The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-15
AFFAIRS AT WASHINGTON.
The Wholesale Discharge of Printers-Satis-
factory Work at the Agricultural Bureau.

|
and one reads in the city papers occasionally OF
an appointment by Mr. Benedict. This latter
earthquake has been confined to New York,
however.
| The distress of the poor creatures in that Of
| fee was really pitiable. Their salaries had al
| ways been so meager that it was impossible fol-
| the most frugal to lay by anything, and since
| the reign of good Democratic economy the print
er had been cut down so terribly that Mr.
Rounds, for nearly year before his retirement
was obliged to keep expenses at low figures
which he did by dividing the work. so that al
though none made large wages, they at least had
| bread, and he thus avoided the wholesale dis
| charges which are so distressing in this city
| where there is no other work to be had
| A young lady employed in the Office, who
like most of the others, has loved ones solely de-
pendent on her salary, told me that the horror
| depicted on the faces of the employees was al
| most unearthly. Said she: 1--WE could not
work, our hands trembled so, and the forewoman
babe us stop and stand up. OF course as that
| huge bundle of terrible yellow envelopes was be-
| ing distributed by the boy detailed for that pur-
| pose, none of us knew but one was our own dis
charge, and the boy played with our misery, too,
| by handing them to persons for whom they were
| not intended. and also, so that they would pass
| through the hands of several before they got to
| the right one. Every face there looked pinched,
and little, and as pale as death. / suppose l
looked the same, but we have no full-length
mirrors in our department" she went on pather-
ically, "but as looked down at my hands. they
were purple as if with cold that hot day, and
looked only half their size." It is said that Mr.
Benedict Disseminated as much as possible in
favor of the needy, but he would make very few
n ICA tod nxBl.O
need the places; for man must be
hard up in the first place who i'm
mures himself there, and the Government
| Printing Office is always the last resort of the
disappointed ofice-seeker, who fails to get any
| thing better
The Dead Letter Office has lately been made
into an independent bureau, and is no longer
division of the Third Assistant Postmaster-gen-
erals Office. Mr. Baird, the chief of this Office
is of the best officials in this administ fation
and he is a genial, whole-souled gentleman be-
sides. The employees of his Office say that he is
so perfect gentleman himsel: that he can afford
to treat his subordinates like ladies and gentle
men; he does not need to bolster up his own dig
nifty by humiliating them and even when any of
them really deserve reprimand, they never get
it from him, though they have every reason to
know that he is by no means blind to the fault,
all the same. The natural result of this is to
make most Of them try never to deserve an
other.
The Agricultural Department was never in
more fourishing condition than now. There
have been fewer changes made there than in
any other; so Mr. Colman, like a good farmer,
reaps what he sows, in the experienced labor he
can command. Neither have ever heard of him
even asking the politics of an applicant. "Will
he do the work. Yes" That jsssSSdoient,
In the seed division the busy tihe is just be-
ginning Two-thirds of all the seeds there must
be arranged and made ready for the orders of
members of Congress, and rows on rows of
young women are busy filing up tiny bags and
paper pouches, and labelling them with the
names of each separate variety. Maj. VIM. NJ.
King, formerly of the Rural World, of ST.
Louis, is the chief of this division, and he seems
to be the right man for the place His knowl-
edge In such matters is quite extensive. and he
tries to conduct the business of his Office Just
as if it were his own, constantly making i'm
provements for the benefit of employees and the
good of the department.. He has invented
litter for the bags in the grain room that has
proven itself triple saving viz. in time, space
and men. In time, because more bags can be
handled IN given time by its aid; in space,
because they can be piled higher, and in
men, because the labor is nothing
as compared with the previous plan,
when two men seized bag and tossed it into
position by main force. A lady who has been in
this department long time says that two or
three boys had been ruptured thereby. This
machine is portable, and can be moved from one
part of the room to another by simply removing
a wedge. The Major has also made new rule
to govern the distribution of seeds that will GER
tainy do much good The different varieties
are designated by letters and the position of
these letters map indicates the point to
which the mailing clerk should send them he
cause some seeds that do we'll in one locality fail
entirely in another. The seeds are also doubly
tested first by the old plan, being tested on the
grounds, and afterward by the Houghton seed
tester inside Then the fullest directions are
sent with them besides
He expects, also, to get the seeds off in better
time than ever before, and means that your
farmers shall have their winter wheat in Jaun-
airy this year, instead of February, as
formerly. One new variety of wheat
is worthy of special mention. It is
| called Tine Four-rowed Sheriff." and is
from the vicinity of ST. Petersburg Russia It
originated in Scotland, and has been cultivated
successfully in Sweden, Denmark, and all
through the German empire, France and Rus
sia There is also another seed imported from
Russia that is thought to be very good thing.
1t is a sheep fodder, called blue iupinus.
A sale of real estate that occurred few DAYS
since has some very interesting facts connected
with IL that are also quite suggestive to the
thinking mind 1t was one of those triangular
corner lots in which Washington City abounds.
This lot had formerly been q part of a public
reservation for parking purposes, but certain
Senator of that time got bill through Congress
cutting short street through IT, thus throwing
the little point over against some other lots.
The Senator then gained possession of the lot
and reconveyed it to fascinating widow of the
city for merely nominal price, and even of this
sum there were grave doubts existing as the
widow aforesaid was in the habit of exhibiting
valuable presents which she boldly avowed were
gifts from the Senator. Naturally. people sus-
pected the lot to be gift also, as the widow
was poor. Tho lot has brought her SIC 600 and
she is no longer poor. This very man. too, owed
his career to the wife he wronged by wasting his
substance and as suspected his affections, also,
another; for every speech he made every letter
sent out, and everything else that required
livery of the speeches. concocted by her, being
ali that he contributed to the stock company.
The interest here in the Indiana election this
| fall is intense, and the Journal seems to be in
demand, to which the supply is hardly equal. as
it is impossible to get the paper day or two after
| its issue. Those interested in the Survival of