, 1889-09-26
\ DEMOCRATIC PLAY.

Eugene Semple in his speech al
the opera house Monday night laud
ed Me and Tom Grifiiits" for an
hour, and at the conclusion his audi
ence was thoroughly convinced that
the speaker WAS the embodiment of
all that was egotistical Mr. Grifiitts
III aliudihg to the Democratic plat
form spoke Of the gratitude which
members Of that party felt i'll their
hearts for the soldier. he 10 doubt
felt that it was but meet that his
party through him should It this
time show some remCrse for the part
they took in the war He cited as
an instance Of the ingratitude of the
Republican party to the old war vet
eran the case OF Gen. IhrIe in our
local custom house, probably beIiev-
ing that his case being brought to
the doors of our citizens would Fe
prima facia evidence Of the Ill
gratitude From what We can learn
of the case it Is not one of in
gratitude or anything resembling it.
General Ihrie was an applicant for
position in the custom house and
when vacancy occurred he was Civ
en- tkat OF Night Deputy, the posi-
ton formerly filled by n. S. Snyder.
The general was told, we are inform
ed, just what the duties of the Office
were before he W9s sy. .Orn III and
made no objection to them. Shortly
afterward, however, he said his reiig-
lous scruples would not permit his
doing work on the Sabbath and asked
the collector to arrange some one Of
the other deputies to do the work.
This they We're willing to do prcvid-
ed the general would permit them to
dIaw his salary for the time they
worked for him, but to that he womb
not agree. The general has SAID
through the press that it is not neces-
sary to keep the office open on SUI
day and If 1t is then the day clerks
should do the work. The position Of
this custom house and the Office Of
night deputy are peculiar ones. III
the case of the custom house here,
Port Townsend is not d terminal
point consequently the Office should
be open for the transaction OF bust
ness continuously from the begin
ming to the close Of the year Yes
sells going up sound or going to sea
If detained here over Sunday might
be caused great losses on cargoes
Take tea ship FOR instance, time is
the first condition and if the wind
and tide would bs so that tea ship
was to arrive here on Sunday the loss
might be serious one ii the vessel
was compelled to remain here over
Sunday. As TO the prcnliarity of
the position of night deputy, he is
what is called an extra service man,
and is paid by the captains or owners
of vessels requiring his services at
any lime after the hour OF p. III. or
before 9 d. III. on week days or dur
ing Sunday. Since the Office Of night
deputy was established it has been 2 !
part of his work 20 make out the ex-
port report aud report of goods in
transit through Canada via the Can
adian Pacific railway. To keep up |
the report IL requires ten minutes
each day and about two hcuIs at the |
end of the month. The night deEu- !
ty is expected to be on hand at all |
times between 1 p. IN. and 9 Il. ~, |
but his duties do not reqpire him to !
be at the office. He may go to his |
room and If his services are needed i
the watchman or inspector will call
him. Frequently it happens that lie
will not be disturbed during the en-
tire night, while at other times he
may be up nearly all night Now lei,
us look at tue Importance of this
work to the citizens of this place |
Stop showing this consideration to
vessel owners i'll assisting them 10
reach their destination or TO get to
sea and how long will it lie before
Seattle and Tacoma will be ports of
entry; and when that is done how
many of the hundreds of vessels now
here will ever put their
nose in our harbor7 Port Townsend
will be side-tracked and We can sit
on the bluff aud wstch the vessels so |
by our door. General 1hrie refused |
point blank 10 do this work ON Sun
day and said he would not do it for
the president of the United States"
and the other deputies were not sat
isfied to do the night deputy's work |
and not draw his pay for Sunday.
TIE idea of the Democrats making
General Ihrie's dismissal 2 play for
G.. A. r. votes is all balderdash.