can count thousands
making mistake makes your brain
whirl as you watch them. These mon
ay counters get about .$75 month,
and they count millions of dollars
every month. At one side of each one
on the table lie great piles of green
backs, done into packages as they
come from the press. | am speaking
now of the redemption bureau of the
treasury. These bills are old and dir
ty. The strip OF paper around each
package of 100 bills states where they
came from and who counted them in
the country. The young lady takes
this off, and, moistening her fingers
with q wet sponge in front of her, she
counts the bills like lightning, and, if
The package is not right, she reports
SO to the chief, and the banks from
which the bills come must stand the
loss. The girls seldom make mis-
take, and if they do so orpass coun-
terfeit without noting it they must
make the mistake good, and the
amount is taken out of their salary.
They can tell, however, bad bill SIM
ply by feeling it, and q bank cashier
will make a hundred mistakes where
they make one.
Not long ago one of these young lady
counters was engaged upon a lot OF
SlOO notes. She had been dropping
the scraps on the floor beside her in
pile, after verifying the count. While
she was counting package she would
| lay this scrap, marked with the name
of the bank which sent it, on thet table
beside her. At last she came to a
package that contained only ninety
nine notes, and on looking for the
scrap was terrified to find that it had
fallen among the Others. She was sure
she knew the name of the bank, but
she could not prove it. Thebank was
notified and refused to acknowledge
the mistake, and the poor girl was
forced to pay the 500
Both sexes OF clerks at Washington
work in the same department, and it
Is often the case that young men and
young women have desks side by side.
There is no restriction as to their
social intercourse, and it is matter
of surprise to outsiders that SO few
marriages occur among the clerks IT.
is not that the girls arenot cookbook
ing, nor that they are not good, neat
and intelligent. And IL isnnt that the