The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-12-05
WORKHoUSE SKETCHES.
Tho Last Resort of Hundreds OF
Professional Office Seekers.
One of tho Most Repulsivc and Yet Most
Interesting Places I'm Washington
The Experiences OF u Young Hoo
sicr and an Old Veteran.
lspcciol washington Lettcr.l

lSpcClQi washington Iaettcr.I
There is haven for the poor and I'M
fortunate and their name is legion
They come from far and near, many of
them on the pinions Of swift-wingcd
hope, only to fall fluttering into the
slough of dcspond. But there is Il haven
for ala home for the most cosmopol-
itan crowd on earth. The portals of the
worllhousc yawn for the impccunious
and unhappy office seekers.
Our great social and political center
presents a wonderful diversity of hui
manity i'll every grade from the official
and financial leaders down to the inlet
tered, unlearned, scantily clad and hun
cry poor. At presidential receptions and
in the drawing-rooms of cabinet minis
ters we touch elbows with mon and WON
en- who would grace the courts of the
most courtly assemblagcs on earth and
at the same time find ourselves hobnob.
bling with chcck-hardcned, garish adj
venturcrs and adventurcsscS who have,
none but'themsclvcs know how, found
their way into an atmosphere for which:
they are untitled and in which they are
not wholly welcome.
The same characteristics are notice.
able in our worlihouse. Not only are
the inmates of that institution hardened
sinners and Migrants, accustomed to the
sanctions of the law, but in their com
pany we find unwilling guests who have
seen better days and might always
have known better surroundings but
for their anxiety to secure appoint
ments to government offices. There,
side by side, may be seen tramps,
thieves, brawlcrs, erstwhilc 6ignificd
colonies, majors and Judges who have
come to Washington in search of for
eign missions or other snecurcs and
waited for commissions which never
came until their last dollar, nickel and
penny have been spent.
The man who fails in his quest of an
office, and remains in this city because
of false pride which prevents him
from returning to his former home,
usually winds up at the worl1housc clad
in striped uniform, with the alternative
offered to him of going out on the
streets to labor in the chain gang with
stalwart pick AK, or being confined in
an underground dungeon on Il sparse
supply OF corn bread and great scarcity
of Potomac water. 1t is almost need
less to remark that the forlorn seeker
for federal patronage shoulders his pick
and takes his turn at dclving in the Garth
after less than twenty-four hours ex-
pcricnce in the dungeon.
Not only office seekers, but veterans
of the late war, who come here - seo
about their pensions, arc forced into the
ranks OF vagrancy because their money
is temporarily exhausted and they are
compelled to seek shelter:
Out in the atmosphere,
Under the stars"
went down to the workhousc re-
Gently and interviewed some of the
characters there. One of these is the
brother of n well-ltnown member of
congress. During the last session he
figured in the capitol corridors as n lob
bylst. lie is rather distinguished look
ing when arraycd i'll good suit of
clothing, being rotund of form, round
of feature, ard having pleasant face
graced by an iron-gray mustache. But
in the striped prison garb, strcaked with
yellow clay, he did not look any more
distinguished than the bevy of old
toughs among whom he toiled.
Among others who have worn the
striped uniform of this institution may
be mentioned n colonel who gained
great honor as commander of union
regiment during the war; an cx-admiral
OF the confederate navy; an author
whose writings were widely copied in
this country and Europe; Judge who
claimed that he had sentenced seven
men to death i'll the southwest; a minis
ter who had led many souls to salvation
before he became victim of the rum
habit, and others who have occupied
high inches in public life. 1t can truth
fully be said that the Washington work
house is n queer place in all its drcari-