Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-01
THE POOR OLD SOLDIER.
Scenes in the Court of the Bureau of Pen-
 sions-Are Like Lazarus at the
 Gate. A
Washington Post.

Washington Post. @
 Nearly every morning between and 10 o'clock a number of veterans of our wars may be seen awaiting an audience with one or another of the officials of the pension bureau. Of course the offices of the commissioner, the deputy commis- sioners, and the chief clerk are visited during office hours by scores of persons interested in either their own claims or the cases of friends or clients. The crowd, however, which congregates In the court in the pension building early in the morning is composed largely or men who have come from distance, peneV-s ing that by personal intervention they can persuade the department to waive a certain affidavit which will be difncuit to obtain, or to take other special action. which will result in the favorable ad1udl- cation of their claims at once.
 They present to the officials two strong points, which will at any event secure for them an immediate examination ana re- port as status. The first is that they are invariably dead broke' and are liv- ing on the charity of the city. In the next place they are a class Of men Who cannot be ''shaken;" they have no other business demanding their attention, and so they will remain in WaShington anu will visit the pension office every oay- two or three times day in many cases until they have received either what they want or an irrevocable rejection. A reporter spent an hour with this motley crowd few days ago and gathered from some of them their tales of woe.
 In the first place there was a striking similarity in every one of the stories, Tor it appeared that the public highways ana the freigths had received the largest share of patronage. Nearly all had come from the north and west and had there fore travelled through severe weather. One or two were, to all appearances, pro fessionaI hoboes, and were on their an nual excursion to the southland, only stopping for a few days to look after applications for increase which had been filled some months previous.
 Two of these men were accompanied by their wives. One, a small shriveled-up fellow, with afull beard and unkept hair, told the reporter that he had just reached town the night before. having footed 1t nearly all the distance from Minnesota. Shortly after starting he said snow had been encountered, and, as the roads were particularly rough and their shoes quite old both he and his wife had suf- fered from frozen feet. This affilction made their progress much slower than had been expected, and when they reach ed Pittsburg it was found that the wom- an could not possibly proceed further The hope and expectancy which had buoyed them up ever since leaving their home seemed shattered, and they turned as last resort to the authorities. pre- pared for whatever fate the public mag istrate should decree. That official, how ever, evidenced sympathy and succeeded in securing for them transportation to this city. As they stood looking into the basin of the fountain in the great court, he with his shaggy beard long coat and rough boots. and she with an old-fash- toned black bonnet drawn down tightly to fit over a faded shawl they were in deed a queer couple. Their whole inter est was for the time centered on the gold fish gliding to and fro. The trials and hardships of their journey appeared to be forgotten, and it really seemed that the all-important object of their visit was temporarily, at least. out of their minds. s-l
 The Other Couple Hailed From Ohio.
 They had saved small sum of money, and as their children were dead they de cided to come to Washington in order that the husband might reopen a claim which the department had some years before rejected. Accordingly room on one of the small streets had been rented, and in it he and his wife were living They prepared their own food and lived as frugally as possible. The old soldier told the reporter that he and his wife had been here six weeks and that their funds were running low, but. he added he was looking for @ favorable decision in his claim every day.
 He Fell Among Thieves.
 One of. the men in the little group had formerly lived in Washington, but had for the past few years been an inmate of the Soldiers home at Dayton His case was good one, and he knew it, and told at length what disposition he expected to make of his money While a resident of this city he had huckstered jlnd now he proposed buying horse and wagon and peddling fish. It appeared, however. that at that very time a pen sion certificate, which had been issued while he was on his way here, was await ing him at the office of the pension agent The next morning the reporter learned that this same old man had been picked up in one of the alleys in an intoxicated condition, and out of eighteen hundred and some dollars, which he had drawn as back pay. s2.5o was all that remained.
 Just as the hands of the clock pointed to the hour of 10 the assembled number betook themselves, some by way of the broad stairway, others with the assist ance of their crutches and the elevator, to the offices on the floor above, there to present themselves as living evidence in support of their claims.