The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-07-09

as a rule. have no one but themselves
to care for, and ii you ask them why,
they are not married, they VIII tell
YOU that their salary is not large
enough to support wives. Nearly al
OF the single women in thedepartments
have Others depending upon them'
MANY of them send their sisters or
brothers to school, and many OF them
are widows, who in this way support
and educate their families.
Some OF the old lady clerks are
hne-looking, and some OF them had not
cd careers in society before going INTO
the departments. One ! know who
had Jefferson for an ancestor, ana
another, perhaps the most beautiful
of the white-haired ladies OF the treas
urv, was the wife OF an Ohio governor
who was n great friend OF President
Lincoln. Another Ohio governor has
a daughter in the departments, and
one OF the fine old ladies OF the pension
office, now Il great grandmother, Is a
Kansas woman, who was the lirSt
woman clerk ever elected by leglsia.
tive body in this country. These Old
lady clerks dress we'll, and among
them are some OF the most agreeable
takers IN Washington. Their hearts
are young, though their hair Is white,
and they are almost rs fascinating
now a.s when the bloom was on Their
cheeks and they were the bellies OF
their native states.
The women do the bulk OF the dead
letter Office business. In 1881 there
were twenty-seven male clerks IN the
dead-letter office and seventy.elght fe-
male clerks The annual payroll OF
the male clerks was s3 400, an aver
age OF 81 4 l per day The annualpay-
roll OF the seventy-eight female clerks
WAS 81, +l2O, or an average oi S3.3l
per day. The men did practically the
SAM. work as the women, but they re-
ceived 81 more a day for 1t, and had
the men 5 work been done by women
the government would have saved
! S9.3ll. Had the men done all the
work at the obove rate the payroll
would have had to be increased S2l,-
| l55. 1t would seem that an equal
ization 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 govern
ment good place for women?
1t seems to me that is. The hours
OF labor are short, the work is not
| such that it oyertaxes the system and
/ the labor is honorable The salaries
are better than women can make III
almost any other occupation. and the
associations are what the women
choose 10 make them. There used to
| be an lde& that women IN the depart
ments were as n rule questionable
| characters; that they We're indebted
to politicians for their appointment,
and that the appointments We're often
given in the way OF bargain for ques-
tionable relations with such congress-
men. There may have been instances
of this character, but they are by no
means common, and ninety nine hun
| dredths OF the women in the depart
ments to-day are us pure as any in the
country. No woman who wishes to
be honest need fear that she will be in
suited while working Tor the govern
| ment.
The government clerks stand well in
Washington city. They are iarabove
the average OF the intelligence OF men
! doing the same character OF work
which they do throughout the country.
| Washington is a pleasant place in
which to live. ltisexpensive orcheap,
as one wishes to make it, and it is to
be in the future the great educational,
social and literary center OF >e coun-