Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-23

THE COLLIE CTOR's OFFICE.
The first in importance is the collector
Office situated at the right of the entrance. A
big iron safe stands out in bold relief against
the soft-tinted walls and receives the money
taken In over the cashiers counter. There it
is Kept until it is transferred to the Treasury
1t Is poor days work when $4,000 is not paid
over and just now an average of 100000 day
Is being received. Men NAV come and men
may go, but tax paying never stops. Though
the busy season is about over the stranger
wouldn't think SO if he caught q glimpse of the
long lines of people who wait their turn at the
little window to hand over their taxes And
what curious lot these tax payers are Here
the avaricious miser pushes his money through
the space below the wire netting as if loath to
part with 1t, grumbling the while about exor-
bltant taxation, and here also. side by side with
the millionaire, may be seen the thrifty me-
chanlc, who has saved enough to buy a little
home, on which he pays his taxes. or some
poor widow. who, with trembling hands, counts
| out her mite to satisfy the law. The cashier is
kept busy all day long.
1t is amusing to watch the maneuvers of
people in the crowd to be first and away at the
window. There Is no preference given, 10
favoritism shown, and the dirt-begrimed
laborer is often ahead of his wealthy neighbor.
Collector Davis has a reputation for politeness,
and the way he deals with the anxious crowd is
wonderful.
THE DOG TAX MAN.
Attached to his Office is that of the dog license
| clerk. Here at little table in the corner sits
DR.. Clark, the gentleman in charge of the
licensing of dogs in the District The busiest
part Of the year for him is now over, but yet
he finds plenty to do and a day rarely passes
that ne does not take pen portraits of a num-
Der OF pets, handing over license and small
metal tag In each case. and adding to the reve-
nues OF the District to the extent of couple of
dollars. He has all sorts of visitors. the great
majority lovers of dogs, and when his time is
not fully occupied he likes to have his visitors
sit while and chat about the great dogs they
have seen or own or have read about. The
doctor does good deal of work in identifying
| stolen dogs, for when the license is purchased
he gets description Of the animal, and if in
the future any dispute arises as to the owner
ship he Is appealed to and rarely fails to satisfy
| the parties. There are large number of dis
| tlnguished names on his big blotter, as many OF
the prominent men of the city own dogs.
THE WATER DEPARTMENT.
| Across the hall is the water department, and
when water rents fall due this is busy place
The characters who frequent this office are
| quite interesting. Many of them are of the
| gentler sex, but they evince stern qualities
| when dealing with the water question. The
| way they scold the clerks sometimes when
| things do not suit them would make Mrs
| Caudle seem meek in comparison. Most OF
them want to know why the water supply is moi
| better and why their water is not turned on.
Why is it that the water keeps 80 muddy? The
clerks are treated as if personally responsible
for all the ills complained of, but they have to
look pleasant no matter how irate the visitors.
Everybody who visits the building knows the
| gentleman who guards the door, and he is &C.
quainted with every man Of prominence in the
District 'The old sergeant" as he is famil-
| iarly called, has probably handled more money
than any other man in the District, for all the
collections are taken by him to the Treasury.
He is acquainted thoroughly with the District
building and tho number of inquiries he has to
answer daily and the number OF times he goes
| to the foot of the stairway and points with his
less. He keeps the keys Of every Office in the
building ranged on hooks on a board in the
hall and it is his duty to see that every one of
the employees is on time in the morning. II
some luckess clerk is only minute late it goes
against him in the Sergeant's little book, and
after they are all in up the book goes to Secre-
tary Tindall After that well no one has ever
been able to find out what becomes Of them.
At the end Of the long hall, on the ground
floor, past the collectors Office and assessors
Office, is the place where the majority of the
employees break their fast-that is, if they have
the required wherewith. And even il they
don't happen to have this handy it is not much
trouble to get credit of the good-natured COL
ored man. Pie is the most popular commodity,
but the bill of fare includes fruit cakes coffee,
oysters and other edibles. The employees con-
gregate about at noon around the lunch stand
and tell stories while they eat their luncheon,
while the attendant is kept busy attending to
their wants.
ON THE SECOND FLOOR
the Commissioners and several officials SUBJ
ordinate to them have their offices. The rooms
are ranged about large oblong hall. In the
center Of this hall, at the head of the stairway,
is q steam radiator supplied with steam from
the engine down in the cellar. In this big hall
one can see most any day many leading citi-
Gems OF the District, and this is where the re-
porters OF the local papers pounce down upon
them and want to know all about it before the
prominent citizen has fairly regained his breath
from the climb up the stairway and is still won-
dering in q dazed kind of way why they don't
have an elevator. The man who visits the Dis
trict building with vague idea of whom he
wants to see and what he wants il directed first
of all to Secretary TindalL