Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-02

4UtHEl Troy. They do all
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themselves, and they
are among the most curious of Uncle Sans
daughters. Lots of them are widows.
Hundreds of them are old maids and several
thousand are sweet, juicy, manageable
girls with pretty faces, good hearts and a
high grade OF culture and education. Many
of them have had Governors and Generals
for fathers, not a few are the widows Of
noted soldiers and statesmen, and all are far
above the average of their sex the United
States over. Many of them have travelled
widely, and the great majority are so aris-
tocrauc that 4 caterpillar could crawl under
the high insteps of their bare little feet
without tickling the flesh.
Fully one-third of this army are under
command OF the Secretary of the Treasury.
One thousand of them march their little
ieet every morning up the great stone steps
OF that mighty sareophagus known as the
United States Treasury, and in its prison.
like walls they remain upon duty from this
hour until 4. They do all sorts of work
and they receive all kinds of salaries The
highest priced of them get s., 800 year, and
there are three ladies who receive this
salary. One is Miss j. NJ. Seavev, of Ten
nessee, and another is Miss NJ Var Vranken,
OF New York, maideus who came here in
the sixties, and who are so efficient in the
management of internal revenue matters
that their salaries have been increased over
those of most OF the men of the bureau. The
third 81, 500 clerk is Miss Ada Tanner, the
daughter OF the Corporal who acts as conf
q of ha ho
into office when her father went out and her
appointment dates from last November.
Only i've women in the Treasury get 81 600
year, 81 receive s., 400 and 12S get SlO0
month. Ninety-one receive s., 900 a wear and
800 receive $500. Among the /, 900 odd who
receive less than this are those who get the
pay OF laborers and messengers and others
running down to the eharwomen, who re-
celve SO a month for sweeping and
scrubbing.
PAYING OUT BRISK NEW BILLS.
One the most interesting sights of the
Treasury Department is the paying out of
these moneys, which always occurs at the
last OF the month. From all parts of the
building the men and women troop to the
disbursing offices and they receive their cash
in crisp new bills, which rustic like a S4
black silk when they pass through the
watched them get their money. Through
grated window showed the bright blue ewes
and the heavy blond mustache of Mr.. Hub
Smith, the noted author of the song known
as Listen to my Tale of Woe" and it was
he who, acting at this time for Secretary
WINDOW, was paying out the cash to the
girls He smiled as he did SO and they
smiled az they took the bills and the signs
were Just the opposite of those of the sad
tale OF Johnny Jones and his sister Sue.
do these girls earn their salaries?
Ihey DO. For most positions thev make
better clerks than the men. They waste
less time chewing tobacco and they do not
spend an hour or so over the morning
paper. They are splendid copyists and
they can count money faster than a man can
think. The money counters of the Treasury
are numberd by the hundreds and these
pretty girls go through thousands upon
thousands every day and count millions a
month while working on salaries OF SIS.
OF COURSE THEY CovET IT.
1 asked one of them yesterday if she did
not coVet the money she counted. She re-
piled she did and that her feelings while she |
worked were much like those of the ragged |
boy VINO presses his nose against the CANDY |
window and gloats upon the sweets within |
and thinks what he would do if he had |
them. These girls are adopts as counterfeit |
detectors. Their fingers get so sensitive that |
they can tell counterfeit if it touches them
ana II they pass counterfeit the amount of |
the Dill is taken out of their salaries. 1t is |
the same thing if they make a mistake and \
their position is a very critical one. The |
bills from the national banks from all over |
The country are sent here for redemption. |
Lhese blIls come in packages of 100 and |
Ihey are counted by the banks which send |
tnem. II there is any mistake in the pack |
age the girl who counts it reports it to the |
chleI and the bank from which the bills |
come must stand the loss There is psper /
strap around each set of bills and upon this
IS the amount Of the package and the name
'f the pank from which it comes. A few
weeks ago Que of these young lady counters,
orlget plond glrl OF 19 was engaged upon
lot OF some one hundred dollar notes
SHE LOST THE HUNDRED.
She had laid the straps on the desk beside
ler as sne counted each package, and, after
Terliylng tne account, had swept them all
nto waste basket. As she was rapidly
one package she found that if con-
aimed but 80 notes. She looked for the
trap containing the memorandum giving
he name OF the bank from which il came
IND was horrlhed to find that it had dropped
rom the table and into the basket She re-
nembered the name of the bank but there
vas no way in which she could prove tkat
he was right. The bank was notified hnt
is cashier refused to acknowledge the mis-
axe, and the girl had to pay S1O0.
1 note that these girls never wet tbei,
ngers in their mouths as they count the
ills. Each has a sponge beside her. and
he gets her moisture from this. There 1s
reat danger of disease in handling bank
otes, and no one can tell as to whether the
asst holder has had smallpox or the measles.
he notes themselves are green and the
reen comes from arsenic used in colorinp.
l sponge after a days use turns black with
he arsenic which comes from the bills. and
ONE thin-skinned maidens contract sores on
be arms and wrists from this counting. The
ponges are changed every day, but if the |
kin is the least scratched and The arsenic of
be note happens to get under the flesh |
pre- is very likely to appear day or two
tterward. The position is by no means |
mcclure, and it is my experience that these
Government clerks have to work mighty
ard Tor every cent they get.
PRETTY GIRLS WHO MAKE MONEY.
It is the same in the Bureau of Engraving