The rustler., 1891-09-11

ought o be done. Mr.. Dallas consulted
with several official supcriors and was
informed by them that the wurk
could not b. undertaken and completed
In a lifetime. and that Il would coat too
much money That was the last that was
hcari Of thc subject for about two years
Thea the quiet. unprctcutious. plosiding
official as,oundcd his Supcriors by cx-
hibiiing 20 them a mass of manuscript
which practically covered the Frouns.
- u-sgiuallv proposed by him. lie had
given % that work his uays and nights.
his energies and ambition lie was like
another Columbus crossing traclglcss
ocean without encouragement In iss4
the manuscript was given 20 the public
printer. and came forth a volume which
Is to-day rcrar,ied as a sine qua non In
the dead letter Office. II contained s3T
pages. but has since been improved and
added % until Il i now volume
Of over 500 pages, every line Of which
represents work of the most painstals-
ing character by the brains Of an intel
ligcnt official pioneer. Here Is n sam
pie of the work accomplished daily with
the aid Of this compilation: 4 letter
addressed 10 "Mr. Henry Manchester,
No i26 Charter Oak avenue" The
handwriting Is plain enough, the adj
dress easily read, but where Is Charter
Oak avenue? The postmaster sends it
90 the dead letter office. the clerk turns
90 the street directory. finds under the
letter &C. that there Is only one Charter
Oak avenue in the country, and THAI II
Is In Hartford. Conn. The clerk thea
adds the name Of the city and state,
sends the letter TO the Washington post
Office to be forwarded. and Mr.. Man.
chester finally receives his letter.
Miss Sophie Allen. broadway. near
Yeatman. care Robert Allen" had n
letter addressed 20 her, and OF course IL
went 20 the dead letter office, although
some masculine hand had written the
superscription with Spcnccrian neat
ness, Now there are Broadways and
l3roadwnys in this country. Everybody
has heard of the famous New York
thoroughfarc, but there are seven
Broadwnys in Ohio; Iowa has two, and
almost every state in the union has at
least one; So where should Miss Aliens
letter be sent? The clerk finds that
there is but one Yeatman street in the
United States, which is in Cincinnati.
where there is also n Broadway. The
letter was evidently intended TO be sent
there, was forwarded 10 the postmas-
ter at Cincinnati, who caused Il 10 be
Hsa1f q.
residence. These instances are suiii-
cicut to demonstrate TO the reader
the great value of the Dallas dircc-
tory; and the value of that official
work demonstrates the assertion made
ut the commencement of this letter
that a stable civil service will de-
vclop, in every one of the executive
departments, the fruits of the genius
of the individuals In government en-
ploy II they ARE retained in their places
and allowed TO devote their lives 10 the
work in hand.
One letter which recently reached the
dead letter Office was addressed 10
gentleman at Common street, between
Basin and Franklin" There is only
city in the union which has three streets
so named, and that city is New Or.
leans. where the letter was sent and de-
livered. These are samples OF thou
sands of similar letters. and we can all
now feel that we are comparatively
safe from the blunders of our friends.
Since his dismissal from the public
service which he so adorned and bene-
flied, there have been four successors
10 Mr.. Dallas, all of them reputable
gentlemen of more than ordinary nbil.
ity; but they have come and gone,
neither one of them remaining
long enough TO become intensely inter.
csted in the work but, like all others,
using the government position rs TEN.
porary affair, while looking for somc-
thing better OF similar nature. The
services OF Mr.. Dallas could not to-day
be secured for many times the salary,
$1,000, which he then received and, for
which he was willing TO remain. The
government is always the loser in such
cases. When u man Is educated and ex-
pcrienced in government Office he
knows but little else, and Is always
willing 10 remain for Sl.sOO or 1900
per annum, when il may he that his
abilities are worth much more to him.
II he could but shake off the shaclsles
which impcrceptibly bind themselves
around the willing worker. His home
is In the beautiful capital city, his fam
ily is here, his friendships, his church
relations md nil the arguments OF do
raesticity blend In one absorbing idea
that TO leave his government Office
would be mistake. On the general
principal that ''it is well 10 let well
enough alone" the average government
clerk fears TO resign and commence a
struggle with the world. Therefore,
the general government secures su.
perior ability for an almost nominal
sum; and It is mistake and ofttimes a
a.