Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-03

m =
WSM& ton, and il Jumped 10
fH y 20oo per diem after
his arrival Of the White
munications are from Office seekers The rest
mostly convey advice and suggestions, ofer
congratulations and give warnings friendly and
| Otherwise. Better wear a shirt Of mail.
wrote one timid citizen 10 the present chief
executive four years ago, while another gave
notice OF the subscribers intention TO blow him
| up with dynamite. As is customary with them
at such times, cranks of all kinds in every par;
OF The country are now taking pen IN hand
to address the President-elect by post No
wonder he threatens to seclude himself from
the world until March L.
TIE OFFICE SEEKING EPIDEMIC
Whenever a change of administration occGrs q
sort Of fever for Office seeking becomes epidemic
among the people, For months after Mr..
Cleveland comes In the time of his
private secretary viii be chiefly occupied
with receiving applications for places
under the government, and the anteroom
at the White House viii be crowded at al
hours With Congressme aud others eager 10
secure plums OF patronage The ''yery hungry
and very thirsty" viii swarm upon Washington
IKE grasshoppers upon green vegetable patch.
ana the swish" of the decapitating az welded
| by Mr. Clarkson's successor will be continually
THE POST OFFICE ExECUTIoxER
The first assistant postmaster general Is con-
| spicuously the man of awe and dread vhea a
change Of administration has come about lie
dsposes as he chooses of nearly all of the $50 600
| Offices in the Post Office Department which has
| ten times the patronage OF all the other depart
rnents OF the government put together. Ali of
these, except about GOO clerks in the classified
service and $500 presidential postmaster be
| controls, chopping of heads and filling places
| according to his fancy. He holds in the hollow
| Of bis hand 5000 post Offices. However
/ p, 900 OF these WELD less than Sioe of SALARY
yearly, and the incumbents in most cases will
/ not ind the loss Of their positions a great mis-
| fortune. Already the Post Office Department
is receiving scores Of letters daily from such
| fourth-class postmasters. who are anxious 20
resign One Of them writes: IL give up NV
post office plant for 81 900 to democrat, will
| you appoint him and will you guarantee the Sc
| curity of his situation during the coming four
years." While welding the AK Mr.. Clarksou s
| successor will make his appointments usually in
| obedience 10 the wishes expressed by Congress-
| men as TO the distribution of the patronage in
| their respective districts.
| Early in the present ADMINISTRATION four ex-
| confederates from Alabama came to the Post
Office Department for the purpose of urging
| the appointment Of certain individual as
postmaster in their town. Mr.. Clarkson said;
|
| the same place has already been fledg' "Oh. 4"
| they replied, .'he is only ex-Union soldier;
| he hasn't anv friends" "Wen" remarked Mr.
GARRISON. he has one friend anyway. / APP
point him" On another occasion a rather
unprepossessing applicant for a postmastershir
who did all the talking in advocacy Of the APP
pointment. Finally Mr.. Clsrkson said 10 the
man: 81 cannot appoint you, but I'll tell vol
what will DOLL appoint your wife" And
| he did.
IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
Applications are already beginning to poui
into the Treasury Department for offices under
the coming administration. Many people eyi
IDENTITY imagine that Mr.. Cleveland il now in
stalled at the White House. The impudencs
exhibited by some Of these seekers for places i,
astonishing. Only the other day an exception
| ally importunate one was on the point of strik
ing the private secretary of the Secretary of the
| Treasury with paper weight because that off.
| ci'l refused to devote his entire attention e
forwarding the claims of the petitioner. But
! the appointment clerk of the treasury has the
worst Of it. fortnight ago q woman came
into his Office and said; II have come for a DO
sition and mean to have it. shan't leave the
| building until get it,
~ regret to say that there is no vacancy,
madam" replied Gen. McCauley.
Then discharge somebody and make q va
cancy," suggested the visitor.
| Il can hardly do that. said the general
"Then 1 will stay here and starve," declared
| the woman.
"An right, madam" assented the general.
| ''Sit down and starve comfortably"
But she would not accept the invitation. She
preferred TO go TO the ante room of the Sec
| rotary of the Treasury, where she drove the
officials nearly distracted. Finally they APP
| pealed TO the appointment clerk and he tried TO
persuade her to leave.
No." she insisted, II prefer 10 starye right
here"
But, madam" protested Gen. McCaulev.
| you can starve just as well in nv room. and
| there is a pleasant corner which you can have
all to yourself"
81 choose to starve on this spot" responded
| the woman with emphasis. She has 30 far
kept her word as to spend every day since then
| from to in the ante room, 10 the great dis
comfort Of the clerks.
UNFORTUNATE WOMEN.
The women who apply for places are very
hard to get rid Of When informed that there
| is no vacancy they usually say: THE secretary
can always make one more position" Many OF
| them make most humble and pathetic appeals
| saying: For Gods sake, let me scrub the
| floors or do anything by which / may earn my
bread" Yet these same individuals. after Sc
/ curing situations and occupying them for two
| or three days, are pretty sure to demand three
| things-promotion, leave o: absence and lighter
work. Women can never be convinced that
| there is any sincerity In the civil service law.
| They almost always think that they can get
around it and secure places in the classified SER
| vice through influence. In the DAYS when the
spoils system was universal not few attractive
but unprincipled persons Of the geutler sex
procured and held employment in the depart
| ments by the exercise Of Establishments, and
there was much scandal on this account
WOMEN AND THE CIVIL SERVICE.
At present women are gradually disappearing
from the departments, and within few years
there will be comparatively few of them in the
employment Of the government at Washington,
| Notwithstanding the fact that twice ~ many
women ~ men apply for places. This result, 1t
| is predicted, will be brought about by causes
which are now in operation. All persons en-
tering the classified service must come through
the consecutive examinations held under the
civil service law. When there Is q vacancy the
civil service commissioners send in three names
from which one is selected BY the appointing
official In five caaea ont Of six euDnoeino